The video also clearly states the requirements for streaming in high quality (HQ) mode. SlingPlayer for iPad and SlingPlayer for Android tablets require 800kbps over 3G or 4G networks, and 1200kbps over WiFi. SlingPlayer for iPhone/iPod Touch, SlingPlayer for Android phones, and SlingPlayer for Windows Phone requires 500kbps over 3G or 4G networks and 800kbps over WiFi. Note those are the minimum speeds required for streaming HQ, higher speeds will provide better quality. If you can’t get those speeds you should stream in standard quality (SQ) mode. If you leave SlingPlayer it ‘auto’ it should figure it out and set the mode correctly.

TiVo will continue to support ATSC in future products, in some way, shape or form. I asked about this because the TiVo Premiere XL4 is a QAM only product, and knowing how hardware development and refresh cycles work I fully expect the Premiere and Premiere XL to be refreshed at some point and migrate to a shared design with the XL4. It is much more cost effective to produce one board and simply populate it differently for different products. The Premiere and Premiere XL will clearly be updated to add MoCA at some point, and it makes sense to go to a shared design. But that had implications for ATSC, hence my query.

TiVo can’t say, probably because at this point they honestly don’t know, what form an ATSC-supporting product might take, but they know there is a solid niche of ATSC users. Clearly the majority of their business comes from cable subscribers, but they do not plan to abandon ATSC users. There are issues with supporting ATSC however. ATSC tuners are more expensive than QAM tuners, and aren’t available in the same densities. We’re seeing single QAM tuner chips with six QAM tuners, even fully integrated SoCs with six, or more, integrated QAM tuners – but not ATSC.

This makes it harder, and more costly, to design and build a product with ATSC support. And the more ATSC tuners you include the higher the cost and complexity. And there are often knock-on costs – additional RAM, ancillary chips, etc. Add to that the effects of economies of scale. There are more QAM-enabled products than ATSC, that means there is more demand for QAM chips. The greater demand drives higher production levels of QAM chips, and the per-unit costs keeps coming down. ATSC components aren’t following the same decline, but remaining at higher price points.

And that’s why we don’t have an ATSC XL4, and probably won’t see one. And also why the bulk of products going forward are likely to be QAM-only, with specific SKUs to address the ATSC market niche.

On a different note, the new TiVo SDK will be released ‘this fall’. TiVo has hired someone who is working full time on running the SDK program and driving it to release. They’re serious about getting it out there and attracting more developers to create apps for TiVo.

TiVo would like to support Amazon Prime Streaming as much as users would like them to, but at this time they have nothing additional to announce.

My own take is that it is in the road map but they need developer support from Amazon to get it done. Remember the situation with Hulu Plus? Same deal. It will almost certainly happen, the question is when, but TiVo isn’t going to announce anything until there is something firmer to stand on. Like I said, that’s my read on the situation.

As for HBO Go – they know there is demand but they have nothing public to announce right now. My take is they will probably do it but won’t be saying anything until there is ink on paper to authorize it.

While I’m on the subject, TiVo says to expect a lot of additions to OTT content and, further out, extensive changes to the UI for selecting OTT content. I’m heartened by this, as the weak support for OTT content has been a pet peeve of mine for some time. For myself, I’d love to see content like NASA TV and Crunchyroll supported. I know others would love sports channels, such as MLB.TV. And the UI for Web Video is very creaky now. Next to something like Roku it is kind of sad.

I think the ’tile’ HD UI for ‘browse’ that TiVo has now could make for a decent web video UI. You could have a tile for a provider, and then tiles for each ‘show’ from the provider within that screen, etc. I think that if TiVo can really enhance the UI and expand the content list, the IP STB could have a secondary life as a general purpose streaming STB even for non-TiVo households.

As I reported back in February, TiVo continues to consider adding support for DLNA/DTCP-IP but doesn’t have anything more to say at this time. However, I have to say that, after talking to many vendors at the show, TiVo will add support for DLNA/DTCP-IP. It is a question of when now, not if.

Why do I say that? Because everyone else is doing it. It is really taking off, it seems like every vendor I talked to had something to say about DLNA/DTCP-IP. Just one example, the Pace XG1 box that runs the TiVo software can also run several other software stacks. On every other stack it uses DLNA/DTCP-IP for whole home streaming – but when running the TiVo software it uses TiVo’s proprietary system. ARRIS’s Moxi DVRs use DLNA/DTCP-IP – and therefore you can use a PS3, DLNA/DTCP-IP-enabled Smart TV, etc., as a client.

The stack is rapidly becoming MoCA+DLNA+DTCP-IP – and with RUI coming on strong as the next likely standard component. Since TiVo is serious about playing in the MSO market, and MSOs all seem to be extremely interested in standardizing on these components, I believe TiVo will simply have to adopt them to remain a player. It is almost painful to say, but the big, legacy players seem to be adopting standards faster than TiVo. You’re going to see DLNA everywhere before long, and TiVo needs to invite themselves to that party or risk being on the outside looking in.

Oh, a little side note. I was in Pace’s booth today, looking at the XG1 (there will be a post eventually), and I got crowded up for a bit by a gaggle of suits who came in for a demo. I noticed they were with Suddenlink, and they were quite interested in the XG1 running the TiVo software. I overheard some generally favorable comments about TiVo as a solution, but they seemed to like the idea of more ‘MSO-friendly’ hardware like the Pace unit. Which is kind of the whole point of TiVo’s partnership with Pace, so that’s a good thing.

Another good thing is that the Pace reps I observed doing the demo for various groups were all pretty gung ho about the TiVo solution. While they had an number of units setup, running different UI stacks (Comcast X1, a few Rovi solutions, etc.), they really stressed the TiVo solution. I head things like “TiVo is the one we’re really excited about” from the reps talking to MSO people dropping by for a demo. So that’s good to see & hear; it is good to see TiVo with an enthusiastic partner.

On a different note, unsurprisingly TiVo wouldn’t comment about future DVR products, aside from indicating it was likely transcoding will be ‘baked in’ to some future box, as I previously reported. But reading between the lines I think we can expect to see more tuners in a future box as well – an XL6 if you will. There are chips available now with six, or more, integrated QAM tuners. And an M-Card supports a maximum of six streams.

In addition there are a growing number of units from other vendors appearing with six tuners, which means competitive pressure on TiVo. Their MSO partners are going to want to “keep up with the Joneses”. While they could do that by using a box like the Pace XG1, those that have based their solutions on TiVo hardware are likely to want commonality.

My speculation is that sometime in 2013 we’ll see an ‘XL6′ using one of the newer chips, such as the BCM7435, with six QAM tuners, MoCA 2.0, and on-board transcoding. It probably will not have built-in WiFi as TiVo is trying to steer users away from WiFi and toward Ethernet or MoCA, to avoid customer experience issues and support headaches with streaming and flaky WiFi networks.

The tablet version of the Android app is actively being worked on. I reported in March that TiVo was saying ‘spring’ for Android tablets, but that’s clearly slipped a little. They recently made changes to the way they handle app development and they’re committed to iOS and Android. When the TiVo Stream is released this fall there will be clients for both, on phones and tablets. The streaming functionality will be incorporated into the existing TiVo apps.

TiVo is aware that the new YouTube and Netflix apps have long start-up times, and they’re working on ways to speed that up. The apps themselves are out of their control, that’s Google & Netflix, but they are working to improve performance, especially the start-up.

TiVo is updating their software more frequently, and we can expect more and more of the UI to migrate to HD with the coming releases. Screens such as the Season Pass Manager, To Do List, and screens from a remote unit (such as when using MRS), will be made HD this year. I think TiVo has made some real progress with the migration over the past couple of releases and I look forward to seeing it continue to progress.

OK, I think that’s it for now – and I really need to get a few hours of sleep before I return for the last day of the show. I have plenty more to write up as posts – such as my visits with Humax, Pace and Arris – but that’ll have to wait.

Now, just to get this out of the way, the Android app is slated to get these features in ‘summer’. And the long-awaited Android tablet app should finally arrive in ‘spring’. TiVo, please, release one Android app that runs on all Android devices – the Android SDK supports it. It is silly when we get multiple apps for different devices. So, my fellow Android users, be patient.

One of the most notable changes is the new Browse UI:

There’s also a lot more usability to the app when you’re away from home. For S4 users you can see and modify My Shows, the To Do List, and the Season Pass Manager. S3 users can view (but not modify) their To Do List, and view & modify their Season Pass Manager.

You can also now create a WishList Search from within the app. And when you re-order you Season Passes you can continue to use the app without waiting for the list to finish re-prioritizing. And all of the images in the app are now ‘retina’ quality, just in time for the new iPad. Here’s the complete list of improvements:

What’s New in Version 1.9
New features for iPad:
-Graphical full-screen Browse experience that makes it much faster and easier to find new shows and movies
-Collapsible folders

New features for iPhone:
-Added new retina images for iPhone displays

Other new features for both iPad and iPhone:
-Added “Keep Until I Delete” option for shows in My Shows
-Added recording options for shows set to record in the To Do List
-Create WishList for shows that aren’t airing right now
-Added My Shows, To Do List, Season Pass manager capability in Away mode for Series4 DVRs
-Added To Do List/Season Pass manager capability for Series3 DVRs
-Make Away mode more resilient to network drops
-Can use app while Season Pass recordings are reprioritizing
-Added new icons to My Shows
-Add live TV padding notification when recording a live event on TV
-Added Facebook single sign-on for easier Facebook login

Multiple performance enhancements and bug fixes including:
-Guide scrolling ahead by days bug fixed
-Allow background music to continue playing while using the app

*For DVR Discovery issues, please make sure your router firmware is up to date or contact customer support if you are still having problems

Now, as an Android-only household, I can’t wait to see these improvements on my devices.

On today’s call Tom Rogers stated that the transcoding box would ship “later this year”, which I believe is the first firm public statement.

From a technical perspective, based on my conversations with TiVo, the unit that comes to market will probably resemble the unit previewed at CES, but it may not be exactly the same. It is planned to be an Ethernet only device, most likely installed near the router in the home. It will stream content from TiVo Premiere units using the same system as the Premiere-to-Premiere Multi-Room Streaming (MRS) available today. The content will then be transcoded to H.264 and forwarded to devices running TiVo’s client app – such as Android or iOS phones and tablets. Users will be able to view the streams in real time, or they can be saved on the device for later viewing – which is how side-loading is accomplished.

The hardware itself is powered by Zenverge, so it looks like my prior speculation was close to the mark. However, the unit is not planned to have MoCA. I asked Jim Denney about this and he said that MoCA was considered, but given the envisioned use case it was felt that the added cost wasn’t justified. And after discussing it with him, I see his point. Even if the TiVo units are on MoCA, that MoCA network will need to be connected to a non-MoCA network to reach the client devices. And that connection point is a logical place to connect the transcoding box. It doesn’t really make sense to connect it to the MoCA network when it’d have to send the transcoded signal back over the same network to eventually be bridged off to the client network. Keeping the unit dirt simple – just a power connection and Ethernet – keeps it small and keeps the component costs down.

From a capability standpoint, the unit can accept and transcode up to four streams simultaneously. And on today’s call Rogers made the interesting comment that it could be a recording, or LiveTV. I believe the latter is new. Today streaming is only between units that have their own tuners, either Premiere-to-Premiere or Premiere-to-Preview, so there isn’t a need to grab a tuner on the remote device for ‘live’ TV. But for those who want to watch live on a second screen device, it’d be a necessity. (As well as for another application that’s coming, but I’ll leave that for another post. )

I asked about the streaming technology – is it based on Sling Media or Monsoon Multimedia, or anyone else? It is not. It is an in-house implementation using Zenverge’s silicon and developer tools. So it is unique, and the clients will come from TiVo. That gives me some hope. While Sling & Monsoon Multimedia treat their clients as a revenue stream, TiVo has been giving away their client software. And since you need a TiVo with an active subscription to use this transcoding box they have that revenue stream to draw upon. Rather than milking the customer for anther payment, I’m hopeful they will continue to provide the client software for free, relying on the sales of the hardware, and the TiVo subscription, for revenue.

If they do this it also makes me hopeful that they might publish the client APIs for 3rd parties to build support, as well as create clients for other platforms that aren’t Android or iOS. But that might be a bridge too far since I’m sure they’ll need to protect the content to keep the content owners happy, and that means they couldn’t tell others how to decrypt.

From my conversation with Jessica & Jim, the current plan is for streaming within the home, with side-loading for ‘on the go’ viewing. But not for place shifting streaming content outside of the home. Jim & I talked about this for a while, since I’m a long time Slingbox user and for me streaming beats side-loading hands down. He made the valid point that side-loading has some popular use cases – the most obvious is for when streaming isn’t an option, such as on an airplane. I know parents also use it to load up a bunch of their kids’ favorite shows to whip out on demand to pacify them, etc. So I’m not going to argue against side loading. It isn’t a use case that really interests me, but I acknowledge that it is valid.

As far as streaming outside of the home, Jim was sure to stress that it has not been “designed out” of the product. It isn’t currently planned, but it is something that could be added if there is demand. A lot of the concern is over quality of the experience, bandwidth requirements, etc. I made the point that I’ve been using a Slingbox since I had 768kbps upstream ADSL and only 2.5G EDGE data on my phone, giving me maybe 200kbps if I was lucky, and it was usable even with 320×240 resolution. And these days I have a 5Mbps uplink and 4G LTE on my phone, which has a 720p screen and HDMI output capabilities.

I’ve streamed HD video from my Slingbox PRO-HD from Worcester, MA to Seattle, WA and viewed it on my laptop while I’m out there for work. Being able to access my personal content at home, in real time, while I’m on the road just can’t be matched by side-loading. So I’m strongly in favor of TiVo enabling remote streaming as well. I argued that bandwidth costs continue to drop as speeds continue to increase, and device capabilities have never been greater. Now more than ever before streaming is viable.

I felt it was a good discussion and that TiVo is very much open to feedback on this issue. So it’d be good to hear from the user base. Do you want remote streaming? Or does local streaming and side-loading meet your needs?

No pricing or specific release dates are available at this time, so I can’t comment on that. But if they can bring this to market at a decent price point I think this would be very attractive, especially if they add remote streaming. By way of comparison, the DirecTV Nomad is $149, but you also need to subscribe to the Nomad Mobile DVR Service. My impression of this TiVo unit is that it is a one-time purchase, so it may retail for more than the Nomad. By while the Nomad is strictly store-and-forward side-loading, with real-time transcoding, the TiVo unit does streaming and side-loading, and it sounds like it will transcode for side-loading in better than real time.

I, for one, would be very interested in getting my hands on one of these units.

Android phones:

Android tablets:

Kindle Fire:

iPhone:

iPad:

Windows Phone 7:

Web:

The list of features includes:

• Local TV listings based on your service provider (US and Canada)
• TiVo DVR remote scheduling
• Netflix search interface: Miss an episode of your favorite show? i.TV helps you find it on Netflix
• Netflix controls: add shows to your Netflix disc and instant queue
• Bookmark feature for favorite shows
• Entertainment news that updates in real-time and filters by favorite shows
• IMDb and Wikipedia: one-touch direct access to show information on both
• Smart Lists, such as New Shows and Emmy Winners

The app is available for free from both the Android Market and the Amazon Appstore.

Judging from the screenshots it looks like the app has native support for both phone and tablet screen layouts and resolutions.

Looking at a graph of market share by smartphone vendor, the precipitous decline of Nokia is painfully obvious, and it looks like RIM isn’t doing so well either. On the other hand, you can see the rapid rise of Samsung. Samsung has claimed 26% of the global smartphone market, becoming the largest vendor. Apple slipped from 19% to close to 14%, but that could be due to anticipation of the iPhone 4S (the figures are from before the launch). Nokia has toppled from the top of the heap to under 14% in roughly a year. HTC overtook RIM with 11% to 9% as the former continues to gain market share and the latter loses it. Sony has approximately 6%, LG 5%, and Motorola 4%.

Unsurprisingly the units shipped by vendor closely aligns with the market share of each vendor. The sheer number of devices being shipped is really impressive.

Via Droid Life.

The Wi-Drive supports 801.11g/n networking so up to three iDevices can access content stored on the Wi-Drive simultaneously – iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad. It also acts as a sharing hub so you can share media from your device with the others connected to the Wi-Drive. You just need the free Wi-Drive app.

Kingston even put together a cheesy video showing how it can be used:

The MSRP on this is $59.95, and Amazon sells it for $49.94, but Woot! is offering the L5 Universal Remote for iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad for only $19.99 + $5 S&H. That’s half of Amazon’s price – and this is new, not refurbished. $20 for touchscreen universal remote capabilities is not much to ask, especially when it is a $60 product.

What about the rest? Windows came in a distant, distant third with 2.4% of the market on 400,000 units shipped. Which double’s RIM’s 200,000 Playbooks shipped. 500,000 other tablets shipped, many of those likely WebOS TouchPads HP dumped on the market.

With the TouchPad out of the market and the Playbook stagnant, and Windows 8 tablets still a ways off, iOS and Android should take even more of the market this quarter. And Android should take more market share from iOS as more Android tablets hit the shelves, not the least of which will be the $200 Amazon Kindle Fire. Well, if you can really call it an Android tablet given how heavily customized it is.

Via The Register.

You’ll be able to use the app to share what shows you’re watching and your ratings with your friends on Facebook. They’ll then be able to use those ratings in the app to discover content, see what their friends are watching, and maybe check out those shows themselves. You’ll be able to discuss your shows, movies, etc, with Facebook friends – whether they’re TiVo subscribers or not.

I know a lot of people are going to think this is pointless or something they won’t use, etc. And that’s fine. No one has to use this if it isn’t something they want. But I think this is a good move for TiVo and I’ve been suggesting that they do something like this for years. (Actually I’ll dig up a comment I left on Facebook a while back and make that my next post.) I want to see TiVo integrate with social media like Facebook and Twitter to allow users to share what they’re watching, which shows they like, etc. I think it increases the value of the TiVo platform and the ‘stickiness’ which helps keep users engaged, and also helps draw others to the platform. If they do it right I think this will be good for TiVo and TiVo users.

I have one minor disappointment with this announcement – it relies on the external app. While I’m still waiting for the promised Android version (and trying to remain patient…), I’d really like to see these features built into the TiVo. With the HW in the Premiere and the Flash app platform I think they’d be able to do an overlay. With the TiVo Slide remote it would be pretty easy to send out a quick Facebook update or Tweet right from the screen. I hope we see this kind of thing in the future. But, in the meantime, support via the app is a good step forward, IMHO.

The updated iOS apps, with the new Facebook integration, will roll out later this year.

The full press release is below:

TiVo Integrates with Facebook® Platform to Define the Future of Social TV

TiVo iPad and iPhone Apps to Add Deeper Facebook Integration Layering Friends’ Recommendations and Real-Time Viewing Activity over TiVo’s Smart Search, Browse and Suggestion Features

Alviso, Calif., September 22, 2011 – TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO), the creator of and leader in advanced television services including digital video recorders (DVRs), announced in conjunction with f8, Facebook’s developer conference, that it will update its popular iPhone and iPad apps to include additional integration with Facebook® to increase Social TV functionality. Facebook’s newly announced Like and Watch integrations with the enhanced Facebook APIs which will allow people who use the TiVo® service to further connect with family, friends, and subscribers around the entertainment they love to offer an added layer of recommendations further enabling TiVo lovers to enjoy brilliant TV from the world’s only smart DVR.

The improved Facebook integration creates a social guide for people to expand their typical entertainment choices by discovering new programs through the recommendations of their Facebook friends. TiVo users will be able to discover programs their Facebook friends endorse with the Like feature, or view what shows their friends are currently enjoying with the Watch feature and immediately schedule a recording or watch live based on those recommendations. And because the TiVo iPad and iPhone apps are linked to the TiVo DVR, TiVo users can feature the program they’re watching to their friends and subscribers on Facebook with a flick of their finger.

“When we launched the TiVo apps for iPhone and iPad earlier this year, we did so with the goal of expanding the ways TiVo lovers can interact with people, the web, and the entertainment they’re viewing while they watch TV. With this improved Facebook integration, TiVo users can discover things to watch from the new social guide, and can feature their entertainment experiences and choices with their friends,” said Jim Denney, Vice President and General Manager of product marketing for TiVo Inc. “Through full integration with the set-top box, TiVo is defining the future of Social TV by offering a new way for people to connect and interact on the second screen in a way that is fully integrated with their actual TV watching experience.”

The TiVo App retains its unique and easy-to-use interface and lets people peruse TiVo’s hallmark search, browse and recommendation functions, without disrupting what they are watching on the big screen. As people connect and interact with the Social TV features on the TiVo app, they will have more robust access to suggested programming provided by their networks on Facebook.

The improved integrations will launch on the TiVo app later this year. The TiVo App is available for free from the App Store on iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, or at www.itunes.com/appstore.

The TiVo App for iPhone supports all high definition TiVo DVRs, including TiVo Premiere, Premiere XL, Series3™, HD and HD XL.* Series2 and non-TiVo users can still sample the TiVo experience through the apps Guest Mode. Users can browse, search and scroll through program and channel guides and experience the simplicity of the TiVo interface. A valid TiVo user account is required for full functionality.

For more information on the TiVo app please visit www.tivo.com/ipad.

*TiVo Series3™, HD and HD XL DVR users will enjoy the app’s guide, scheduling, remote control, search and explore features, but these users should anticipate a smaller set of features and capabilities than TiVo Premiere users.

Facebook® is a registered trademark of Facebook Inc.

# # #

About TiVo Inc.

Founded in 1997, TiVo Inc. (Nasdaq: TIVO – News) developed the first commercially available digital video recorder (DVR). TiVo offers the TiVo service and TiVo DVRs directly to consumers online at www.TiVo.com and through third-party retailers. TiVo also distributes its technology and services through solutions tailored for cable, satellite and broadcasting companies. Since its founding, TiVo has evolved into the ultimate single solution media center by combining its patented DVR technologies and universal cable box capabilities with the ability to aggregate, search, and deliver millions of pieces of broadband, cable, and broadcast content directly to the television. An economical, one-stop-shop for in-home entertainment, TiVo’s intuitive functionality and ease of use puts viewers in control by enabling them to effortlessly navigate the best digital entertainment content available through one box, with one remote, and one user interface, delivering the most dynamic user experience on the market today. TiVo also continues to weave itself into the fabric of the media industry by providing interactive advertising solutions and audience research and measurement ratings services to the television industry www.TiVo.com

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements relate to, among other things, specific TiVo products and timing of distribution of those products. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as, “believe,” “expect,” “may,” “will,” “intend,” “estimate,” “continue,” or similar expressions or the negative of those terms or expressions. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to vary materially from those expressed in or indicated by the forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially include delays in development, competitive service offerings and lack of market acceptance, as well as the other potential factors described under “Risk Factors” in the Company’s public reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2011, our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended April 30, 2011, and Current Reports on Form 8-K. The Company cautions you not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which reflect an analysis only and speak only as of the date hereof. TiVo disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

From the press release the app sounds like a clone of the US app with a few tweaks to reflect the unique aspects of Virgin Media’s service. The images below are from the release.

The smartphone market is really well on its way to being a duopoly of Android and iOS. Blackberry is up there right now, but while the two leaders have been growing their market share, Blackberry has been losing it. That should continue and the two leaders will increasingly open their lead over Blackberry.

Looking at consumers who plan to buy a new smartphone in the next year, 31% said they want their next phone to be an iPhone while 34% say they want it to run Android. Bad news for RIM, only 7% say they want a Blackberry. That’s especially when 5% say they want Windows Phone 7, and it’s barely broken into the market at this point. So much for Blackberry’s vaunted customer loyalty. Still, they have a chance, 2% say they want ‘Other’, and with WebOS and Symbian Gone they’re really up for grabs, as are the 18% who are undecided.

If these numbers play out, things are looking very good for Android and iPhone – but not very good for anyone else. Blackberry looks to remain in a serious slide unless they can do something drastic to turn things around.

Apple is the HW vendor with the largest single share, as they’re the sole maker of iPhones an thus claim 28% of the market in HW. HTC and RIM are tied for the second spot with 20% apiece. HTC’s 20% is split – 14% from Android and 6% from Windows phones. If the trends continue HTC will probably push RIM into the 3rd slot in HW very soon, if they haven’t already. Motorola claimed 11% of the HW market, and Samsung 10% – split 8% Android, 2% Windows.

As RIM continues to decline this is really turning into a two horse race between Android and iOS, with Android continuing to grow at a faster pace. It may be a while before any single Android HW maker overtakes Apple though, if it happens.

Nielsen via Engadget Mobile.

As you can see in the graph from comScore Data Mine, Google’s Android operating system had astounding growth from May 2010 through May 2011 – 634%! In the past year Symbian has fallen from the top spot in the UK market to #3, behind Apple’s iOS and Android, dropping 10% to 22.5% of the market. Google’s Android, at 26.7% remains a hair behind Apple’s 27.1%, but is increasing as a much faster rate – 634% growth to 46% – and Android should be in the #1 spot soon, if not already. RIM, which has been taking a beating in the US market, surprisingly grew their share by 59% over the year, and if the trends continue RIM could knock Symbian into fourth place.

As they say, a rising tide lifts all boats, and the UK smartphone market overall is experiencing significant growth. A year ago 27% of mobile users used a smartphone, in 2011 that figure was 42%. Which helps explain how Android alone could add 4.7 million users in one year without gutting the other players. And also helps explain RIM’s growth, I’d think.

Microsoft, knocked from fourth to fifth place by the Android explosion, is not doing well, losing 32% of their share in a year. This is surely due to the decline in Windows Mobile use and the lackluster response to Windows Phone 7 to date.

Via Engadget.

Orb Networks has launched a new service, Orb Live, which allows you to stream content from your Windows PC or Mac to your Android or iOS device for $9.99 – with no ongoing fees. Much like PlayOn, Orb Live uses Orb Caster on your PC or Mac as a proxy server. This allows you to stream premium content to your phone even if an app is not yet available for your platform. The content is streamed to your PC, then re-encoded and streamed to your phone. But note this could kill your bandwidth cap since this is a double-whammy – you have the stream coming in and the stream going back out.

But if you really want to get content on your mobile device and there isn’t a native app option, now you have this.

Full press release below:

Jul 18, 2011 08:10 ET

Orb Networks Launches First Service to Provide Free Streaming of Premium Online TV Shows, Sports and Movies to Mobile Phones

— New $9.99 Orb Live App Makes it Easy to Watch TV Shows and More on an iPhone or Android Device

OAKLAND, Calif., July 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Orb Networks (www.orb.com) is putting out the call to TV lovers today with the announcement of its new Orb Live app — the first service that enables consumers to stream the vast majority of popular premium online TV shows, sports, movies and more directly to their iPhone or Android devices. For TV viewing anywhere and anytime, Orb Live makes it simple and affordable for people to watch shows from Hulu, ABC, CBS, Fox, ESPN and more, with its unique technology that streams TV shows for free to a mobile phone.

Orb Live is the first service to stream free, ad-supported Hulu to mobile devices. Priced at only $9.99, with no subscription fees, Orb Live opens up a whole new world of entertainment options for mobile phone users, with thousands of TV shows available. Orb Live features premium online content, including full TV show episodes – which until now could only be watched through your computer’s web browser. With Orb Live, consumers can also watch a huge array of sports and movies via services such as Netflix and Amazon Video on Demand.

Mobile-video viewing saw a 41% rise from last year, according to a recent study by Nielsen Holdings N.V., and Orb Live is meeting this consumer demand for mobile TV and video viewing.

“Now consumers can use Orb Live to watch their favorite TV shows, sports and movies anywhere, on their mobile phone, without any additional subscription fees,” said Joe Costello, CEO and cofounder of Orb Networks. “No matter where they are, people can use their mobile phone to get the same great content that is available on their home PC for watching at the beach, on the soccer field, at the airport or on a commuter train.”

He added, “With this new version of Orb Live, we have also dramatically improved the streaming quality of the video to give users the best possible picture quality, at their current connection speed. As the connection moves up and down in quality, the video adjusts in real time to deliver the best picture and minimize the dreaded buffering so users always have access to their TV shows, movies and music.”

To help consumers easily find and watch their favorite shows, Orb Live features a powerful and easy-to-use global index of TV shows. Consumers simply type in the name of the show they want and then Orb quickly finds the show, without having to specify its source (e.g. Hulu, Netflix, ABC, CBS, etc).

The new version of Orb Live also provides consumers with all of the features of the original Orb Live, including live streaming of any music files, online music (Pandora, Sirius, etc.), video files (downloaded DivX/XviD files, home movies, etc.) photos and more to a mobile phone.

The new version of Orb Live for the iPhone is available immediately, with planned availability for the Android in mid-August. To get started, consumers download the free Orb Caster software from Orb.com to their PC or Mac and then download Orb Live from the App Store or Android Marketplace. Orb Live requires Edge, 3G, 4G or Wi-Fi network for connection to the Internet, to stream media via Orb Live to a mobile phone.

About Orb Networks

Based in Oakland, California, Orb Networks, Inc. is the leader in digital media streaming solutions for the digital home and remote access applications. In addition to Orb Live, Orb Networks offers the Orb Music Player ($79) that streams iTunes and Pandora to any home stereo. And, the Orb TV ($99) solution, with a hockey puck-sized device that plugs into a TV, enables consumers to stream online video content to a TV. The new OrbBR (Blu-ray) software works with an Internet-connected Blu-ray player and is easily controlled through a smart device or using any computer. For more information about Orb products, please visit www.orb.com.

SOURCE Orb Networks

CONTACT: Lisa Hendrickson, Commstrat for Orb Networks, +1-516-767-8390, lisa@commstrat.com

Web Site: http://www.orb.com

Joining the already available TiVo App for iPad, TiVo today released and app for iPhone and iPod Touch. The new App has full support for the TiVo Premiere, and partial support for the TiVo Series3 and TiVo HD. Additionally it seems the iPad App has also been updated with S3 & HD support.

From the press release:

Features of the TiVo App include:

• NEW! Guest Mode — Even if you don’t currently have a TiVo DVR, you can still sample the TiVo experience through the new Guest Mode. Users can browse, search and scroll through program and channel guides and experience the simplicity of the TiVo interface.
• NEW! TiVo Series3™ Support* — Now users who have TiVo Series3™, HD and HD XL DVRs can also download the app to browse, search and schedule recordings as well as make use of the reinvention of the TiVo remote.
• Gesture-based controls — Take complete control of all recordings, even move forward and backward through a show with a simple tap or swipe.
• Program Guide — Browse your full-screen TV program guide without interrupting TV viewing.
• Schedule — Schedule one-time recordings and Season Pass® recordings from the device at home or on-the-go.
• Get more from your shows and movies — Explore cast and crew and other recommendations of your favorite shows without interrupting the big screen.
• Search — Search for all of your favorite TV shows, movies, actors or directors across both broadcast and broadband from Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video, and more.
• Share comments with your friends — From within the TiVo App, comment and share your thoughts on your favorite programming on Facebook or Twitter.

* TiVo Series3™, HD and HD XL DVR users will enjoy the app’s guide, scheduling, remote control, search and explore features, but these users should anticipate a smaller set of features and capabilities than TiVo Premiere users.

This feature matrix illustrates which app features are available for use with each TiVo platform:

Now, can we get some Android love? Please, Tivo?

Edited to add – TiVo also published a video demo: