I enjoy things like this, which just shows how much of a geek I am. I like getting a little peek under the covers at how various products are brought together. This time Wipro Technologies issued a press release to tout the fact that TiVo selected their “DVB-T and Common Interface (CI) software stacks for its solutions targeting Australian and European markets.” Hmm, did you notice something there? That one word? “European”? I wonder if Wipro knows something. Perhaps, as there is more.

“TiVo has been an innovation leader since its inception. It has changed the whole TV viewing experience through their innovative DVR solutions over the years. We are excited about the fact that Wipro’s multi-country compliant DVB-T stack, along with DVB-CI stack, has been adopted by TiVo for their DVR solutions.” Said Nagamani Murthy, Vice President, Mobile Consumer Electronics & Automotive Group,Wipro Technologies

Interesting how they explicitly mention ‘multi-country compliant’. Perhaps I’m reading too much into it, but it has always been fairly clear that TiVo plans to attack the European market. They’ve exhibited EFIGS (English, French, Italian, German, Spanish) software at CES. They had a generic DVB-T platform on display next to the Australian box. The only really questions are when and where. I still think the UK is the logical choice for the first European market since DVB-T Freeview is popular and they already have the infrastructure in place to support the lingering UK customers from their first foray there.

There have also been hints that New Zealand will likely follow Australia once the Australian market has settled down a bit.

Blu-ray Disc sales in Europe have broken the one million mark for the year, accounting for approximately 73% of high-def disc sales, with HD DVD accounting for the remaining 27%. Blu-ray is beating HD DVD in Europe nearly 3:1, even better than the 2:1 margin in the US - though not close to the 9:1 stomping in Japan. But it is clear, HD DVD is being beaten by Blu-ray Disc around the world.