For those of us frustrated this week by watching a big media company, following its second multi-billion-dollar merger in five years, spend hundreds of millions of dollars more to relaunch the same subscription streaming service all over again, Wednesday's in-car video announcement from Xperi Corp. is kind of refreshing.
San Jose, Calif.-based Xperi, a company rooted in niche tech spaces including in-car entertainment, spent $3 billion three years ago to buy video company TiVo. And no part of the carcass seems to have gone unconsumed and wasted.
As we've amply reported, Xperi is already hard at work trying to establish its "Powered By TiVo" platform as a gateway TVOS competitor to Roku, Amazon and Google in Europe.
And now, BMW will use Powered By TiVo to deliver linear and on-demand video entertainment for Series-5 and above vehicle models.
“Our independent media platform strategy is well suited for the automotive industry as they make advancements in in-cabin technology and creating new and adaptive experiences. We will work closely with BMW to ensure that the in-car video media platform by TiVo provides a best-in-class in-car entertainment experience,” said Jon Kirchner, CEO of Xperi, in a statement. “Unlike existing platforms, the Powered by TiVo platform traverses entertainment mediums and gives OEMs significantly more control over the user experience.”
Nice to see synergy does indeed exist somewhere.
