TiVo has once again announced the top 10 Super Bowl Ads based on approximately 10,000 anonymous households. This year’s top ten Super Bowl ads are:

1. E-Trade: “Baby” (spitting up)
2. Pepsi Co: “Justin Timberlake”
3. Doritos: “Mouse Trap” (user-generated)
4. Coca-Cola: “James Carville and Bill Frist”
5. Ice Breakers: “Carmen Electra”
6. Bridgestone: “Headlights”
7. Bud Light: “Cavemen”
8. Vitamin Water: “Horse Race”
9. Cars.com Plan B: “Witch Doctor”
10. Life Water: “Thriller”

What was your favorite Super Bowl ad? Personally, I liked the Audi ad for the R8. I’m not much of car guy however; this car looks pretty sweet…

Yesterday, TiVo announced that Symantec has bought an advertising spot within CNET’s weekly TiVoCast program. While this isn’t necessarily great news for the consumer (after all, who really likes advertisements?) it definitely is good news for TiVo Inc. Acquiring advertisers for the TiVoCast program should put a little extra cash in TiVo’s wallet. I wonder how many other companies will start advertising using the TiVoCast system?

Gold Star Sponsor to Utilize Interactive Tags, Program Placement during CNET TiVoCast(TM) Interactive Ad Solutions Target Fast-Forwarding, VOD Viewers

ALVISO, Calif., Jan 24, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ — TiVo Inc. (Nasdaq: TIVO), the creator and a leader in advertising solutions and television services for digital video recorders (DVRs), announced today that Symantec, the maker of Norton security software, has signed on as the first advertiser to sponsor Interactive Advertising during CNET’s TiVoCast program. As a sponsor, Symantec will utilize TiVo’s Interactive Tags and Program Placements for the Norton product line within CNET’s popular weekly 15-minute TiVoCast program, which provides viewers with the latest news and reviews in technology and consumer electronics.

TiVoCast delivers — with ease and free to TiVo subscribers — broadband video content on the PC directly to the television sets and living rooms of TiVo subscribers through the Showcases area on TiVo Central, the main menu of the TiVo service. TiVoCast provides users with an extensive variety of viewing content via the internet to choose from, including content from: CNET, The Onion, The New York Times and Break.com among others.

CNET viewers can click on a “thumbs-up” during the program to obtain more information about Norton products while being able to easily return to the exact place in the program they paused viewing. These tags provide advertisers with an efficient way to reach a live, time-shifted or fast-forwarding audience and to offer viewers further engagement through opt-in requests for more product information.

“These are exciting times for TiVo as we witness our interactive ad solutions gain momentum throughout the media industry and expand beyond linear television to include nontraditional distribution channels such as TiVoCast and Video on Demand,” said Karen Bressner, Senior Vice President of Advertising Sales at TiVo. “It seems apropos that the first TiVoCast Interactive Tags are appearing during a program that highlights how technology is evolving and impacting consumers. Symantec utilizing TiVo’s ad solutions during a ‘downloadable program’ enabling them to reach interactive viewers who prefer to control their own content.”

“TiVo has presented us with a new way of reaching consumers in an ‘on demand’ world,” said Sally Jenkins, Senior Director of Consumer Marketing for Symantec. “By embedding engaging interactive tags into the popular CNET program we will drive qualified traffic to our site and enable consumers to learn more about how to stay secure on the Internet by using Norton products.”

The Interactive Tags and Program Placement will direct consumers to a branded Norton Showcase on TiVo which includes long-form content and a special offer. Additionally, Symantec will promote their Norton products including the award-winning Norton Internet Security(TM) 2008, in Gold Star Sponsorship’s and Program Placement within TiVo.

Originally spotted on TiVoLovers.

Jaman and TiVo have formed a partnership whereby TiVo users will be able to watch Jaman’s catalog of independent and international films directly on their TiVo. According to the press release, TiVo subscribers will be able to rent and purchase Jaman films starting at just $1.99!

Jaman Internet Movie Service to be Available on the TiVo(R) Service

ALVISO, Calif., and SAN MATEO, Calif., Jan 17, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ — Jaman.com, a leading Internet movie service, and TiVo Inc. (Nasdaq: TIVO), the creator of and a leader in television services for digital video recorders (DVRs), today announced that TiVo subscribers will soon be able to access thousands of American independent and international film titles directly from the TV screen via their TiVo DVR. The service will be available in the coming months to broadband-connected TiVo Series2(TM) and Series3(TM) subscribers. Viewers will be able to browse and select from Jaman’s premier library, featuring internationally-acclaimed titles such as Oscar-nominated “Paheli,” “Loverboy” (Sundance) with Kyra Sedgwick, “All About Lily Chou-Chou” (Berlin International Film Festival) and Dardennes Brothers’ “La Promesse” (Cannes/Toronto), helping to open up a new world of content to TiVo subscribers.

TiVo and Jaman’s relationship significantly expands the number of independent and international titles available to TiVo subscribers while providing a perfect complement to TiVo’s popular Amazon Unbox offering, which currently boasts thousands of movies and TV shows. The combination of high-definition content from Jaman, with the convenience and familiarity of TiVo’s intuitive interface, will provide users with the ability to discover and enjoy films from around the world.

“By capitalizing on TiVo’s vast big-screen user experience, we’re making it even easier for people to discover, browse and enjoy our catalog of high definition, edgy and award-winning films on their TVs,” said Jaman’s CEO Gaurav Dhillon. “This venture cements our position as a leading online provider of movies, offering unique and original content that viewers can’t find anywhere else.”

The relationship with TiVo extends Jaman’s broad cross-platform leadership with support for set-top boxes, PCs, Macs, SanDisk’s TakeTV and DivX. It also illustrates the continuing emphasis TiVo is placing on providing unique broadband services to their customers. Whether it’s thousands of movie and TV shows from Amazon Unbox, or millions of songs available through Rhapsody, TiVo lovers have more ways than ever to get great content on their TiVo DVR.

“We’re delighted to introduce the availability of Jaman to our TiVo subscribers and we think it’ll prove to be an exceptionally popular addition to our already robust broadband offerings,” said Tara Maitra, Vice President and GM of Content Services at TiVo Inc. “This joint alliance significantly increases the selection of international and award-winning movies made available to TiVo subscribers, giving them more choices and easy access to premium content not available elsewhere.”

With Jaman on TiVo, viewers will be able to both rent and purchase films starting at $1.99, with a number of shorts and full-length films that are available to download for free. Visit http://www.jaman.com to check out the vast library of movies that will soon be available on TiVo DVR. TiVo boxes are available at leading consumer electronic retailers including Best Buy and Circuit City. See http://www.TiVo.com for details.

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As a side note, I would like to thank Tom for putting me down as his TiVo rewards referrer. If you’d like to put me down as your referrer, all you need to do is enter my email address (raianoat AT gmail DOT com) when you activate your TiVo. Thanks Tom. It really is appreciated!

Update 01/14 @ 4:31 AM (my son’s not sleeping): MZ has updated TiVoLovers with more information about CES.   Check it out if you are interested in what TiVo showed at CES.

Update 1/13 @ 3:00PM: Dave Zatz has published more information about 2.6. According to Dave, 2.6 will allow you to subscribe to video podcasts directly from within the TiVo interface (kind of like what you can already do with TiVoCast). The content will be broken down into categories so that it is easier to find (something I’ve complained about in the past). TiVo Desktop 2.6 is really shaping up to be a nice release. I’m looking forward to March when it will be released so that I can get rid of my current setup.

Update 1/8 @ 12:33 PM: MegaZone has posted several screenshots along with more details about this new feature. I think it is really cool how TiVo is planning on implementing XMPP as their communication protocol. In some ways this is more exciting than the video poodcast feature itself. Great job MegaZone!

Update 1/7 @ 8:47PM: Both Dave Zatz and Engadget have posted some screenshots of this new feature.

PC World is reporting that TiVo is set to announce a new version of TiVo Desktop Plus which will allow you to subscribe to video RSS feeds (ie: video podcasts) directly from within the TiVo Desktop interface (kind of like what I’ve done here). The new version is expected to be released in March ‘08.

Other than that, there really isn’t a lot of details just yet. I’m sure we’ll find out more once MegaZone wakes up :)…

TiVo customers will be able to subscribe to video content from RSS feeds, ranging from network news to “indie” content from web shows like Ask A Ninja. Recorded Web video will appear in the Now Playing List along all recorded TV content. High-res Web videos will remain preserved in their original resolutions when viewed using TiVo Series3 or TiVo HD DVRs. The recorded internet video will be available both for television viewing and also, as an extra option, in a desktop folder.

PC users will need TiVo Desktop Plus 2.6, a new update to the Windows-based TiVo software that converts video for viewing on portable media players. The software update won’t be available until March, and it will cost new users $24.95, but will come as a free upgrade to existing subscribers. Mac users will need Roxio Toast 9 in order to use the new web video functions. Roxio’s new software will be available in March, as well.

Earlier today, TiVo announced that they’ve partnered up with both photobucket and Google’s Picasa Web Albums (screenshots after the press release).

ALVISO, Calif., Dec 03, 2007 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ — TiVo Inc. (Nasdaq: TIVO), the creator of and a leader in television services for digital video recorders (DVRs), today announced that all broadband-connected TiVo DVRs can take advantage of viewing and sharing their digital photos directly on the television set. By working with two of the most popular online photo services, Photobucket and Picasa Web Albums(TM) from Google, TiVo subscribers can easily access their own digital photos as well as those shared by friends and family using the Emmy award-winning TiVo user interface. Photos will be displayed at the highest possible resolution on each TiVo box, meaning TiVo Series3(TM) and TiVo HD subscribers can see their memories in full high definition.

“At TiVo we’re focused on the entire entertainment experience, from movies to music, and in this case — memories,” said Jim Denney, Vice President of Product Marketing at TiVo. “By working with these well-respected and popular photo-sharing partners TiVo enables families to share their pictures in new, fun ways. TiVo continues to show our commitment to differentiated product offerings by allowing subscribers to share their memories on the best picture frame in the house — their television.”

“Personal media sharing is clearly moving beyond the desktop,” said Alex Welch, President of Photobucket. “Photobucket helps its users creatively express themselves and share their lives with friends and family. Be it through cell phones, computers or TVs, we aim to offer our users the best service for searching, uploading and sharing this content. TiVo gives our audience an excellent way to bring Photobucket into their living rooms.”

Among other features, TiVo subscribers will be able to customize their photo viewing capabilities by searching community photos of interest by keyword, all using the intuitive TiVo search interface. For example, sports fanatics can create a custom slide show of their favorite team or player and dog lovers can sit back and enjoy a slide show composed of literally hundreds of puppy photos from around the world, all with the power of the peanut-shaped remote.

“Families and friends who use Picasa Web Albums to stay connected with each other’s lives are often looking for more ways to share those important photos,” said Mike Horowitz, product manager for Picasa Web Albums at Google. “Broadband-connected TiVo DVRs provide a fun way for people to view their own favorites or bring their photos out for everyone in the living room to see.”

TiVo subscribers can access the photo sharing application through the Music, Photos, Products & More screen on their TiVo DVR, and is offered at no additional charge as part of the existing TiVo service subscription fee. TiVo boxes are available at leading consumer electronic retailers including Best Buy and Circuit City. See http://www.TiVo.com for details.

Maybe I’m just being selfish but, I really would have loved to have seen TiVo partner with flickr instead of photobucket or Picasa Web. In any case, it’s great to see that TiVo continues to develop and release new TiVo HME applications. I’m really anxious to see how the HD photos will look on my Panasonic HDTV!

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….

TiVo has announced that they’ve formed a partnership with Nero to release a PC based software DVR solution. The press release doesn’t provide a lot of information on when the software will be released or how much it will cost. My guess is that we might see something at CES.

“The partnership with TiVo extends the TV experience for the connected digital home, enabling easy access anytime, anywhere to the most extensive TV content,” said Richard Lesser, CEO, Nero AG. “Our core technology enables the creation of new categories in consumer electronics, changing the way that users interact with both hardware and software. Our proven technology adds media functionality to the world’s leading consumer electronics, personal computing and software products.”

Under the agreement, Nero will develop a software solution that will bring TiVo features to the personal computer. Capitalizing on the growing PC TV tuner market, it will answer the consumer demand for a trusted PC-based DVR experience for use with the estimated 50.8 million PC TV tuners that will be sold worldwide by 2011, according to In-Stat research report published in April 2007.

“This agreement provides TiVo with an opportunity to deliver its interface and differentiated feature set globally via the PC, enabling TiVo to use all avenues of mass distribution — from consumer electronics, to cable and satellite boxes and soon, the PC,” said Tom Rogers, President and CEO, TiVo. “We are thrilled to work with Nero, a highly successful leader in software solutions for the PC who has the ability to develop a state-of-the-art program centered on the TiVo platform that will bring the same personalized entertainment experience to domestic and international consumers on their personal computers.”

In my opinion, this is great news for TiVo. The software based DVR market is growing rapidly and it would be foolish for TiVo not to get their hands in on it.

What do you think? Would you be interested in a software based TiVo DVR?

Spotted on ZatzNotFunny.

Earlier today, TiVo announced that the Series 2 DT TiVo will be available in Canada just in time for the Holiday season. Along with this announcement, TiVo has also published a new section on their website where you can find out more information about this launch.

“We’ve received overwhelming demand from Canadian consumers who want access to TiVo’s innovative products and services and we are extremely excited to be able to deliver our highly-successful TiVo Series2 Dual Tuner DVR to this key strategic marketplace — just in time for the holidays,” said Joshua Danovitz, Vice President and GM of International at TiVo. “TiVo’s move into Canada represents a natural, important progression for our business as we continue to make sustained progress across international markets.”

“We are committed to offering our customers with the most diverse selection of leading, highly-demanded consumer electronics available anywhere,” said Grant McTaggart, Senior Director of Merchandising, Best Buy Canada. “It is with great pleasure that we are teaming up with TiVo to bring their innovative products and services to our Canadian customer base.”

The TiVo Series2 DT DVR will be available in early December at major Canadian retailers including Best Buy, The Brick, London Drug and Future Shop for just $199 CAD MSRP plus standard TiVo subscription fees. TiVo will not be available in Quebec immediately. For more information on TiVo in Canada visit http://www.TiVo.com/canada.

Earlier today, TiVo and the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) announced that a USB hardware dongle is in development that will allow both the TiVo HD and Series 3 to receive Switched Digital Video (SDV) content.

ALVISO, CALIFORNIA and WASHINGTON, D.C. — The cable industry and TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO), the creator of and a leader in television services for digital video recorders (DVRs), today announced that cable operators will next year introduce a new external adapter that will enable TiVo® digital video recorders that use CableCARDs™ to access switched digital cable channels without a set top box, according to National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) President & CEO Kyle McSlarrow and TiVo President & CEO Tom Rogers.
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The new external adapter will attach to TiVo Series 3 HD DVRs and TiVo HD DVRs to ensure the DVRs can directly access all digital channels including switched digital cable channels. The adapter will work on any Unidirectional Digital Cable Ready Product (UDCP) that has a USB connector and necessary firmware. The cable industry is working with TiVo to ensure that installation of CableCARDs and the adapter will be easy and seamless for the consumer.
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Cable operators will make the new adapters available for TiVo customers in the second quarter of 2008. Cable operators and TiVo will work cooperatively to alert TiVo customers about availability of the new adapter.

This press release is like music to my ears. The SDV issue has had me concerned for some time now. Maybe the most recent lifetime subscription offer isn’t such a bad deal after all :).
Thanks to everybody who sent this news tip in!

Kind of boring but it’s news none the less….

ALVISO, Calif. and LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Oct. 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — TiVo Inc. (Nasdaq: TIVO - News), the creator of and a leader in television services for digital video recorders (DVRs), and Windstream Corporation (NYSE: WIN - News), today announced an agreement to offer bundled internet and TiVo DVR services.

Windstream customers will enjoy a differentiated video service that combines innovative broadband video content and traditional linear television through TiVo’s Emmy® award-winning user interface. The new bundled offering provides subscribers with easy access to a broad array of downloadable content via TiVoCast and TiVo’s popular Amazon Unbox(TM) service in addition to streaming access to over 4 million songs via Rhapsody. Subscribers will also receive well known TiVo features including Season Pass(TM) recordings, WishList® searches, remote scheduling capabilities, TiVoToGo(TM) transfers, and access to interactive services like weather and traffic from Yahoo! and Fandango® movie ticketing.

“Teaming up with Windstream to combine high-speed Internet and DVR into one convenient bundle unlocks a truly unique entertainment and communications experience for consumers,” said Naveen Chopra, Vice President of Corporate Development at TiVo. “We are pleased to join forces with Windstream, a provider of voice, broadband, and video services who wields a proven ability to market bundled services in conjunction with its core wireline service to over three million subscribers.”

“Combining TiVo’s best-in-class DVR experience and Windstream’s high-speed Internet service brings to our customers a comprehensive TV entertainment offering,” said Ric Crane, Chief Marketing Officer at Windstream. “Windstream now will be able to offer customers a simple-to-use integrated television experience with the ability to download on-demand movies, music and photos.”

Windstream plans to begin marketing TiVo in the first half of 2008. Specific pricing and financial terms of this agreement have not yet been disclosed.