Reporting from CES: Going Deeper into TiVo's announcements

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Reporting from CES: Going Deeper into TiVo's announcements

Tivocesbadge I was traveling on business this week and decided to make a quick side trip to Vegas to see all the new products unveiled at CES (I wanted to go mostly to see the TiVo stuff in person). 2004 has been a rocky year for TiVo -- they didn't launch a lot of new features in the product line and had to grapple with competitors crowding the space. I was starting to feel their future was uncertain and hoped they'd have a lot to show at CES.

After hitting their booth/press area and talking to a few TiVo reps (including meeting the guy behind TiVo.com -- Hi Todd!), I have to say I was really impressed with all the new ventures and directions they are moving towards.

For the past couple weeks, I've been brainstorming a big list of ideas to turn TiVo around which I hoped to publish before CES, but I'm happy to say that almost all the big ideas I could think of were hit on by this week's set of announcements. I'll go through each new piece of TiVo tech I played with and mention all the answers I got to my questions, and what it means for TiVo customers.

TiVo ToGo (TTG)

I got to play with a couple TiVos running the new OS (it was version 7.1 I believe) that includes TiVo ToGo and a demo PC they had running the new TiVo Desktop. The entire package works like this:

You'll need the new TiVo Desktop client to interact with TTG, which is already available for download at tivo.com/desktop (it won't work fully until you get the new OS update on your TiVo though)
On the DRM front: Once you've got the new TiVo OS (I heard estimates that even for the folks on the priority list, it could be a couple weeks more before you get it) you'll get a Media Access Key on your TiVo that you put into your TiVo desktop to interact. You can reuse this key on up to ten devices, all accessing your TiVo. You'll also have to set a password for TTG/playing your shows.

Tivotogo
Closeup of the TiVo Desktop, with a Now Showing list read from a networked TiVo

You basically get a copy of your Now Showing list on your PC when launching the TiVo desktop, and you have to copy the shows entirely to your PC over the network before playback (no streaming while downloading)

Full sized TiVo Desktop (click for big version)

Shows look to be in TiVo's proprietary mpeg2 format, at around ~1Gb/hour, so moving shows around on most home networks will be somewhat slow (tough to give a good estimate but expect that a typical 30 minute show might take 20 minutes to transfer from TiVo to your PC).

Tivo_playpassword
WMP 10 will ask for a password every time you hit play

Once downloaded, you can play the shows in Windows Media Player (WMP) 10 after entering your password. You'll have to type the password every time you hit play, so I suspect it'll get old real quick. You can burn shows to DVD (sans DRM) using a Sonic MyDVD burning software package. They're working on having free demo versions of the dvd burning app available soon and I believe you'll have to buy the full version to use it beyond a trial period.

Prototype Media Player Portables for TiVo (click for big version)

You can send shows to new Portable Media Center devices like the Creative units, since they interact with WMP 10. This is good news, since you won't necessarily have to have Windows Media Center also running to work with those new devices. TiVo also showed off prototypes of two personal video handhelds that could connect directly to your TiVo, so transfers could be over USB 2.0 instead of TCP/IP, which would be much faster. It's not much of a stretch to think you'd have a simple dock near your tivo that you could drop it on each day and pull new shows from.

HME (Home Media Engine if I remember correctly)

HME is an umbrella term for opening up various parts of TiVo to developers with a set of new APIs and software. I've long wondered why TiVo didn't poach ideas for features from the official and unofficial TiVo hacking communities and I've also wondered why they never embraced them to help let developers extend TiVo.

Prototype TiVo interface with new developer apps running (click for big version)

Basically with HME, TiVo's rolling out the red carpet for developers.

Here are my notes from talking to a couple reps:

As stated previously, this set of stuff includes a format to write apps for the HMO, including preparing video, music, and images for a TiVo. There is also a gaming platform that will let you play java games over the local network, from code running on your PC.
HME will be available to everyone using OS 7.1, enabled with a backdoor code that will be published on a developer site along with links to sourceforge downloads of demo games and apps in several weeks. I suspect it might leak out before that, if anyone at TiVo lets it slip.
Developers rejoice: there will be a windows sandbox app that'll let you emulate TiVo on your desktop, so you can test code against it without having to actually try it out on your TiVo (which probably isn't located where you code).

Tivogame
Demo game running on a TiVo, done in java that runs on a networked PC

If you write code for games or apps in java designed to be run from a PC, you'll be able to run it freely without any agreement from TiVo. You'll be able to offer your code for download from your website and anyone running their new tivo with the backdoor code should also be able to run your code from their network as you did. Sometime this summer, TiVo will highlight the best apps and run those from central TiVo servers instead of local PCs.

It sounded like the Video/Music/Photos stuff is mostly aimed at large content companies or people selling content through TiVo. So it's not like you'll be able to watch your own video of your child's first steps anytime soon, because TiVo reps lead me to believe only TiVo approved media apps would be deployable to TiVos, mostly for copyright concerns (without this, I guess someone could create a rogue porn video marketplace with stuff they found on the net, but didn't have rights to). That's a lot like how Danger controls the code on their hiptops -- only approved code can be deployed to other users.

The Standalone HD TiVo

Tivocablecard
Dual tuner CableCARD HD TiVo, rotating in a case

So the one big obvious thing on the cablecard TiVo accounced this week that seemed to get lost in the cracks was that it is indeed a dual-tuner HD recorder. It has two card slots instead of one, and I got to see one playing some generic HD content on a HD plasma. It looked terrific, though I'm still worried about their estimated ship date of first quarter 2006. I think Comcast will be able to get a lot of the Motorola boxes out to meet demand by then (a fellow TiVo fan that was grilling reps along side me admitted he had a new dual HD motorola PVR that he loved and couldn't wait until 2006 for this). I would have liked to see this device coming out this summer, while the demand is still great.

I'll be posting a few more bits today about Microsoft, my favorite product of the show Sling Media, and various random bits and photos from the show floor.

by Matt Haughey January 8, 2005 in News

Comments

Fine wrapup. Thanks for confirming that the burned DVD are sans DRM, I've been curious about that. The developer features sound implausibly useful, at least as long as development isn't tied to Windows.

Do I understand correctly that it won't be straightforward to move Tivo-video from computer A to computer B, even if A and B both have the same media access key?

How explicit were they that one can't start playing a TTG program until it's been completely received by the computer? The documentation for "Home Media Features" goes out of its way to claim this will work:

http://customersupport.tivo.com/resources/pdf/series2post/HMF2_Book.pdf

Page 17: "After you enter your Playback Password, TiVo Desktop launches your computer’s default media player, and the recording begins to play. You can play any recording on the list, even one that’s still transferring."

Perhaps it slipped.

Posted by: Nat Irons at Jan 8, 2005 7:31:57 PM

Hopefully youve got more to write, because its hard to understand how what youve written will turn TiVo around. TTG has been well documented for the past year and the cable card box is always going to be at a disadvantage with the cable companies giving their HD offerings away for free. Sounds like you think the APIs / developer tools are going to save TiVo...

"After hitting their booth/press area and talking to a few TiVo reps (including meeting the guy behind TiVo.com -- Hi Todd!), I have to say I was really impressed with all the new ventures and directions they are moving towards.

Posted by: New York at Jan 8, 2005 9:30:07 PM

Yes, I think the combination of finally opening up an API to developers, giving them a sandbox, and giving every content company on earth a way to sell their wares on a TiVo has the potential to really be something big.

TiVo hacking doesn't have to be an underground thing anymore and I can't wait to see what people come up with.

Posted by: Matt Haughey at Jan 8, 2005 10:59:35 PM

Good by TiVo! These announcements probably will not keep them going very much longer. They are much, much too little and to late. By the time they get the HD TiVo to market will anyone still care. It will be out of date and the competition will have already released their comparable products and have moved on to the next generation product.

Posted by: Richard at Jan 9, 2005 8:26:45 AM

DirecTVs decision to not support HMO / TTG demonstrated the downside to allowing a 3rd party to come between TiVo and the customer. A cable deal would / will probably entail similar functionality restrictions, for one business model reason or another. By focusing exclusively on increasing functionality for the stand-alone unit, consumers are going to ultimately benefit more over the long-term.

Currently, TiVo is at a big "infrastructure" disadvantage (in terms of functionality) with respect to the cable / satellite offerings. Stand-alones are single-tuner, cant record / playback the original stream (which affects picture / audio quality) and dont support HD. But starting in 2006 (with CableCard), this should all change. Cable / satellites advantage is going to dissappear. TiVo might always be at a cost disadvantage because the service providers have greater financial resources to subsidize costs, but as I understand it, TiVo should no longer be at an "infrastructure" disadvantage. Which would then require TiVo to compete on a software / services basis, which is where I think they win over the long-term. Motorola / Scientific Atlanta are hardware companies, which is why they have the advantage in the current environment. But TiVo's renewed and exclusive focus on stand-alone software / services development is where it can best distance itself over the long-term.

One thing Id really like to see is an exclusive integration deal with Apple. If TiVo could become the only DVR (non-PC) device in the home that can playback iTunes files, that would give it a big advantage given the hysteria over the iPod. Im not sure exactly why Apple would agree to that given that they have their own wireless networking solutions, but perhaps a deal could be worked out.

Posted by: New York at Jan 9, 2005 5:26:06 PM

Actually New York, if Apple bought TiVo, there could be a real iPod/TV integration.

Posted by: Matt Haughey at Jan 9, 2005 7:27:39 PM

Oh, and I've heard from a few folks via email that you can in fact stream TTG video as you are transfering it. I don't know why, but two TiVo reps insisted to me that you had to wait until they were done before playing in WMP 10.

Posted by: Matt Haughey at Jan 9, 2005 7:28:51 PM

Any mention of Mac OS X support for TiVo to go? I would imagine that the hold up on this would be the DRM enabled version of WMP.

Posted by: Robert Occhialini Jr. at Jan 10, 2005 8:45:51 AM

Yeah, Robert, I believe TiVo is pushing Apple to tweak Quicktime to add some sort of DRM, or push MS to make a mac client for WMP that has the same system as the windows side. I didn't ask specifically about mac support while I was there, since I've heard the run around for the past few months.

Posted by: Matt Haughey at Jan 10, 2005 10:27:31 AM

A couple of comments:

- I was really looking forward to the TTG stuff, until I read I have to use WMP10 on my PC. No thanks.

- I was again excited about the developer features, until I read I would not be able to distribute my apps without an approved signature.

- A cablecard HD tivo wont be out until 2006. 2006?!?! TWO THOUSAND SIX?!? I'm really at a loss for words. Why will it take another year to come out?

Posted by: Chris at Jan 10, 2005 12:45:08 PM

"... so transfers could be over USB 2.0 instead of TCP/IP, which would be much faster"

Don't compare apples and oranges. USB 2.0 may be much faster than 100megabit/s ethernet (TCP/IP can run over USB), but at 1 gigabit/hour, the ethernet isn't what's holding up the transfer.

I think they're pacing out the transfer so that it doesn't interfere with other disk accesses (real-time recording and playback of other selections). So USB 2.0 may not do much better.

Posted by: Phil Pishioneri at Jan 10, 2005 3:26:13 PM

http://broadband.motorola.com/dvr/bmc9012_bmc9022d.asp

Moxi - This will most likely cripple if not kill Tivo plans for the dual tuner cable model they plan to bring out too late.

I saw this at CES and was just amazed.

Greg

Posted by: Greg Mucino at Jan 11, 2005 6:12:49 PM

Most people can't get Moxi because their cable company does not offer it. A standalone TiVo would be a good alternative for those people.

Posted by: Wes Felter at Jan 11, 2005 9:35:59 PM

You don't actually have to use WMP to play a .tivo file. But your player must be DirectShow aware.

Posted by: Stuart Rue at Jan 12, 2005 6:48:03 PM

The HME SDK has been released on sourceforge:

http://tivohme.sourceforge.net

Posted by: Brigham Stevens at Jan 31, 2005 5:55:08 AM

Nothing motorola will come out with will kill or cripple Tivo's HD plans. I have a current Moto dual HD box and it completely sucks. I can't wait for a REAL Tivo... not some knockoff hack PVR wannabe like comcast currently offers. Tivo is the holy grail.

Posted by: B at Aug 21, 2005 9:13:06 AM