Best Buy really wants to be a contender in the TV space -- not as a retailer, but as a manufacturer. The company just announced plans to release two HDTVs under its Insignia brand, but with something extra special inside. The hook on both of these new Insignia Connected TVs is that they will include access to the well-known and highly touted TiVo interface and some of the company's search features, all without the need for an actual TiVo set-top box.
It's a first for TiVo, as well as customers that don't want to pay any TiVo subscription fees. It should also be an easy way to search across linear TV and the Internet. Just punch up an actor, title or other keyword into the included remote, and the internal TiVo technology will do the rest. Besides TiVo, both HDTVs can also tap into a slew of connected services, such as Netflix, CinemaNow, Pandora, Napster, and much more.
"The amount of content available on the Internet is expanding rapidly and at the same time it's becoming increasingly difficult to navigate and find the programs viewers want to watch all from one source," said Jim Denney, TiVo's VP of product marketing. "Teaming with Best Buy to integrate TiVo's intuitive HD user interface into their Insignia Connected TVs is a way to help consumers get the most out of their television experience and enable them to find what they want to watch. From our perspective, this is another important distribution channel to deliver the TiVo experience to an ever greater number of television viewers who are increasingly looking to embrace and manage over the top content. Embedding TiVo's user interface directly onto the television is a logical next step and showcases the power of TiVo beyond the DVR."
The one TiVo feature missing here is storage. Neither one of these new TVs has actual DVR built into the set. In other words, you won't be able to record shows for later playback. However, the set's are compatible with all TiVo DVRs, as well as any other DVR box out there.
For now, Best Buy says that there will only be two models of the TiVo-enhanced Insignia Connected TVs. A 42-inch model has an MSRP of $699.99, with a 32-incher priced at $499.99. We took a quick peek, only to find that the Best Buy website had both sets priced slightly higher. However, Best Buy's PR rep assured us that the lower prices are correct, so hopefully the site will be updated shortly.
Besides the pricing, both TVs feature a slim design and LED technology, as well as a full 1080p HD image, a 120Hz refresh rate, built-in Wi-Fi, and SRS TruSurround HD audio. Both sets also offer up plenty of connectivity options, via four HDMI inputs, composite and component inputs, a PC input, and more.
"We've heard from customers that Smart TVs can be intimidating and we wanted to create a product that was easy to enjoy," said Patrick McGinnis, Best Buy's VP of exclusive brands. "By fusing TiVo's fantastic user interface with our Insignia Connected TVs we believe consumers who interact with this new breed of television will be excited by how simple it is to view content from a host of sources. It's the first Smart TV that is truly easy to use out of the box, easy to connect to your home network, and easy to find exactly what you want to watch."
Best Buy expects both models to start shipping on August 1, 2011 (in other words, today).
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