News snippets for Virgin Media's TiVo: 15.2 software rollout; Spotify; Sky; EPG

Some TiVo related snippets:

• The 15.2 software deployment dates for each regional headend (there's 50+ of them) will be announced later this week by Virgin Media, who will be eager to complete the task well before Xmas.
• The Spotify app is due to be released within the next month, following Virgin's announcement of their Spotify plans for TV, Broadband and Mobile customers.
• Sky CEO Jeremy Darroch, referring to competition from Virgin's TiVo, believes that "It’s always a trap to assume that customers think through the extreme of some technical gizmo, they think across the whole experience, simplicity, ease of use, and the importance of the user interface, which remains fundamental. Not to say that some gadget magazine might give you an easy quote."
• Speaking of Sky, they've come up with a PVR comparsion chart which, among other features,  highlights the lack of reminders and red button services on TiVo. I'm sure it won't be long until Sky have to update the red button section, along with the 'remote record from tablet' section.
• Speaking of red button - its available (and has been for a while now) on ITV, pressing the magic button on that channel just takes you to ITV Net Player content. Baby Steps, people.
• In my review, I mentioned that that "the assignment of EPG categories to channels needs some work. For instance, the HD category reveals the Sky Sports HD channels, but the Sports category doesn't. This is the same EPG limitation as on the legacy V+ HD, I could have sworn it would be fixed for TiVo."
  This issue has now been fixed - for instance, selecting the Movies Category will show both the SD and HD versions of the Sky Movies Channels. Likewise for Sky Sports.

Sky: Virgin Media's TiVo "certainly give us some things to think about"

Wondering what Sky thinks about Virgin Media's TiVo service? Wonder no more.

In an interview with Pocket-lint, Brian Lenz, Sky’s director of TV Product Development believes that a lot of the functionaly offered by TiVo is inconsequential (no shock there!)

“I think that a lot of those functions are functions. They aren't necessarily things that will fundamentally change your happiness with your TV. [Virgin Media have] thrown a lot of stuff up there and Tivo has always been about lots of high-end functionality."

"It will appeal to certain super users. It will certainly give us some things to think about, but all those things we’ve looked at, but you have to ask whether they are mass market and whether your average viewer wants them."

A bit like 3D channels then?

With YouView, the rollout of Sky's Anytime+ VOD service and of course, the return of TiVo to the UK via Virgin Media, the battle of the Digital TV platforms looks like it will be heating up as we enter 2011. Lenz questions the cost of owning a TiVo box which "you don't own" and states that Sky still have the edge for content. A edge somewhat blunted by the arrival of Sky HD content to Digital Cable this year and the coming of Sky VOD content and Red button functionality next year.

Lenz admits that Virgin have "upped their game" and that their TV product has improved:

"in this business, you can’t stand still, [Virgin Media] aren’t standing still and we aren’t standing still either. We will try and play our strengths and they will play theirs."