Back in the early days of Engadget, everyone -- including us -- thought mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) were totally poised to be the next big thing. And why not? You get to be a wireless carrier without having to operate your own infrastructure (which is by far the most expensive, difficult part). Just what the doctor ordered for the big, stodgy wireless carriers, each struggling to balance differentiating themselves while trapping their customers in their walled content and services gardens.

What we got instead was failed business model after spectacular failed business model, leading to a domino effect of collapses that left just a precious few companies standing. Let's take a look at the carnage over on Engadget Mobile, shall we?

Apparently we aren't the only ones miffed by the WiFi-enabled ESPN Ultimate Remote. After peeling this thing out of its dumbbell-esque packaging, critics over at PC Magazine were simply unimpressed from the get-go. For starters, this thing actually belts out the network's theme song when you turn it on. If that's not reason enough to hold tight to your three Benjamins, you should also know that it "didn't execute any of its fancy web tricks gracefully," and setup was anything but simple. It gets worse. Reviewers stated that it was uncomfortable to hold, the buttons were too tightly packed and you're not able to send / receive emails from just any email address. If you really need more convincing that this thing probably isn't a good buy (particularly with all those other alternatives out there), check out the full review in the read link.

[Via ZatzNotFunny]

Just in time for Father's Day, ESPN's tvCompass-built WiFi Ultimate Remote is finally available, and rapidly making its way into the awaiting, Cheeto-stained fingertips of a couch potato near you. It still costs $300, and with a good number of laptops retailing for that price these days, it's certainly hard to justify, but forget all that... who on earth thought this packaging was a good idea? It kind of looks like a dumbbell, but not. We're really at a loss for words here. It's almost like ESPN wants to fail.

Our pals over at Zatz Not Funny go their hands on one of those newfangled, silly-expensive WiFi Ultimate Remotes built by tvCompass for ESPN. They found the built-in episode guide to be quite nice, and the potential for content partnerships beyond the existing ESPN sports content "limitless." So, $300 worth of limitless? Time shall tell.

ESPN's unleashing The Ultimate Remote, developed by tvCompass, complete with 2.2-inch QVGA LCD screen and 802.11 b/g WiFi stuffed in a 6.5 oz package. It's certainly a serious contender with the Harmony One -- and priced like it, at $300. The marketing info claims no PC is required for setup, recharging via USB, an internet browser with real time access to scores, fantasy info and TV listings for broadcast, cable and satellite from click365's wireless partners. There's even a messaging feature for texting from remote to remote, email, or to a cellphone. We got a glimpse of it at Microsoft's booth during CES, and while it claims "Advanced Microsoft Windows operating software" it's not talking about SideShow. It reminds us a lot of the Ricavision VAVE100 MCE/SideShow remote, but with a slightly different feature set. Father's Day is coming up and suddenly walking over to the computer (or keeping a laptop or PDA/phone on the couch) is sounding like a lot of unnecessary work. Check after the break for a bigger pic with keypad breakdown, or head to Amazon to preorder.

[Via Electronista]

Maybe we'll never know how Comedy Central could run a show like "BattleBots" and not have it be the greatest thing ever. Lucky for us, the concept is getting another shot at life thanks to the fine folks at ESPN 2 and ESPNU. The new show format will have an increased emphasis on the behind-the-scenes nerdmergencies in the "pits" when the bots need tweaking or full on repairs. They're also going to do away with the annoying wedgebots (similar in principle to this Microsoft bot up above, just more annoying), beef up the arena hazards and add a new experimental class for featuring other bot types competing in what are hopefully equally destructive forms. The show was going to start up in June, but is being held back a bit while the 150 or so participating college teams prep entries, and the mayhem is now slated to begin in November.

Microsoft and ESPN have announced intent to pump complete college basketball, football, and other ESPN programming to Xbox Live customers. Commercial-free, standard-definition NCAA games will be available for 3 bucks a pop or $4.50 for "high-definition" versions -- other content will be priced as low as $2. Great, right? Only thing is, they aren't available until 48-hours after the game is over. Seems to us that any fanatic willing to burn cash for a game would have already seen his fill of highlights and news by then, eh?

Update: Service begins today with Saturday's USC vs. Oregon State game.

The constant battle between impatient television viewers and disgruntled providers got a shot of adrenaline today, as Walt Disney's two biggest channels have inked a deal with Cox Communications that is sure to simultaneously appease marketers and enrage customers. Reportedly, Cox will now begin to "disable the fast-forward feature that allows viewers to skip ads" in both ABC and ESPN video-on-demand, meaning that users who choose to view older programming via Cox's VOD channels can smash the FF button 'til their heart's content and get nowhere. Of course, users who actually set their DVR to record said content at its normal airing time are still free (for the moment, at least) to blaze right on through those annoying blips commercials, which means that you should probably become a lot more disciplined in your DVR scheduling if you belong to Cox. The worst (or best, depending on perspective) part is the precedent that this sets, as now the door is gaped wide open for more and more providers to grab the reigns of our DVRs and dictate just how far we push the notion of timeshifting. [Warning: Read link requires subscription]

[Via TechMeMe]

MobileESPN is back from the dead sheriff, only this time as a zombied version of its former self. No longer an MVNO, the service for sportos is now limited exclusively to Verizon Wireless subscribers under a new multi-year deal. According to the AP, the deal is not yet finalized but should be announced sometime today with a service launch in "the coming months." And it's free for those of you already ponyed up for VZW's VCAST service and compatible phone. Verizon is also expected to announce later today that the ESPN channel on their MediaFLO-based VCAST TV service will feature much of the same programming you're already familiar with -- albeit, presumably in bite-sized chunks more suitable to TV on the go. This must be what the execs at Verizon had in mind when they passed on the iPhone. Braaaaains, give us your brains!

[Thanks, unfuccwittable]

By now we're fairly certain that Apple and friends just do these patents for their own entertainment, to keep rumor mongers like us guessing and to publish uninteresting doodles to a mass audience, but they've got a new one for our dissection, and there's no use us quitting now. This time around it's nothing incredibly impressive, but a patent in regards to ESPN's mobile services has been unveiled, and it specifically makes mention of the iPod as a possible streaming delivery platform of sport scores and videos. Of course, this could just be ESPN covering all of its bases before the launch of its (ill-fated) Mobile ESPN, but with the incredible level of chumminess between Apple and Disney these days, we wouldn't put such a thing past 'em -- and if we can squeeze a WiFi iPod rumor out of the sitch, all the better.

[Via AppleInsider]

Whoa Nellie. The folks who scooped Disney's ESPN-branded cellphone service -- MobileESPN -- are now calling for "big changes" in the MVNO. According to Rafat Ali and Staci Kramer who cite "numerous sources," the doomed MobileESPN MVNO is set for "a phased winding down/transition, or getting sold" outright this week, just before Disney's fiscal year draws to a close. A spokeswoman for MobileESPN confirmed an announcement was coming, most likely on Thursday, and that staff would not be laid off this week contrary to rumors. Merrill Lynch already asked Disney to pull the plug in a research note published back in July estimating that MobileESPN had only snagged 30,000 of the 240,000 anticipated subscribers since its Superbowl launch representing a loss of some $135 million for The Mouse. All this is potentially bad news for the likes of Amp'd Mobile and Helio who may be in for an MVNO backlash on The Street where investor sentiment is already pretty low. Oh BJ, not you and the Bear too?

Update: Just minutes after we posted the article above, Disney officially dropped the ax on MobileESPN, and the happiest place on earth is just a little bit gloomier today. According to an open letter on the MobileESPN homepage, cellular service will stop as of December 21st, although all that great content that you handful of subscribers have come to enjoy day in and day out will soon be available through one of the major carriers. Meanwhile, existing customers are free to drop the service anytime before the end of the year without penaltly, and once your bills are all paid up, the soon-to-be-defunct MVNO will refund the full cost of your handset. Epitaph: MobileESPN, we had such high hopes for ye, but your glass jaw made a first round KO inevitable. R.I.P, sweet, failed telecom experiment.

[Via GigaOM]

As badass as most rodeo events seem -- except for barrel racing, that's just lame -- we're about as clueless when it comes to judging most bull rides as we are at judging figure skating. Luckily, rodeos are about to become privy to new technology advancements, similar in spirit to those yellow first-down lines and the much-maligned glowing hockey puck of yore. Winnercomm, largest independent provider of programming to ESPN, has developed a new gadget that can be glued to the back of a bull and provide a "master's thesis on physics" in data about each ride. This can allow the bumpkin or clueless hipster watching at home to know just how fast and hard the bull is buckin', and we're hoping cowboy hangtime and vertical ascent can be measured as well. We're sure there will be purists who will decry the distillation of rodeo action into simple numbers, but we say bring it on.