TiVo Gives MoCA the Vote
3:25 PM TiVo will use speedy coax platform in some whole-room DVR setups, but MoCA is unlikely to be its only option UPDATED 9/16 11:50 AM
3:25 PM -- TiVo Inc. (Nasdaq: TIVO) shed some light on its future multi-room DVR plans by joining the Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) , the org behind the speedy coax-based home networking technology. (See TiVo Joins MoCA.)
TiVo has become an associate-level member, joining about 30 other companies with that distinction.
Multi-room capabilities aren't new to TiVo; it enables them today by connecting full-fledged DVRs over a home network and allowing content to be shared on hard drives. TiVo's MoCA move will pave the way for streaming off of a primary, premiere-class DVR to other TiVo-made, MoCA-enabled, thin-client boxes hanging off the home network.
We've asked TiVo whether MoCA will factor into its retail plans, but, as a starting point, we certainly expect MoCA technology to grace its budding direct-to-MSO DVR strategy.
Update:: Don't expect much retail MoCA action from TiVo early on as it gets ready to introduce those products in 2011. "MoCA has not been widely adopted in the retail channel, [but] we will certainly keep on top of this as it develops," the company told Light Reading Cable via email. Also, expect the initial crop of TiVo MoCA products to support version 1.1, rather than the speedier 2.0 platform. "MoCA has just recently been ratified and we don't expect it to be widely deployed for a few years," TiVo added. (See MoCA Is Go for 2.0 and MoCA 2.0 'Enhanced' Mode Target: 800 Mbit/s.)
TiVo's already developing a new whole-home DVR client box for Suddenlink Communications , with deployments expected to begin in 2011, and told Light Reading Cable in July that MoCA was one of the home networking technologies it was considering. But it's looking at others, too. (See TiVo's Crafting a Whole-Home DVR.)
And other TiVo operator partners both here and abroad, including RCN Corp. , Virgin Media Inc. (Nasdaq: VMED), and ONO , could end up riding TiVo's MoCA integration plans. (See Virgin Presses 'Play' on TiVo, TiVo Hopes to Reign in Spain , and RCN to Expand TiVo 'Premiere' Rollout.)
— Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Light Reading Cable
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