TIVO essays

TIVO essays TiVo in 2003 was a leading provider of digital video recorder (DVR) technology and services. DVRs are similar to VCRs except that TV recordings are made to hard disks rather than onto a tape. DVRs are going to change the way that people watch and enjoy TV. With the DVR technology the user is able to record, pause, fast-forward, and rewind live TV. However, in order to compete with the DVR technology, some companies such as Comcast offer VOD (Video on Demand). With VOD, all content is available 24 hours a day therefore consumers would have no need to purchase DVR products. In order to stay competitive, Comcast today offers both VOD and DVR services. The cost of the DVR service typically ranges from $5 to $10 a month. At this point in time there is no set standard or format for the DVR technology, therefore an opportunity presents itself for a company to set a standard. If TiVo plays their cards right, I believe that this technology could become a platform technology where thi rd parties could add value. TiVos future could be very profitable if they are successful in launching TiVo as a protocol. For example, TiVo now has a music protocol that allows TiVo to play digital music on your television. In the future, other services will interact with, but not sit on top of, the DVR. In order for this strategy to be successful, TiVo would have to reengineer their non modular product into a piece of modular equipment which can easily adapt to different hardware and software environments. As a result, TiVo will be able to greatly reduce the costs that are associated with extending its technology to a new OEM or CE device. The patents that TiVo has filed will also help them to develop a dominant standard or format in the DVR industry. TiVo has three major patents that they received in 2001. One of the patents is for personal video recording software and hardware design and the other two patents are for core DV...