Up until now, the only portable service TiVo had was its TiVoToGo, which allowed one to transfer recordings to laptops and portable devices featuring Microsoft's Portable Media Format. When the iPod video launched, they offered a TV show download service, but at $1.99 a show.
Well, TiVo has recently introduced a service to transfer recordings to an iPod video and the PlayStation Portable. This service features automatic synchronisation such that any recordings made on the TiVo are automatically converted and transferred to the iPod or PSP, if left connected overnight. To start with, the service will initially be beta tested with selected Series 2 TiVo subscribers, followed by all of the remaining subscribers excluding DirecTV TiVo's next April.
While the service will be available free of charge for TiVo subscribers, users must purchase the software in order to make use of the service. Video encoded with the software will roughly consume 200MB per 30 minutes of video using H.264 video compression. If put on disc, this would work out at ~1Hr 45mins per CD or ~11 hours per DVD. In an aim to prevent piracy of recorded content, the content will have an embedded watermark unique to the user in order to allow recordings to be traced back to the subscriber.
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But as with all breathless technology declarations (particularly those that come out just before the crucial holiday season), the devil is in the details. Here are answers to some common questions regarding TiVo's announcement that it will allow customers to copy their favourite TV shows to their portable devices: TiVo already has a service called TiVoToGo. What's new here? TiVoToGo lets owners of TiVo boxes transfer TV shows to their computers, including laptops. The content can also be transferred to gadgets compatible with Microsoft's Portable Media Centre format. TiVo is expanding that service by permitting shows to be encoded and transferred to Sony's portable game machine, the PlayStation Portable, and to iPods capable of playing video. The full FAQ based article can be read here. |
It will be interesting to see how TiVo's service would compete to Apple's iTunes service or even TV shows on DVD, particularly since the user does not pay for each TV show they transfer. On the other hand, if the user forgot to configure their TiVo record a certain show, chances are that the only way they can get this would be to get it from an online service.
Also, as Apple does not license out its FairPlay DRM technology, this means that the TiVo recordings are not locked to the user's iPod, but then again these are fully traceable back to the user should any get leaked out over the Internet. For this reason, those who use this TiVo services and also use file sharing applications will need to make sure that their P2P tool does not end up sharing out a folder containing converted TiVo content.
Source: ZDNet UK Insight
