While cable operators are looking at deploying large servers at headends to handle DVR functionality for entire neighborhoods, TiVo is going the other way. This week, it introduced TiVo To Go, a free software upgrade allowing subscribers to move content from their TiVo to portable video devices like those offered by IRiver.
“We think that 2005 and 2006 will be the year of mobile video,” says Matt Wisk, TiVo senior VP and chief marketing officer. The Consumer Electronics Association predicts 4.3 million households will purchase a mobile video system this year.
The TiVo software lets the subscriber copy content to a PC and then, in a copyright-protected file, port it over to a portable media player.
Consumers whose portable media players rely on the DVD format will also have a new option. The Humax DVD recorder can be used to burn programs to DVD using Sonic's MyDVD Studio 6.1 software.
“Consumers are demanding that their content be available any time,” says Tad Hetu, Intel director, consumer electronic platforms, cellular and handheld group. Intel's XScale processing chip drives the majority of Windows mobile video players.
