TiVo will use the IBC Conference in Amsterdam as the launch pad for a next-gen cloud TV platform that will feature a new “Network PVR” and mark the advancement of TiVo's IPTV service provider strategy and its development of a system that does not require local DVR storage.
Though still dubbed a “prototype” and aimed to help operators with their IP video transitions and to take advantage of lower-cost IP client devices as well as tablets and smartphones, the new cloud-based platform will stitch in the company’s user interface, search functions, and the overall “experience” offered via TiVo’s new lineup of “Roamio” HD-DVRs.
The role a cloud DVR would play in TiVo’s IPTV strategy emerged last week when the company announced a partnership with Entone that covers the integration of TiVo’s UI and cloud-based services platform with Entone’s Kamai-branded IP media players. Although the integration will allow Entone to combine TiVo with boxes with or without local DVR storage, the initial focus of the partnership will be on helping IPTV operators deliver cloud-based apps and services, including a network DVR, according to Entone CEO Steve McKay, who said the combo should be ready for commercial deployments later this year.
TiVo hasn’t announced any takers yet, but said its coming cloud DVR service could support a premium-level service with expanded catch-up and save options, and could enable programmers to insert targeted advertising in cloud-hosted, time-shifted content.
TiVo also envisions the platform supporting a social networking/recommendation “co-viewing” feature that would allow a viewer to share a recorded program with an authorized user who missed a show.
"Operators are becoming more and more focused on the reducing capital expenditure while enhancing subscriber satisfaction across every screen inside and outside the home,” said TiVo VP of innovation Joshua Danovitz, in a statement. “TiVo's Network PVR could play an important role in this process as it would bring an experience, which has proven to improve customer satisfaction and operating metrics for global operators, fully to the cloud.”
The IBC Conference runs from September 12-17 in Amsterdam.
