TiVo wasn’t joking when it hinted at an expansion outside of DVRs. 

Yesterday, TiVo and Best Buy announced a partnership aimed at bringing the TiVo Premiere GUI, Internet connectivity and content partners to Best Buy’s in-house Insignia branded TVs.

Don’t get too excited, time-shifting fanatics, because everything is there except the DVR. While TiVo has licensed its GUI and technology to other DVR manufacturers in the past, this will be the first time it has appeared in a non-DVR product. 

Content providers in the deal will include Netflix, Amazon, and others along with the presumable inclusion of Best Buy’s own CinemaNow portal. This positions the Tivo Premiere GUI as a device platform in the same vein as Yahoo! Widgets or Samsung .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). 

As a multiple-TiVo owner, there’s one Holy Grail feature that might drive me to purchase one of these TVs; multi-room streaming from other TiVo DVRs around the house, a la DirecTV’s newest feature. I would replace better TVs in other rooms for this single feature. 

Stephen Hopkins

Stephen Hopkins is chief technology editor for EH Publishing. He writes product reviews, features, and focuses heavily on 3D TV, iPhone and iPad apps, and digital content.