Nero Delivers Liquid TiVo

Client Nero today announced the release of Nero 9, the next generation of one of the world’s most trusted and best-selling integrated digital media and home entertainment software solutions. Developed in direct response to customer feedback, Nero 9 gives consumers one solution to easily create, edit, rip, copy, backup, convert and share their music, videos and photos within their connected digital home, on online communities or on portable devices.

Credit: Nero

“For more than a decade, the world’s largest mobile and consumer electronics brands have trusted Nero for technology leadership and category creation,” said Udo Eberlein, CEO, Nero AG. “Now, with Nero LiquidTV | TiVo PC, we are providing a next-generation DVR application that integrates the renowned TiVo service with the PC. This solution is truly a platform on which our vision for liquid media – where content can be easily accessed anytime, anywhere, and on any device — will become a reality.”

With Nero 9, the company responded to consumer requests for an enhanced, easy-to-use and convenient user interface. The widely used Nero StartSmart intuitive command center, now integrates new playback, ripping, burning, copying and backup functions with one-click tabs for quick and easy completion of digital tasks.

“Nero has done a superb job of bringing the TiVo experience to the PC, and have done so in a way that lives up to the rich TiVo legacy,” said Tom Rogers, CEO and President, TiVo. “To be able to extend the features of TiVo to a new platform without compromising the integrity of what has made TiVo such a revolutionary product is a significant achievement, one we know both new and old fans of TiVo will love.”

Credit: Nero

From CNET:

Traditionally, anyone who wanted to convert a PC into a DVR was limited to the likes of Windows Media Center, SnapStream Beyond TV, or (for the more adventurous DIYers) MythTV.

Starting in mid-October, however, people can turn their Windows PCs into a full-on TiVo DVR thanks to Nero’s new Liquid TV package. The software effectively turns a standard PC into a full-service TiVo DVR, replete with the same interface, program guide, and ease-of-use as TiVo’s standalone hardware DVRs–but with the added ability to burn recorded shows to DVD or export them to portable devices such as the iPod or PlayStation Portable.

Liquid TV will be available in two versions. The $200 package includes a standard TiVo remote, USB DTV tuner/antenna (for over-the-air analog and digital TV, including HD broadcasts), and an IR blaster (for controlling external cable and satellite boxes, which would then be fed into a video capture card on your PC). The $100 package is software only; it’s for people who already have a TV tuner card and remote solution (or who will opt for the software’s on-screen mouse controls).

The software is said to support up to four TV tuners, one of which can be an external set-top box. Both versions include a year’s worth of the all-important TiVo service (required for use). Nero hasn’t officially set the renewal fee for the service, but company reps suggested that it will be less than the $13 per month that’s the baseline for owners of the set-top TiVo boxes.

The other big advantage of the PC-based TiVo experience is DVD burning and portable device transfer. Yes, both of these features are available with standard TiVos with that company’s TiVo To Go add-on software (and a compatible DVD-burning software package). But transferring the recordings over your home network and then transcoding them is a long and laborious process. The transcoding and compression phases still take time with Liquid TV. But because the recordings are already on the hard drive, things go a lot faster, and the processes can go on in the background as you continue to watch other recordings or live TV.

From the Associated Press:

The kit will cost $199 when it goes on sale Oct. 15, and includes a remote and a TV tuner that plugs into the PC. The interface on the computer screen looks just like the one on a TV equipped with a TiVo box.

It’s not the first software that allows TV recording on the PC. That’s been possible for years on computers equipped with TV tuners, and some versions of Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Vista operating system include the necessary software. But it will be the first time that both the TiVo interface and functions have been replicated on a PC.

The Nero LiquidTV/TiVo PC will go on sale initially in the U.S., Mexico and Canada, but it could open up some markets where TiVo does not yet sell its set-top boxes. Joshua Danovitz, vice president and general manager of international business at TiVo, said the plan is to launch it in Europe next year, including in Nero’s home country, Germany. Britain is the only European country where TiVo currently has subscribers.

Like TiVo’s existing TiVo Desktop software, LiquidTV will allow users to transfer shows recorded on other TiVo devices in the home to the PC’s hard drive, and bring shows out of the home, either on a laptop’s drive or on an iPod or PlayStation Portable. LiquidTV also allows users to burn shows onto DVDs if the computer has a DVD burner.

From Engadget:

Rejoice, HTPC fans — that partnership between Nero and TiVo has finally borne fruit in the form of Nero’s new LiquidTV / TiVo PC DVR package, which brings the TiVo interface and featureset to Windows. The $199 package comes with a year of TiVo service, a Hauppage USB ATSC tuner, an IR receiver, and a Nero-branded TiVo remote, and does exactly as you’d expect — it’s TiVo on your PC.

There are some interesting PC-specific features bolted on the usual kit — you can navigate using the keyboard and mouse (there are even some nifty contextual menus) and you can export directly to iPod and PSP-compatible .mp4 from within the interface — but for the most part it’s the same TiVo experience you’re used to, including streaming shows to and from other TiVos and TiVo PCs.

From ZDNet:

Like TiVo’s existing TiVo Desktop software, LiquidTV will allow you to transfer shows recorded on other TiVo devices in the home to your PC’s hard drive or on an iPod or PSP. It also allows you to burn shows onto DVDs if your computer has a DVD burner.

Now before there’s a deluge of comments, it’s true that this is not the first software that allows TV recording on the PC. However, it will be the first time that the TiVo interface and functions have been replicated on a PC.

The kit will go on sale initially in the U.S., Mexico and Canada, but it may make its way into some markets where TiVo does not yet sell its set-top boxes. Europe will get a launch next year (The U.K. is the only European country where TiVo currently has subscribers).

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

The Alviso business has teamed with digital media softwaremaker Nero to create LiquidTV/TiVo PC, a software application that provides TiVo service on a personal computer. Users will be able to record shows on a desktop or laptop hard drive, move content between TiVos and the PC, and easily record and format videos for syncing onto iPods and PlayStation Portable mobile devices, all from an onscreen TiVo menu on the PC.

“We’ve tried to take the best of the TiVo experience but move it to the PC and take advantage of the PC’s flexibility,” said Richard Carriere, Americas president for Nero, a German company. “We saw a need for the media enthusiast and we looked at how we can help people move to the next level.”

The $99 software package can be installed on PCs and hook into a home network, allowing a user to move content from TiVo to the computer. Users can pull up the content from a menu that replicates the signature TiVo look. Nero said it’s working on the ability to remotely access home TiVo content from a LiquidTV-enabled PC.

When the software goes on sale in October, users will be able record and watch shows from a PC by either connecting the PC to a TV or set-top box, or pulling content from a computer TV tuner. An expanded $199 LiquidTV pack will come with a TV tuner card, remote control and an infrared blaster to connect the PC with set-top boxes. The $99 pack and the $199 expanded product each come with one year of TiVo service, which normally costs $99.

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Tags: Alviso, Andrew Nusca, Associated Press, Beyond TV, CD Burner, CNET, Desktop Software, Digital Television, Digital TV, DVD, DVD Burner, Engadget, iPod, John Falcone, Joshua Danovitz, Liquid TV, LiquidTV, Microsoft, MythTV, Nero, Nilay Patel, PC, PlayStation, Richard Carriere, Ryan Kim, Set Top Box, SnapStream, Software, TiVo, Tom Rogers, Udo Eberlein, Vista, Windows Media, Windows Vista, ZDNet

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