Maxtor Intros Channel Program For Tivo, Other PVR Device Hard Drives

Under the program, the company is authorizing service providers to upgrade the drives in the PVRs, including PVRs from Tivo, in which Maxtor has an equity stake, said Stephen DiFranco, Maxtor vice president of corporate marketing and branding.

QuickView is Maxtor's brand name of hard drives for the PVR market, of which Maxtor has about 70 percent share, said DiFranco. While many users want to upgrade the capacity of their PVRs, they typically go to unauthorized service providers who use desktop hard drives, he said.

"About 60 percent of PVR users want to upgrade their hard drives, but the vendors don't offer upgrades," DiFranco said. "So all of a sudden rogue sites are springing up to show people how to do it [using standard desktop PC drives]. We are legitimizing the upgrade providers."

Maxtor has already signed up D&H as its first distributor, and is looking to sign up others, said DiFranco.