Hasta La Gadget!

Other than what feels like a very slow pace of updates, one of our gripes with TiVo’s Premiere DVR platform has been a relative lack of new apps being released. Hopefully that could change soon, now that the company has opened up its Developer Channel to allow interested parties access to its SDK and tools to build their own apps. Although as our friend Dave Zatz points out, it doesn’t guarantee apps will be released even if certified, anyone ready to get down with TiVo’s Adobe-based environment should take a peek around. The notes do reveal some interesting details like the fact that only one app can run at a time so when an app is launched the TiVo UI is suspended, and that apps are restricted to 720p resolution only, 32MB of system memory, 20MB graphics memory and 1MB hard drive space quota. We don’t know yet what can be constructed with those tools, but go ahead — surprise us.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

TiVo opens up Developer Channel, lets third parties create apps for your DVR originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 14 Oct 2012 01:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TiVo has been a pioneer in the technology which enables users to record TV shows. On that front, it has a number of important DVR patents to its name. Back in 2009, the company sued both AT&T and Verizon over alleged infringement of three of its DVR patents.

AT&T eventually agreed to pay TiVo a whopping $215 million as part of the settlement. And now Verizon has agreed to cough up $250.4 million to finally end its legal battle with TiVo. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: TiVo Premiere Goes Official, Verizon Galaxy Nexus receives Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update,

Brad Pelo is suddenly in charge of a major Nintendo initiative for the Japanese company’s next big console, the Wii U, despite not being an employee at Nintendo. Instead, Pelo is CEO of i.TV — a “social television and second screen technology company” that’s worked with everyone from Entertainment Weekly to Engadget parent company AOL — and he’s the man responsible for Nintendo TVii.

At least he’s the man responsible for the company providing the software behind Nintendo TVii (the guy behind the guy, if you will). And his company brings more to the bargaining table than just software — existing relationships with cable providers and TiVO in the US bolster what i.TV offers Nintendo in a major way. “For Nintendo TVii, there is a mutual benefit in existing relationships we have. Like TiVO for example — we were the first to bring TiVO to the mobile platform. There’s also the benefit of tests that we have done over the years with the cable companies, based on components of our platform,” Pelo told Engadget.

But how did this all come about? He said it wasn’t long after Nintendo’s original Wii U E3 reveal. “The genesis of the experience you’re seeing here was really when the Wii U was announced, and it was clear that this is the ideal second screen,” Pelo explained. “Ideal,” in Pelo’s eyes, means a closed system with a “dedicated second screen.” In so many words, while he acknowledges that tablets offered by other manufacturers are technically superior, they don’t offer the same whole-system approach that Nintendo’s Wii U is offering. “You might not think of it as the ideal hardware compared to an iPad if I really had a dedicated second screen. But it is in the living room, and it’s persistent. It doesn’t even really work outside of the living room — it’s attached to the main viewing service in the home,” he explained, referencing the Wii U’s tablet-style controller.

Continue reading Here’s the company behind Nintendo TVii (spoilers: it’s not Nintendo)

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, Tablets, HD

Here’s the company behind Nintendo TVii (spoilers: it’s not Nintendo) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Sep 2012 15:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Nintendo Wii U may only have 8 to 32GB of internal memory, but the company’s taking a decidedly open approach to expanding that memory: add your own. “You can plug in a full-on three terabyte hard drive if you want. I’ll love you as a digital consumer,” Nintendo America CEO and president Reggie Fils-Aime told us during a post-press conference investor Q&A. Much like Sony’s PlayStation 3, the Wii U allows for expansion of memory via USB, whether that memory be Flash or otherwise. Fils-Aime explained that, with the continuously dropping price of memory, there was little reason to offer pricing for the Wii U — available in $300 and $350 — tied to an evolving hardware model.

“The reason we did it that way is that the cost of that type of storage memory is plummeting. What we didn’t want to do is tie a profit model to something that’s gonna rapidly decline over time. We’ll let the consumer buy as much as they want, as cheaply as they want,” Fils-Aime said.

Fils-Aime also confirmed that the Wii U doesn’t have TiVO hardware built into it — functionality will require an existing TiVO box. The same goes for DVR functionality, which Fils-Aime said Nintendo doesn’t want consumers to bear the expense of.

Filed under: Gaming

Nintendo Wii U expandable memory explained, TiVO hardware not built in originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Sep 2012 12:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TiVo has finally given a release date for its incoming Steam transcoder, which was unveiled back in May. Pre-orders opened up for a select few yesterday, and the company says that the device will be arriving on September 6. When it launches, it will set you back $129.99, which doesn’t seem to bad for what it does.

The idea behind the TiVo Stream is to get you up off the couch while still letting you watch your favorite shows. It can stream and record television shows to your mobile devices so you can watch them on the go, which will undoubtedly be a hit for people who have a handful of favorite shows but don’t have the luxury of being able to set aside time to watch them all each week. The four-inch square device needs to plug into a TiVo Premiere DVR in order to work, and it can stream to up to four different devices at once.

Unfortunately, there are a few limitations in place. The first is that it’s controlled through an iOS app, meaning that if you’re not using an iDevice, you’re out of luck for the time being – though TiVo does say that it will be coming to Android at some point in the future. Another limitation is that some networks will restrict your ability to record TV shows to your device. Some won’t allow it all, and all transferred content is copy protected, which means that you’ll only be able to watch these shows on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch.

Still, despite the restrictions, it’s likely to be a hit with those who have a wide range of shows they like to keep up with. If you want one, you don’t have much longer to wait, as it will be available at Tivo.com on September 6. Be sure to have a look at our story timeline below for more information on TiVo!

[via Engadget]

TiVo Stream transcoder arrives on September 6 is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
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