In a press release from Hybrid TV, they have announced a new 1TB model of the TiVo. Don’t be fooled people, the TiVo XL is nothing more than an upgrade from the 320GB to a 1TB hard drive. Once again the TiVo returns to Harvey Norman (and Joyce Mayne) as an exclusive for A$699.
What’s disappointing is that Hybrid TV not offering a completely new model. Thanks to the wonderful world of the internet, TiVo fans know that we’re getting left behind in Australia. TiVo in the US, has released two new models since Australia got it’s first.
The latest of which is TiVo Premiere Elite, containing 4 tuners, 2TB HDD, new hardware and software design and support for mobile apps. The updated UI is build on flash and features improved speed, search functionality and access to a bunch of online services like YouTube, Picasa, Photobucket and Podcasts. Essentially this is the TiVo we should be getting in Australia, but sadly aren’t.
Lift your game Hybrid TV, it’s insulting that you don’t understand that we know what’s happening in the rest of the world. Clearly it’s easier to sit back, wait for hard drive prices to drop, slowly increment the storage in a device that was released in the US on September 12, 2006.
Please spend the time to licence the TiVo Premiere Elite for Australia, do the local customisations and do the right thing by your fans and your customer-base in Australia will flourish.
More info @ Harvey Norman
