TiVo finally comes to Canada

After years of waiting, it looks like TiVo is finally coming to Canada. There is also an official TiVo mini-site about Canada.

This has been a long time coming with reports going back over two years that this was "coming soon" following almost four years of hacking together some solutions for home-spun guide data.

It looks like the offering isn't HD, just the standard dual-tuner 80 hour box but after many years of waiting, at least it's better than nothing. (thanks, Iain!)

Comments

[Peter]

For at least the last 2 years (since softare version 7.2.x) the TiVo service has been fully functional and supported by the software in Canada. Setup has accepted Canadian postal codes and program data has been available for Canadian cable providers. Even the latest features such as Swivel Search have been fully functional.

What TiVo didn't do was any official marketing or sales.

So the only real news here is that they're selling in the big box stores and spending marketing dollars in Canada. Really they're only making "official" what they started 2+ years ago.

[Hampton]

But wait.... does the HD box work here???

[Peter]

The HD boxes only work with an OTA feed. Even then, you won't get the program guide data for Canada.

No cable providers in Canada support CableCARD, so the HD boxes won't work with your cable feed.

[Peter]

Interesting quote from Rogers regarding the news:

"We've always admired the personalization and recommendation aspects of TiVo," said David Purdy, vice-president of Rogers Cable. "We've had discussions with TiVo in the past and my understanding is that they are keen to work with cable companies and integrate [their device] into the set-top box."

Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071127.wrtivo27/BNStory/robMarketing/Television/

[Murray F]

How does TiVo get its schedule information? Also, how far into the future does the schedule go?