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As TiVo distance themselves from the personal video pack there is every possibility that the content device could face stiff competition from re a re-engineered Sony PS3 or Microsoft Xbox 360 or even a PC running TiVo software say researchers.
And in the future the solution could be TiVo on a HD TV tuner card as opposed to a separate device. According to a new report from TDG, game consoles such as Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PS3 are evolving into multimedia gateways with legitimate non-gaming media arsenals.
Armed with the growing video libraries of Xbox LIVE and in the future the Playstation Network, these consoles can deliver on-demand video services with content similar to what TiVo is currently rolling out.
In recent weeks SmartHouse has been told that both Sony and Microsoft are looking at incorporating new electronic program guide software into their interfaces.
This will allow users to record their favourite TV programs. Already Xbox 360 users can access the Microsoft Media Centre software which currently includes an EPG. The new models will also be designed to integrate better with additional network storage devices. Next year TiVo are also set to roll out a 1TB storage unit and two networked TiVo devices in an effort to deliver a home network wrapped around the TiVo software.
However analysts are saying that this could be an expensive solution. Recently TiVo and Nero AG of Germany the makers of TV tuner cards announced a package that turns a Windows PC into a TV recorder, just like a TiVo set-top box currently being sold by Seven Media.
The new offering which will cost around $250 went on sale in Europe and the USA in October and includes a TiVo remote and a TV tuner that plugs into the PC. The interface is identical to the one found on the Seven Media TiVo unit. The offering eliminates the need for a $699 TiVo unit and multiple TiVo devices in separate rooms linked to a storage offering.
Even better would be the TiVo software loaded directly onto a new generation HD TV that has wireless and the ability to access the Internet and a built in or external storage drive said one TV vendor.
Colin Dixon, TDG’s practice manager for broadband media said based on his experience of the US market “There is a bit of a ‘value vacuum’ developing around today’s PayTV offerings. Rising dissatisfaction with service value, the lack of flexibility implicit in tiered strategies, and a growing interest in watching online video on the TV has combined to create a unique opportunity for alternative video services – an opportunity not at all lost on console vendors.”
“Microsoft and Sony know that today’s console gamers are perfectly suited for new TV offerings. The segment is dominated by males between the ages of 18 and 35 – a prized advertising demographic – with little sense of loyalty to their ‘local’ subscription TV Company. They are also heavy viewers of online video and quite comfortable spending money for online digital media. Simply stated, console vendors are inimitably positioned for success in the OTT space because (1) their gaming audience already owns the enabling device, and (2) they are highly likely to already have an Internet-to-TV relationship with the vendor.”
To quantify the extent of this opportunity, Dixon references data from TDG’s new report:
· By 2012, approximately the majority of households will use a next-generation game console;
· 80% of these households will have this console connected to the Internet; and
· 75% of connected-console households will use console-based video services at least a couple times
each week.
