Alviso, Calif. – TiVo launched Thursday TiVo Premiere 4 — a four-tuner DVR with the TiVo guide and user interface and 75 hours of HD video storage capacity.
The set-top box will give users the ability to record up to four different programs at one time, solving a common problem when multiple popular programs tend to be stacked against each other.
The Premiere 4 will also serve as a hub server for a whole-home TiVo setup and provide access to streaming Internet content.
The TiVo Premiere 4 is now available through TiVo.com, authorized home-theater installers and Magnolia stores nationwide, at $250 (plus a one-year commitment to TiVo’s $15 monthly guide service fee).
“The TiVo Premiere 4 solves the pileup of must-see shows like Sunday nights when ‘Mad Men,’ ‘Breaking Bad,’ ‘Nurse Jackie,’ ‘Girls,’ ‘Celebrity Apprentice,’ ‘Game of Thrones,’ ‘Homeland,’ ‘The Good Wife,’ ‘True Blood,’ ‘Political Animals’ and ‘Family Guy’ can overlap in a logjam of popular shows,” stated Doug Bieter, TiVo retail sales VP.
“The increasing demand for a solution to this problem and the strong feedback we have already received regarding our four tuner, 2TB TiVo Premiere XL4 inspired us to develop this new product for consumers wanting an affordable, user-friendly solution. The TiVo Premiere 4 will allow you to go shopping every Sunday night for your weeks’ worth of shows — it’s the warehouse store of television and now viewers can stock up their TiVo without having to worry about scheduling conflicts.”
The Premiere 4 includes MoCA as a networking option in addition to integrated Ethernet connectivity.
Through MoCA support, custom installers can use the coaxial cabling within the home to connect the TiVo Premiere 4 to the home network in setups where an Ethernet connection is not available to the DVR, TiVo pointed out.
The TiVo Premiere 4 is also compatible with popular home automation controllers, including Creston, Control4 and RTI.
This compatibility allows installers to seamlessly incorporate the TiVo Premiere 4 into existing home controls.
TiVo Premiere 4 also provides intuitive search and browsing functions enabling quick access to television and broadband programs. When searching for a particular program, TiVo Search scans across cable channels as well as web-based on demand services like Netflix, Amazon Instant Video and Hulu Plus.
TiVo said the Premiere 4 will also take advantage of TiVo’s integrated apps for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. The TiVo App adds intuitive remote control operations with gesture-based controls.
The Premiere 4 is intended for use with digital cable systems (QAM) only and does not work with analog cable or over-the-air antennas. It also supports Verizon FiOS service.
Outputs include: HDMI, component video, composite video, optical audio and analog audio, and video output models include: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i and 1080p.
The set-top box supports digital CableCARDs, and provides connections for cable coax, Ethernet, two USB 2.0 ports, and eSATA, in addition to the aforementioned MoCA. TiVo will also provide an adapter for Wireless N or G networks.
It adds a 500GB hard drive for up to 75 hours of recorded HD programming at one time.
