TiVo launches Dolby Vision and Atmos-supporting Edge DVR and announces TiVo+ streaming platform

TiVo has announced the launch of its Edge DVR and TiVo+ live streaming service.

The announcement of Edge confirms an earlier leak from Zatz Not Funny.

As per the leak, TiVo Edge includes support for Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos standards, which will be to the benefit of subscribers to services like Netflix.

Edge comes in two different forms: TiVo Edge for Cable and TiVo Edge.

The former comes equipped with a 2TB hard drive and six TV tuners, retails at US$399.99 and has an additional service plan of US$14.99 per month, US$149.99 per year, or US$549.99 with a one-off payment.

The antenna-based TiVo Edge comes with the same size hard drive but reduces the number of tuners down to four at US$349.99. The cheaper models’ service plan costs US$6.99 per month, US$69.99 per year or US$249.99 as a one-off.

The set-top box comes complete with expected TiVo features such as SkipMode, OneSearch and OnePass.

Launching shortly after the DVR is TiVo+, a service the company says “should be paired” with TiVo Edge.

TiVo+ is the company’s attempt to break into the live streaming space, with the offer of “thousands of movies and TV shows” in an app-free environment for TiVo customers.

Launching in the coming weeks, the company says TiVo+ combines “news, sports, kids shows, dramas, music TV, reality shows, pop culture, cooking shows, lifestyle, esports gaming and international programming alongside the TV and subscription services people already use and love.”

The service is being launched in partnership with XUMO, Jukin Media and other publishers to launch channels like TMZ, Outside TV+, Unsolved Mysteries and Hell’s Kitchen | Kitchen Nightmares. TiVo has promised that additional channels will be launched in the future from publishers including Gannett, Loop Media, Revry, Newsy, Tastemade, Latido Music and Mobcrush.

TiVo says that the service creates opportunities for pay-TV operators to offer “exciting new content while incrementally growing revenues and engagement among existing customers,” while brand advertisers will benefit from “new opportunities to reach highly engaged television audiences with targeted messages”.

The announcements follows recent news that TiVo has quietly started to introduce pre-roll advertising to DVR recordings – a move sure to frustrate viewers who take advantage of the premium-priced DVR in order to avoid ads.