It looks like the rumored September launch for ONO’s TiVo service in Spain was on target, as their pre-order page is now up. There are two sign up forms, one for existing ONO customers and one for new customers. Even better, those who pre-register will get the first six months free.
Now, I took Spanish in high school but that was over 22 years ago and, frankly, I never really paid close attention and didn’t do very well. In fact, Spanish was my worst subject by far. So I’m relying on Google Translate, so there may be some ‘fuzziness’.
On the pre-registration forms it also seems like registering gets you entered in a drawing for a free iPad 2 – perhaps this indicates the iPad TiVo software is also coming? There is one thing though…
The original text reads:
Solo por dejarnos tus datos participas en el sorteo de un iPad 2
Just below that is:
Oferta limitada a los primeros 5.000 particulares pre-inscritos antes del 30 de septiembre 2011. La pre-inscripción no implica compromiso de contratación.
This translates to:
Just for your information, let us participate in the draw for a iPhone 2
And:
Offer limited to first 5,000 pre-registered individuals prior to September 30, 2011. Pre-Registration does not imply commitment of hiring.
Ignoring the iPad->iPhone translation error, based on the positioning of this text and the layout of the page I think the “first 5,000″ limitation is for the drawing. So you have a 1 in 5,000 chance to win the iPad 2. I don’t think they’re saying only 5,000 people can pre-register for the TiVo, that seems crazy – especially given Virgin Media had 50,000 pre-registrations.
We know ONO is using the same Cisco hardware that Virgin Media is using in the UK, with a similar fiber network. So we can probably expect a similar feature set over all. The software is from the same base, but localized for Spanish and ONO’s unique requirements. Interestingly the site states the unit can record two channels at once, while playing back a third recording. This is how the UK box launched, but later on the dormant third tuner was launched. Since ONO is using the same HW, perhaps they’re doing something similar?
Capacity is advertised as 200 hours. Remote scheduling is explicitly mentioned. They’re also making a big deal out of the HD & 3D content – which makes sense as ONO’s HDTV launch is centered on this TiVo. That’s good news for the TiVo service too. You want HDTV from ONO, you get the TiVo box.
Just like the UK box, ONO will be using the built-in cable modem and data usage from the TiVo will not affect other broadband users in the home. For broadband content they’ve partnered with rtve.es, TeleCinco, Televisio De Catalunya, Canal Cocina, Sol Musica, iVoox, Decasa, Rockola FM, and Picasa.
Looks like a solid first offering.
There’s also a video as part of the site:
I didn’t get around to covering this last week, since I’m really a geek and don’t follow the financial world closely, but it is worth mentioning I think. TiVo is using part of the $500 million they got from EchoStar & Dish to do a stock buy back. I don’t really have anything to add, so here’s the press release:
