TiVo announced TiVo Mini today. For $99.99, the little extender box streams video from a TiVo Premier 4 or XL4/Elite DVR to another room in your home.
TiVo Mini is 6.1-inches wide and 1.3-inches tall. It ships with the receiver, a TiVo remote (batteries included), power adapter, and a 6? HDMI cable.
“The TiVo Mini answers the demand for a simplified whole-home viewing experience and a more cost-effective solution than putting another DVR or cable set-top box in another room,” said Jim Denney, GM and VP of Product Marketing for TiVo Inc. “With so many viewing options in a compact form factor, TiVo Mini makes it easier to get more value from your existing home entertainment set up by further enabling you to watch what you want, where you want it.”
If your TiVo is connected to your wireless router via ethernet cable, all you have to do is attach TiVo Mini to a TV vie component cable or HDMI, and you’re instantly able to watch live or recorded TV saved on your main TiVo. That bit about your TiVo being attached to your router via ethernet cable is important to note. TiVo Mini isn’t compatible with the TiVo wireless ethernet adapter. It also doesn’t have Wi-Fi.
If the TV in the second room doesn’t have Ethernet cable access, TiVo recommends setting up a MoCA network. MoCA uses your home’s coaxial cables to deliver wired broadband to other rooms. TiVo doesn’t include Wi-Fi because multiple HD video streams could potentially cause problems with skipping.
TiVo Mini brings TiVo fans some of the functionality customers of Dish get with Dish’s Hopper and Joey DVRs, but the cost of that extra functionality is more than just the $99.99 price to buy the box. Customers will also have to pay an additional $5.99 monthly fee with a 12-month commitment for each TiVo Mini they buy.
In addition to live and recorded content, the new little accessory provides access to Hulu Plus, YouTube, Pandora, Spotify, and a few games.
