For years, many have been hoping for a cheap but powerful Android TV device. Now we may be getting just that but from a surprising source – Tivo. According to a report from CNN, Tivo is building a $50 Android TV dongle. This new dongle will likely pair with your current Tivo DVR and the new Tivo+ streaming service they are working on.
Details are still very thin but Tivo reportedly wants to release the player in 2020. Hopefully, that means we will get a look at it during CES in January.
Here’s what TiVo’s new chief executive officer Dave Shull told Bloomberg about the plans to launch Tivo+:
Later this month, TiVo plans to announce new international customers, and in October it will unveil a new product, TiVo Plus, that better integrates new streaming services with the company’s core TV console. After that, Shull said he’d like to design a more unified interface for the company’s 22 million customers and seek additional sources of revenue other than monthly subscriptions, such as advertising.
Dave Zatz, zatznotfunny.com, says that TiVo Plus will likely be an ad-supported service in the beginning, but TiVo is reportedly working on ways to merge content in a more user-friendly format. Zatz also reports that TiVo has been testing out the idea of including ads in DVR recordings, potentially working on a tier structure with a free, ad-supported tier and a paid ad-free tier.
So what do you think of Tivo’s plans to launch a new streaming service and an Android TV powered streaming player? Leave us a comment and let us know what you think.
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