All you have to do is sign-in directly on you TV with your existing Spotify Premium (the one that costs $9.99 a month) account. Once logged-in, you’ll have the ability to stream over 20 million songs, access your playlists, search for new music, and check out recommendations in the “what’s new” section.

While the TiVo Spotify app is by no means feature-complete, it’s not barebones either. Your basic Spotify functionality is available at launch.

“Integrating Spotify with the TiVo interface brings a more seamless user experience to Spotify fans, and introduces TiVo fans to a new way to listen to millions of songs for free,” said Pascal de Mul, Global Head of Hardware partnerships, Spotify. “Through this, users will be able to stream their playlists through their TiVo and home theater sound system and share their music with friends.”

Spotify isn’t the first streaming service to join the TiVo lineup. TiVo already boats Pandora and Rhapsody. Spotify, with 5 million global paid subscriptions, is now focusing on accessibility. Apart from getting into device like TiVo and Samsung SmartTVs, Spotify is finally slated to release a web player next year.

Part of the agreement involves TiVo and Verizon “exploring, among other things, future distribution of Internet video services developed through Verizon’s joint venture with Redbox.” This would include making content distributed via that service part of the content accessible via TiVo’s DVR products. More on the Verizon/Redbox offering here.

Verizon’s payments to TiVo will consist of a $100 million initial cash payment, and then recurring quarterly payments adding up to an additional $150.4 million through July of 2018.

TiVo says that if the companies decide to pursue certain commercial endeavors before December 21 of this year, up to $29.4 million of the payments made by Verizon would be subject to a credit of an equal amount.

Verizon will also pay monthly license fees through July 2018 for each Verizon DVR subscriber “in excess of certain pre-determined levels.”

“We are pleased to reach an agreement with Verizon which underscores the significant value our distribution partners derive from TiVo’s technological innovations and our shareholders derive from our investments in protecting TiVo’s intellectual property,” said TiVo President and CEO Tom Rogers.

“We also look forward to working together on a variety of future opportunities as we continue to expand the content choices available to TiVo subscribers,” he added. “As with prior settlements, we also benefit by being able to operate our business under license from Verizon and by avoiding future legal expenses that we would have incurred during and after trial. Furthermore, we believe this settlement positions us well with respect to future enforceability of our patents.”

Verizon and TiVo have agreed to dismiss all pending litigation.

With 110 million customers and counting, PayPal wants to entice customers to start using their accounts offline. Some advantages they’ve added to using the prepaid cards include free text message account updates, direct deposit from your online PayPal account, and cash withdrawal at ATMs. In fact, through partnerships with Walgreens and Safeway, you can add funds from store locations.

This is just one move in a long list of partnerships and promotions PayPal has been putting together. Increasing competition in the payments arena really has them stepping up their game.

At the end of May, they announced new partnerships with companies like Abercrombie & Fitch, Advance Auto Parts, Aéropostale, American Eagle Outfitters, Barnes & Noble, Foot Locker, Guitar Center, Jamba Juice, JC Penney, Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Nine West, Office Depot, Rooms To Go, Tiger Direct and Toys “R” Us to bring offline PayPal options to retail consumers.

They’re are also trying out a program in Texas where shoppers can request money from PayPal using the Coinstar kiosk or have the balance of their coins added to their account balance. Sounds unconventional for sure, but it definitely shows they’re willing to work different angles.

Most recently, they announced a partnership with Comcast Cable and TiVo, where they’re working to bring a payment solution to conventional television sets which could be accessed through a TV remote control. That’s definitely new, and different.

So, PayPal isn’t putting all their eggs in one basket and with all these irons in the fire, their gaining new customers based on a variety of attractions. In the meantime, mobile payment solutions like Square continue to expand to more and more retail locations and grow in popularity. Hopefully PayPal can keep up.

PayPal, EBay’s online pay service, has teamed up with Comcast Corporation and TiVo to bring the idea to life.

You might recall that PayPal has been working tirelessly to bring their service to more and more location, and this latest partnership should give them an advantage that will be sure to attract the attentions of their competition.

The TiVo boxes that deliver the service will feature the newest cutting-edge four-tuner configuration. PayPal has been working to get e-commerce to television since 2012, and the new partnership with TiVo and Comcast is the solution for customers who want the convenience they enjoy on their smartphones to transfer over to their television sets. It also has the potential to attract a whole new market of consumers.

Apparently, the plan is still in its early stages of development, but most of the infrastructure already exists to make it a reality. So, if you’ve been hoping for easier ways to part with your hard-earned cash, help is on the way. It’s going to be all too easy. Just point your remote and click “Buy”.

Cisco released a statement on the matter, “Cisco is focused on its work with service providers to reinvent the television experience – Together we are transforming how consumers engage with video – bridging entertainment, social media, communications and mobility together through IP technologies. Cisco’s suit against TiVo is an effort to defend our DVR products and our customers against TiVo’s aggressive strategy of wrongfully asserting its patent claims.”

The patents Cisco is seeking judgement on are: U.S. Patent Numbers 6,233,389 (the “Time Warp” patent at issue in TiVo’s lawsuits against Dish, AT&T, Verizon, TWC and Motorola); 7,529,465 (“System for Time Shifting Multimedia Content Streams”); 7,493,015 (“Automatic Playback Overshoot Correction System”); and 6,792,195 (“Method And Apparatus Implementing Random Access And Time-Based Functions On A Continuous Stream Of Formatted Digital Data”).

In related news, a judge recently dismissed Oracle’s patent claim against Google, in an ongoing trial regarding the use of Java APIs in the development of the Android operating system.

Just when we thought it was safe to return to the TiVo infested waters, all hell has broken loose again. This time it has TiVo launching a new volley of patent infringement lawsuits against Time Warner and Motorola Mobility. The patents that TiVo says they are infringing on are as follows:

-Patent #6,233,389: “Multimedia time warping system.”

-Patent #7,529,465: “System for time shifting multimedia content streams.”

-Patent #6,792,195: “Method and apparatus implementing random access and time-based functions on a continuous stream of formatted digital data”

The warping system is at the heart of nearly every patent lawsuit that TiVo has filed. It was the thing they filed for and won against Dish Network and Echostar. The lawsuit was filed in the East Texas District which has become a haven for patent trolls (companies that exist for the sole purpose to sue over patents that they buy for the express reason of suing.)

You can see the filing below:

TiVo files answers and amended counterclaims against Motorola & Time Warner Cable

TiVo is having a big week. First they came to a resolution with Microsoft in a years long court battle. Now we learn news that

TiVo is launching a cheaper 500 GB Premiere option!

The new Premiere box has 65% more storage than the old 320GB version which will give you over 75 hrs of HD recordings and only goes for $149.99. The new box will have a one year service agreement at $14.99 per month or $12.99 for users with multiple boxes, this is cheaper than last years $19.99/month option. Of course you can still get a lifetime service agreement for $499.99 and at a discounted price of $399.99 for customers with multiple TiVo DVRs.

TiVo is also reducing the prices on their other two boxes. The TiVo Premiere XL $249.99 (reduced $50) can record two shows at once and up to 150 hours of HD content, and the TiVo Premiere Elite $399.99 (reduced $100) can record four shows at once and up to 300 hours of HD content.

“We now live in a world where HD entertainment is the standard and there is more demand than ever to provide customers with additional recording space,” said Doug Bieter, Vice President of Retail Sales for TiVo, Inc. “By enhancing the TiVo Premiere, we’ve also responded to customers’ requests for upgraded memory and introduced a new TiVo monthly service fee structure that is highly competitive with most cable DVR pricing. It is now easier than ever to get the greatest at-home entertainment experience available on the market today.”

According to a TiVo a regulatory filing Thursday, Microsoft agreed to dismiss all its pending litigation against TiVo, including action at the U.S. International Trade Commission and two cases in U.S. District Court in California’s Northern District. TiVo agreed to dismiss its counterclaim against Microsoft in that district court as well. No patent rights were granted to Microsoft by TiVo, according to the filing.

The lawsuits stemmed from AT&T filing a suit against Tivo in regards to how people buy and download movies. Since Microsoft’s partner,AT&T is no longer suing, Microsoft can back down. Now that Tivo is done with Microsoft, it can focus on it’s lawsuit against verizon for stealing their TV “time-warping” technology in their DVR’s. Evercore Partners analyst Alan Gould said the case could go before a jury in July.

Tivo was developed by Jim Barton and Mike Ramsay and was introduced to the world in 1999 in the San Francisco Bay Area. As of July 2011, TiVo’s market share shrunk to 1.93 million subscribers in the US, down from a peak of 4.36 million in January 2006.

The new box also includes two tuners so that you can record two shows at once. This is a much anticipated upgrade for DirecTV subscribers who were promised equipment of this caliber years ago. If you still have the service and you want these capabilities, it’s here and it’s available now.

It’s worth noting that this would have only affected older models of DISH DVRs, and the company said it would work to replace those still in use by customers. Now, here’s what the two parties have worked out, per an announcement released this morning:

Under the terms of the settlement, DISH Network and EchoStar agreed to pay TiVo $500 million, including an initial payment of $300 million with the remaining $200 million distributed in six equal annual installments between 2012 and 2017. TiVo, DISH Network and EchoStar agreed to dismiss all pending litigation between the companies with prejudice and to dissolve all injunctions against DISH Network and EchoStar.

The parties also granted certain patent licenses to each other. TiVo granted DISH Network a license under its Time Warp patent (US Pat. No. 6,233,389) and certain related patents, for the remaining life of those patents. TiVo also granted EchoStar a license under the same ’389 patent and certain related patents, for the remaining life of those patents, to design and make certain DVR-enabled products solely for DISH Network and two international customers. EchoStar granted TiVo a license under certain DVR-related patents for TiVo-branded, co-branded and ingredient-branded products.

“We have tremendous respect for TiVo’s management, and we have always said that regardless of the outcome of the case, there were many ways that we could work together with TiVo,” said Charlie Ergen, Chairman and CEO of DISH Network. “The results of TiVo’s formidable intellectual property enforcement program speak for themselves, and consequently, we are pleased to put this litigation behind us and move forward. Additionally, we believe that our agreement with TiVo provides us a competitive advantage as one of the few multichannel operators with rights to operate under TiVo’s Time Warp patent, which ultimately will allow us to enhance the performance of our award-winning DVRs. We look forward to continuing to offer DISH Network customers the most choices in video service.”

“We are extremely pleased to reach an agreement with DISH Network and EchoStar which recognizes the value of our intellectual property,” said Tom Rogers, president and CEO of TiVo. “The compensation from this settlement, including the resulting reduction in legal expenditures, puts TiVo in an enviable financial and strategic position. This settlement, which brings the total compensation paid by DISH Network for use of TiVo’s ’389 patent family to over $600 million, demonstrates the significant return afforded to our shareholders by diligent enforcement of TiVo’s intellectual property rights. Those efforts will aggressively continue with other parties.”

Interestingly, the DISH and TiVo have formed a partnership in which they will work together to promote Blockbuster services (the company was recently acquired by DISH). “We are excited to work with TiVo to help develop our Blockbuster video service,” said Ergen. “Resolving the patent infringement case allows us to further engage with TiVo on a variety of exciting strategic initiatives, like Blockbuster, where we are uniquely positioned to collaborate.”

It will be interesting to see how another DISH collaboration – one with Google develops in the coming months. Recent reports indicate that Google is working on a new version of Google TV, which may be displayed as early as next week, at Google I/O, the company’s developer conference.

DISH was a launch partner for Google TV, announced at last year’s Google I/O event. Since its launch, sales of Google TV devices have been less than impressive. You must remember, however, that Google TV is a platform, as opposed to a device. If Google can continue to make the right partnerships, it may be harder to count the platform as dead in the water. If Google is able to follow Netflix’s lead (or even that of its own Android mobile OS) and get Google TV on a wide range of devices, it should have a better adoption rate. Android integration is supposed to get ramped up, so that should help. It could, in turn, help DISH Network as well.