On the heels of The Netflix Player by Roku announcement and in the face of rumors about Blockbuster preparing to announce its own set-top box for streaming videos, TiVo is inking some deals of its own.

TiVo subscribers will soon be able to download movies from the Walt Disney Studios to broadband-connected TiVo DVRs directly from the TV. Subscribers will additionally be able to receive recommendations for TV shows from the Chicago Tribune and have them automatically recorded.

Downloading Disney

TiVo will construct Disney titles available to rent through an agreement with Disney-ABC
and CinemaNow. The companies will offer the movies for a 24-hour period in standard definition, with many plus available in high definition.

“Adding Disney movies really delivers on TiVo’s promise to offer the best television entertainment experience with unlimited subject matter choices that are easy to navigate across broadcast, cable, and broadband using one device, one remote, and one user interface,” said Tara Maitra, vice president

and general manager of substance services at TiVo.

The service will be available to all broadband-connected TiVo Series2 and Series3 subscribers later that year. TiVo offers more than 30,000 titles through Amazon Unbox, Music Choice and more than 50 other subject matter providers. The company recently announced that TiVo subscribers will be able to access YouTube videos directly on a TV via the TiVo DVR that summer.

TV Critic Comes to TiVo

TiVo that week plus announced a partnership with the Chicago Tribune to deliver the recommendations of the newspaper’s TV critic, Maureen Ryan, directly to subscribers’ televisions while TiVo automatically records the recommended shows listed in the newspaper’s TV grids.

Ryan’s authoritative and popular print and online column, The Watcher, has made her, according to the entertainment trade publication Variety, one of the TV industry’s “favorite (or most feared)” newspaper TV critics. TiVo subscribers will plus be able to download…

Orginal post by Top Tech News