HMO (Home Media Option) is now FREE baby!!!! And to think I almost bought it when they reduced the price to $59!!! Since we've been on the free HMO trial, I believe the new service starts immediately. Therefore, I'm going to Best Buy after work to buy a wireless USB network adapter to put my TIVO on my home wireless network. Now I can do online scheduling of TV shows from work and other places and FINALLY listen to my extensive MP3 collection on my surround sound home theater system (I've been wanting to do this for a while, but relunctant to shell out the cash to buy the necessary hardware). Oh and we can look at our digital pictures on our TVs through TIVO now too! It's the little surprises like this that make life worth living sometimes. Especially when you're having a bad week. TiVo is developing new services to allow movies and music to be downloaded to its digital video recorders, but in the meantime the company is cutting prices for its current services to boost subscriptions to its standalone recorders. The San Jose, Calif.-based company is expected to announce Wednesday at a New York event price cuts for services used with its Series2 standalone digital video recorders, or DVRs. TiVo's networking software--a $99 option called Home Media Option--will become part of its standard service offering for both monthly and lifetime subscribers. The company will also offer those with multiple TiVo boxes a price cut for additional recorders. The monthly subscription rate for the first recorder will remain $12.95, but additional recorders will cost $6.95. Lifetime subscriptions will remain $299. TiVo said no changes are planned for the price or features offered with DirecTV TiVo boxes. The company has been developing advanced services for downloading movies and music from the Internet, as well as new advertising services. But no timetable has been set for those features, a company representative said. TiVo's relationship with its main partner, DirecTV, has gone through some turmoil during the past couple of days, as DirecTV sold its stake in TiVo and DirecTV's vice chairman left TiVo's board. Analysts have cited concerns over the moves because most of TiVo's subscriptions are from DirecTV customers. TiVo has been looking to attract more standalone subscribers as well as licensees of its DVR technology. At the same time, TiVo has developed new services to allow its recorders to connect to home networks and play more of a role in what is more and more being referred to as the digital home, which is made up of home devices connected to one another by a network. The Home Media Option software is part of that effort. It allows TiVo boxes to access and distribute content such as music files and digital photos stored on the hard drives of Apple Computer's Macs or on Windows PCs, streaming them to television sets or stereos via wired or wireless home networks.
Well that sucks. I have Tivo that is built in to my DirecTV receiver, so I guess that means I get nothing out of this.
As a DirecTiVo user, you may find this interesting... DirecTV Says Sold Stake in TiVo Tuesday June 8, 8:14 pm ET By Franklin Paul NEW YORK (Reuters) - DirecTV Group Inc. said on Tuesday it had sold its equity stake in TiVo Inc., raising concerns about the ties between the No. 1 U.S. satellite TV provider and the top digital video recorder services company. But El Segundo, California-based DirecTV (NYSETV - News) said it still sees its partnership with TiVo (NasdaqNM:TIVO - News) as "strong." TiVo shares fell more than 14.5 percent on Tuesday after an analyst reported that DirecTV sold some 3.5 million shares on Monday at about $7.20 a share. "We have sold our equity stake in TiVo," DirecTV spokesman Robert Mercer said. But he added, "We are focused on increasing the penetration of DirecTV DVR with TiVo service into our customer base." Mercer said the sale was in line with a policy of selling nonessential assets, and that DirecTV still values TiVo's digital video recorder service. DirecTV, which is controlled by Rupert Murdoch's (News) News Corp. Ltd. (Australia:NCP.AX - News; NYSE:NWS - News), also said on Tuesday it sold its majority stake in Hughes Software Systems Ltd. to Flextronics International Ltd. (NasdaqNM:FLEX - News) Earlier this year, it sold stakes in satellite company PanAmSat Corp. and XM Satellite Radio. (NasdaqNM:XMSR - News), among other assets. But news of the latest sale comes less than a week after DirecTV Vice Chairman Eddy Hartenstein quit the board of San Jose, California-based TiVo. The combination of events appeared to rattle TiVo investors. "When I connect the dots, there is something here that says the relationship is not quite what I thought it was," said Adams, Harness & Hill analyst Steven Frankel, who downgraded the stock to "market perform" from "buy." TIVO HAS CONTRACT THROUGH 2007 TiVo has a contract to supply DirecTV, its biggest source of new subscribers, with DVRs through 2007. But TiVo shares have been volatile in recent months amid concerns that it has bet too much of its future on DirecTV, its biggest supplier of new subscribers. DirecTV and TiVo enjoy a solid relationship, but DirecTV parent News Corp. may eventually bring in a rival DVR provider, such as NDS Group Plc. (NasdaqNM:NNDS - News), another News Corp. property. What is more, consumer electronics makers and computer software companies also offer DVR systems, which can record dozens of hours of TV onto a built-in hard drive, increasing the likelihood that DVRs will someday become a commodity item, eliminating the need for users to pay TiVo a monthly fee. Still, some analysts suggest that all these factors should not dampen optimism for the future of TiVo, whose name has become synonymous with DVRs, and whose service offers features not currently found on rival machines. "The release of a new low-cost platform with DirecTV clearly indicates that there is a definitive (growth) plan for next year, and on the stand-alone side, they are going to advertise later this year and cut prices" said Rodman & Renshaw analyst Daniel Ernst, who owns TiVo shares. Last month, TiVo said it expects to top 10 million subscribers in three or four years, from just under 1.6 million at the end of April. It also sells its DVRs at retail stores. TiVo shares fell $1.09, or 14.5 percent, to close at $6.41 on Nasdaq, where it was among the percentage loss leaders.
You sound like you've never heard of TiVo....where have you been? I bought my DirecTV receiver with Tivo a few months ago at Best Buy for $99.00. I can't live without it now.
You can buy them at any electronics store like Best Buy, Circuit City, Fry's etc. There are 3 models, (40 hours, 80 hours and 140 hours). I believe a version with a DVD recorder is also available or en route to the marketplace. Seriously, this is one of the greatest inventions of my lifetime. I don't watch live TV at all anymore, so I always skip commercials and can watch a 30 minute show in 22 minutes. Plus with sporting events, I set it to record and don't start watching until 45 minutes to an hour into the event, so I can skip all the commercials. all the info is available at their site: TiVo's Web Site
