Simple.TV Lights Up DVR Guest Passes
Once again, a retail DVR company is leapfrogging the pay-TV industry. As first reported by GigaOM, Simple.TV has introduced a new feature for its digital video recorder that allows users to share recorded shows with up to five additional viewers. By assigning guest passes, Simple.TV subscribers can offer friends access to their personal recordings on the Simple.TV website and the company’s mobile and Roku apps. Guests can’t tune in to live television or schedule new recordings, which leaves subscribers in control of all TV tuners.
The Simple.TV sharing feature treads a fine line between Aereo Inc. ‘s illegal approach to making over-the-air television available on the Internet, and Sling Media Inc. ‘s legal solution for streaming home-based TV content over the web. Unlike Aereo, Simple.TV doesn’t collect and transcode OTA television signals in one centralized location. Everything happens within a user’s home. However, unlike Sling, Simple.TV is explicitly promoting the ability to share content with other non-subscribers.