Channel Master just unveiled an $89 “smart” antenna, featuring “seven different reception patterns.” And I had the same question as you – what does that even mean? So I rang up VP Joe Bingochea to get some answers.

It turns out the company has partnered with Ethertronics to integrate a variant of their “active steering” technology, also implemented within Samsung handsets for years and years. The amplified SMARTenna+ incorporates a tuner and some digital circuitry that will automatically scan the airwaves at first power up and then polarize the antenna elements for max receptivity – in this case, they’re going with the highest channel count as the preferred “pattern” (and presumably, in case of tie, higher quality signals would prevail). However, Channel Master recognizes your favorite channel may be an outlier, so the button on the bottom of the antenna manually steps through those patterns, should one need to fine-tune… in the literal sense. As an analogy, Joe reminded me of those old, powered rabbit ears that sported a dial.

Of course, the pinnacle of this technology would be a bundled antenna and set-top to match optimal “pattern” with currently tuned channel on the fly – something it turns out Sezmi had actually implemented back in the day and something Channel Master may look to in the future.

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By way of Cord Cutters News, we learn that DISH subsidiary AirTV has inadvertently leaked upcoming product plans for at least one, if not two, DVR services. AirTV, of course, is designed to harness over-the-air television signals, with the first iteration displaying content locally and the newer edition implementing Slingbox technology to stream OTA around the house or around the world to apps on a variety of platforms including iPhone, Roku, Fire TV, and Apple TV.

While live antenna programming is nice, it’s also available on nearly every HDTV and “appointment television” is pretty darn limiting… so DVR capabilities would certainly enhance the value proposition of these offerings. Based on the pre-release marketing materials, it seems DISH will take divergent approaches in how they handle AirTV DVR based upon hardware model – but we’re reserving judgement until it all becomes official, presumably in the coming days as CES ramps up.

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