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[DarienA]

News.com

TiVo, the maker of digital video recorders, plans to announce a new feature on Monday that will let TiVo owners watch recorded television shows on Apple Computer's video iPods and on Sony's handheld PSP game machine.

The announcement builds on TiVo's release in February of an update to its video recorders that allows its users to transfer programs to personal computers and DVDs, as well as to portable video players that support Microsoft's mobile video format. When the company releases new software in the first quarter of next year, it will extend that capability to the video iPod, released last month, and the Sony PSP.

"This is another thing we can do to add value for our subscribers," said Jim Denney, TiVo's vice president of product marketing. "We've seen reasonable demand and interest from people to bring their videos with them."

TiVo recorders, which compete with similar devices offered by cable and satellite television companies, allow users to automatically record television programming, as well as pause and replay live broadcasts. Subscribers to TiVo's service receive automatic updates to broadcast schedules. The company has 3.6 million subscribers and says it is signing on as many as 250,000 new ones each quarter.

When it released its TiVoToGo software in February, TiVo said it was compatible with portable video devices made by Creative Technologies, Samsung and other companies--players that have not been a hit with consumers. By extending that capability to the video iPod and the popular Sony PSP, TiVo is tapping into a market that is potentially much bigger.

Owners of the Apple or Sony devices will need to pay TiVo to unlock the portion of the new software that converts videos to the MPEG-4 format used by those players. While TiVo has not yet set the price for the software, similar programs typically cost between $15 and $30, Denney said. The cost will cover licensing fees and other expenses associated with using the MPEG-4 format, he said.

The new TiVo software will also have a syncing feature that will allow subscribers to choose whether they want new recordings of their favorite programs transferred to their portable devices automatically via their PC.

Apple, which is not involved in TiVo's announcement, introduced the video iPod last month and began selling music videos and programming from the Walt Disney and Pixar.




Of course once again DirecTivo owners are shafted.... Mods do your thing if you want to slide this over to OT.

 

[Wollan]

Cool news.

 

[hooo]

The sad part is that as much as this makes sense for a portable video player, it won't help the market for those devices. There are really so few opportunities to use something like a psp or an ipod for video that it'll never be more than niche. People who own dvr's use them to watch tv when ever they want, not where ever.

 

[DaCocoBrova]

There are really so few opportunities to use something like a psp or an ipod for video that it'll never be more than niche.

That's the dumbest thing I've read yet...today.

 

[DarienA]

The sad part is that as much as this makes sense for a portable video player, it won't help the market for those devices. There are really so few opportunities to use something like a psp or an ipod for video that it'll never be more than niche. People who own dvr's use them to watch tv when ever they want, not where ever.

WTF? Have you every spent any time on an airplane or subway recently? On the plane I still see folks pulling out full size laptops to watch movies, let alone personal video players, on the subway's here in DC I see heavy PDA usage.

Depending on your lifestyle there are definitely opportunities to use Tivo To Go... just to make it clear they are extended the already existing released Tivo to Go product to now include the Ipod and PSP, it's not a brand new product.

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

That's the dumbest thing I've read yet...today.

You're on GAF, and it's early. Something will top it!

 

[Deg]

This is a growing segment so its important someone like Tivo is there early.

 

[snacknuts]

I hope they find a way to scale down the video sizes. I transferred an episode of SeaLab from my TiVo to my laptop, and that 15 min of video took up 650MB.

 

[DaCocoBrova]

I hope they find a way to scale down the video sizes. I transferred an episode of SeaLab from my TiVo to my laptop, and that 15 min of video took up 650MB.

Well, that right there is key, and there's no mention of it. We obviously can take video content and encode it ourselves, but that would defeat the purpose of this. Should be very easy, and offer good results as far as IQ/SQ for it to even be worth the effort.

 

[hooo]

That's the dumbest thing I've read yet...today.

Your right. I've sure that mainstream consumers will watch stuff away from home on a video ipod or psp weekly if not daily. The only reason I can see any mainstream person regularly using the feature is if they use mass transit, and what percentage of people much less Tivo users do that? It'd be good for college kids, but how many can afford it? I guess I'm so stupid I can't seem to figure out the market for this feature. So where is it? It certainly won't be anything other than a small minority of current Tivo'ers, so who are they targeting now?

 

[borghe]

I pretty much don't give a shit about Tivo until they sign up with a provider in my area. SA Tivos are near useless nowadays and it goes without saying that the DirecTV boxes will never see this stuff.

Good for Tivo I guess, and the people who use SA boxes, but for me this means nothing.

 

[DarienA]

I pretty much don't give a shit about Tivo until they sign up with a provider in my area. SA Tivos are near useless nowadays and it goes without saying that the DirecTV boxes will never see this stuff.

Good for Tivo I guess, and the people who use SA boxes, but for me this means nothing.

If the new Comcast Tivo boxes support Tivo To Go and the Home Media stuff that would really be a nice feather...

 

[Danj]

It's a pity this kind of thing seems to be exclusive to Tivo, because although they did try and enter into the UK market they never really got anywhere and so we don't have Tivo over here any more. Instead we have the more expensive underfeatured proprietary Sky Plus.

Also, as far as PSP video encoding goes, is PSP Video 9 still the best tool to use for that?

 

[DaCocoBrova]

Your right. I've sure that mainstream consumers will watch stuff away from home on a video ipod or psp weekly if not daily. The only reason I can see any mainstream person regularly using the feature is if they use mass transit, and what percentage of people much less Tivo users do that? It'd be good for college kids, but how many can afford it? I guess I'm so stupid I can't seem to figure out the market for this feature. So where is it? It certainly won't be anything other than a small minority of current Tivo'ers, so who are they targeting now?

Who are you, and where do you get your information from?

Maybe you live in the 'sticks', or a place where there's no mass transit. But here in the Nation's Capital, New York City and other major metropolitan areas, the PSP is in full effect, and it's not the gaming content that has people using this slick lil' device. It's video. I see more adults using a PSP to watch whateveritistheyarewatching, than people playing games on it.

Furthermore, it's stupid to assume that those who ride mass transit don't have TiVo.

 

[Matix]

I guess this is pretty cool, but I rather see *Location Free* made more reasonable for consumers

 

[DarienA]

I guess this is pretty cool, but I rather see *Location Free* made more reasonable for consumers

You don't think $349.99 is reasonable?

We're seriously thinking about picking one up, especially since the latest PSP update now supports it.

 

[Ulairi]

When will Sony start pushing the PSP as a game machine?

 

[Matix]

You don't think $349.99 is reasonable?

We're seriously thinking about picking one up, especially since the latest PSP update now supports it.

Ya got folks thinking $250 for the PSP Package itself is to much, now assume what they will say for a $350 add-on like Location Free....

 

[DaCocoBrova]

You don't think $349.99 is reasonable?

We're seriously thinking about picking one up, especially since the latest PSP update now supports it.

Damn, wow.

I nned to know particulars tho... For example, video encoded at a high bit rate wouldn't work well w/ this kind of thing (read: DVDs), I would assume.

 

[DarienA]

Damn, wow.

I nned to know particulars tho... For example, video encoded at a high bit rate wouldn't work well w/ this kind of thing (read: DVDs), I would assume.

Yeah I've seen no reviews of the thing yet.. this is the closest thing I've seen online that even approaches a review.

Ya got folks thinking $250 for the PSP Package itself is to much, now assume what they will say for a $350 add-on like Location Free....

Well that's just the thing... while we are seeing crossover we aren't talking about the exacty same consumer here.

The Location Free folks i.e. tech folks who want to place shift to another PC, I would think would fine $350 to be acceptable... I just happen to be one of the Location Free interested folk who also owns a PSP...

 

[kaching]

I'm interested in Location Free, but not for $350.

 

[DaCocoBrova]

A one time payment for a device that can always stream your content to you would pay for itself in the long run. Subscription fees, however, do not.

 

[hooo]

Furthermore, it's stupid to assume that those who ride mass transit don't have TiVo.

That's the point. Only a few major metropolitan areas have anthing worth using. Certainly less than a dozen, maybe less than that (New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Washington DC, what have I missed?). For everywhere else, why would anyone bother? So is the market limited just to tivo owners that reguarly use mass transit? or is there a larger group out there? That group's size is nothing compared to the dvr userbase. This feature while cool, won't sell Tivos, psps or video ipods in any meaningful way.

 

[DaCocoBrova]

*sigh*

By your definition, there's no market for laptops either, right? That's another portable, multi-function device like the PSP.

 

[Sho Nuff]

The sad part is that as much as this makes sense for a portable video player, it won't help the market for those devices. There are really so few opportunities to use something like a psp or an ipod for video that it'll never be more than niche. People who own dvr's use them to watch tv when ever they want, not where ever.

Oh yeah, I guess I should just sit there and twiddle my thumbs during my hour-long commute every day

edit: I like watching "battlestar" when I poop

 

[kaching]

A one time payment for a device that can always stream your content to you would pay for itself in the long run. Subscription fees, however, do not.

The problem is that the promise of Location Free is directly proportional to the availability of network access and specifically, for it to work with the PSP, wireless network access. "In the long run", wireless network coverage will increase but what I currently have access to now in the times/places where I'd be most likely to take advantage of LF tech is very limited and so makes it difficult to extract satisfying bang for buck out of buying a LF unit now. Furthermore, by the time that wireless network coverage increases to a point where I could get that bang for buck, I'd expect a newer, improved version of LF available anyway.

That's not to say I'm not still interested in buying an LF unit *now*, because it still gets my fingers all tingly with geek lust, it's just that I'd be looking to get it for a reduced/subsidized price. $250 or under.

 

[hooo]

*sigh*

By your definition, there's no market for laptops either, right? That's another portable, multi-function device like the PSP.

Laptops are portable not to be used on a commute, but to be used when you get somewhere. Why would anyone travel somewhere else to watch a movie on a psp when they could just do it at home?

It'll be useful for some people, but it's no killer app.

edit: I like watching "battlestar" when I poop

>_< Sounds painful. Try some exlax so you won't have to watch past the first commerial break.

 

[DaCocoBrova]

Laptops are portable not to be used on a commute, but to be used when you get somewhere.

lol! This guy is intelligent...

Why would anyone travel somewhere else to watch a movie on a psp when they could just do it at home?

It'll be useful for some people, but it's no killer app.

Never mentioned it as such.

I'm just glad I don't live in your world. The one where no portable devices exist.

 

[FortNinety]

hooo, please....

 

[Fuzzy]

I just hope this cuts into the iTunes market for the $2 TV shows because it's just crazy that people will actually pay that much for episodes.

 

[DarienA]

Why would anyone travel somewhere else to watch a movie on a psp when they could just do it at home?

You have got to be fuckin kidding me. Do you ever travel? Plane? Bus? Horse and Cart? Whatever the f*ck u use to get around long distances?

 

[hooo]

lol! This guy is intelligent...

=P You laugh, you call me stupid, yet you're the one who can only throw out insults. If I had some place to go, I'd take my laptop with me so I could continue this foolishness there while getting done what I needed to get done.

Back on topic. It sure is great that Sony's pushing the video thing for the psp. It really makes those large gaps between game releases seem like nothing. </pitiful> But really, Sony supporting the ipod just goes to show how strong they think the brand recognition is. It must be awfully humbling to have to support a competing product for the feature to make any headlines.

hooo, please....

^^;;

 

[Kangu]

But really, Sony supporting the ipod just goes to show how strong they think the brand recognition is. It must be awfully humbling to have to support a competing product for the feature to make any headlines.

In your zeal to troll Sony you forgot to read the article. Or maybe you're just retarded.

 

[DarienA]

Back on topic. It sure is great that Sony's pushing the video thing for the psp. It really makes those large gaps between game releases seem like nothing. </pitiful> But really, Sony supporting the ipod just goes to show how strong they think the brand recognition is. It must be awfully humbling to have to support a competing product for the feature to make any headlines.

Huh?

 

[DaCocoBrova]

=P You laugh, you call me stupid, yet you're the one who can only throw out insults.

I could've sworn I called you 'intelligent'. *shrug*

If you insist, stupid.

 

[mckmas8808]

That's the point. Only a few major metropolitan areas have anthing worth using. Certainly less than a dozen, maybe less than that (New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Washington DC, what have I missed?). For everywhere else, why would anyone bother? So is the market limited just to tivo owners that reguarly use mass transit? or is there a larger group out there? That group's size is nothing compared to the dvr userbase. This feature while cool, won't sell Tivos, psps or video ipods in any meaningful way.

I don't live in one of those markets, but it would be nice to catch ESPN while I'm eating at work. I tend to miss the 11 o'clock show alot.

 

[Oni Jazar]

If they had a WiFi Tivo that could wirelessly transfer shows to your PSP I'd be all over this. But as it is now It's probably easier to just D/L the torrent. (Speaking of which there needs to be PSP formatted TV torrents)