TiVo + Netflix = **** netflix just do it by yourself TiVo.

[TiVoCanada]

Why dosnt TiVo just grow the company by also doing what netflix does but through TiVo without the need for Mail and waiting.... I dont see why TiVo even needs Netflix they can do it themselves....

[ZeoTiVo]

they need the licenses to rent via downlaod from the copyright holders. That would have been Netflix's biggest part of the partnership and has been a holdup as Netflix has had trouble getting them from studios that are contemplating whetehr to do downloads themselves.

[Dan203]

As we've seen with the Rocketboom thing the ability to transfer recordings to a TiVo via broadband is in place. They just need to get the details worked out with a content partner to get it going.

Dan

[hongcho]

BTW, I noticed that Netflix's is trying to hire people to develop online-distrubition systems, including a set-top box. I am not sure if Netflix will be a partner or a competitor to TiVo in this market...

Hong.

[Dan203]

TiVo doesn't have a big enough customer base to be the sole provider of such a service. If Netflix does go ahead with this it make sense that they would offer their own set-top box for those customers who want to use the service, but don't have a TiVo. They might even offer PC software for people who use media center PCs. For a service like this the more people you can reach the better your chances of success. :)

Dan

[megazone]

TiVo doesn't have a big enough customer base to be the sole provider of such a service. If Netflix does go ahead with this it make sense that they would offer their own set-top box for those customers who want to use the service, but don't have a TiVo.Actually, I don't think it makes a lot of sense. Any set top box for this service would basically need to be a TiVo, or something like Akimbo's box. It is so close to being a TiVo, and the cost of developing, manufacturing, deploying, etc, new hardware is so high - I think it'd make more sense for them to do a deal with TiVo to resell TiVos. They could have a NetFlix branded TiVo (just like Humax) and they could offer it with TiVo Basic for a reduced fee, or the full TiVo Plus for a higher fee. Using existing hardware with established software and distribution seems to make more sense. They could do some kind of rev-share with TiVo for any units NetFlix sells, so NetFlix could get a piece of the TiVo sub fee, etc.

I saw the NetFlix job postings, and while new hardware might be possible, I read them more as developing software clients for a set top box - and probably an existing platform, or platforms. (If I were NetFlix I'd be looking at as many channels as possible - TiVo, Akimbo, PCs - even XBox 360 and PS3.)

[samo]

Actually, I don't think it makes a lot of sense. Any set top box for this service would basically need to be a TiVo, or something like Akimbo's box. It is so close to being a TiVo, and the cost of developing, manufacturing, deploying, etc, new hardware is so high - I think it'd make more sense for them to do a deal with TiVo to resell TiVos.
I disagree with that. The box needed to download and play movies can be very simple and very cheap. You don't need to even have commercial skip. No TV guide, no advanced search features. Very simple software and hardware and it can be developed on a cheap in a very short time. Netflix will have a complete control of it and can make sure that it doesn't work with any other provider. Because box does not have to have a lot of storage it can be made so cheap that Netflix can give it away with subscription. Makes perfect sense to me to take TiVo out of the loop.

[megazone]

That's been done and it is called Akimbo. In the end the hardware isn't much less than a TiVo - basically remove the inputs and encoder. The low production levels and sales make it more expensive per unit to produce and distribute. Using a 40hr S2 as a base you'd build on the existing economies of scale.

And, unless you want a poor user experience, the software isn't so simple. More simple than a TiVo, sure, but the TiVo software *already exists*. So it isn't comparing one to the other, it is the effort of adding NetFlix features to existing, proven software with a good UI, to created a new product from scratch. And then NetFlix has ongoing costs of maintaining the product, hardware and software.

Akimbo tried that approach and it hasn't worked well. NetFlix may have more luck, or not. Akimbo has decided to branch out into the PC world as a service on Media Center PCs, in addition to the dedicated player hardware. I could also see them on a Series3 TiVo, since they use WMV9 for their delivery they'd have to change a lot for a Series2.

[HDTiVo]

Cable Set top; DVD player/recorder; TiVo (2); HiDef DVD; MovieBeam; Akimbo; Linksys DSM-520; IPNetFlix; VCR;

Those boxes are really piling up. I'm going to need a room with a higher ceiling.

I'm also flat out of inputs, and it already takes 3 minutes to find the next remote.

No, the box will have to be able to do many things. That's where TiVo comes in.

NetFlix might become a value-added aggregator of content; a retail distributor of rental downloads - and sales. But proprietary service with proprietary hardware is not the way to go.

What is needed is a standard for all content - just as the DVD standard was needed - which hardware can be built to.

[classicsat]

TiVo won't really cut it for network delivered content, unless network infrastructure, including the "last mile" is drastically improved, as all current TiVos can do is MPEG2 compression.

To make online content delivery really viable it will need to be an MPEG4 variant, which essentially leaves TiVos out of the loop, unless an external unit is used, or the TiVo transcodes into MPEG2 (in the background likely).

I for one agree that the studios, manufacturers, and providers need to agree on a delivery standard for IPTV STBs.

[megazone]

I think that the TiVo's MPEG2 is acceptable for an interim system. Keep in mind that downloaded content can be encoded using professional multi-pass encoders while will produce much smaller files for the same quality as the local single-pass encoded in the unit.

Going forward the Series3 handles MPEG4 AVC and VC-1 for advanced codecs.