Yahoo Jumps Into DVR Market
… In a way. They are giving away a free software-based DVR player. So with a hardware upgrade, you can turn your PC into a Media Center. This is certain to poke some Media Player companies in the eye, such as Microsoft, Myth TV and Sage.
From CNET here:
Yahoo has released a beta version of software that turns a PC into a digital video recorder.
The software, Yahoo Go for TV, is free to download. After the software is installed, people plug their computer into their television’s video and audio input connections. The computer can then record and play back shows on the TV just like with a standalone DVR. Consumers can also play DVDs, music, photos or other downloaded content.
The cost of a few cables and TV tuner card, in comparison with the hundreds of dollars being shelled out for DVD players or DVRs, could lure consumers away from DVR competitors like TiVo.
The Yahoo software, as of yet, only runs on Windows and requires a computer with 20GB of disk space to store recorded programs, 512MB of RAM and a 1GHz processor.
Yahoo also has a partnership with Tivo, whereby Tivo customers can use Yahoo to schedule recordings and downloads remotely. I’m not sure how happy Tivo will be about this either. I suppose this may be a vehicle for Yahoo to make some ad revenue, but I’m not sure how that will work.
They bought meedio… which is not in the same class of apps as Sage or Microsoft MCE….
Technologically, this may be true. But what about the Yahoo strategy? What are they trying to do in the market space? And how much of their own capital will they spend to shape the space and be a real player?