TiVo to Transfer Video to iPod, PSP

TiVo on Monday announced plans to enable customers to transfer video recorded on its popular digital video recorders to Apple iPods and Sony PlayStation Portable devices. Previously, the company only supported devices that ran Microsoft's Windows Media Video format.

At CES 2005, the DVR maker rolled out TiVoToGo to allow users to transfer TV shows off of its players and onto their laptops or desktops. To prevent piracy, TiVo implemented DRM technology from Macrovision that required the use of a password set by TiVo.

Support for Microsoft's portable media center devices, as well as DVD-burning capabilities were added in June.

TiVo plans to begin testing support for iPods and PSPs in a few weeks with a select group of beta testers. The company plans to make the feature available to all customers in the first quarter of next year. The purchase of additional software from TiVo will be required, with the cost likely between $15 and $30 USD.

The added fee for using the software would cover royalty fees associated with use of the MPEG-4 video format. TiVo said that while the files would not have digital rights management protection, watermarks would be added to track where they originated.

"The increasing popularity of mobile devices for viewing video such as Apple's iPod and the PSP device demonstrate the enormous consumer demand for entertainment on the go," said TiVo CEO Tom Rogers in a statement.

Along with the new device support, TiVo also said that its new software would support the automatic transfer of Season Pass recordings to portable devices overnight.