Round 1 My mom has been in need of a TV, so while visiting in Florida I suggested we pick up a Samsung CRT — it was on sale at Circuit City and perfect for her small space. Call me old fashioned, but I like tube TVs. Yes they are bulky and weigh a ton, … Read more
EchoStar was granted a temporary stay in federal appeals court today. Meaning (you guessed it) more press release posturing! Assuming cooler heads prevail, this should buy both parties some time to work out a licensing deal. EchoStar says: We are pleased that this morning, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. temporarily blocked … Read more
Here we go again with the dueling press releases… TiVo says: “TiVo is pleased that Judge Folsom has granted a permanent injunction against EchoStar’s DVR products along with supplemental damages and interest. This decision recognizes that our intellectual property is valuable and will ensure that moving forward EchoStar will be unable to use our patented … Read more
The ruling is in: Within 30 days, all infringing Dish DVR functionality must be disabled and TiVo‘s initial award comes to about ninety million big ones. The market should be interesting tomorrow AM and EchoStar is sure to appeal. If you’re just tuning in, you can catch up here — otherwise check out the official court ruling below.
UPDATE 1: TiVo and EchoStar respond with dueling press releases.
UPDATE 2: EchoStar is granted a stay, cause for more press releases
Never enough time… Record every new fall season show with BeyondTV. (SnapStream) Hand’s on with the MPEG4 HD DirecTV receiver in LA. (DBSTalk) Portable Sirius receiver outed by Crutchfield. (Orbitcast) How-to replace dead drive in a DirectTiVo. (Engadget) RealNetworks to offer open source support for WMV on Linux. (ZDNet)
Like a variety of publications and blogs, I came across Verizon’s DVR press release yesterday. However, instead of speculating how the telcos will battle the cablecos with new features or getting hung up on the underlying technology I’ll give you two different reasons why this a significant announcement. I assume many of my readers are … Read more
Until AT&T expands their U-Verse IPTV offering, they’ve partnered with Dish in providing a networked DVR which includes home media features and movie downloads. Beginning today, residents in Ohio and San Antonio can rent a Homezone box for $9.99/mo… on top of their existing monthly Internet and satellite subscription fees. I can’t imagine the few … Read more
As you probably suspect, I’ve been somewhat ambivalent of TiVo’s expanded/additional in-DVR advertising initiatives. While I support their desire to increase revenue and reach profitability, as a paying subscriber I am leery of ads negatively impacting my DVR experience. Additionally, I have (unfounded?) fears that easy advertising dollars could discourage TiVo from pursuing my VOD/PPV … Read more