Real's Rhapsody on TiVo goes live

RealNetworks and TiVo today announced the full launch of their official music collaboration. Simply called Rhapsody on TiVo, the finished service lets any TiVo Series 2, Series 3, or HD DVR box with a high-speed Internet connection gain access to all of the Rhapsody online store's music catalog and play it without needing a computer online at the time. The service takes advantage of Rhapsody's subscription method to let users browse and play music without the worry of having to buy tracks and transfer them across the local network. Like on a computer-based store, listeners can jump between albums from a given artist or see similar artists; a unique play system lets users continue to play songs while they browse menus.

Downloading the access upgrade is free and will happen automatically for all users, though TiVo notes that users can ask for the upgrade to be 'pushed' to their hardware as a priority upgrade ahead of most systems. Rhapsody itself costs $13 per month beyond a free one-month trial but will work both on the PC and on the TiVo for no extra charge. Any libraries, playlists, and other personalized collections created on a PC will be recognized automatically by the TiVo without the need for a special setup process.