Sling Media today launched the next in their lineup of SlingPlayer Mobile clients, this time for Symbian UIQ. It joins the existing SlingPlayer Mobile clients for Palm OS, Windows Mobile Smartphone, Windows Mobile Professional, and Symbian S60. And it will be followed by clients for Blackberry and iPhone/iPod Touch which are currently in development.

The UIQ handsets that will support SlingPlayer Mobile at launch include:
* Sony Ericsson P1i
* Sony Ericsson P990i
* Sony Ericsson W960i
* Sony Ericsson W950i
* Sony Ericsson M600i
* Sony Ericsson G700
* Sony Ericsson G900
* Motorola Z8
* Motorola Z10

The press release has all of the details.

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Disclaimer: I work for Sling Media and was the Beta Manager for the Symbian UIQ program.

The TiVo HD is a fantastic HD DVR. The 160GB internal capacity and the $299.99 MSRP makes it a good fit for most users. However, with the discontinuation of the original TiVo Series3, TiVo is lacking a high end product. The Series3 not only came with 250GB of storage, but the back-lit TiVo Glo remote as well, and it had THX certification, which the TiVo HD lacks. The TiVo Series3 was aiming for a higher end market, as well as the custom installer trade.

Now, at CEDIA, TiVo is announcing their replacement for this market, the TiVo HD XL. The TiVo HD XL comes in at the $599.99 MSRP last occupied by the Series3. And like the Series3 it comes with the back-lit Glo remote and it is THX certified. While it lacks the fancy OLED front panel of the Series3 (physically it looks much like the standard TiVo HD, see photo above), it is a major step up in storage - with 1TB. Like the Series3, and unlike the TiVo HD, it also comes with an HDMI cable.

How does this extra capacity compare to the other units?

Quality	Hours
	TiVo HD	Series3	TiVo HD XL
HD	20	32	150
Best	45	52	332
High	73	76	539
Medium	96	120	713
Basic	184	300	1,350

As you can see, that a substantial increase in recording capacity. And, just like the TiVo HD, the TiVo HD XL accepts an external eSATA drive. Currently only a 500GB drive is supported, though hopefully in the future 1TB eSATA drives will be available for TiVo. Unlike the Series3, but like the TiVo HD, the TiVo HD XL is locked down to only official drives.

While pre-upgraded 1TB TiVo HD units have been available from DVRupgrade and WeaKnees these don’t include the Glo remote and lack THX certification. And, since they’ve been upgraded, the cannot plug-and-play with an eSATA drive. And while the MSRP is $599.99, it is likely to sell for noticeably less online.

Note how, despite an additional 90GB, the Series3 doesn’t have much more capacity at the higher quality analog recording levels. This seems to be due to the THX certification requiring a higher encoding bit rate.

As far as the software goes, aside from the THX certification and likely associated tweaked analog encoding bit rates, the TiVo HD XL runs the same software, and therefore has all the same features, as the current TiVo HD.

The model number of the new unit is TCD658000 and it should be carried soon my major retailers such as Amazon, Best Buy, Circuit City, and others. There should also be a FAQ online later today.

TiVo was kind enough to offer me a review unit, but after talking to them I declined. I reviewed, and own, a TiVo Series3, and I reviewed the TiVo HD, so I know both the hardware and software. There didn’t seem to be a point in me using one of their review units when it would be just what I’m familiar with - but with a larger hard drive. Though I was tempted just so I could open it up and see if any o the chips changed.

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EDIT: The TiVo HD XL, TCD658000, is now available for purchase:
- Gizmo Lovers Store
- Direct from TiVo
- Amazon
- WeaKnees

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The press release:
Read the rest of this entry »

It has been rumored for a long, long time now that TiVo and DirecTV would reconcile and bring a new DirecTiVo to market. They’d been close partners until News Corp picked up a controlling share of DirecTV back in 2005. Shortly after that DirecTV switched their DVR technology provider from TiVo to NDS. NDS just happened to also be owned by News Corp. Many people felt that was the end of the DirecTiVo.

Just over a year ago TiVo and DirecTV announced that they’d be bringing additional software updates to the existing DirecTiVo units. That arrived earlier this year as 6.4a, showing that the relationship was still alive. The one cloud of doubt was in December when DirecTV acquired the remains of ReplayTV.

But then Liberty Media completed their acquisition of News Corp’s share of DirecTV in March, raising hopes. With News Corp out of the picture, NDS was no longer ‘in the family’. And Liberty Media is an investor in TiVo, giving them some incentive to have DirecTV work with TiVo again.

And today TiVo announced that a new TiVo-based HD DVR is being developed for DirecTV. Actually, from the language of the press release, I suspect it is a software load for DirecTV’s existing HR20 & HR21 HD DVRs, and not a new hardware platform.

Under the terms of the non-exclusive arrangement, DIRECTV and TiVo will work together to develop a version of the TiVo® service for DIRECTV’s broadband-enabled HD DVR platform. The product will support the latest TiVo and DIRECTV features and services, including TiVo’s Universal Swivel Search and TiVo KidZone. TiVo will develop the new HD DVR for an expected launch in the second half of 2009.

The phrasing “a version of the TiVo service for DIRECTV’s broadband-enabled HD DVR platform” makes me think that it will be similar to the platform developed for Comcast and Cox, software that can be loaded on the existing units. Since DirecTV doesn’t have an OCAP/tru2way-style platform, it would probably be a new software load which would replace the default system software. Alternatively it could be a new box developed from the TiVo HD platform, we know the DVB-T reference box could also form the basis of a DVB-S satellite unit, and a DBS unit would be similar.

And it also seems to make more sense in context:

DIRECTV will continue to develop and offer its own portfolio of industry leading set top boxes as primary offerings to both new and existing customers. This new TiVo box will be offered as an alternative choice to those DIRECTV customers who would like to add TiVo to a full line up of DIRECTV services.

This also sounds like Comcast, with TiVo being a premium alternative to the standard DVR. But it would be very expensive for DirecTV to maintain two hardware DVR platforms - manufacturing, maintaining inventory, support, etc. So it makes more sense for them to have one platform that they can load different environments on. It could still be a hardware platform, I just don’t think it is as likely.

In any case, the new platform will be available in the second half of 2009, and “The product will support the latest TiVo and DIRECTV features and services, including TiVo’s Universal Swivel Search and TiVo KidZone.” The release doesn’t go into detail over which features will or will not be supported, but since DirecTV has their own video on demand service I’d bet that services such as Amazon Unbox, Jaman, and CinemaNow will not be making appearances on the new DirecTV platform. Pricing will be announced with the product launch next year.

What isn’t addresses is the current DirecTiVo platform. Does the announcement of a new platform which embraces the TiVo network features mean that the existing platform’s USB ports will finally be enabled for network support? Both the hardware and the software are capable of supporting network features on par with the standalone Series2 TiVo, and the only thing preventing it to date has been DirecTV’s business decision. Since they’re clearly ready to support network features, I do hope that their existing loyal (and long suffering) customers get some support as well.

Also, in an SEC filing, TiVo revealed that their general partnership with DirecTV has been extended five more years, from February 15, 2010 until February 15, 2015, with DirecTV having the right to extend it another three years, to February 15, 2018. While the specific financial terms of the new agreement have not been revealed, the filing has this to say:

As part of this new agreement, DIRECTV will pay a substantially higher monthly fee for households using the new high definition DIRECTV DVRs with TiVo than the fees for previously deployed DIRECTV DVRs with TiVo service. DIRECTV will continue to pay the current monthly fee for all households using only the previously deployed DIRECTV DVRs with TiVo service. The fees paid by DIRECTV are subject to monthly minimum payments that escalate during the term of the agreement starting in 2010 and those minimum payments are substantially higher than in the prior agreement.

So subscribers using the new platform will be worth more to TiVo, and they have a guaranteed minimum level of revenue, which gives DirecTV some incentive to sign up subscribers fro the new platform. If they’re going to have to pay the fees anyway they may as well have clients using it. And if that isn’t enough:

DIRECTV is also obligated to annual marketing commitments, including significant cross-channel promotion of the high definition DIRECTV DVR with TiVo service to be developed by TiVo.

It sounds like a good deal for TiVo and DirecTV both. They also agreed to extend their covenant not to assert their patent rights against each other. Which could be why DirecTV picked up ReplayTV, as I speculated at the time. Holding ReplayTV’s DVR patents gives DirecTV a stronger hand when dealing with TiVo and their patents. The agreement extension also covers TiVo’s ability to sell advertising and perform audience measurement activities on DirecTV’s DVRs with TiVo service.

Today is a good day for fans of TiVo and DirecTV - but it will be an even better day when it ships next year.

TiVo issued a press release today to announce their participation in the conference next week:

TiVo Inc. (Nasdaq: TIVO), the creator of and a leader in television services for digital video recorders (DVRs), today announced that it will present at the Kaufman Bros. 11th Annual Investor Conference on September 3rd. The webcast of the presentation will be available on the Investor Relations section of the TiVo website at http://investor.tivo.com under the events calendar tab.

Conference Details:
Kaufman Bros. 11th Annual Investor Conference
New York, NY
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
1:00 PM ET
Tom Rogers, CEO and President

TiVo today reported their financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2009, which ended July 31st. They had a good quarter, turning in their second profitable quarter in a row, and their third ever, with $2.9 million net income and $10.6 million adjusted EBITDA. TiVo highlighted a few items in their release:

- Adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter was $10.6 million compared to a loss of $(11.2) million in the year-ago quarter, exceeding guidance
- Net Income for the second quarter was $2.9 million compared to a loss of $(17.7) million in the year-ago quarter
- TiVo service on Comcast now available in Connecticut; Comcast will also continue to fund development work for the TiVo product to expand the feature set and add support for the Tru2way infrastructure
- TiVo and Entertainment Weekly join forces to connect TV viewers with their favorite shows on an automatic basis
- TiVo successfully launched in Australia by Seven Networks
- YouTube videos now available on the TiVo service; TiVo now provides access to more television and broadband content choices than any other offering in the world
- TiVo’s recent research deal with media marketing research firm TRA ties anonymous viewing behavior to product purchases in millions of homes; Significantly changing the quality of information available to marketers

TiVo is continuing to bleed subscribers, which was expected. With DirecTV continuing to push their in-house HR20/21 DVRs are upgrades for DirecTiVo users, even with additions from Comcast, Cox, and Cablevision Mexico, TiVo lost 136,000 net MSO/Broadcaster subscribers. And while TiVo added 36,000 gross TiVo-owned subscribers, they lost 78,000 gross TiVo-owned subs, for a net loss of 42,000 TiVo-owned subscribers. This is mainly due to legacy subscribers upgrading to HDTV and opting for cable or satellite DVRs. This leaves TiVo with 1.686 million TiVo-owned subscriptions and 3.623 total cumulative subscriptions.

This may sound bad, but it is also partly because TiVo has made massive cuts in their marketing efforts to focus on profitability instead of subscriber growth. For the quarter just ended their subscriber acquisition cost was only $135, a massive decrease from the $758 of a year ago, and only a slight up-tick from the $118 of last quarter. Instead of lots of marketing, subsidies, and rebates, which drive up SAC, TiVo is focusing on working with retailers and other vendors to bundle TiVo with HDTV purchases to capture those upgraders before they pick up another DVR. They’re also focusing on their partnerships with Cablevision Mexico, Comcast, Cox, and Seven Network in Australia.

And in that area things are looking good. The TiVo launch in Australia with Seven Network has been going well and TiVo is happy with it, though actual figures have not been released. And Comcast is finally ready to start a major marketing push and to announce more territories:

In regards to our mass distribution strategy, a top Comcast executive offered the following comments on the progress the TiVo on Comcast service has made to date: “We are pleased with the progress of the TiVo service and have broadened its footprint in our New England market to Connecticut. Refinements to optimize the product’s performance have been mostly completed, significantly improving the user experience. Importantly, we intend to light up a full marketing campaign around TiVo in September and, upon this occurring, we will be announcing multiple additional markets to which TiVo will be rolled out through next year. We will also continue to fund development work for the TiVo product, which will include expanding the feature set and adding support for Tru2way infrastructure.”

Rogers stated, “Additionally, the TiVo service on Cox, which is currently in trials, is on track for a launch in Cox’s New England market later this year.”

“On the international front, Seven and TiVo successfully launched the TiVo service in Australia and because of the significant consumer demand there, retailers chose to release the product early. We are also extremely pleased with the marketing shoulder Seven is putting behind this launch as they’ve prominently featured TiVo in their marketing and programming including the Olympic opening ceremonies, their top rated morning show, and a special advertising spot they developed, which includes dozens of Australian celebrities. International distribution is an increasingly important component of our business model and there continues to be tremendous interest from international distributors for the TiVo offering.”

During the Q&A session when asked if Comcast had gotten to the point where they don’t require a truck roll for the TiVo software install, Rogers answered that that issue was a dependency on non-TiVo software and that Comcast was close to deploying the solution. It sounded like that was the gating factor for Comcast to launch the marketing effort, and that also helps explain Comcast’s satisfaction despite the delays, it doesn’t sound like it was TiVo’s problem.

During the Q&A session at the end of the call, Rogers once again mentioned a tru2way TiVo box, what the user community has started calling a ‘Series4′. He didn’t offer any specifics (unsurprisingly), but his feeling is that it will take more time for the industry to establish a national tru2way playing field to make it viable to release such a product. Personally I think that they may show something, prototype perhaps, at CES in January with the release for later in 2009 as most of the cable MSOs have pledged to have tru2way in place by July, 2009. Just my speculation.

You can get more information from TiVo’s release and key metrics.

In what they’re calling an “Unprecedented Partnership” (wasn’t it preceded by a very similar deal with the Chicago Tribune? I don’t think unprecedented means what you think it means), as I posted earlier today, TiVo is teaming up with Entertainment Weekly.

Fromm their press release:

Entertainment Weekly’s ‘What to Watch’ TV recommendations will now be even easier to access, as the TiVo® service will automatically record the suggested programs. As a result, broadband enabled TiVo subscribers are guaranteed to always have the best programs available to watch whenever they turn on the TV set. The service is expected to launch this fall.

In addition, TiVo subscribers will be able to download Entertainment Weekly video content on the TiVo service, allowing viewers to enjoy EW.com’s original programs such as “Just a Minute,” “Ausiello TV,” “Idolatry,” and behind the scenes video from photo shoots.

It sounds pretty much exactly like the Chicago Tribune deal, a combination of an Entertainment Weekly Guru Guide and TiVoCast(s). This deal will probably result in more exposure for TiVo as EW’s audience is a lot more focused than the Tribune’s.

Though I think they might be laying it on a wee bit thick:

This unprecedented partnership allows two powerful properties to work together to create a more seamless television viewing experience for their respective audiences. TiVo chose Entertainment Weekly to be their trusted voice, and together, they are bridging the gap between Entertainment Weekly readers and all television viewers using the TiVo service. This truly holistic solution maximizes the service EW offers its audience with the innovation and ease of the TiVo service.

An ‘unprecedented partnership’ and a ‘truly holistic solution’? Really? TiVo, I love you pal, but I think that’s a little much for a marketing arrangement with some Guru Guides and TiVoCasts. I’d be happy to be surprised by there being more to it, but that’s what it sounds like. A good deal, but not warranting such effusiveness.