Motorola Broadband Communications Sector said it has made an undisclosed
investment in Gotuit Media Inc. and agreed to fuse the company's
personal-video-recorder software into its line of 'DCT-5000' digital
set-tops.
The combination will eventually give those boxes TiVo Inc.-like capabilities,
allowing viewers to 'time-shift' programs they'd like to record for later
viewing.
'Gotuit TV' is the first product from Gotuit, the Andover, Mass.-based
company's television division. Gotuit also offers software and hardware designed
to capture and play music files.
Motorola Broadband's base DCT-5000 spec does not feature a hard disk for a
PVR, although that capability could be added, a company spokeswoman explained.
Motorola Broadband is currently collaborating with Charter Communications Inc.
and ReplayTV Inc. on a project aimed at integrating an on-board set-top PVR.
'Gotuit TV's software is designed to further enable Motorola to provide
operators and consumers with some of the most advanced video-customization
capabilities available,' Carl McGrath, vice president and general manager of
Motorola Broadband's DigiCable division, said in a press release.
As part of the agreement, Gotuit has joined Motorola Broadband's 'Horizon
Developers Program,' an initiative aimed at providing technical, marketing and
sales support to third-party developers.
Scientific-Atlanta Inc., a Motorola Broadband competitor, inked a similar
licensing deal earlier this year with Metabyte Networks Inc. At the time, S-A
said it plans to incorporate Metabyte's PVR software with the 'Explorer 8000,'
which houses a hard drive.
