January 31st 2005

New TiVo Application Platform Opens Its Doors to Third Party Developers

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TiVo today announced the availability of an early-access software development kit that allows third parties to create entertainment and information applications that extend the TiVo service.

Today's announcement supports TiVo's new service strategy Tahiti, announced earlier this month at the Consumer Electronics Show. This SDK gives broadcasters and developers an easy, flexible way to deploy media rich broadband applications to TiVo subscribers, making this one of the largest open platforms to exist in the living room.
TiVo subscribers will soon be able to access new applications from their broadband-connected TiVo Series2 DVR, whether they're hosted by TiVo servers or running locally on their home PC. TiVo expects a wide variety of applications will be created, such as rich music and photo services, advanced program and movie guides, sports applications, local weather info, and multiplayer social games.

"This is a unique opportunity for software developers and companies to extend the TiVo experience which millions of people already love," said Arthur van Hoff, principal engineer at TiVo. "TiVo's open platform is the quickest way to deliver a TV experience around broadband applications, making TiVo much more than a basic DVR."

As part of the launch of the early-access SDK, TiVo is also announcing a developers contest. Developers are encouraged to submit their applications to be judged by a panel of industry luminaries that includes James Gosling, CTO of Sun Microsystems' developer products group, and Chris Anderson, Editor-in-Chief of WIRED magazine. Complete contest rules and prizes can be found online at www.tivo.com/challenge. Contest winners will be announced this summer at the JavaOne conference in San Francisco.

The Java-based SDK is subject to the Common Public License and is available for download starting today on Sourceforge.net, the world's largest Open Source software development website. With over 94,000 active projects and close to one million registered users building Open Source projects worldwide, SourceForge.net is the most influential site for Open Source development today. The site attracts over 10.5 million unique visitors per month, its dramatic 67% year-over-year traffic growth represents the increasing adoption of Open Source applications in every size organization.

To download the TiVo SDK, please visit http://tivohme.sourceforge.net/ .