Yeah, TiVomino’s is a neologism I just made up, deal with it. Anyway, this shouldn’t be a surprise. First it was announced that pizza ordering would be coming to Australian TiVos. And then Domino’s Pizza ordering was announced for the US. So if you can put 2+2 together, it should be obvious what I’m coming to – the pizza ordering in Australia will also be Domino’s. At least that’s what the Sydney Morning Herald is reporting Hybrid TV Services, the Australian distributor of TiVo, is now saying.

As you’re probably aware, TiVo recently launched an HME application to enable Domino’s ordering from your TV, and Dave Zatz over at Zatz Not Funny created a video of the process. And now there is a promo video for the feature:

Via TiVo Blog.

Dave Zatz of Zatz Not Funny took the hit and ordered a pizza from Domino’s via the new TiVo HME application. And he kindly captured the experience on video and posted it to YouTube:

I’d still like to see this expanded to cover local places. I checked it out as well, but the two Domino’s locations it offered me were pick-up only, I’m outside their delivery area. There used to be one a block and a half from my house, but I noticed just a week ago as I drove by that it was gone. So I guess I won’t be trying it out myself.

That aside, the application was fairly simple to use, and I can see this being useful. If it supported places I actually ordered from I think I’d use TiVo-based ordering. I host a regular movie night with friends at my place, and we always order dinner. Right now we do it by passing around take-out menus and I write down what people want, then I call in the order, or sometimes order online from my laptop – if the place supports it. But if people could just put in what they want on the TV screen, we could all see the order, and then place it – that’d really be convenient.

It seems Australian TiVo boxes aren’t the only ones to get pizza ordering. After I posted about that I’d had a few tips that it was also coming to US TiVo units as well, so I asked TiVo about it and they confirmed it, but under embargo until now. Actually, ‘now’ is 08:30 Eastern when the embargo lifts and this scheduled post should be visible, but as I type this at 01:00 the application is already live on my TiVo. It is under TiVo Central -> Music, Photos, Products, & More -> Order Domino’s® Pizza Now.

Customers can login to their existing Dominos.com account, or register right from the application to place an order. You build your pizza(s), place the order, and pay cash when it is delivered. It would be nice to be able to pay via credit card while ordering – maybe in the future. Unfortunately, my local Domino’s is closed at this hour on a Sunday night, so I can’t put the app through it’s paces to see what the process is like. It is apparently aware of your local franchise’s status and doesn’t allow you to build an order if they’re closed. I’ll have to try it out soon, I’m interested to see if you can order more than just pizzas. Some Domino’s have salads, subs, etc, plus beverages of course. I’d expect that you can, but I want to see the process.

I’m glad to see TiVo introducing something like this, it is something I’ve suggested they do for a while now. And I’m not surprised to see them hook up with a national chain for their first foray into this territory. However, what I’d love to see them to is setup a kind of framework site where small, local places could be listed. I suppose a third party could do it, but it would be like Apps.tv – getting word out to TiVo users would be the hard part.

The concept I see is a website where vendors could register and enter their menus in a standardized way, along with order areas by zip code. They’d have to accept orders online, or perhaps via fax. (Net-to-fax systems are relatively simple.) TiVo users would only see options that deliver (or offer pickup) in their area. I think this would be an excellent way for TiVo to really support local vendors. And if someone wants to run with this idea as a 3rd party, ala Apps.tv, go for it.

I could see a few ways to make money from such a system, such as charging vendors to participate or simply skimming a percentage from orders placed via the system, which is probably the best option. Of course, an existing site like Delivery.com or GrubHub.com could also just add an HME interface. (Know of any other aggregation websites like that? Let me know in a comment, I’m curious. And if you use any of them yourself, why not suggest HME to them as a new feature?)

Press release below:

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