Pace, a maker of set top boxes, has licensed TiVo’s Hardware Porting Kit and is working with TiVo to produce a TiVo-verified platform for cable operators world wide. Pace is joining the likes of Cisco and Samsung, both providing hardware to Virgin Media in the UK (and Cisco to ONO in Spain), and Technicolor (formerly Thomson) who produce the THR22 for DirecTV and who are working on HW for Canal Digital in Scandinavia.
Pace is a global provider of hardware to the cable, satellite, & IPTV industries, including major MSOs like Comcast in the US. While TiVo’s current MSO deals in the US, with RCN, Suddenlink, Grande Digital, and Charter, all involve TiVo hardware, it makes sense to diversify with other platforms. Larger MSOs may be more comfortable buying hardware from a vendor they already do business with, and which has a proven track record of being able to manufacture and delivery large quantities of units. TiVo is still a relatively small player in the STB world. Also appealing will be the ability to use Pace’s provisioning and device management capabilities and their integrated high-speed data connectivity (aka built in DOCSIS and/or MoCA) for broadband communications and content delivery.
While Pace will be offering TiVo products to customers world wide, the release states that the initial product will be made available to cable operators in the Americas. That sounds to me like there are already initial customers lined up, but not yet publicly announced.
Fresh on the heels of their legal settlement with AT&T it seems there aren’t any hard feelings, as TiVo and AT&T have entered into an agreement to share viewing data between TiVo and AT&T AdWorks. The agreement will allow TiVo to combine aggregate and anonymous household viewing data from TiVo and AT&T U-Verse customers.
This data supports TiVo’s targeted advertising products. As DVR usage, including ad-skipping, expands, content providers must find a new way to monetize the content. And they need to know which approaches are working, which ads are getting viewed, to optimize their efforts. Like it or not, the content needs to get paid for somehow. And TiVo seeks to address that need with their advanced advertising platforms. The broader the data pool, the more accurate they can be.
Over a year ago Sling Media announced a deal with Verizon Wireless to rent a Slingbox to Verizon Wireless customers for uses with their mobile devices. Instead of buying a Slingbox at retail users would be able to rent a Slingbox from Verizon for a monthly fee. EngadgetHD even got photos of the unit, a Slingbox 120, at CES 2011. But after the announcement and sighting at CES 2011 it seems like nothing new appeared, and everyone just forgot about the deal or presumed it fizzled.
That is, until today. EngadgetHD’s Richard Lawler called my attention to this video,“Introduction to the Verizon Slingbox Subscription Plan”, posted yesterday by Sling Support:
According to the video the Verizon Slingbox Subscription Plan is available now, for a $49.99 deposit and $9.99/month – plus taxes and shipping. You get a Slingbox 120, Slingbox player software for your Verizon mobile device (which is not the same as the generally available SlingPlayer app), and ‘accessories’. I found this FAQ on Sling’s website, which indicates the ‘accessories’ amount to a pair of SlingLink TURBO powerline network adapters – also seen in the video. The deposit is refundable if you cancel the subscription and return the hardware.
The video states that the subscription is available if your have a 4G LTE device, but the app doesn’t seem to be available on my Verizon Galaxy Nexus nor my wife’s Verizon Droid RAZR. The FAQ indicates the supported phones are the HTC Thunderbolt, Samsung Droid Charge, and LG Revolution, while the video explicitly mentions the Thunderbolt, Charge, and the Motorola Droid Bionic – but not the Revolution.
Since the phones mentioned are all last year’s models, and this hit out of the blue, I left the following comment on the video:
This was announced last year, and the FAQ on Sling’s site? (support.slingbox.com/get/KB-2000434.html) seems out of date – the phone models listed are all last year’s models. Is this actually launching now? Which phones are/will be supported? I don’t see the app on my Verizon Wireless Galaxy Nexus, which is 4G LTE.
Somewhat surprisingly, Sling Support responded quickly thusly:
Good point, but that FAQ is actually accurate. We have a limited roll out right now and are evaluating other VZW models as they come to market.? Thanks!
If the flagship 4G LTE phones aren’t supported it does seem to be ‘limited’, but hopefully they’ll expand this to newer models rapidly. It certainly seems to have been a very quiet launch. Not only did we miss any sign of it, but I can’t find any mention of this service anywhere on the Verizon Wireless website. And even the Sling Media website is pretty much limited to the old 2011 press release and the FAQ. It doesn’t seem like either party is doing much to publicize this option.
What about you? If you have a Verizon 4G LTE phone, especially a model not listed above, is this available to you? Would you take this over just buying a Slingbox outright? A Slingbox SOLO is currently $162.02 at Amazon, and SlingPlayer for Phones is $29.99, so you’d be looking at just over $192. That’s about 19 months worth of subscription fees (I won’t count the deposit since that’d refundable). Personally I think buying a Slingbox at retail is a better deal in the long run.
In addition to announcing their financial results tomorrow, TiVo will be presenting at two investor conferences next week. First up, on Tuesday 2/28, TiVo President & CEO Tom Rogers will present at the Deutsche Bank 2012 Media and Telecommunications Conference. Next, on Thursday 3/1, TiVo SVP Naveen Chopra presents at the Morgan Stanley 2012 Technology, Media & Telecom Conference. Both will be webcast, see below for info.
Deutsche Bank 2012 Media and Telecommunications Conference Palm Beach, FL Tuesday, February 28, 2012 1:40 PM ET Tom Rogers, President and CEO Webcast
Morgan Stanley 2012 Technology, Media & Telecom Conference San Francisco, CA Thursday, March 1, 2012 10:20 AM PT Naveen Chopra, SVP, Corporate Development and Strategy Webcast
This bit of news broke while I was off on my honeymoon and if this is something you were waiting for your probably already aware of this. While WeaKnees had expected the DirecTiVo to release wide around 1/30, they weren’t off by much. The new TiVo HD DVR from DIRECTV THR22, aka DirecTiVo, officially hit wide release on Thursday 2/9 – though it showed up at a few resellers in the days before the official release.
The THR22 initially launched back on 12/8, but only in limited markets and it was only available directly from DirecTV. Now it is available nationwide from resellers as well as DirecTV. Which also means the super-sized units are available through WeaKnees.
While the THR22 lacks many of the features of the current DirecTV DVRs, if you prefer the TiVo interface it is the only game in town for DirecTV. And that’s enough for some users.
Pace, a maker of set top boxes, has licensed TiVo’s Hardware Porting Kit and is working with TiVo to produce a TiVo-verified platform for cable operators world wide. Pace is joining the likes of Cisco and Samsung, both providing hardware to Virgin Media in the UK (and Cisco to ONO in Spain), and Technicolor (formerly Thomson) who produce the THR22 for DirecTV and who are working on HW for Canal Digital in Scandinavia.
