The team of TiVo, Microsoft and Intel -- with a little help from American Airlines -- said Tuesday that products have begun shipping that will make mobile television a much simpler task. TiVo, the company that made digital video recording common for millions of Americans, said that its TiVoToGo feature is available for the first time on Windows Mobile-based Portable Media Centers powered by Intel. The technology upgrade for users of TiVo Series2 -- which account for about 600,000 of TiVo's more than 3 million subscribers -- will allow for easy transferring of saved TV shows from a TiVo box to Windows XP PC, then to compatible portable devices made by Dell Computer, Hewlett-Packard, Audiovox, Samsung and others. Transferring a half-hour TV show to a PDA, PocketPC or Smartphone via ethernet or wireless connection takes up to 45 minutes, said Matt Wisk, senior vp and chief marketing officer for TiVo. TiVo's efforts at encouraging its subscribers to take their favorite TV shows with them wherever they might be also includes the fairly new Humax 40-hour DVD recorder and the MyDVD Studio 6.1 software from Sonic, both of which make it easy to burn TiVo-saved television shows onto DVDs.
Try to imagine this scenario, that General Motors and Ford were given exclusive franchises to build America's interstate highway system, and also all the highways that connect local communities. Now imagine that, based upon a financial crisis, these troubled companies decided to convert all "their" local arteries into toll-roads -- they then use incremental toll fees to severely limit all travel to and from small businesses. Why? This handicapping process reduced the need to invest in building better new roads, or repairing the dilapidated ones. But, wouldn't that short-sighted decision have a detrimental impact on the overall national economy? It's a moot point -- pure fantasy -- you say. The U.S. political leadership would never knowingly risk the nation's social and economic future on the financial viability of a restrictive duopoly. Or, would they? The 21st century Global Networked Economy travels across essential broadband infrastructure. The forced intro...