RIM and TiVo Buddy Up - BlackBerry Becomes DVR Remote

BlackBerry users will soon be able to remotely control their TiVo boxes on their handsets thanks to a new partnership.BlackBerry manufacturer RIM and TiVo manufacturer TiVo have teamed up to offer what sounds like SlingBoxesque mobile entertainment on RIM phones. The new relationship brings TiVo and RIM together to develop a variety of mobile entertainment services that marry RIM's leading BlackBerry® smartphones with the content delivered to consumers through the Emmy-winning TiVo® service. Initially, BlackBerry smartphone users will gain the convenience of being able to discover what shows are on and schedule television recordings while away from the living room and on the go. Future collaboration between the companies will focus on software applications that further simplify mobile access to video content.

Handset manufacturer Research in Motion and DVR company TiVo said that by the end of the year, they’d roll out an application for the BlackBerry allowing its users to review and schedule their TiVo recordings. "TiVo subscribers will soon be able to wirelessly control their TiVo DVRs using a BlackBerry smartphone–anytime, anywhere–and that is a powerful example of how our respective technologies can complement each other to serve our mutual customers," said Jim Balsillie, RIM co-CEO.

This announcement is slightly similar to the iPhone 2.0 software update turning the iPhone into a more sophisticated remote control for the Applet TV using the free Remote application. The major difference here is that two different companies, TiVo and RIM, are complementing each other’s products with their technologies. Wouldn’t it be great if more companies could get along like RIM and TiVo?