TiVo Launches Over-the-Air DVR for Households Without Pay TV
The Aereo is dead, but alternatives are rising to take it's place. TiVo has announced the Roamio OTA, a DVR able to capture and store over-the-air broadcast television. It's less expensive than the competition, but comes with a high monthly fee.
The Roamio OTA is able to record 4 programs at once, storing that content on an included 500GB hard drive. That's good for 75 hours of high-definition video, TiVo says. The DVR is compatible with TiVo Stream, a $129 add-on that lets TiVo owners stream live or recorded content to mobile devices.
Perhaps the biggest advantage to the Roamio OTA is that it uses the TiVo interface and offers a universal search that includes over-the-air, Netflix, and YouTube content. A free app lets owners schedule recordings from their phone or tablet.
While the $49.99 price is lower than that of competing products, use requires a $14.99 per month service fee and a one-year commitment. Owners will need to provide their own HD antenna.
Competitors Tablo and Simple.TV cost $200 or more and require owners to provide their own hard drive and HD antennal. However, the service fees are less and remote streaming doesn't require an external device.
The Roamio OTA will be available on September 14 at select Best Buy stores.
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