TiVo rescue mission
p2pnet.net News:- Is TiVo at death’s door?
That’s the widely accepted view. But Arthur van Hoff, an "obscure but revered high priest of software coding" thinks not.
In fact, he may have figured a way to pull TiVo back.
"In January, TiVo bought van Hoff’s tiny startup, Strangeberry, for an undisclosed sum," says a Business 2.0 story here, going on:
"Hardly anyone noticed. But for TiVo, the deal is shaping up as a masterstroke. Van Hoff is known in elite computing circles as one of Silicon Valley’s most brilliant minds. Prickly? A bit. Nerdy? You bet. But, among other career highlights, van Hoff was one of the chief developers of Sun Microsystems’s Java programming language, now seen as being among software’s most momentous technical feats. Even Sun co-founder and industry legend Bill Joy calls van Hoff ‘a great programmer’.'"
TiVo recently said it’ll offer TiVoToGo to allow subscribers to download movies and music via Broadband. But Hollywood and National Football League have filed with the Federal Communications Commission saying sending programs in a digital form could lead to the violation of copyrights.
"Strangeberry has created technology based on industry standards, including a collection of powerful protocols and tools that will enable the development of a host of new broadband-based content delivery services for the TiVo platform," says TiVo.
The company also announced new development partnerships with digital photo and music companies XM Satellite Radio, Adobe, MoodLogic and Picasa "that will expand the features and capabilities of the TiVo service through its groundbreaking Home Media Option".
In addition, Sonic Solutions, has teamed up with TiVo to develop TiVo-enabled versions of its software to support TiVo’s new service upgrade, "TiVoToGo".
Sonic Solutions has just bought Napster II owner Roxio’s consumer software division for $80 million – $70 million in cash and shares of Sonic common stock valued at $10 million.
DirecTV offers TiVo as part of its satellite service and is, thus, a major source of $$ for TiVo. But according to Business 2.0, DirecTV says it’ll also begin offering another DVR technology.
So will van Hoff save TiVo’s bacon?
Stay tuned.
