TiVo gets a very remote control in a handset

With much ballyhoo and fanfare in the consumer press, TiVo announced a partnership with Verizon Wireless to allow its subscribers to program their TiVo service from their handsets over the carrier's network. The service is called TiVo Mobile. Verizon executives claim the service will cost less than $5 a month in addition to data service charges from the carrier and TiVo's existing $12.95 subscriber fee. Verizon Wireless subscribers have a 60-day exclusive with the service and the carrier plans to promote it heavily. Considering TiVo subscribers can already program their recordings from the company's Web site and from Yahoo's TV Guide site, that extra $4.99 is asking a lot. This feature seems more like a freebie add-on to a larger service--like streaming TiVo to the handset.

For more on the TiVo Mobile:
- check out this article from The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)