Digital video recorder maker TiVo Inc on Monday said it will begin testing a feature to let subscribers transfer recorded television programming to Apple iPod digital music players or Sony's PlayStation portable devices, sending shares up 11 percent in premarket trading.
The company plans to begin testing the feature in coming weeks. The feature could be available to "stand-alone" TiVo Series2 subscribers as early as the first quarter of next year, implying that existing TiVo customers from DirecTV Group Inc will not have access to the new features.
In order to move recorded programming to portable devices, TiVo will be required to purchase software that translates the programming into a file that can be read on either the iPod or Sony's PSP.
The files will be watermarked and traceable to originating computers to discourages piracy.
"The increasing popularity of mobile devices for viewing video such as Apple's iPod and the PSP device demonstrate the enormous consumer demand for entertainment on the go," TiVo CEO Tom Rogers said in a statement.
Shares of TiVo, which closed on Friday at $5.27 on the Nasdaq, gained 60 cents to $5.87 in premarket trading on Monday.