It looks like TiVo Inc. is getting into the home-gateway competition with
the announcement of a new product that links its personal-video-recorder
technology to the home computer.
San Jose, Calif.-based TiVo announced that the "Home Media Option" is now available
to "TiVo Series2" subscribers.
Available via online download from TiVo's Web page (www.tivo.com ), the $99 software upgrade,
plus a one-time $49 activation fee, allows customers to access Internet content
stored on their home computers -- including digital music, photos and video -- via
the TiVo box.
The TiVo box acts as the hub, directing photos and video content to users' TV
screens or audio files to a networked home stereo.
"Our approach recognizes that the PC or Mac may be the best place to store,
organize, manage and protect your digital media, but the living room is the best
place to enjoy it," said Brodie Keast, TiVo's senior vice president and general
manager.
For broadband homes, the software also allows subscribers to tap into their
TiVo remotely via the Internet and to program the unit to record TV shows.
The idea of creating a hub for video, music and pictures isn't exactly new --
Digeo Inc. is courting cable operators with its home-media-gateway reference
design.
So far, only Charter Communications Inc. has agreed to test the
concept.
