Rovi Unveils TotalGuide xD Guide for Mobile Devices

Rovi is unveiling TotalGuide xD this morning, a white label solution for cable operators to deliver interactive program guides to mobile devices. I got a demo of the new service last week from Sharon Metz, Rovi's VP of Vertical Markets and Chris Lee, TotalGuide xD's product manager.

With TotalGuide xD, Rovi recognizes that cable operators will need to offer guidance to their wealth of programming choices on mobile devices that consumers increasingly rely upon to manage their busy lives. TotalGuide xD allows users to search for programs or browse a grid directory, discover programs using recommendations from a "six-degrees" feature reminiscent of sites like IMDb, share and receive recommendations from friends via Facebook, Twitter and email, schedule DVR recordings and manage their user profiles across devices.  

TotalGuide xD draws its program information and metadata from the Rovi Media Cloud, and is available to cable operators who also license either Rovi's i-Guide or its Passport Guide set-top box service. It will initially be available for the iPad, with trials beginning in Q2; an Android implementation is expected shortly thereafter.



TotalGuide xD is comparable in approach and features to Comcast's Xfinity TV mobile apps (the Android version just launched yesterday). The key difference of course is that Comcast created its apps solely for its own use, whereas TotalGuide xD is a white label service for all cable operators to license. In that respect, Rovi is targeting other operators who don't have the 3-screen resources and know-how that a large operator like Comcast has.

Based on the short demo, TotalGuide xD looks like a solid start. As I wrote in my initial review of the Xfinity TV iOS app, the bigger win for operators here is not just guidance, but mobile video delivery as well. Comcast just enabled that for Xfinity TV on iOS devices, and that's a key step for TotalGuide xD as well. Sharon and Chris acknowledged the value, while also noting that video delivery to mobile devices will happen on an operator-by-operator basis depending upon their specific relationships with the underlying networks.

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Categories: Cable TV Operators, Video Search

Topics: Comcast, Rovi, Xfinity