“Shares of digital video recording device maker TiVo (TIVO) rallied as much as 20 percent Wednesday after Inside Digital Media said that Apple Computer (AAPL) is considering buying TiVo. Research firm Janney Montgomery Scott said a short squeeze is also likely pushing the stock higher. However, ‘Apple is definitely on our list of plausible buyers, given that computer manufacturers could use TiVo’s brand as a centerpiece on their ‘Media PC’ strategies,’ said analyst William Kidd. Apple is not Kidd’s first choice of buyer, since much of TiVo’s value lies in its brand and technology and Apple has one of the strongest brands in the country,” Ciara Linnane reports for CBS MarketWatch.
Full article here.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Is Apple CEO Steve Jobs thinking about ‘Mac mini TiVo’ possibilities? – January 17, 2005
Beleaguered TiVo is ripe for an Apple takeover – August 12, 2004
Industry Standard founder predicts Apple will takeover TiVo – April 22, 2003
TiVo is a lot more than just a digital VCR and there are so many easy to use functions (I own 3 TiVos and before I bought the last one, I bought a Sharp PVR-DVD Recorder w/hard drive – most difficult to use piece of equipment I’ve ever owned – needless to say, a 3rd TiVo was purchased).
A partial list of TiVos features, pause live TV, Season Pass (record every episode of a show with option to exclude repeats), Search, Wish Lists (have a favorite actor, singer, etc. and TiVo will automatically record every thing that they appear in), view your iPhoto libraries on your TV, listen to your iTunes music on TV, move TV shows from one recorder to another, etc, etc…
What could Apple bring to TiVo is better Mac support (TiVo doesn’t support the iTunes Music store music format, a major issue that needs to be solved soon for it to be useful), even better software (it’s UNIX based, so it would fit well with Apple’s OS X), better integration with the Mac as a media hub (TiVo’s recently announced TiVo To Go is not Mac compatible, another major issue that needs to be solved soon), better box styling (of the 3 TiVos I own, NONE of them are TiVo boxes – a Sony and 2 Pioneers (neither company currently sells a TiVo box)).
I would warmly welcome an Apple buy out of TiVo!
I’ve used Dish Networks version for the last several years. Can never go back to watching the old way. It’s a completely revolutionary way to watch TV.
I don’t think Apple needs the TIVO name to do this. With a simple firewire interface divice, they could add another module to iLife – “iTV”, or “iWatch”.
TiVo is a sinking ship, and Apple doesn’t need them at all — it would only be a drag.
They need to create their own best-of-breed product from scratch, and trade on the iTunes brand.
Who watches TV anymore?
TiVo has some patents which prevent its competitors from making it as good as TiVo’s.
If Apple does not buy them, someone else will.
Would they name it iTiVo or just iVo?
Lukas, iTunes wasn’t created by Apple. It was purchased and they hired the developer on to finish the project under their guidance.
rageous was right in noting that their brand recognition is extremely valuable and Mr. Lawless points out that it’s UNIX base would play very nice with OS X.
Personally, I think it would be a great addition to the family.
The advantages of having a TiVO can’t be captured in a feature list. When I said that “everybody loves TiVO,” I overstated the case. What I should have said was, “everybody who has TRIED TiVO loves it.”
TiVO is every bit as revolutionary as the iPod. When you turn an ordinary TV on, you have maybe a couple channels to choose from. They’re all playing live, so to watch one from the beginning you may have to wait a good part of an hour. And even then, there’s literally NOTHING good on. In contrast, when you turn your TiVo on, you have a library of movies and TV shows waiting for you. Not just hundreds of episodes of crap, but shows you’ve personally selected. And you can watch half of one today, and the rest tomorrow.
I suppose an Apple TiVo would be pretty similar to a VCR. With a two-hundred-hour tape. And instantaneous FF/Rewind. And a menu system. And an interactive Program Guide. And wireless connection to iTunes Express and streaming iPhoto slideshows.
On second thought, that’s not much like a VCR.
considering Tivo is using Rendezvous or “Bonjour” on the backside i think they will be a great fit for Apple. They can use the tivo boxes as that long-rumored media server and increase their mind-share as a viable media company.
imovie, iphoto,itunes running on Tivo and Quicktime. The key HDTV. this is will be truly the year of HDTV.
erk, has come up with the perfect name for the product, the Stevo.
But what actually is tivo? I live in Australia and we dont have it. Is it like a set top box kinda thing with a built in hard drive. Can’t a HD DVD recorder do the same thing. Or is it a service you have to pay for ? If it’s just about time shifting, and getting rid of commercials, my VCR does that. Commercials arn’t all bad, how else do you expect to learn or hear about stuff without the occasional advert.
this sounds so right. all of the things happening in the past few months really make this sound like its gonna happen. For example, when the Mac Mini came out, everyone was kinda dissapointed with the lack of a Media Center version. Why no media center version? Because Apple are lining up a takeover of TiVo, thats why.
The only thing I don’t like about TiVo is the user experience. It doesn’t outright SUCK like Comcast’s On Demand, but it could be so much better. If Apple got a hold of TiVo and actually made it as easy as the iTunes/iPod killer combo, then they would have a killer product.
I’d like to give you the hebegebes Sum Yung Gai!
I’d just like to watch the movies I got for Christmas, forget about TV! Too much to do that I value over either one of those, like reading MDN(?!?)!
MDN Magic word: Radio, as in, “I listen to the radio a lot more than I watch TV”
As has been mentioned above (and deserves further mentioning) the (now) free Home Media option that comes with Tivo is already Mac compatible. You can put a cheap USB wireless (802.11b) adapter on your Tivo box (or use USB cables, if you don’t have Airport or other wireless) and use it to
a) access the internet for schedule updates, special downloads, messages, etc.
b) view your iPhoto albums (controllable by the Tivo remote
c) listen to your iTunes playlists (also controllable by remote)
And I emphasize – wirelessly, if you so choose.
The step to a full Apple/Tivo media center (either with an external mini, firewire connection to an existing Mac, or via completely new device) is a fairly small one, and a very logical one, now that the iPod family (and more recently the mini) has gained such popularity.
The next logical step for the iTunes/iVideo store would then be connection to satellite radio and/or cable TV for the home. Imagine a button on the remote that allows instant purchase and download of the currently playing music/movie. How often do you hear a song on the radio in your car and wish you could purchase it at that moment (or somehow remember to do it when you get home). You forget, and don’t, once the impulse passes but if you could, you would. Or many would, anyways, and media downloads would increase exponentially (until enough people started getting monthly statements that exceeded their budgets).
This is where the greatest success in these markets will occur in the next 5 years, and Apple is poised to lead the way.
I just got the Comcast version of TiVo, a digital VCR with a ton of features. I haven’t done a feature to feature comparison, but in this case all I pay for is the service. $9.99 a month. Comcast brings the box.
The interface isn’t bad, and for skipping around and watching shows/movies it’s GREAT. I’m a movie addict with 80 movie channels and Comcast OnDemand. The Digital VCR turns it into a real powerful timeshifting and recording station. I assume that Apple just wants to add these capabilities to a bigger product.
If TiVo couldn’t make a profit with 3,000,000 customers, how can it do it with Comcast and other people jumping into the arena?
I think it was the double whammy of buying a BOX and having to pay by the month that out off a lot of people. I only have one friend with a TiVo and they live in a mansion. Most of the middle class people I know aren’t sure what it is, and certainly wouldn’t buy UNLESS they had a free trial. Once you use it, it’s fun, easy, and VERY addicting.
dv
Does Apple still make Power Mac computers?
One never hears any new news in that dept.
Sum Yung Gai – why the slam on ReplayTV? It is far closer to TiVo’s interface than the awful Comcast On Demand. (Ex-Apple employee and professional opinionated jerk Bruce Tognazzini even calls it “an overall superior brand” to TiVo here. Replay was the one that said “screw you” to to Hollywood studios’ piracy concerns, with the result that they had their business decimated. So some of us do indeed love ReplayTV.
I have four TIVO’s, two of them are Series 2 and networked. I’ve been on the TIVO bandwagon since day one but as much as I like TIVO, it has some enheriant (sp, its early) problems.
TIVO box is cheap but lifetime subscription is too expensive (and it keeps rising). My first TIVo it was something like $200. Its now what, $300? That $99 tivo box is more like $400 when you add the lifetime. I also heard rumors that they’re raising it to $350..
Apple could easily build TIVO into the iMac Mini. I never did fully understand why the TIVO boxes were so large. They really don’t need to be. Also, it doesn’t make any sense not to have a wifi card built into it now..
Christopher
p.s. At least with Apple we’d finally get Remote Desktop 2.0 for the Mac.
This is apple’s only real chance to get into the living room. If apple doesn’t buy tivo, someone else will. Like microsoft. ONce you have media machiens plugged into your living room, all the sudden, downloading music onto your living room console seems like a lot less of a hassle than doing it on your computer. Not to mention videos.
I PRAY they buy TiVo before it’s too late.
This is apple’s only real chance to get into the living room. If apple doesn’t buy tivo, someone else will. Like microsoft. ONce you have media machiens plugged into your living room, all the sudden, downloading music onto your living room console seems like a lot less of a hassle than doing it on your computer. Not to mention videos.
I PRAY they buy TiVo before it’s too late.
Where to start,
Lets go with the easy one. CP asked why the box is so big. To fit on the shelf and look like all the other home theater components, reciever, dvd, vcr, etc.
Moving to the more disturbing, All of the people who said Apple is considering buying TiVo, and all of the fluffy feel good info about how great the two would be for each other is basically worthless. These people are analists and tech opinion writers. They are not on the board of directors, or CEO, or ANY position within Apple or TiVo. They have no authority to say that this is in fact happening as we speak.
Look at the results, TiVo stock up 20%. That alone would make it harder for Apple to buy if they were trying. When rumors of a buyout or takeover happen, the soon to be purchased company has a brief rise in stock prices. The buying company has a mid range FALL in stock prices. If TiVo went up 20%, when will the other shoe drop and Apple stock will tank 20% or more?
In the midst of all this, some of the clueless wallstreet people will praise Apple over this rumor, some will crucify Apple, and the mixed message will put off current and potential Apple investors, further hurting the stock price.
Until the SEC announces that Apple has filed or officially made a move to get TiVo, any baseless (even though the fit may be logical) speculation only hurts Apples stock prices.
What a worthless comment. Obviously anyone who posts a message on a Mac News/Gossip website isn’t a board member and only a critic or a fan.
Dennis
Dennis, with all the comments listed, which were you talking about?
Before I moved into a household with a Tivo, I didn’t watch tv. Commercials are too loud, too long, too annoying for the lackluster programming that usually follows them.
What’s so great about TiVo?
Watching something and didn’t catch what was said? Rewind, see it again. Need to answer the phone, go to the bathroom, check on something in the kitchen? Pause live tv.
Never watch a commercial again. Ever.
Never worry about your vcr not being set. Find any movie or tv show without needing a guide, and set it up to record weeks in advance. Find shows by favorite subject or actor. Save a whole season of your favorite show to share with friends, or network your tivo and burn it to dvd.
It does wonders for televised sports (helped a lot during the Olympics) and nightly news.
The only technology I love more than my Mac, is TiVo. The only thing I don’t like about TiVo it is that it makes me want to watch television.