At CES 2018, TiVo announced that it will be adding support for Alexa and Google Assistant to its DVRs, letting users control their TVs using voice commands, along with additional smart home integrations through IFTTT.
According to PCMag, the integrations will work a little differently, depending on whether you’re using Alexa or Assistant. The Alexa skill is said to be a little more basic, duplicating functions on a remote like “play,” “pause,” or “select.” The Google Assistant skill is reportedly more robust, allowing users to search for specific recordings directly through voice commands. Google Assistant will also add deeper integration into your smart home, so you can off the lights when you start watching a movie, for example.
Lastly, TiVo also announced that it would be adding support for IFTTT, which the company envisions as adding a new level of integration of your TiVo DVR into your smartphone. Using IFTTT, TiVo claims users will be able to do things like have your DVR automatically pause the TV if someone rings your Wi-Fi-connected doorbell, or recognize that you’ve come home from work and turn on the news for you.
As with so many other things announced at CES this week, there’s no word on when the Alexa skill, Assistant integration, or IFTTT applets will be coming to TiVo, but the services will presumably launch sometime this year.