Monday, November 21, 2005

TiVo to Expand Portable Features

The Los Angeles Times reports TiVo will allows its standalone digital video recorders to save programs to iPods and PlayStation Portables. This "builds on TiVo's existing TiVo to Go feature, which enables some subscribers to transfer shows to a laptop or PC via a home network."

Stephen Baker at NPD Group thought the ability to transfer shows between a TiVo and Apple's market-leading iPod or Sony Corp.'s popular PSP "may help cement the idea that a TiVo is better than a generic DVR. Their route to success is to differentiate themselves from generic DVRs."

Rob Enderle added, "With these devices, content is king. The more content you can get on them the more valuable they are."

Unfortunately, those of us with DirecTiVo units are left out in the cold again. We don't get the TiVo to Go feature, and with News Corp/DirecTV parting ways with Tivo to offer their own DVRs, I guess it's wait and see if they will put a mobile video strategy in place...