The digital video recording giant is teaming up with German software company Nero AG to deliver a new hardware and software pack that will turn a PC into a working TiVo box. Known as the Nero LiquidTV/TiVo PC, it goes on sale Oct. 15.
The $199 package comes with remote control and a TV tuner that hooks into the PC being used. Consumers who already have a TV tuner card installed in their PCs can get the software by itself for $99. Both prices include a year's subscription to TiVo services, which renews at $99 per year.
At launch, the Nero LiquidTV/TiVo PC will only be available in the U.S., Mexico and Canada. TiVo President Joshua Danovitz said that his company plans to offer the new box in Europe starting next year, a move that would open up a huge new market. As of now, only Britain has TiVo subscribers.
"It's really part of a global TiVo strategy," Danovitz told the Wall Street Journal.
Tech writer Peter Ha of CrunchGear.com got a chance to use the new service, and although he doubted that many consumers would be likely to station their TiVos near their computers, he liked what he saw.
"You can transfer video back and forth between TiVos and the system works just like your standard TiVo," he said. "It’s even a bit faster than the standalone box. Nero has been working in the TiVo space for a while now and this offloading of the software onto PCs was inevitable, especially since TiVo’s HD pickings aren’t very compelling to consumers."
