Thursday, June 22, 2006
TiVo Patent Bonanza
Posted by Chris Gohlke in "HARDWARE" @ 02:00 AM
"TiVo is working on a couple of crowd-pleasing features, according to patent applications filed last November and last week. The two technologies discussed in the patent applications (#20060127039 and #20060127037 for those scoring at home) both relate to new ways to access TiVoed shows, and they're both on the short-short version of my own wish list. To wit, US Patent Application #20060127039 talks about pulling recorded shows off of other DVRs across "a network" (presumably the Internet) in case you missed or deleted a recording. If that wasn't interesting enough, have a look at Patent Application #20060127037. This one is regarding "secure transfer and playback" of audio and video content across what appears to be any platform you can think of."
The first patent sound similar in function to the Cablevision on-demand service we reported on here; while the second sound a lot like the functionality of the Slingbox. Of course, these days, just because there is prior art does not mean they won't get their patents just the same. But they probably figure they can try and get the patent, and failing that, they could just buy Slingbox.
The first patent sound similar in function to the Cablevision on-demand service we reported on here; while the second sound a lot like the functionality of the Slingbox. Of course, these days, just because there is prior art does not mean they won't get their patents just the same. But they probably figure they can try and get the patent, and failing that, they could just buy Slingbox.
