TiVo Unveils New Attractively Priced TiVo® HD DVR – the Ultimate Companion to HDTVs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts: Krista Wierzbicki Andrew Pray 408.519.9438 415.348.2732 kwierzbicki@tivo.com praya@ruderfinn.com

TiVo Unveils New Attractively Priced TiVo® HD DVR
– the Ultimate Companion to HDTVs

The new TiVo® HD DVR seamlessly combines ease of use, new content and affordability.

ALVISO, Calif.– July 24, 2007 – TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO), the creator of and a leader in television services for digital video recorders (DVRs), announced today the launch of a new TiVo high definition DVR, delivering a premium HD experience at an affordable price. Starting today, consumers can pre-order TiVo HD at www.tivo.com for just $299.99, with product expected to arrive on retail shelves in early August. The new TiVo HD DVR is the ultimate HDTV companion, maximizing the HD cable experience by combining a new popular price with the clarity of HD programming and our Emmy® award-winning TiVo™ service. The new TiVo HD is also a Digital Cable Ready set-top-box that works seamlessly with any cable provider in the U.S. Moreover, the new product also enables the latest and greatest exclusive TiVo service features such as Movie & TV Downloads from Amazon.com, Home Movie Sharing and universal Swivel™ search, delivering the best of broadband video directly to the television set.

“TiVo HD extends the TiVo experience to an even wider audience than ever, giving sports and entertainment enthusiasts the ultimate companion to their HDTV set,” said Tom Rogers, CEO and President of TiVo. “It is the ultimate media centerpiece for the living room with the broadest selection of broadband content, right alongside your favorite broadcast and cable programs, giving HDTV viewers more choice and control than they’ve ever had before. And it can be used in place of the customer’s existing cable box.”

The TiVo HD is designed to fit seamlessly with home entertainment centers, replacing cable boxes while complimenting other entertainment devices. It is compatible with digital cable, analog cable and digital antenna (ATSC). TiVo HD offers 20 hours of HD or up to 180 hours of standard definition content. The new TiVo HD DVR allows users to record two HD channels at the same time, while watching a third previously recorded show. With a built-in Ethernet jack, two CableCARD™ slots and USB ports, TiVo HD also provides advanced connectivity and easy networking, making it simple to access an additional suite of exclusive TiVo features.

“With close to 30% of U.S. homes now owning at least one high-definition TV, the market is ready for an HD-enabled platform that combines the best in DVR technology with the best of both traditional and web-based video entertainment,” notes Michael Greeson, president of The Diffusion Group, a consumer technology think tank. “TiVo HD sets the standard in terms of non-PC Internet-enabled set-top platforms, not to mention providing the seamless interface to which TiVo users have become accustomed.”

“TiVo HD is a perfect complement to the HDTV sets that are quickly becoming the standard for home entertainment,” said Jim Denney, Vice President of Product Marketing at TiVo. “With an affordable price and uncompromised quality, TiVo HD is an obvious choice for anyone with a passion for home entertainment and HD programming.”

TiVo HD includes access to a number of renowned TiVo features, furthering the difference between the TiVo service and generic DVR competitors, such as:

* Movie & TV Downloads – In partnership with Amazon.com, TiVo brings you Amazon Unbox™ on TiVo®, allowing you to download thousands of movies and TV shows straight to your TiVo DVR. Amazon Unbox on TiVo allows you to rent or buy movies from Amazon Unbox using your remote, download them to your TiVo box over your home network, and enjoy them right on your television set whenever you want. The movies you want are always in stock and new releases are available for purchase the same day they arrive on DVD. Best of all, order with your TiVo remote from the comfort of your living room and your rentals and purchases end up in your Now Playing list, right where you’d expect them to be. It’s like having an entire video store connected to your TV.

* Universal Swivel™ Search – Exclusive to the TiVo service, universal Swivel search lets you quickly find everything you want in the world of broadcast and broadband television with a single, powerful search. It’s the first truly TV centric onscreen search tool that allows subscribers to explore and discover broadcast, cable, and broadband content in an easy-to-use experience. TiVo subscribers can search using the way they intuitively think about television; that is, by starting with a program they currently enjoy and using elements of that program to find more of what they like. Universal Swivel search allows viewers to seamlessly link from descriptions of one program to all others that have common elements, including program name, actors, or suggestions based on other viewers’ feedback.

* TiVoCast – TiVoCast delivers original video programming directly to your TiVo box over your broadband Internet connection from a variety of media brands and producers, including the New York Times, CNET, iVillage, The Onion, and many others. The content appears in your Now Playing List, alongside regular broadcast programming as well as your Amazon Unbox rentals and purchases and even Home Movies. It’s all seamlessly integrated into the entire TiVo experience.

* Home Movie Sharing – Instead of burning your home movies to DVD and mailing them to friends and family, now you can share them through a private TiVo channel of your own. Simply upload your video footage or photographs to One True Media (www.OneTrueMedia.com), get a channel code, and send the code out to your audience. Your home videos will show up right in the Now Playing list on their TiVo boxes, so they can enjoy them on their own TV. No need to huddle around a computer screen anymore, home movie sharing delivers those precious moments directly to the TV.

* Online Services -With your TiVo box connected to your broadband home network, you can access a variety of online services right on your TV, including Yahoo! Traffic and Weather, Fandango movie tickets, live radio, podcasts, games and more.

* TiVo KidZone – Only TiVo-branded DVRs give you total control over what your kids see on TV. With TiVo KidZone, you get to choose which shows your children can watch and record. It also helps you discover great new shows for them through recommendations from leading national children’s organizations. TiVo KidZone provides a customized Now Playing List for your children that displays only the shows you pre-approve, keeping their shows separate from your own shows. TiVo KidZone relies on your own personal settings and password to ensure your kids only see what you want them to see, keeping TV as safe as possible.

Pre-orders begin today with the first boxes being shipped in early August. See www.tivo.com for details on ship dates. A subscription to the TiVo service is required and sold separately. TiVo HD will be available starting early August at Best Buy, Circuit City and other retailers for $299.99.

About TiVo Inc.

Founded in 1997, TiVo (NASDAQ: TIVO) pioneered a brand new category of products with the development of the first commercially available digital video recorder (DVR). Sold through leading consumer electronic retailers, TiVo has developed a brand which resonates boldly with consumers as providing a superior television experience. Through agreements with leading satellite and cable providers, TiVo also integrates its full set of DVR service features into the set-top boxes of mass distributors. TiVo’s DVR functionality and ease of use, with such features as Season Pass™ recordings and WishList® searches and KidZone have elevated its popularity among consumers and have created a whole new way for viewers to watch television. With a continued investment in its patented technologies, TiVo is revolutionizing the way consumers watch and access home entertainment. Rapidly becoming the focal point of the digital living room, TiVo’s DVR is at the center of experiencing new forms of content on the TV, such as broadband delivered video, music and photos. With innovative features, such as TiVoToGo™ and online scheduling, TiVo is expanding the notion of consumers experiencing “TiVo, TV your way.®” The TiVo® service is also at the forefront of providing innovative marketing solutions for the television industry, including a unique platform for advertisers and audience measurement research. The Company is based in Alviso, California.

TiVo, Season Pass, Swivel, TiVoToGo, WishList, the slogan ‘TiVo, TV your way.’, Series2, Series3, and the TiVo logo are trademarks of TiVo Inc. or its subsidiaries worldwide. © 2007 All rights reserved.

CableCARD™ is a trademark of the Cable Television Laboratories, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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Sony to brand LocationFree as VAIO

While Sling Media is the king of place-shifting with the Slingbox and SlingPlayer, they’re not the only player. HAVA is probably the next best known brand, but Sony is a player in the market too with their ‘LocationFree’ products. Now Sony is branding the LocationFree products under their VAIO name in the US. The VAIO LF-V30 Base Station is the first LocationFree product to get the new branding. This follows an earlier announcement that they would be bundling the LocationFree Player Software onto VAIO notebook PCs.

LocationFree is a bit more accessible than HAVA – while HAVA is limited to just Windows PCs and Windows Mobile devices, LF works on Windows PCs, Macs, Windows Mobile devices, and the PSP. (Software for the Mac and WinMob sold separately.) Still not as broad as the support for SlingPlayer, which works on more devices.

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Blu-ray to go

Hitachi is bringing high definition camcorders to market, using 8cm Blu-ray media. The 8cm media holds roughly 7GB and the cameras use 5.3 megapixel CMOS sensors co-developed with Altasens to record at a full 1920x1080p 60Hz. The new drive supports 8cm BD-RE/R and DVD-RAM/RW/R. It sounds like recording is to BD only, with DVD media supported for playback, and the drive is a 1x DB drive. Recording is MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 for HD and MPEG-2 for SD, and it can also capture JPEG still images. The cameras will hit the market later this year, possibly by the fall – at least in Japan. We’ll probably get them later.

From Impress (Google Translate) – noticed via Gizmodo.

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New TiVo Shanan videos

TiVo Shanan just posted two more videos. Another ‘My TiVo Gets Me’ video:

And a promo video for Amazon Unbox on TiVo:

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A good time to go high-def

No matter if you’re on the Blu-ray or the losing, I mean HD DVD, side of the format war, now is a good time to get on board.

Blu-ray has their ‘five free disc‘ promotion running through the end of September over at www.bluraysavings.com. Select five free discs from a list of 21 titles in 5 groups.

1The GuardianPearl HarborInvincibleChicken Little
2Corpse BridePhantom of the OperaBlazing Saddles 
3StealthResident Evil 2Underworld EvolutionStir of Echoes
4The Italian JobBlack RainBabelDevil’s Rejects
5Kiss of the DragonOmen 666The Transporter 2Species
Hart’s WarThe Last Waltz  

The PlayStation3 pricing was just dropped to $500 from $600, and it makes a good Blu-ray player. (Unfortunately, you’ve missed the Amazon bundle deal for a 6th free disc and a free remote. Fortunately, I didn’t – my bundle arrived yesterday. ;-) )

Now Wal*Mart is offering their own special deal. Buy the new Sony BDP-S300 for $488 (a very slight discount from the $499 MSRP) and Wal*Mart will include free Blu-ray copies of Gridiron Gang and Open Season. You can then claim five *more* free BD titles through the offer above. You can get this deal in stores, or on their website.

On the other side of the war, Toshiba is extending their own ‘five free disc’ offer through the end of September – clearly in response to the Blu-ray promotion. Purchase any of the following Toshiba HD DVD players: HD-A1, HD-XA1, HD-D1, HD-A2, HD-A2W, HD-XA2, HD-D2, or HD-A20. Then you can select any 5 of 15 HD DVD titles free. Like the Blu-ray offer, you pick one from each category.

1Apollo 13SeabiscuitThe Chronicles of Riddick
2CasablancaConstantineDukes of Hazzard
3Four BrothersLara Croft: Tomb RaiderSky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
4The RundownBlazing SaddlesU2: Rattle and Hum
5U-571The Perfect StormWe Were Soldiers
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