Shares of TiVo jumped 7 percent and shares of Netflix rose 5 percent in after-hours trade on the widely anticipated announcement for a set-top box that represents a kind of technological Holy Grailfor the entertainment industry.
Netflix spokeswoman Shernaz Daver said they targeted a 2005 debut for a product that would let consumers download movies onto their TiVos through high-speed Web connections and watch films at their leisure.
But the plan faces the daunting challenges of winning cooperation from Hollywood, which has hesitated to release its movies on the Web without rock-solid security, fearing it could lose control of its products like music industry labels did.
