Altice expands patent deal with TiVo for new Altice One platform features

TiVo has announced the expansion of its multiyear patent deal with Altice USA, allowing the cable operator to use the tech vendor’s Personalized Content Discovery technology in its new Altice One whole-home broadband and video system. 

Personalized Content Discovery combines TiVo’s personalized search and recommendations technology with its conversational voice search capabilities. 

TiVo was purchased by Rovi Corp. for $1.1 billion in 2016—a deal that combined the two companies’ technologies, juicing them with Rovi’s prowess for enforcing and monetizing patents. 

Comcast recently came up against this formidable power when the International Trade Federation forced it to remove or pay for remote DVR recording features based on TiVo patents.

RELATED: Comcast exploring numerous workarounds following TiVo patent ruling, analyst says

“Today’s services, product and intellectual property announcement with Altice USA demonstrates the value of TiVo’s innovations as service providers deploy next-gen, cloud-based systems for the evolving video market,” said Enrique Rodriguez, president and CEO, TiVo, in a statement. “The breadth of TiVo’s offerings provide our customers with a comprehensive suite of solutions to enable services that drive further value.”

In November, Altice unveiled an advanced video platform for its U.S. market which combines X1-ish features like voice-activated remote, 4K capability, a next-generation user interface and cloud DVR.

Branded “Le Box” in its European incarnation and based on Arris hardware, the Altice One combines pay TV set-top, modem and Wi-Fi router. It is designed as a compact whole-home entertainment hub that will replace CPE for new and existing subscribers of the erstwhile Cablevision and Suddenlink cable systems, acquired last year by Altice. 

Altice One, which has been in customer trials, is currently available in select areas of Long Island, New York, and will roll out across the Altice USA footprint in the coming months. It is based on a configuration Altice has already successfully deployed in France.