Heavily discounted HD Tivos

[micknews]

Hi all.
I have much displeasure in telling you all that at the Melbourne Digital Lifestyle & Games Expo running over this weekend at Jeffs Shed HD Tivos are being sold For $400 including the Wireless adaptor. I was told this by one of the people staffing the stand. They had stacks of boxes there and I saw a few walk out the door whilst I was there. Not sure who was running the stand but they were all decked out in Tivo gear and there were no other names visible at the stand. It was wholly to do with the HD Tivo.
I purchased my HD Tivo from HN for the RRP as have most buyers. so I definitely am not Happy!!

Mick.

[Darren King]

Personally this news does not surprise me on several levels:

1: You never ever buy new technology as soon as it is released. Sooner rather than later the price drops. There is not one thing I can think of in consumer electronics that does not get drastically cheaper over time.

2. Seven said recently they want to push the sales to 25,000 units by December which at the time stood at 12,000. For a unit to double it's sales in a third of it's previous figures is going to require some sort of price reduction and/or heavy sales pitch. We have recently seen the inundation of adverts with Peter Blasina (The Gadget Guy) spuiking the TiVo.

3. And of course Christmas is just around the corner. It's always the perfect time to bolster sales of anything as ideal gifts if the price is right.

[petestrash]

2. We have recently seen the inundation of adverts with Peter Blasina (The Gadget Guy) spuiking the TiVo.

Coincidentally The Gadget Guy was also listed as an exhibitor at this event...

Peter.

[petestrash]

I did a bit of digging, and it turns out it was part of the eGames expo as part of the International Digital Entertainment Festival. It was aimed at software developers so that they can produce games and other addons using the open Home Media Engine (HME) platform. This offer is no longer available.

Part of last weeks HTS press release also had:
Both amateur and professional developers who attend the breakout sessions at the eGames Expo (www.idef.com.au/egames_home.php) this week will be able to learn
more about the product roadmap and revenue model in addition to understanding what is required to develop for the TiVo platform.

Hybrid TV CEO, Robbee Minicola, commented: "Every TiVo media device in Australia comes with a free Games Pack, with Sudoko joining the list in the coming weeks, and our Services Pack recently launched with the new Sunrise Weather application."

"Our goal is to continue to add advertiser-funded services and games for our customers to enjoy without a pay-per-use or subscription cost. The games we have are traditional, low-to-mid skill based, nostalgic games that the whole family will enjoy. Australia has some of the most talented developers in the world and the opportunity to work with local talent and showcase their work through the TiVo media device will
achieve the trifecta: great experiences for our customers; advertiser sponsorship in a viewer-engaged environment; and a revenue opportunity for our partner developers."

Peter.