TiVo hopes new DVR will bring buzz back

TiVo Inc., the pioneer of the digital video recorder, hopes its new DVRs coming out this spring will keep the company relevant in an age when broadcast and broadband will be combined in TVs.

The new TiVo Premiere boasts a thinner, sleeker look with a revamped menu and features that will more closely integrate TV shows and Internet content. A search for an actor, for instance, brings up his movies that are coming up on TV or available for rental or purchase through Amazon.com, as well as related YouTube videos.

"This is a whole new chapter in TiVo's evolution," CEO Tom Rogers said in an interview. "We're moving toward 'get anything you want whenever you want it.'"

In the first few years after TiVo was founded in 1997, its DVRs were truly revolutionary. Today, the integration of TV and the Internet is available in a growing number of devices, from Moxi DVRs to Internet-enabled TV sets. TiVo has to work harder to stand out.

Its answer is the TiVo Premiere, due to hit retail stores in early April in TiVo's first product launch in more than two years. The $499 Premiere XL will be able to store up to 150 hours of high-definition TV on its 1-terabyte hard drive. The $299 Premiere can store up to 45 hours of HD TV on its 320-gigabyte hard drive. The DVR uses Adobe Systems Inc.'s Flash software, which is widely deployed on the Web and will enable TiVo to let third-party developers create applications for the new units.

The prices of the new DVRs are comparable to the current line. They will require subscription fees ranging from $12.95 a month to $299 for three years. Customers can also choose to pay the fees in one lump sum of $399 to last the life of the unit.