TiVo Gets CableCard Certified

CableLabs, a cable industry trade group, gives DVR company the sign off to make its first "Digital Cable Ready" product.

Leading digital video recorder company Tivo yesterday got the green light from the cable industry trade group CableLabs to begin building CableCard-enabled DVRs. With this approval, consumers will generally be able to do away with having a cable box connected to their Tivos for recording HD or digital programming.

This approval, said CableLabs, will allow Tivo to build a DVR which can accept CableCards from cable companies who are already issuing these to consumers across various U.S. coverage areas. CableCards function much in the same way as a cable box by decoding HD and digital signals sent on authorized channels.

No specific details were given on what Tivo’s first “Digital Cable Ready” product was, but this move certainly seems to be in line with their upcoming Series3 DVR. Being “DCR” certified will make it much easier for Tivo’s next generation recorder to tape HD programming.