Tivo flaunts new queue for mobile devices
Tivo fanatics who travel a lot will love this feature because it makes managing your programming queue much more accessible. Previously Verizon customers could pay for a mobile Tivo application but this version is open to anyone with a decent browser installed on their phone.
This push drives at conversational recommendations. Now when a friend suggests a show they saw last night it’s easy to jump on the mobile Tivo queue and add it in. It also highlights a continued need for Tivo to innovate and provide new features for its subscriber base, especially in light of all the on-demand video options now available on the Internet.
YouTube, Netflix, and Hulu all offer full length programming online, and although right now YouTube is the only on with solid mobile viewing options the other two are sure to follow at some point. That means paying a monthly cable bill becomes increasingly less worthwhile, which spells trouble for Tivo unless it can transition itself into an access point for all of that on-demand content. It’s already done so with Netflix and a selection of other video blog sites but it needs to push aggressively in that space to maintain a viable business model.
Here are a few specifics on the mobile queue from Tivo:
The site is optimized for easy use on a small screen, offering the exceptional user experience TiVo fans know and love. Site visitors can search for programs by actor, title, director, and keyword, with additional functions including Daily Recommendations and Most Popular. Like TiVo’s famous recommendations engine, the TiVo Mobile site features an “If you like this…” tool to help users find new shows.
Note that the system is in beta still, not all subscribers are currently able to access it.
In tests, the search interface seemed snappy and it was easy to locate several programs with a few well chosen keywords.
It will be interesting to see how many users adopt this system versus logging into Tivo.com with a regular computer browser and maintaining their queue that way.
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