TiVo Picks Strangeberry

TiVo (TIVO Quote) bought a closely held maker of TV technology in a bid to expand beyond the digital video recorders that have made it a household name in some techie circles.

San Jose, Calif.-based TiVo said Tuesday that it acquired Strangeberry, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based technology company "specializing in using home network and broadband technologies to create new entertainment experiences on television." Terms weren't disclosed.

"DVR was just the beginning for TiVo ... we're committed to extending the TiVo experience to a host of new and exciting, yet very easy to use, services for our subscribers," CEO Mike Ramsay said. "Strangeberry shares this vision and can help us accelerate innovation for the TiVo service through our own engineering initiatives, and through our expanding third-party developer program, to build new products and services for the TiVo platform."

The announcement came in the wake of a furious Tuesday afternoon rally on news that TiVo had placed 8 million shares with an institutional investor in Boston. TiVo shares jumped 12% during regular trading, rising $1.21 to $11.