New DirecTV TiVo Beta Underway?

In case you didn’t believe a new DirecTV TiVo is really under development, check out these purported beta invitation and rejection email messages: Thank you for your interest in TiVo’s beta programs. We’d like to invite you to join the Field Trials Team in beta testing hardware provided to you by TiVo. To participate you should … Read more

The TiVo Updates of the Week (Samsung, MoCA)

I’m not sure either of the recent TiVo (pre)announcements warrant an independent post, given the company’s typical long lead between partnership revelations and tangible products. However, given the pings and forum chatter, they’re probably worth touching on briefly as part of a larger ‘week in TiVo’ post. First, at IBC TiVo and Samsung announced that … Read more

Catching Up With TiVo v DISH

We’ve been covering TiVo’s patent dispute with DISH/EchoStar for, literally, years. Heck, I even trekked down to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in 2007 to catch some argument/testimony. However, I’ve grown bored of the topic. And, as neither an investor in TiVo nor DISH/Echo, I’ve got no skin in the game. … Read more

Delayed DirecTV TiVo Manufacturer Revealed

TiVo, Inc held their quarterly earnings call yesterday. As expected, it was mostly more of the same – revenue down with a net loss (~$15m), subscriber count down (~2.4m), but plenty of cash in the bank ($240m). However, TiVo did answer a long standing question I’ve had regarding the upcoming but delayed DirecTV TiVo. Who’s … Read more

NFL Sunday Ticket To-Go… without DirecTV!

Looks like DirecTV has enhanced their NFL mobile offering with more than just higher resolution streaming and iPad support this season. Sunday Ticket subscribers can optionally add the To-Go tier for $50, but DirecTV has also decoupled television service from online access — allowing anyone to subscribe to NFL streaming. At $350 for the season, it doesn’t … Read more

DirecTV’s NFL Sunday Ticket To-Go (iPad!)

Football season is most definitely upon us, as I’ve hit training camp and received my first fantasy league invite. Outside of the satellites themselves, DirecTV’s most costly investment has got to be their NFL broadcast rights ($700m – $1b/yr!). But it must be paying dividends, as every DTV subscriber I know sticks around for one … Read more

Goal! Goal! Goal! World Cup Mobile & Online

It’s that time of decade… FIFA’s World Cup competition is in full effect. And it’ll be one of the most watched events in human history – given the seemingly universal love of soccer (er, futbol), national pride, and widespread viewing technologies. Here in the US, ESPN seems to have the broadcast rights locked down. Yet, they’ve … Read more

The Google TV Platform Preannouncement

Funny. TiVo wants to be the Google of television… but so does Google. What Google did for the Internet, TiVo is now doing for the TV, bringing people a combination of excellent search results and innovative discovery that can’t be found anywhere else. -Tom Rogers, TiVo CEO At Google’s annual developer conference yesterday, they elaborated on … Read more