AOL will test TiVo-like Mystro service this year

[John Corn]

LOS ANGELES, March 28 (Reuters) - AOL Time Warner (nyse: AOL - news - people) on Friday confirmed it is readying a new service that would allow subscribers to skip through TV programming without installing new hardware.

In its annual filing with securities regulators, AOL Time Warner said that it expected to test the new service it has been secretly developing -- known as Mystro TV -- in 2003.

At its core, the Mystro TV service would use a cable system to allow viewers to watch programming on their own schedules and with the ability to fast-forward and rewind, features that are built in to TiVo Inc.'s (nasdaq: TIVO - news - people) digital video recorders.

Rest of the Story (http://www.forbes.com/newswire/2003/03/28/rtr924051.html)

[Cyclone]

Gee? I wonder if there will be a monthly fee?

I hate cable companies.

[Jacob S]

They would just be allowing the subscribers to control the hardware from their homes that is at the cable company, thats the only way I see this as possible.

[PeterB]

This is the dumbest, moronic waste of resources I have seen yet.

So each subscriber is going to need thier own channel fed from the headend? Uh, why?

Its basicaly like having a Tivo at the cable headend modulated onto your own channel and having a REALLY powerful UHF remote. :)

Oh...I forgot, its AOL. of COURSE its stupid.

[Jacob S]

Or like some kind of IR emmiter and IR transmitter in the cable line or something like that. This is the only way I know how they could do this? The IR transmitter could be made in the cable box.