Jari Ketola
9 May 2003 14:11
Digital video recording service provider Tivo on Thursday announced it will start licensing a light version of its service to DVD player manufacturers.
The Tivo Basic service, which will be first included in DVD players by Toshiba, allows users to pause live TV and record TV programs by time and date. The service can be upgraded to full Tivo service for $13 a month, or a one time fee of $299. The full service allows automatic recording of TV shows based on users' viewing habits, recording of movies and shows based on search criteria (eg. record all movies starring Kevin Bacon), and other advanced features.
Tivo currently has about 600,000 subscribers. By licensing the technology to DVD manufacturers Tivo is looking to increase the number of paying subscribers. There are some DVD+DVR combinations available already, such as the Panasonic DMR-HS2. Tivo, however, lots alot of added value compared to "dumb" digital video recorders.
Toshiba will start shipping Tivo-enabled DVD-players later this year.
Source:
Reuters