Have you ever heard of TiVo decoders? If not, we’ll refresh your memory. It is a digital video recorder and player that Vodafone Ono began using more than two decades ago and became a revolutionary technology. Now, its creators have installed their new operating system on Smart TVs with the aim of carving out a niche among the most reputable software manufacturers on the market. Will he get it?
Technology is advancing by leaps and bounds and more and more companies are considering developing their own applications and programs to integrate them into smart devices. In this case, operating systems such as Google TV, Tizen, webOS and FireTV are going to encounter a competitive rival willing to capture the attention of their users, TiVo OS.
This new user interface, which will be attached to various models of Smart TV televisions, has the objective of establishing itself as a completely independent platform and, to this end, it intends to associate with different brands that look favorably on this new software. If you want to discover all the details of TiVo OS and opt for this operating system in future television purchases, keep reading.
What is TiVo OS?
As we have emphasized at the beginning of the text, before diving fully into the bowels of the TiVo operating system, we must mention its nature and know where it comes from. More than 20 years ago, Vodafone ONO began integrating video players into its television offerings under the name TiVo, which was capable of recording up to 300 hours of different television programs. Later, the British company removed these devices from its portfolio for commercial reasons and nothing more was known about their existence until now, when it has begun to integrate 4K players.
After the rise of streaming, the creators of TiVo got to work to announce in 2022 a new software system based on their own technology that they will put into practice in the coming months in Europe and the United States. To carry out this purpose, those responsible for it have presented a collaboration with Sharp and Vestel, which currently manufacture various television components, such as LCD screens.
Therefore, it should be noted that Xperi, the company behind technologies such as IMAX Enhanced and DTS, has also announced plans to collaborate with TiVo on the European and American continents.
First impressions
According to the first impressions of experts who have tested the new TiVo operating system, the result seems promising. At first glance, the platform presents a solid content transmission system providing a very complete level of information on series and movies, established by the company itself and not by third parties. Furthermore, one of the most important differences compared to Google TV is that TiVo responds accurately to the user’s voice requests and tracking requests to refine the search, instead of presenting us with inconsistent results on YouTube.
On the other hand, the “home” or main page of the interface appears very intuitive and clean, although there were still some applications missing that were not in its virtual store. However, its creators have highlighted that there are still things to polish, which is why we are still in a beta phase of the program. Regarding our preferences, the system will be able to detect them to offer us some suggestions or recommendations that will be established on the main page of the interface.
Another of the main novelties is that it will not be necessary to have a user account, as LG or Samsung do require, and the personalized content will depend on each user’s use. You can disable applications and control which streaming services appear on content pages.
When will TiVo OS be available?
The first TVs made by Vestel and powered by TiVo are expected to arrive in Europe this quarter. On the contrary, those owned by Sharp will arrive in March 2024. Regarding hardware, TiVo has confirmed that the televisions will have Amlogic and MediaTek chips. Last August, Xperi CEO Jon Kirchner reported that the company plans to have 7 million TVs with TiVo technology on the market in the next three years.
In this way, Samsung, LG and Android already have a new competitor in the market ready to devastate stores around the world. It remains to be seen at what time of year it will arrive in Spain to be able to test this ambitious software and find out if it is really worth changing the operating system.
