TiVo and DirecTV Re-Team For New DVR

By Geoff Duncan September 3, 2008

TiVo and DirecTV Re-Team For New DVR

Satellite television provider DirecTV and DVR pioneer TiVo used to have a very cozy relationship. The companies got together back in 2000, and shortly DirecTV was moving the majority of TiVo DVR devices and creating oodles of TiVo subscriptions. However, the relationship between the two companies began to go downhill, and in 2005 DirecTV announced it was going to develop its own DVRs, developed by NDS Group, rather than stick with the TiVo units. The news was almost a death knell for TiVo, which for a while struggled to put boxes in living rooms and work out deals with other service providers, while trying to convince the industry it really did have a future.

Now, however, the tide appears to be coming back in: TiVo and DirecTV have announced they are re-teaming to create a new high-definition digital video recorder exclusively for use with DirecTV satellite service. According to the companies, the new DVR will support TiVo features like TiVo’s Universal Swivel Search and TiVo KidZone (although features like TiVo-to-Go and multi-room viewing haven’t been mentioned). The companies expect to launch the new DVR in the second half of 2009.

The new TiVo DVR will be offered alongside DirecTV’s own DVR products, rather than replacing them, giving DirecTV customers a choice of DVR technologies.

“As the industry’s content and technology leader, DirecTV has a long-standing reputation for developing innovative, advanced products and services, including our highly successful series of DVRs and HD DVRs,” said DirecTV CEO and president Chase Carey, in a statement. “We will continue to work with TiVo and make this new product available to all new and existing DirecTV customers who may want to add TiVo on top of our industry leading experience.”

Neither company has announced any pricing or package information for the new DVR, and neither TiVo nor DirecTV disclosed the financial terms of the arrangement.

Editors' Recommendations

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…

Audio / Video

PBS is coming to DirecTV Stream later this year

DirecTV Now Promo Shot

Public broadcasting now has another foothold in the streaming era, with local PBS affiliates coming to DirecTV Stream, the streaming service formerly known as AT&T TV, DirecTV Now, and AT&T TV Now.

The addition will put PBS on its second streaming service after being added to YouTube TV earlier in 2021. The rollout to DirecTV Stream will be gradual, however, with only "participating member stations" becoming available "over the next few months." PBS says the full launch will be completed in 2022 and will include the live feed of the local affiliate, as well as access to PBS' large (and free) on-demand library.

Audio / Video

TiVo takes personalization to the next level with voice ID

TiVo Stream 4K remote

The ability to use your voice to interact with smart TVs and streaming media devices is rapidly becoming standard. What was once an exotic and expensive feature, microphone buttons are appearing on remote controls for devices that cost as little as $30. Some of the newest smart TVs, with built-in far-field mics, don't require a button at all. But as convenient as voice commands are, they're also kind of dumb. All systems attempt to understand what was said, but few -- if any -- try to understand who said it, and that creates a big opportunity.

Today, TiVo and Pindrop, a voice authentication company, are taking the first step toward voice commands that understand who is doing the talking, with a new partnership that will see Pindrop's voice ID technology added to TiVo's voice-enabled devices. Pindrop is also opening up its voice authentication platform so that any third-party developer can take advantage of the same capability.

Deals

TiVo Stream 4Ks dropped to $40 at Walmart, and you can get one by Christmas

TiVo Stream 4K

While browsing the available 4K TV deals that are available this holiday shopping season, one thing that you should consider is how you will access 4K content. A product that can help you with this is the TiVo Stream 4K, which Walmart is currently selling with a $10 discount to bring its price down to $40 from the original price of $50, and if you buy it now, you will receive the device by Christmas.

TiVo is known for DVRs, but the TiVo Stream 4K doesn't record TV shows for you to watch later, and it doesn't even connect to traditional TV sources such as cable or satellite. Instead, it is a streaming media dongle that is powered by the Android TV operating system, with a flexible HDMI cable for connecting to your 4K TV, a Micro USB cable and AC adapter for power, and a remote.