TiVo Adds Online Video Functionality

ALVISO, January 7: TiVo will soon expand its Season Pass
feature to include online video, allowing subscribers to watch a variety of
video content from the web on their television sets.

Using Real Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds, the TiVo set-top
box will be able to download and save online video from a broad range of
sources including network nightly newscasts, vignettes and original content
from major networks such as Comedy Central and Discovery. Because the player
will be able to download any videos with an RSS feed, independently produced
media such as DiggNation and Ask
A Ninja, as well as other niche content and
hobbyist videos, will be able to make the journey to the television set.

Once users have subscribed to a feed, new web videos will
download automatically, and will appear in the user’s Now Playing list
alongside recorded TV shows. Additionally, TiVo will provide an on-screen guide
of select web-video sources for users to browse and select Season Pass
recordings. The technology will also allow users to get a Season Pass recording
of their own personal video folders on their PC, where they save their home
movies and downloaded content. According to the company, the quality of
high-resolution web videos will be preserved when delivered to TiVo Series3 or
TiVo HD DVRs.

The expanded functionality requires TiVo Desktop Plus 2.6,
an update to the Windows application that also converts recorded TV shows for
viewing on portable devices like the iPod. The application is available to new
users for $24.95, and as a free update to owners of earlier versions.

“By adding the Season Pass functionality to web video
viewing, we are providing consumers a new way to easily and automatically
access the content they want to watch on their television sets,” said Tom
Rogers, the president and CEO of TiVo. “TiVo is building toward the dream of
providing one stop for all content, through one box, integrated into one
interface, accessible through one simple remote control. With TiVo providing
this web video feature, along with 20,000 Amazon titles, millions of songs,
thousands of music videos, and an enormous collection of photos, we have
already gone a long way toward building out the dream.”

“With our innovative and robust broadband offerings, TiVo
already provides more content than any other TV service that exists today,”
added Tara Maitra, the VP of content services at TiVo. “Now that TiVo has made
retrieving web content easier than ever by integrating it with the popular
Season Pass technology, consumers can enjoy great web video as if it’s a whole
new set of TV program options. And, if the writers’ strike goes on, these
options on the TV set may become more important to many viewers even more
quickly.”

—By Ned Berke