TiVo will add apps for smart TV boxes and WiFi for Mini this year
Fire TV, Roku and Apple TV are in line to get TiVo apps that stream from the DVR.
It's been a few years since TiVo released a limited app for Amazon's Fire TV platform, but as it promised last year, the next-generation platform will reach third-party boxes. Those include not only Fire TV (and Android) but also Roku and eventually Apple TV.
We got a brief demo of the experience on those boxes at TiVo's booth, where it streamed transcoded video from a connected Bolt DVR without issue. If everything goes according to plan, you should see the full app for Fire TV in Q2, followed an app for Roku, and later, perhaps in the fall, access will extend to the Apple TV. Additionally, it's not planning to charge for access to the apps, although TiVo owners will only be able to stream to two third-party devices at once.
TiVo is still focused on its Mini as a proper extender for the living room experience into other rooms, and now it's going to offer a 801.11AC WiFi adapter to make that easier. Since not everyone has coax cable or Ethernet running everywhere, an official wireless solution will make things easier than ever. We witnessed it in action within the signal hell that is a CES show floor, so it can probably handle the crowded bandwidths of your neighborhood.
We also got a preview of the feature rolling out that uses data from Thuuz to extend recordings of sporting events that run long. Unfortunately it's not ready to solve the "Sunday night CBS show" delay issue by moving around subsequent recording windows, but that just gives us one more thing to dream about.
