I love my TiVo DVR, so I had high expectations for Nero’s LiquidTV | TiVo PC, a combination of hardware and software that brings the features of a TiVo DVR to a PC. But after testing out a newly updated version of the product, I’m a bit disappointed, as it suffers from a few glitches that make me hesitate to recommend it.

Check out the full review for the details.

I don’t think the $99 software-only or $199 with-hardware purchase pricing is too bad, especially as it’ll probably see discounts, but the ongoing fee is just too high. That’s the same yearly fee as a standalone TiVo, and you don’t get all the features of a standalone box with the PC software. I think they could probably get away with $49 a year, even the free MythTV has a $20 year fee for the guide data license. A little more to enjoy the TiVo interface would be reasonable, I think.

But pricing aside, EngadgetHD also found some real issues with the product. Some of them are minor issues, nits really, but some seem much more major to me. The software apparently only works with tuners that have Broadcast Driver Architecture (BDA) drivers, and not all tuner/capture cards do. Notably it seems CableCARD tuners do not, so the software does not recognize CableCARD tuners in PCs that have them. That’s really unfortunately, IMHO, and I think that should be a priority for TiVo and Nero to fix. EngadgetHD also reports that the software didn’t support Clear QAM tuning, despite the included hardware being QAM-capable. That compounds the problem with being unable to use CableCARDs. At least if Clear QAM worked users would be able to tune a few digital cable channels, generally their locals. I’m kind of hoping this was an issue with the pre-release software, because if the production software is missing any QAM support that’s a major oversight in my opinion.

There are some other issues which sound like 1.0 syndrome, things that could be fixed with relatively minor updates to the software. Issues in this category include the lack of a grid style EPG (only the TiVo Guide is available), not showing episode titles while browsing content on other TiVos, and some usability issues with setup and configuration. But those sound minor to me compared to the lack of CableCARD, or any QAM, support and the crazy pricing.

On the plus side it has nearly all of the DVR features of a standalone TiVo. You of course get Season Passes and WishLists, but it can also record the Live TV buffer if you decide to keep a show you’re watching – something Windows Media Center doesn’t do. And it will auto-convert recordings to other formats, which is a more direct version of TiVo Desktop Plus’s auto-transfer and auto-transcode feature for standalone TiVos. And recordings are standard MPEG-2 files with the .mpg extension, so they should be readily usable in other software.

And, of course, being on a PC, and the software coming from Nero, you have additional features such as being able to burn your recordings to DVD.

I’m looking forward to getting my hands on it to get my own impression, but from the EngadgetHD review it sounds like it might be worth waiting for an update to the software to correct some of these issues. Or at least waiting to see if any of them are fixed before the consumer release. And, of course, seeing if they get a little more sane about pricing.

I’m hoping to get a review copy of this soon to put through its paces.

I’ve saved the best for last, not that Nero Move it and Nero 9 aren’t great products, but this is the one I’m most excited about – Nero LiquidTV | TiVo PC! LiquidTV | TiVo PC (henceforth just LiquidTV to keep it simple) is the culmination of the TiVo-Nero partnership announced last November, and reconfirmed this June. It brings the TiVo experience to your Windows XP or Windows Vista PC.

It turns your PC into a TiVo DVR with a user experience very similar to that of a standalone TiVo. Based on the web conference Nero held last Friday, and the press packet images, I suspect the software may be based on the codebase developed for the Comcast cable software. It has a similar look and feel and some of the features previously unique to the OCAP/tru2way software, such as PIP video in the menus. But it goes beyond the capabilities of the standalone TiVo, since it is on the PC, by allowing you to easily burn DVDs of the content or easily transcode and transfer content to your portable devices. Users familiar with the TiVo interface will have no trouble using LiquidTV, in fact the retail box comes with a TiVo peanut remote.

There are two versions of the product, a downloadable software-only version for $99.99, which includes one year of TiVo service. Or a retail box with hardware for $199.99, which also includes one year of TiVo service. The service is $99.99 per year after the first year, and you can try the download free for 30-days before buying. It will launch in the US, Canada, and Mexico on October 15, 2008. Availability in other areas of the world isn’t mentioned, but it must be coming – and that’s not just a guess, one of the images in the press kit was of a DVB-T antenna for the retail product. Only DVB-T isn’t used in the US, Canada, or Mexico, so I suspect that was a little ‘oops’ and it is for a version destined for other countries.

EDIT: Ah, here’s a confirmation from an article in the NZ Herald:

Joshua Danovitz, vice president and general manager of international business at TiVo, said the plan is to launch it in Europe next year, including in Nero’s home country, Germany. Britain is the only European country where TiVo currently has subscribers.

“It’s really part of a global TiVo strategy,” Danovitz said.

The hardware included in the retail box includes a TiVo peanut remote, an IR blaster transceiver, and a USB TV tuner card. The tuner is a Hauppauge HVR-950Q which supports NTSC analog and ATSC digital signals from antenna, analog cable, and clear QAM digital cable. Nero also says they support all USB, PCI, and PCIe TV Tuner cards and a list of all confirmed tested cards will be posted on their website. It will also work with capture cards fed by external cable boxes or satellite receivers, though it only supports one set-top box amongst the four tuners.

The remote, tuner card, IR blaster, and the mystery DVB-T antenna:

The remote looks like it is based off of the peanut that came with the Humax and Toshiba Series2 DVD-RW combo units, with DVD controls and a stop button in place of the DVR 1-2 slider found on non-DVD peanuts. Which makes sense as LiquidTV does have disc playback features. I do wish they offered some kind of remote-only hardware bundle for those who already have tuner cards but would like the remote to use with the product.

LiquidTV goes beyond standalone TiVo units in other ways as well. It supports up to four tuners, twice as many as an existing TiVo, and recording time is limited only by your hard drive capacity. Want more time? Just add more capacity to the PC. CableCARD support has not been tested, but on the conference with Nero Friday they said it should probably work if installed on a Windows Media Center PC with CableCARD support. I’d love to hear from anyone who tries that as to how it goes.

LiquidTV has all of the features you’d expect from a TiVo product – Season Passes, WishLists, TiVo Suggestions, Trick Play, and KidZone. Online scheduling is also available, just as with with standalone units. Being on a PC there are options from within the program menus to save a show to a portable device like an iPod or PSP, to burn it to DVD, or to save it to an archive format (H.264) to save space.

There are also some new additions to the Now Playing list – category folders. Standalone TiVo users are probably familiar with the TiVo Suggestions folder, and perhaps the HD Recordings folder, but LiquidTV also adds folders for Movies, Sports, and Kids content.

But LiquidTV has another fantastic trick up its sleeve. Avoiding one of the worst mistakes ReplayTV made with their PC software, LiquidTV | TiVo PC will communicate with standalone TiVo units on your network! You can transfer content between a PC running LiquidTV and a standalone TiVo using Multi-Room Viewing, just as you can between standalone units on a network. The TiVos show up in LiquidTV’s Now Playing List, and vice-versa. So it really is like having another TiVo on your network.

There are a number of official screenshots from the press kit:

I also took a few screen captures of my own during the web conference Friday:

I’m hoping to get a review copy to try on my new laptop to give you some first hand impressions. From what I’ve seen in the press packet and the presentation last Friday, I think Nero and TiVo have done a great job creating a first rate PC DVR software package. And the iconic TiVo remote is a nice touch. It is a nice alternative to MCE, SageTV, or BeyondTV. The one thing I’m not that happy with is the subscription pricing of $99.99 a year. That’s the same as yearly MSD for a standalone TiVo, but the standalone units have features, such as TiVoCast and HME, not to mention official CableCARD support, which LiquidTV lacks. And there is clearly no hardware subsidy to cover. $100 for the software the first year seems fair to me, but for additional years I’d like to see them drop the fees a bit. But that’s a minor issue I think. This could really open up global markets for TiVo, as users bring their own PC and all that’s really required is an EPG source for a new territory.

EDIT: TiVo has also issued a press release now.

Press release:

Nero and TiVo Deliver the Ultimate DVR Experience on the PC

Nero LiquidTV | TiVo PC brings digital entertainment freedom to consumers with the award winning TiVo® service

Karlsbad, Germany and Alviso, Calif. (September 29, 2008) — Nero, creators of liquid media technology, and TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO), the creator of and a leader in television services for digital video recorders (DVRs), announced today the unveiling of Nero LiquidTV | TiVo PC. This new offering revolutionizes the way consumers experience television by offering an enhanced TiVo DVR experience directly from the PC.

“In recent years the amount of digital entertainment content available to average consumers has exploded,” said Bruce McGregor, senior analyst, Digital Home Services for Current Analysis. “Consumers have increasingly conformed to using mobile devices and the PC as sources of video entertainment; as a result they are looking for ways to port their favorite television content onto multiple mobile formats. There is an emerging opportunity for a PC-based DVR service that offers easy access to television content on a wide variety of devices.”

With Nero LiquidTV | TiVo PC, consumers can watch and pause live TV on their desktop, record their favorite shows directly to their hard drive, transfer shows between computers throughout the home, or enjoy their favorite shows on-the-go by exporting them to iPod®, PlayStation® Portable (PSP®), or burning them to DVD. Now the TiVo experience can be enjoyed on the PC, including TiVo features like WishList® searches, Season Pass® recordings, TiVo KidZone, and TiVo Suggestions.

“For more than a decade, the world’s largest mobile and consumer electronics brands have trusted Nero for technology leadership and category creation,” said Udo Eberlein, CEO, Nero AG. “Now, with Nero LiquidTV | TiVo PC, we are providing a next-generation DVR application that integrates the renowned TiVo service with the PC. This solution is truly a platform on which our vision for liquid media – where content can be easily accessed anytime, anywhere, and on any device — will become a reality.”

Nero LiquidTV | TiVo PC is designed for ease of use. No technical expertise is required to install the software on any PC with the Windows XP or Windows Vista operating system. The full retail solution comes complete with everything that the consumer needs to share the TV experience throughout their digital home: a TiVo PC remote; a TV tuner card to allow television signals to be received by the PC; and an IR Blaster to create a wireless, infrared connection between the cable or satellite box and the PC. It also comes with a one-year subscription to the award-winning TiVo service, which automatically finds and digitally records a user’s favorite shows.

“Nero has done a superb job of bringing the TiVo experience to the PC, and have done so in a way that lives up to the rich TiVo legacy,” said Tom Rogers, CEO and President, TiVo. “To be able to extend the features of TiVo to a new platform without compromising the integrity of what has made TiVo such a revolutionary product is a significant achievement, one we know both new and old fans of TiVo will love.”

Nero LiquidTV | TiVo PC with one year of TiVo service will be available in the U.S., Canada and Mexico in October 2008 with a suggested retail price of $199 USD for a retail box or $99 USD for a downloadable software-only version. TiVo service subscription renewal is on an annual basis at $99 a year. The retail box, containing a tuner card, TiVo remote control and IR blaster, will be available at participating retailers in the U.S. and Canada. The software-only version will be available for download to the U.S. Canada and Mexico online at www.nero.com.

About Nero

Nero, the creator of liquid media technology, enables liquid content creation and distribution anytime, anywhere, and on any device. The company provides consumers with the freedom to simply enjoy their music, photos, and videos, regardless of hardware or file format, by taking a unique platform neutral, standards-based approach to solution development. More than 300 million units of Nero’s trusted software solutions are used in the home, on the go, and professionally. Nero also provides strategic partners with cutting-edge applications, codecs, tools, software development kits, and programming interfaces for use with a variety of the latest platforms and devices. Products are available globally through hardware manufacturers, international partners, retailers, and directly through the Nero Online Shop at www.nero.com.

Headquartered in Karlsbad, Germany, Nero maintains regional offices in: Karlsbad, Germany; Glendale, Calif., USA; Yokohama, Japan; and development centers in Karlsbad, Germany and Hangzhou, China.

About TiVo

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 and TiVo.com, 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 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 TiVo 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™ transfers 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 research measurement.

# # #

Nero® is a trademark of Nero AG and its subsidiaries. Any other product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. © 2008 Nero. All rights reserved.

TiVo, “TiVo, TV your way.” Season Pass, WishList, TiVoToGo, and the TiVo Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of TiVo Inc.’s subsidiaries worldwide. © 2008 TiVo Inc. All rights reserved

The second big announcement from Nero today is Nero 9, the new version of their flagship software most often thought of in the context of CD/DVD burning. But it does so much more – ripping, burning, editing, backing up, playing, and uploading music, photos, and video. The Nero StartSmart interface provides a convenient one-stop interface to all of the product features.

Nero 9 adds GraceNote integration for automated metadata retrieval and improved experiences in Nero ShowTime for playback and Nero Vision for editing. And Nero Live for Vista MCE and the Nero Vista Sidebar Gadget add more features for users of Windows Vista. For backups the Rescue Agent has been completely revised

The revised Nero ShowTime has an all-new UI, GraceNote metadata support, and shuffle for playlists and audio CD tracks. But perhaps most interesting is support for new formats. encrypted AVCREC is supported for HDTV on DVD in Japan. The Matroska Video (.mkv) video format is supported. And FLAC is supported for lossless audio playback.

Nero Vision supports AVCHD, the format used by HD camcorders. And it has a ‘tape scan’ feature where it can transfer the contents of the tape at high speed to preview it, allowing you to select just the sections you want to transfer at full quality. It is similar to have most scanners allow you to do a preview scan and then select only the parts you want to scan fully. A big time saver.

It also includes Ad Spotter, an automated commercial recognition system. This makes it easier to cut the commercials out of recorded content before burning it to disc. It will flag what it thinks are commercials, allowing you to remove those sections. It also has an interesting Music Grabber function, designed to allow you to pull just the audio out of a video and save it as MP3. So if you record a music video you can rip the audio out and take the song with you on your iPod, etc.

And, of course, it still has the usual features – templates to ease media creation, wizards, special transition effects, DVD menu creation, etc. Just expanded and improved.

The one thing I was surprised by on the call is that Nero 9 apparently does not support .tivo files – the files created by TiVoToGo. This surprised me because TiVo and Nero announced a partnership last November, and Roxio, who is also partnered with TiVo, supports .tivo files in their Creator product on Windows and Toast on Mac. So it would’ve seemed to be a no-brainer for Nero to incorporate native .tivo support in Nero 9. Now, that’s the official word from the call last Friday. It is possible that Nero 9 does recognize .tivo files, just not officially. I wasn’t given a preview of the software to check for myself. If anyone grabs Nero 9 and tries it, leave a comment.

A Blu-ray authoring plug-in is also available for Nero 9, allowing you to author Blu-ray video discs for playback in any Blu-ray deck, PS3, etc. Perfect for archiving or distributing copies of the high-definition content from your HD camcorder.

Nero 9 is available today for for Windows PCs with an MSRP of $99.99, and the Blu-ray plug-in is available for just $9.99. Existing Nero users can upgrade online.

After seeing the presentation on Friday, and looking through the press materials, I just may pick this up for my new laptop. (Which arrived last Thursday.)

Press release:

Nero Simplifies Creation and Distribution of Digital Media with Release of Nero 9

Next generation of world’s best-selling digital multimedia solution makes it easy for consumers to enjoy their unique digital media content anytime, anywhere and on any device

Karlsbad, Germany (September 29, 2008) — Nero, creators of Liquid Media technology, today announced the release of Nero 9, the next generation of one of the world’s most trusted and best-selling integrated digital media and home entertainment software solutions. Developed in direct response to customer feedback, Nero 9 gives consumers ONE solution to easily create, edit, rip, copy, backup, convert and share their music, videos and photos within their connected digital home, on online communities or on portable devices. This latest release builds on Nero’s established technology leadership while delivering on the company’s commitment to Liquid Media, allowing content to be created and distributed anytime, anywhere and on any device.

“In developing Nero 9, we polled more than 3,000 of our worldwide customers to determine the functionality that they really wanted from the suite,” noted Jürgen Kurz, senior vice president, Business Line PC and Consumer Electronics, Nero AG. “This type of feedback has been invaluable to us over the last decade and has shown us that our consumers are increasingly living digital lives where the PC is the center of the home. They require cutting-edge multimedia capabilities which allow them to enjoy and share their content online and across devices with unparalleled ease of use.”

Nero 9 – New and Enhanced Features

Fast, Easy, and Convenient User Interface

With Nero 9, the company responded to consumer requests for an enhanced, easy-to-use and convenient user interface. The widely used Nero StartSmart intuitive command center, now integrates new playback, ripping, burning, copying and backup functions with one-click tabs for quick and easy completion of digital tasks. In addition, Nero StartSmart now offers Autobackup, an automatic backup function accessed directly through Nero StartSmart one-click tabs. Consumers will also appreciate new file playback capabilities within Nero StartSmart for music, videos and photos, and ability to create playlists. Furthermore, Nero StartSmart now integrates Gracenote® music recognition service providing song and artist information for audio files.

Superior High Definition

Capture video from AVCHD camcorders and easily create stunning movies with 3D animated menu templates for a professional presentation. New tape-scan feature allows quick and easy previews and scene selections from digital (DV) or high-definition videos (HDV) for the seamless import of video into creative projects, saving time and hard drive space. Easily burn high definition projects with high definition menu templates to AVCHD Disc using standard recordable DVD media – save time and ensure quality with Nero’s SmartEncoding for AVCHD. In addition, Nero now offers Blu-ray Disc Authoring Plug-in online enabling high-definition menu authoring and burning of HD video to Blu-ray Disc, ensuring playback on Playstation® 3 and other Blu-ray Disc players.

Enhanced and Newly Designed Multimedia Player

Nero 9’s multimedia player, Nero ShowTime, now incorporates great usability with a new look and playback design as well as convenient docking and stand-by modes of both the browser window and playlists. Great new media and playlist handling will make users simply enjoy playback of their digital content. The best-of-breed playback options now include Gracenote® music services providing accurate song and artist information as well as album art, shuffle playback for playlist and audio CD tracks plus support for latest digital formats.

New Video Editing Options

Nero 9 provides highly enhanced yet easy to use video editing tools to allow for greater personalization of home videos and slideshows. The new Ad Spotter detects and removes commercials from a movie and joins the movie content pieces seamlessly together. The new Music Grabber feature identifies music clips in a movie or music video and automatically extracts the audio, to save as MP3 and add to playlist. The new Movie Wizard allows creativity with an easy-to-use library of templates including themes for special occasions like birthdays, holidays and weddings, plus soundtracks and special effects.

Enhanced Live TV Experience

Providing consumers with a great new TV experience for their PC, Nero Live is a new addition to Nero 9 for the viewing of high-quality live TV on the PC. As a stand-alone application or to enhance Windows Media Center, Nero Live makes it easy to watch live TV/HDTV, record TV shows, watch two channels at once with Picture-in-Picture capabilities, time shift for up to 60-minutes, and listen to DVB radio.

Autobackup and Data Protection

Nero listened to consumers and integrated even more convenient and easy tools to protect valuable memories, confidential data and safeguard against system crashes, natural disasters or even human error. The new Autobackup feature in Nero 9 makes it easy for consumers to backup digital entertainment content from their PCs including files, folders, drives, and even the entire system via a simple wizard interface that leads consumers through a scheduling process for backing up and saving content – offline or online. Also offered with Nero 9 is Nero BackItUp 4 which allows consumers to protect against a system crash or accidental loss of important data by providing easy disaster recovery and backup password protection for extra security. With Nero RescueAgent technology integrated into Nero 9, safely and securely recover data from damaged or scratched discs, hard drives, USB and flash sticks, and other memory devices.

Nero 9 is currently available worldwide with a suggested retail price of $99.99 USD and online at www.nero.com. The Blu-ray Disc Authoring Plug-in will be sold as a downloadable product at www.nero.com for $9.99. Current Nero consumers can upgrade to Nero 9 online at a special discounted price at www.nero.com.

About Nero

Nero, the creator of liquid media technology, enables liquid content creation and distribution anytime, anywhere, and on any device. The company provides consumers with the freedom to simply enjoy their music, photos, and videos, regardless of hardware or file format, by taking a unique platform neutral, standards-based approach to solution development. More than 300 million units of Nero’s trusted software solutions are used in the home, on the go, and professionally. Nero also provides strategic partners with cutting-edge applications, codecs, tools, software development kits, and programming interfaces for use with a variety of the latest platforms and devices. Products are available globally through hardware manufacturers, international partners, retailers, and directly through the Nero Online Shop at www.nero.com.

Headquartered in Karlsbad, Germany, Nero maintains regional offices in: Karlsbad, Germany; Glendale, Calif., USA; Yokohama, Japan; and development centers in Karlsbad, Germany and Hangzhou, China.

# # #

Nero® is a trademark of Nero AG and its subsidiaries. Any other product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
© 2008 Nero. All rights reserved.

Move it is an interesting product which aims to solve the problem of device proliferation and getting your content on the various devices, as well as moving content between them. The general idea is a drag and drop interface. You can select device one on the left, device two on the right, and then drag content back and forth between them. It handles photos, audio, and video content, and a myriad of devices – music players, PMPs, cell phones, cameras, etc. It will also handle transcoding, as well as uploading your content to YouTube, MySpace, and My Nero.

Here’s some official screen shots:

I also took some screen shots during the web conference on Friday:

So if you have content on your PC, iPod, PSP, cell phone, Nero Move it can keep everything synchronized, and also make sure the content is in the proper format for that device. If your device isn’t listed in the extensive default list of devices you can also create a new device profile. Or if you prefer different settings for one of the included devices you can also alter the default settings.

Move it will also handle ripping content from CDs and copying your content from mobile devices to the PC to backup your media files. In addition to uploading content to online services it can also download content to synchronize it to your devices to take it on the go. Renaming, copying, deleting, sorting, etc, it is all in there. You can even edit the meta data on the files – artist, album, description, etc.

Nero Move it will be available today, September 29th, for $49.99 for Windows PCs.

Press release:

Nero Enables True Multimedia Mobility with Launch of Nero Move it

New offering makes liquid content distribution across a broad range of portable devices a reality

Karlsbad, Germany (September 29, 2008) — Nero, creators of liquid media technology, has solved one of the most common problems facing consumers today – too many devices and too many types of digital content in a range of file formats that are simply not compatible. With the introduction of Nero Move it, even the most non-technical consumer can quickly and easily convert music, videos, and photos from one file format to another for use across a broad range of portable devices. Nero is empowering users to take control of their music, photo and video libraries and is making liquid content distribution, anytime, anywhere and on any compatible portable device and online community a reality.

Previously, consumers were forced to either use proprietary software provided by device manufacturers or to endure slow downloads of un-trusted, Web-based software to convert the format of their videos and music for use on different gadgets. With Nero Move it, all a user needs to do is plug their portable device into their PC and select the output. Nero Move it instantly recognizes the device and with a few clicks of the mouse, files are quickly and intuitively converted into the desired format for easy transfer between PCs, digital cameras, mobile phones, game devices and online communities such as My Nero, YouTube™ and MySpace™.

“Nero Move it is the most efficient way for users to collect, organize, convert and synchronize, and publish music, photos or video files from multiple sources,” stated Jürgen Kurz, business line manager PC and consumer electronic, Nero AG. “We understand that consumers want to be able to take their multimedia content with them on-the-go. Compatibility for all mobile formats is built into the product for automatic, intuitive transcoding of files to the best profile without hassle, even when transferring directly from one device to another.”

Nero Move it automatically syncs with the world’s most popular portable devices, allowing for the transfer of one file to multiple devices simultaneously. Offline transcoding allows for the preparation and staging of content when the device is not plugged in. This ensures that when users are ready to synchronize devices, that the converted content can be quickly shared.

Nero Move it is currently available at participating retailers worldwide at suggested retail price of $49.99 USD and online at www.nero.com.

About Nero

Nero, the creator of liquid media technology, enables liquid content creation and distribution anytime, anywhere, and on any device. The company provides consumers with the freedom to simply enjoy their music, photos, and videos, regardless of hardware or file format, by taking a unique platform neutral, standards-based approach to solution development. More than 300 million units of Nero’s trusted software solutions are used in the home, on the go, and professionally. Nero also provides strategic partners with cutting-edge applications, codecs, tools, software development kits, and programming interfaces for use with a variety of the latest platforms and devices. Products are available globally through hardware manufacturers, international partners, retailers, and directly through the Nero Online Shop at www.nero.com.

Headquartered in Karlsbad, Germany, Nero maintains regional offices in: Karlsbad, Germany; Glendale, Calif., USA; Yokohama, Japan; and development centers in Karlsbad, Germany and Hangzhou, China.

# # #

Nero® is a trademark of Nero AG and its subsidiaries. Any other product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
© 2008 Nero. All rights reserved.

One use-case being carved-out centres around the television. Nero has partnered with TiVo, developers of the popular set-top boxes for recording digital television tailored to personal preferences, and the two companies are working to develop a software solution that brings the Nero engine and the TiVo usability to the PC.

“You’ll have all the power, performance and flexibility of a PC, the strength of the Nero engine, and the TiVo user experience,” said Carriere.

In essence, the digital cable feed could be connected into the PC which could be used as a personal video recorder (PVR), eliminating the need for a TiVo box. Programming could be watched on the PC, or a cable connected back to the TV to watch it there.

“If you look at what’s available from HP or Microsoft today you can do it, but it’s not a very easy user experience,” said Carriere.

The details on the solution, which is expected to launch within the next year, are still being developed, but Carriere says it may open new opportunities for partners in the digital home integration space.

Interesting that they say “the digital cable feed could be connected into the PC”, that would imply that the software will work with CableCARD tuners. I’d rather expect it would. I’m a little disappointed by the “launch within the next year”, since this was announced last November it has already been six months since the announcement. I was hoping that we might see it released in time for the holiday shopping season this year, but I’m feeling more like sometime in 2009 at this point. Of course, we don’t know how complex the development work is – if it is a whole-cloth creation, or a port of one of the existing code bases such as the standalone OS or the cable OCAP/tru2way OS.

As I said at the time of the announcement, I’m still iffy on the PC-based software in general. Media Center PCs haven’t lit the world on fire, and it is a crowded market with established players. Breaking into that market is hard for new comers, as ReplayTV, Meedio/Yahoo, and others have discovered. But TiVo has their strong brand working for them, and Nero is an established player as well. So I’ll be very interested in seeing how it does when it hits the market.

Under the agreement, Nero will develop a software solution that will bring TiVo features to the personal computer. Capitalizing on the growing PC TV tuner market, it will answer the consumer demand for a trusted PC-based DVR experience for use with the estimated 50.8 million PC TV tuners that will be sold worldwide by 2011, according to In-Stat research report published in April 2007.

“This agreement provides TiVo with an opportunity to deliver its interface and differentiated feature set globally via the PC, enabling TiVo to use all avenues of mass distribution – from consumer electronics, to cable and satellite boxes and soon, the PC,” said Tom Rogers, President and CEO, TiVo. “We are thrilled to work with Nero, a highly successful leader in software solutions for the PC who has the ability to develop a state-of-the-art program centered on the TiVo platform that will bring the same personalized entertainment experience to domestic and international consumers on their personal computers.”

With little fanfare TiVo just announced that, with Nero, they’re going to be releasing PC-based DVR software that provides the TiVo experience.

That’s big news, the TiVo experience has always been tied to dedicated hardware. But I have mixed feelings on this, as the PC-based DVR market is very competitive and it is already dominated by products such as BeyondTV and the 800-pound gorilla that is MS Media Center. I’ve commented in the past how I expect ReplayTV’s PC-based software to crash and burn in the face of the competition, and that seems to be just what is happening.

On the other hand, TiVo has a couple of advantages. First, and foremost, is their brand recognition. ReplayTV never made it out of niche branding, while TiVo has saturated popular culture. So they will definitely have brand recognition. Second, TiVo isn’t doing this alone. Nero is an established player in the international PC video software market, best known for their DVD burning software, and they have the expertise to develop and distribute the software.

Since TiVo is sharing the risks with Nero, I think the downside is small here. And it should help spread the TiVo user base into new markets. I do hope TiVo does the right thing and makes the PC software inter-operable with standalone TiVo hardware – so you’d be able to do TTG/MRV between the PC and the TiVo, etc. This is one of the things ReplayTV got dead wrong – their PC software has nothing in common with their existing hardware platform, and there is no compatibility between them. So there is no synergy for existing users to try the PC software. The only commonality is really the brand name.

If the software truly does provide the TiVo experience on a PC, and it is priced right, TiVo has a good chance at grabbing some of the growing PC DVR software market.