TiVo adds Opera software to Roamio boxes

DVR maker TiVo is integrating Opera software into its recently-launched Roamio platform, in a move that it said would “enhance the power of web technologies” on TiVo devices.

The deal will see TiVo incorporate the Opera TV Solution, enabling users to download HTML5 Apps covering areas such as business, entertainment, fashion and sports.

The Opera Devices SDK will also allow developers to create new apps for the TiVo platform.

“TiVo’s operator customers who are shipping TiVo devices based on the Roamio platform will be able to offer popular apps and content to their consumers through the Opera TV Store. This combination will prove powerful for Opera and TiVo who both have ambitions to empower the pay-TV operator market with over-the-top web content currently available on retail devices,” said TiVo.

TiVo said it plans to deploy Opera’s HTML5-based TV app store by early next year and is planning to launch its own app store later this year.

In 2012, Opera said that more than 25 million connected TVs and devices shipped with the Opera Devices SDK, and that the Opera TV Store has shipped on tens of millions of devices globally. TiVo said it has shipped more than 3.4 million devices in the United States through retailers and cable operators such as RCN and Suddenlink.