DIRECTV and TiVo to Launch New HD DIRECTV DVR with TiVo Service

[basshive]

This would have been better BEFORE the transition to mpeg4 and forcing everyone off the tivo based DVRs!

http://www.broadcastnewsroom.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=504621

EL SEGUNDO and ALVISO, Calif., Sept. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- DIRECTV, Inc. (Nasdaq: DTV), the nation's leading satellite television service provider, and TiVo Inc. (Nasdaq: TIVO), the creator of and a leader in television services for digital video recorders (DVR), announced today that they have extended their current agreement, which includes the development, marketing and distribution of a new HD DIRECTV DVR featuring the TiVo(R) service, as well as the extension of mutual intellectual property arrangements.


Under the terms of the non-exclusive arrangement, DIRECTV and TiVo will work together to develop a version of the TiVo(R) service for DIRECTV's broadband-enabled HD DVR platform. The product will support the latest TiVo and DIRECTV features and services, including TiVo's Universal Swivel Search and TiVo KidZone. TiVo will develop the new HD DVR for an expected launch in the second half of 2009.


DIRECTV will continue to develop and offer its own portfolio of industry leading set top boxes as primary offerings to both new and existing customers. This new TiVo box will be offered as an alternative choice to those DIRECTV customers who would like to add TiVo to a full line up of DIRECTV services.

"We have had a very successful history with DIRECTV. Together we brought the TiVo experience to millions of DIRECTV customers and now we look forward to launching a next generation product that uses TiVo's latest features to truly showcase DIRECTV's broad selection of high-definition programming -- all stitched together with the elegance of TiVo's renowned user experience," said Tom Rogers, TiVo's CEO and president. "This agreement demonstrates our continued embrace of mass distribution opportunities in cooperation with major multichannel operators who recognize the value of giving their customers a choice of compelling user experiences."

Like prior products developed by TiVo and DIRECTV, the new HD offering will be marketed and sold by DIRECTV nationally to its entire customer base as part of its growing portfolio of brand name video offerings. Specific consumer pricing and packaging will be announced in conjunction with DIRECTV's launch of the product.

"As the industry's content and technology leader, DIRECTV has a long-standing reputation for developing innovative, advanced products and services, including our highly successful series of DVRs and HD DVRs," said Chase Carey, president and CEO, DIRECTV, Inc. "We will continue to work with TiVo and make this new product available to all new and existing DIRECTV customers who may want to add TiVo on top of our industry leading experience."

DIRECTV and TiVo began their relationship in 2000 with the launch of the first DIRECTV DVR with TiVo service. In April 2006, the companies announced an extension of their commercial and advertising relationship and those commercial and advertising capabilities are further extended, and now include the new HD platform. DIRECTV and TiVo also recently deployed a software update to existing DIRECTV with TiVo boxes, which enables new features like DIRECTV's Remote Booking.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Copyright 2008 PR Newswire. All Rights Reserved

[Stanley Kritzik]

This would have been better BEFORE the transition to mpeg4 and forcing everyone off the tivo based DVRs!

http://www.broadcastnewsroom.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=504621

I don't know whether I'm happy or sad.  I liked the Tivo -- kind of.  Mainly, 'cause it had double buffers -- for both tuners -- so a user could switch between programs, back up, start a recording up to 30 minutes late, etc.  All good.

The bad list is fairly long, too.  A pint-sized hard drive with a lot of after market upgrades not supported by DirecTV; a DVD recording restriction (no watching an HD program while burning a DVD); in my case, after four product returns, only component video worked -- no HDMI or DVI; mediocre technical support from DirecTV.  And, of course, no follow-on product to keep pace with MPEG4.

In summary, IBIWISI, and with an HR21 as an option, Tivo/DirecTV are going to come up with something wonderful to get me to switch back.  Extensive VOD would help, a whole house distribution system would, too, an RF remote is needed, and, I'm sure there's lots more.

Stan

[basshive]

I agree. It has to support SWM too because once I make that investment I am not turning back! I never took advantage of any of the archiving so that never worried me.

SWM capable
HDMI
Large drive / recording capacity - External drive support
RF Remote
Keep dual buffers
Whole home viewing would be nice

[Stanley Kritzik]

I agree. It has to support SWM too because once I make that investment I am not turning back! I never took advantage of any of the archiving so that never worried me.

SWM capable
HDMI
Large drive / recording capacity - External drive support
RF Remote
Keep dual buffers
Whole home viewing would be nice

No one ever speaks of backup, yet disk drives with their moveable parts do fail.  Do the math -- with a MTBF of, say, five years, and given the number of hard drives on DVRs in the country, there have to be failures every day.  I'd pay extra for a mirrored drive if there was recovery available to replace a failed drive and re-create the mirror.

Stan

[Steve Mann]

Hallelujah! There is justice in the world. I'll be first in line to test/use the new DTivo.

Time to hit the the AVS, Tivo and Satellite Guys forums and research the upcoming hardware.

Thanks for the great news.

[Chinatown]

Hallelujah! There is justice in the world. I'll be first in line to test/use the new DTivo.

Time to hit the the AVS, Tivo and Satellite Guys forums and research the upcoming hardware.

Thanks for the great news.

The only thing that would make it perfect would be if it had the multi-room feature.

as do the Dish HD receivers.

[Bebop]

It's still a year away. Maybe DirecTV will finally come out with the home server before that.