Blockbuster And TiVo Join Forces

The New York Times is reporting that Blockbuster and TiVo will announce today that they are teaming up "to deliver Blockbuster’s digital movie library over the Internet directly to the televisions of people with TiVo digital video recorders." The deal apparently involves no money but will see TiVo customers have access to Blockbuster's library and Blockbuster offering TiVo devices from it's retail stores. “We are excited to be teaming with TiVo, the company that created the DVR, to make Blockbuster’s entertainment content readily available to their millions of subscribers,” Jim Keyes, chief executive of Blockbuster, said in a statement. “Ultimately, our vision is to work with TiVo so that their subscribers can access movies not only through our On Demand service but also from our stores and through our by-mail service as well.”

Program TiVo From Your Blackberry

In one of several press releases from Research In Motion yesterday, the Blackberry manufacturer announced a new partnership with TiVo! "TiVo subscribers will soon be able to wirelessly control their TiVo DVRs using a BlackBerry smartphone - anytime, anywhere - and that is a powerful example of how our respective technologies can complement each other to serve our mutual customers," said Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO of Research In Motion. The initial offering allows subscribers to both services to discover what's on television and schedule recordings "while away from the living room and on the go." Tom Rogers, CEO and President of TiVo Inc said "RIM and TiVo share a commitment to great user experiences, which cause our products to become seamlessly integrated into the consumer's lifestyle. We also share a vision for the future of mobile entertainment services and we look forward to a variety of future innovations as a result of this relationship." Now if only the Blackberry could control the popcorn maker...

TiVo Partners with YouTube To Bring Videos To Your TV

TiVo has announced an agreement with YouTube to bring millions of online videos to your television screen. “TiVo’s strategy is to bridge the gap between Web video and television and make as much content available as possible for our subscribers,” said Tara Maitra, TiVo’s vice president and general manager for content services. With Apple TV offering similar content the lines between television and the computer are beginning to blur, just as some futurists had predicted... not that it was that big of a stretch! YouTube clips will be streamed to the television as opposed to the downloading of television content to a hard drive that is customary for the TiVo device. “TiVo should be the best experience for all video options, whether it’s coming from cable, satellite or off of a server,” Ms. Maitra said. NYTimes article.

Canadian television content hits iTunes Store

The CBC is reporting that Apple Inc. is launching the sales of "Little Mosque on the Prairie, The Rick Mercer Report and Corner Gas, as well as complete NHL hockey games." The cost to download is reported to be $1.99, assume that's Canadian dollars ;-). The video marketplace looks to be heating up here as this comes on the heals of Microsoft's launch of an Xbox Live video rental service and the recent announcement of TiVo's move into Canada. It's a long winter but it looks like there will be plenty of reruns to watch!

TiVo coming to Canada in time for Christmas...

A big hit with consumers in the U.S., TiVo has been unavailable in Canada until now. In a press release TiVo Inc. announced the entry into the Canadian market place starting early December. The device, which allows users to record shows and skip commercials, will be available nation wide, with the exception of Quebec, via big box retailers Best Buy, Future Shop, The Brick and London Drug stores for $199. The service also requires a monthly subscription fee of $12.95. While similar technology is available through most of the cable services, the TiVo price is about $100 cheaper than the current offerings and is bound to heat up the market. The CBC has more here.