CES: TiVo plans CableCard DVR, upgrades

TiVo on Thursday announced that it plans to introduce a new digital video recorder (DVR) with built-in CableCard technology.

CableCard is an industry standard for security cards that are distributed by content service providers and can be inserted into a digital video-ready TV or DVR. The cards store cable user and channel unscrambling information. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has mandated CableCard support in all cable boxes from mid-2005, a deadline that may be extended.

The TiVo HD digital cable ready DVR will also support reception and recording of high-definition content, TiVo's CEO Mike Ramsey said at a press conference Thursday in Las Vegas during the International Consumer Electronics Show.

The CableCard box will be released in early 2006, Ramsey said, but he did not provide further details or price information.

Ramsey said TiVo would also focus on improving its existing Series2 DVRs, with broadband capabilities, improved navigation and further ease of use.

The updated DVRs will also be able to record content to DVDs and download content to Windows-based PCs and portable devices.

Integrated broadband capabilities will allow users to download movies from online services, access additional content off the Internet and conduct transactions such as buying downloads or DVDs online, Ramsey said.

TiVo is also readying a new services strategy, code named Tahiti. The company's first Tahiti component is the TiVoToGo service software update, which will be free to current TiVo2 subscribers. The service update will allow users to record content to DVD players or move content to PCs over a home network, said Ramsey. "You can use the PC as storage in case there is no storage left on your TiVo," he said.

For programs to be transferred to a PC, TiVo's Desktop software would need to be installed on a client PC, he said. Once the program is transferred from a TiVo to a PC, the software will decrypt the file and play it back. The Desktop software supports only Windows 2000 and Windows XP, according to the company.

TiVoToGo will download itself automatically to DVRs when it becomes available, the company said.

TiVo boxes with integrated broadband and broadcast capabilities will be available by the middle of this year, Ramsey said.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.