TiVo

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What is TiVo?
TiVo is a popular brand of digital video recorders in the United States. The device allows users to capture live television programming to the internal hard disk storage for later viewing. Users can rewind, fast-forward, pause, and play the action on the screen as they are viewing it on their television screens. Think of TiVo as the ultimate upgrade to your old VHS recording system. In order to use TiVo, the purchase of a subscription to TiVo Personal TV Service is required.

History
= = In the year 1997 James Barton, CTO and Michael Ramsey, CEO mention the concept of the developing Tivo. A year later the logo was born and later evolved. Tivo and the company Philips. Afterward, the investment was made with the company called Direct Tv.. Strategic equity partnership produced to additional content and service in the future. More equity contacts undergone with major media companies: CBS, Walt Disney, Cox communition, Comcast, Discover Communication, Liberty Digital, TV, and Advance/Newhouse. Then, Tivo and Sony came up with a smart thinking partnership, followed by an initial public offering. During the year 2000 personal television was introduced in the UK by Tivo and British sky Broadcasting Group who formed an alliance. "Tivo Takes"- a totally interactive video program, is introduced. In addition AOL and Tivo later came up with a partnership and equity investment together. Thompson Multimedia begins delivering Tivo into the entire country of UK. Soon the single market deployment service was created by Tivo and Comcast. Tivo is now currently offering "content rich interactive advertising" to their subscribers. "Best of Show" at CES is given to Direct TV receiver with Tivoin the year of 2001. Also new service is revealed allowing consumers to watch and record two shows at one time. Lat an Emmy Award for outstanding achievement was received to Tivo creators. Tivo then signed a license agreement with the famous company Sony, adding a business unit for support. Then finally Digital Video Recorders where introduced to Tivo customers. Tivo then received two patents for home networking capabilities and DVR functioning for there systems.

TiVo Price list
> The TiVo corporation currently sells 3 models > * TiVo series2 DT DVR (80 hours) - $99.99 > * TiVo HD DVR (180 hours/20 hrs. HD) - $299.99 > * TiVo Series3 HD DVR (300 Hours/32 hrs. HD) - $599.99 > > //Price platforms// >
 * || Monthly || Yearly ||
 * 1 Year || 16.95 || 179.00 (14.99/month) ||
 * 2 Year || 14.95 || 279.00 (11.63/month) ||
 * 3 Year || 12.95 || 299.00 (8.30/month) ||

How to Use the TiVo DVR

 * Load your program guide and use the search feature to find your favorite show.
 * Now you can choose either to record the TV Show for just the next episode, a few episodes, or depending on how much you like the show, you can even choose to record the entire season.
 * If you don't want to record reruns, set your DVR to record new episodes only.
 * For an added bonus, you can also set your DVR up to work around time delays in the starting or ending of your selected program.
 * Set the amount of time you would like for your DVR to retain these recordings, and you're all set.
 * Repeat this same process to target all of the shows you would like to record, and you'll never get upset about missing your favorite show again.

Tivo vs DVR
Please click on the link to view [|TIVO Comparison Chart]

Controversies
Some controversies surrounding TiVo include privacy and content concerns. TiVo technology records what shows users watch, when they watch them, and how many times users watch their recordings. TiVo also records how many times a user presses the Rewind and Forward button, then gathers this information and sends it to advertising companies. TiVo is also facing controversies for trying to introduce pop-ups and banners while people fast forward through commercials. The main concern about this is that TiVo is taking their services too far, and some even argue that soon other DVR systems will begin to dominate because of these issues.

**Future**
References: http://www.tivo.com/ http://www.howtodothings.com/electronics/a2128-how-to-use-tivo.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TiVo#The_TiVo_Digital_Video_Recorder http://shopping.yahoo.com/s:Digital%20Video%20Recorders http://www.engadget.com/2004/11/19/tivo-responds-to-the-ads-while-fast-forwarding-controversy/ [|http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/26/technology/26adco.html] http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/tv/2007/02/the_myth_of_live_tv.html