TiVo (NASDAQ: TIVO), the creator of and a leader in television services for digital video recorders (DVR), and Verizon Wireless, owner of the nation’s most reliable network, announced today an agreement that will allow Verizon Wireless to debut TiVo Mobile, a new downloadable application that lets TiVo® service subscribers schedule recordings on their TiVo device directly from their Get It Now equipped Verizon Wireless handset.
From what I’ve gathered this is a downloadable Java Applet that gives you a TiVo-style interface on your phone to schedule recordings. I caught a glimpse of this at CES, but I figured it wasn’t public info, and I confirmed that, so I never mentioned it. It actually looked pretty good from what I saw. I’m a little disappointed that it is a Verizon exclusive, since I dumped them for Cingular a few years ago since Verizon took too long to get BlueTooth phones and the data service at the time was lame. They’re a bit better now, but I hope this service is spread to other carriers. And if it is an applet, just making it available for download could allow folks with other devices, like my Treo, to grab it directly.
I don’t think this is earth-shaking by itself, but it is part of TiVo’s broader push to enhance the service. Adding a number of nice features that set them apart from other DVRs and enhance the brand, and brand awareness. Similar to the online scheduling via Yahoo – it doesn’t really offer anything new, compared to TiVo Central Online, but it helps build awareness of TiVo for Yahoo users.
