Philips to launch a PVR that knows what you like

Philips is showing off a prototype of a new personal video recorder at the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin. Philips plans to target set top box makers who could include the software on their machines. But there will also be a free downloadable version of the software that will work on PCs running Windows Vista.

The Washington Post reports that the Philips software has one feature your won't find in any TiVo or cable company set top box. It tracks the viewing habits of multiple members of your household and finds shows it thinks each will like.TiVo has a suggestions feature which automatically records shows based on your viewing habits and depending on which shows you give a thumbs up or down on your remote control. But there's no way to create separate folders of suggested content for each member of the family.

The Philips software lets you create a "channel," and select a program. The software will then analyze your viewing habits and add programs to that channel. A single unit will also be able to keep track of what multiple people in your household are watching. So you can have a channel filled with cartoons for the kids, one filled with the Sci-Fi programming preferred by 5 out of every 6 PVR Wire readers.

Since Philips will be monitoring your viewing habits, the box will also allow advertisers to shoot custom commercials to viewers based on their tastes. We hope you'll be able to fast-forward past these ads, but we wonder if this is how Philips plans to make money off of the free PC-based version of its software.

The downloadable version of the software should be ready early next year, while Philips plans to ship its product to set to box makers within a year.