Earlier today, TiVo released their results for the third quarter which ended on Oct. 31st. The results contains a lot of news that we already knew about (Comcast TiVo, TiVo Canada, SDV dongle, NBC advertising deal & Nero partnership…) as well as one piece of news which Is completely new to me. According to the results, TiVo has plans to release a TiVo which will utilize CableLabs‘ OCAP standard.
“In addition, as a result of our constructive conversations, TiVo and the cable industry have come to an agreement on a blue-print for a retail TiVo DVR using the cable industry’s OpenCable Application Platform that will have full two-way cable service functionality. While the technical specifications are still being worked out, such a set-top box will mean TiVo subscribers will be able to get full access to cable VOD and other two-way cable services. This could also mean that a standalone TiVo offering could fully substitute for a cable operator set-top box. This understanding was communicated yesterday to the FCC through an ex parte filing by TiVo. We believe that this dialogue with the cable industry has been very constructive, and demonstrates the cable industry’s genuine desire to work with TiVo, not to mention the clear recognition that TiVo is an important offering for cable subscribers.
Does this mean that we will see a Series 4 TiVo? I guess we’ll have to wait and see. In any case, this is great news for the consumer. The inability to get VOD content has always been one of the biggest limitations of the Series 3 and TiVo HD. I’d love to see TiVo overcome this will an OCAP solution….
About Author
