Did Google buy SageTV for its DVR capability for GoogleTV or not?
While some say it was, others disagree completely.
It isn't just about the DVR, Rakesh Agrawal tells us about Google's purchase. He says:
DVR is too complicated to setup and it’s complicated to use. . . . DVR is a technology that bolts onto a broadcast medium and makes it “on-demand”…sort of. So it’s no surprise that DVR has NOT been a huge success (see TiVo) while online video (like Hulu, Netflix) HAS been hugely successful.
So what is? Apparently, SageTV already honed place-shifting software to watch archived and live television on any device, or basically making your tablet computer a DVR, too. So Google's purchase of the company was kind of a software jumpstart, and former SageTV engineers are likely working on an Android application.
After criticism of an underpowered system and Logitech's Revue set-top looking like a failure, Google TV needs an overhaul. Perhaps this acquisition is the lifeline it sorely needs.
