Tech Shout!

TiVo on Tuesday introduced its first separate digital video recorder with dual tuner capability. The new model will be optimised for cable households and incorporates built-in Ethernet and a refreshed look. This step by TiVo is in response to the constant customer demand it faces.

The dual-tuner model will offer 80-hours of recording time

TiVo announced that Circuit City, Best buy, Amazon.com and its website, will be the first destinations of the shipments, which are expected to hit on May 1.

Jim Denney, Vice President of Product Marketing at TiVo said, “We’ve been hearing from our subscribers that they wanted a TiVo DVR that could record two shows at once.” Denney added, “With the TiVo Series2 DT DVR, we’ve delivered that capability to our customers at a very affordable price.”

The TiVo box will retail for $99.99 USD after reimbursement and service activation. TiVo would also give consumers the option to buy the unit packed with service from tivo.com, the company said.

All the standard features of the Series2 systems would be included, such as TiVoToGo transfers, the capacity to schedule programs to record through the TiVo Web site, and online services provided by Yahoo and other sources.

Until Tuesday, the only dual-tuner DVR with TiVo capabilities was available through DirecTV. However, since the satellite operator began promoting its own DVR, it has stopped selling the popular units. Those wishing to get hold of the box have had to turn to eBay, shelling out $100 or more.