TiVo tips quad-tuner Premiere Q plus non-DVR Preview STB

By Eric Brown
2011-06-13

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TiVo Inc. announced a new version of its Linux-based DVR/IP set-top box (STB) called the TiVo Premiere Q -- said to enable recording four streams at once while simultaneously transmitting three HD streams to other devices via a LAN. The company also announced its first non-DVR STB, the TiVo Preview, which can be used as a thin client multi-room extension for other TiVo devices.

In recent years, TiVo has introduced the HD-ready TiVo Premiere and Premiere XL updates to its popular DVR, increasing its IPTV capabilities. The XL version tripled the recording space to 150 hours of HD content. TiVo has also backed up these devices with more online-enabled content aggregation and search features.

While the Premiere and Premiere XL let users record two shows at once while watching a previously recorded show, the new Premiere Q doubles that capability with four tuners. This is said to enable up to four simultaneous recordings while also letting users view streaming broadband content at the same time.

TiVo Premiere Q

The Premiere Q can also act as a gateway media server device. Even during quad-channel recording, the device can transmit three HD streams over Ethernet or Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) networks to other TiVo boxes, including the new Preview, says TiVo.

The Premiere Q is said to be "the only STB of its kind" that can bridge MoCA and Ethernet networks. This enables the Premiere Q to connect to existing home networks throughout a house instead of requiring new cable jack installation, says the company.

TiVo did not list specs such as storage or the availability of Wi-Fi, which is found on the other Premiere devices.

TiVo Preview

The new TiVo Preview, meanwhile, "provides the full TiVo user experience for non-DVR households," said TiVo. Aimed at customers who already have a DVR or don't want one and are just looking for a basic IPTV STB, this hard-disk-free device can also function as a thin client, enabling display of content streamed from the Premiere Q, says the company.

Both the Premiere Q and Preview add support for more video on demand content over IP, says TiVo. They both are said to support integrated operator services such as pay per view (PPV), CallerID, plus linear programming and broadband applications and services. Like the Premiere Q, the Preview includes integrated MoCA and Ethernet for home networking and multi-room applications.

TiVo not available via retail

For the first time, the products will be initially available only via cable companies, not through retail channels. According to Geoff Duncan, writing in DigitalTrends, the cable partnership "marks an interesting shift" for the company. "In the wake of its long-fought victory over EchoStar, TiVo now seems to be setting up the sort of business many argue it should have been creating all along: getting cozy with cable operators, rather than relying on selling set-top boxes at retailers," writes Duncan.

Founded in 1997, TiVo Inc. developed the first commercially available digital video recorder (DVR) with its TiVo device. TiVo not only added a new verb to the language, but until the Kindle, it represented the most successful example of embedded Linux in consumer electronics.

The TiVo became a favorite target for Linux hackers who figured out how to load their own modifications onto the device. TiVo then added signature checks in hardware to block hackers from the code. As a result the company helped to introduce another, lesser-known term to the vocabulary: "tivoization". The term arose when the Free Software Foundation (FSF) added "anti-tivoization" provisions in the GPLv3 open source license to block such a practice.

Fortunately for TiVo, but not for the FSF, GPLv3 has yet to catch on as a widespread replacement to GPL v2, which TiVo uses to this day.

Stated David Sandford, TiVo's vice president and general manager of TiVo's service provider business, "With the introduction of the TiVo Premiere Q and TiVo Preview, TiVo is extending its advanced user experience and leading multi-room capabilities to provide cable operators a cost effective and highly differentiated solution for every type of household and every television in the house."

Availability

The TiVo Premiere Q and Tivo Preview will be available first from RCN and then Suddenlink at an undisclosed date, followed by other cable companies "later this year," says TiVo. No retail plans were announced.

TiVo will be showing off both products at the 2011 NCTA Cable Show in Chicago, June 14-16, at booth #ES-1 in the main exhibit hall.

More information should eventually appear on TiVo's website.

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