With an initial focus on Europe, the lineup of TVs will be offered under multiple brands, including Vestel, Daewoo, Regal, Hitachi, Telefunken and JVC.
LAS VEGAS – CES 2023 – Xperi's plan to launch a lineup of TVs powered by the TiVo operating system is pushing forward, with an announcement here that Vestel will start to ship a wave of new TiVo-based smart TVs starting this spring.
Vestel, an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) that's also Xperi's first TV partner, said it will start shipping smart TVs under several brands, including Vestel, Daewoo, Regal, Hitachi, Telefunken and JVC.
Figure 1: The TiVo navigation platform and user experience are being baked into new TVs from Turkey-based Vestel.
(Source: Xperi/TiVo)
With an initial focus on Europe, Vestel said its first "Powered by TiVo" products will be available to consumers in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Turkey. It's unclear when or if Xperi intends to extend its TiVo OS game plan for TVs to the US.
Geir Skaaden, Xperi's chief products and services officer, told Light Reading in August that Xperi is also talking to pay-TV partners about the "operator TV" concept that was initially pursued by Vewd, a company Xperi merged with last year. The idea was to give operators in Europe a way to integrate their own pay-TV services with over-the-top streaming options in a unified platform that does not require a set-top box.
"We see that [operator TV concept] being very relevant in multiple markets, quite frankly, in Europe and the US, as well," Skaaden said then.
Vestel has not revealed many details about screen sizes or pricing for its first wave of TiVo-based TVs, but TiVo's OS will weave in TiVo+, a free, ad-supported streaming service that features more than 160 "channels."
The first Vestel-made TVs with TiVo's OS will feature chipsets from MediaTek. Xperi, TiVo's parent, won't be stopping there, however. It also announced today that Amlogic will integrate the TiVo OS on chipsets for both HD and 4K-capable smart TVs.
Other TiVo OS partners include Samba TV (for measurement and analytics) and a mix of other advertising tech partners including Magnite, Microsoft, Unruly, PubMatic and Xandr.
Smart TV platform battle brews
Xperi's plan for the TiVo OS is taking shape amid a heated battle in the smart TV sector that includes Google, Amazon, Samsung, LG Electronics, Comcast and Roku, which today introduced its own family of connected TVs.
Foxxum, a German-based player, has developed Foxxum OS 4, a new operating system for set-tops and smart TVs based on the Reference Design Kit (RDK). RDK is an open source stack operated by a joint venture of Comcast, Liberty Global and Charter Communications.
Xperi intends to stand apart with an "unbiased, content-first experience" that does away with walled gardens while also giving TV OEM partners the ability to brand the experience, Xperi CEO Jon Kirchner said in a statement.
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— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading
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