Samsung and TiVo Cut PVR Deal for European Market

Posted by Richard Kastelein in Breaking News on September 12, 2010  |  0 Comments More from this author  |    |  Follow Richard Kastelein on: Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter | YouTube

TiVo, a US-based leader in advanced television services and personal video recorders (PVRs), has signed a deal with Samsung Electronics., a global behemoth in home solution and telecommunication technologies, today announced they have teamed to develop an advanced, TiVo-ready, high definition PVR set-top box for digital video broadcasting (DVB) operators.

Samsung has licensed TiVo’s Hardware Porting Kit and will work with TiVo to build a TiVo verified platform which dramatically accelerates deployment for operators licensing the TiVo solution. This allows operators anywhere in the world to quickly deploy PVR set-top boxes with the TiVo consumer experience.

The integration of TiVo’s interactive television software with Samsung’s solution is a major win for operators; the new product will help decrease development complexities, improve time to market and reduce implementation costs for operators that want to give their subscribers. The initial implementation is expected to support an advanced HD PVR for European DVB networks, and the two companies may add non-PVR devices and additional platforms worldwide.

It's not clear yet whethere they include opportunities for 3PD TV developers via Samsung's TV development platform or with the TIVO's SDK or Samsung's SDK for Internet@TV.

Pilyoung Kim, Senior Vice President of Telecommunication Systems Business of Samsung Electronics, said:

“Samsung is very pleased to partner with TiVo, given its stature among leading television operators around the world. We expect this collaboration with TiVo will help Samsung achieve significant differentiation for our set-top box products, and improve the value proposition to operators by enhancing our advanced PVR product offerings”

“TiVo’s unsurpassed ability to combine linear television, video on demand and broadband content in an elegant and intuitive user interface is increasingly becoming the solution TV operators around the world are turning to in order to stay ahead of the competition,” said Joshua Danovitz, Vice President, General Manager of TiVo International. “We are pleased that Samsung has decided to join a growing list of set-top box manufacturers that have already licensed TiVo’s Hardware Porting Kit to help bring the full breadth of the TiVo experience to viewers around the globe. Going forward, operators selecting a TiVo verified set-top box now including Samsung will be rewarded with a product they can quickly and seamlessly deploy.”

Samsung and TiVo plan to bring this new PVR STB offering to market in 2011.