Rovi to Add Passport IPG Features

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Rovi Corporation (NASDAQ: ROVI) today unveiled the product plans for the next versions of the Passport Guide, its guidance solution for service providers in the United States, Canada and Latin America. The product rollout for Passport will include significant new features, such as remote record and video on demand (VOD) search, that are designed to make it easier for subscribers to access and discover more of the television content they enjoy.

“There is an influx of television content that is readily available today to the consumer through the service provider, yet finding this content can sometimes be a difficult maze to navigate, with preset schedules often getting in the way,” said Corey Ferengul, executive vice president of marketing and product management for Rovi Corporation. “We’re making investments in our Passport Guide to help service providers deliver their services to the consumer while helping consumers more easily access the content that is available.”

One of the current trends in the digital home is time-shifting or recording content to watch at a different time than when it is broadcast. With the freedom to watch TV shows according to an individual’s personal schedule and not a preset TV schedule, consumers are watching more TV than ever, up over 1.2% year over year, according to Nielsen’s Three Screen Report (September 2009). The same report states that time-shifting is up 37.3% year over year.

Rovi’s Passport Guide is planned to make it even more convenient for consumers to discover the TV programming that they want to watch on their own schedules. The product roadmap includes several new features to enhance the VOD experience that allows consumers to simply search and find VOD content, start and stop an on-demand program in one room and re-start it in another, and watch prime-time TV on demand. In addition, the Passport Guide product plans include the functionality to allow users to set their digital video recorder (DVR) remotely or select VOD content for viewing at a later time from any device that can connect to the internet and open a web browser.

Rovi Corp.