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The Seven Network will be teaming up with TiVo to offer a Personal Video Recorder to Australian customers from July.

The device can be used to record and play-back all free-to-air television broadcasts. It will also offer free access to over 100 internet video channels, and there are plans to link the service up to movie and music download stores in the future.

A media invitation was sent out Thursday for the launch which will be held on July 1.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, anonymous sources at Channel 7 have stated that the TiVo product will be in stores by the end of July. It will initially be sold in Harvey Norman exclusively for three months, then at all major electronics retailers.

According to the reports, the device will cost $700.

The US-based TiVo company had originally expected Australian adopters of TiVo to pay a monthly license fee for the use of the product.

Seven baulked at this idea, saying if customers were asked to pay money to watch television, they'd likely go with a cable TV service that offers over a hundred channels.

In a compromise, Seven has agreed to pay royalties to TiVo on every unit sold.

TiVos have been designed with ease of use in mind, offering services such as the ability to subscribe to a program so that it will automatically be downloaded each week.

When the companies signed their agreement last May they said that they expected TiVo products and services to be launched locally in the first half of 2008.

(This story was last updated at noon on Thursday.)