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Dish Network's SlingLoaded ViP922 DVR to hit store shelves tomorrow (finally!)
We saw it at CES 2009 -- and then we waited. And waited. And finally last month Dish's SlingLoaded DVR made it to the FCC. And now? We've just received word that the ViP922 should be hitting Dish Network retailers April 7 (like, tomorrow). The long-awaited device carries an MSRP of $649, although existing customers who want to work it into their lease can expect to pay closer to the $200 - $400 range. Unless, of course, you live in Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, or the US Virgin Islands -- in which case you'll have to do without altogether. That what the Dish Network calls "tough love." We'll let you know if the company changes its mind. PR after the break.
Dish Network successfully launches Echostar XIV while we remember a fallen soldier
Sure compressing existing channels is one way to add more HD, but sending another bird in the air to increase capacity, like Dish Network's new Echostar XIV (what happened to XV? Should we be expecting another launch this year?) is certainly a preferred option. It's probably not a coincidence that we didn't see a press release until after a successful launch was confirmed, but it's currently in "geosynchronous transfer orbit." SatelliteGuys indicates we can probably expect service around the end of May, so while we toast the new satellite (video of the launch is embedded after the break) and all the HDTV it will bring, don't forget to pour out a little liquor for AMC-14.
TiVo's $200m damages award in EchoStar case affirmed, EchoStar to appeal (again)
Yes, there's a certain other patent brouhaha in the news right now, but we're not lying when we say these lawsuits take years to fully resolve. Take TiVo's endless time warp patent lawsuit against EchoStar, which started in 2006 and involves just a single patent: the court of appeals just today affirmed the $200 million contempt judgment against EchoStar from September. Of course, EchoStar is going to appeal to the full appeals court -- it always appeals -- and if that doesn't work we'd wager that this case will eventually be appealed to the Supreme Court for a second time. Don't worry, everyone keep can keep recording Idol -- this shouldn't affect TiVo or DISH Network customers at all. Statements from both TiVo and EchoStar after the break.
Sling Monitor 150 hits the FCC
We caught our first glimpses of the Sling Monitor 150 placeshifting display at CES 2009, but it only got an official launch at this year's show, and now it looks like it's getting even closer to store shelves with an appearance at the FCC for some RF testing action. We've always been intrigued by the 15-inch 720p display that can stream HD over WiFi, but until a cable or satellite operator actually deploys some of those hot SlingLoaded set-top boxes this thing isn't going to do anyone too much good.
TiVo awarded $200m in damages in EchoStar case, consumers not awarded end to the Echostar case
Okay, so it's not the cool billion dollars in damages we'd heard TiVo was asking for, but $200 million ain't chump change if you're broke, you know? That's the amount in contempt damages TiVo will get if EchoStar loses its upcoming appeal in the endless time warp patent case, bringing the total amount of money on the table to nearly $400 million. As usual, that means virtually nothing for the average Dish or TiVo customer, but at least the lawyers involved can all buy new Audis for the winter now.
TiVo projects larger than expected losses, still taking the patent fight to AT&T and Verizon
We'll let the analysts make sense of TiVo's new projection that it will lose $8 to $10 million in the third quarter, larger than Wall Street expectations while projected revenues are lower -- we're too busy adding Verizon and AT&T to the patent battlemap. Today it filed complaints against both for violating three of its DVR-related patents -- Nos. 6,233,389 B1 ("Multimedia Time Warping System"), 7,529,465 B2 ("System for Time Shifting Multimedia Content Streams"), and 7,493,015 B1 ("Automatic Playback Overshoot Correction System") if you must know -- seeking damages for past infringement and a permanent injunction. We'd assumed it would wait until settling things with DISH to push forward against other companies, but it looks like we're not the only ones getting impatient. Beyond the legal slapfight there's a few nuggets for the bleep bloop faithful, with the Comcast TiVo on-line scheduler beginning to roll out in Boston plus further expansions on the way and the due-in-2010 DirecTV HD TiVo still on track -- we'll need a few seasons of Law & Order queued up before this mess ever gets resolved.Read - TiVo Swings to Loss, Files Infringement SuitsRead - TiVo Reports Results for the Second Quarter Fiscal Year 2010 Ended July 31, 2009Read - TiVo Files Complaints for Patent Infringement Against AT&T and Verizon Communications in United States District Court, Eastern District of Texas; Seeking Damages and Injunction
Patent Office rejects some of TiVo's patent claims, battle vs. DISH to rage on
You knew it couldn't be over, right? The long running TiVo vs. DISH / Echostar patent case took a not-so-new twist yesterday when the Patent and Trademark Office issued a preliminary finding rejecting some of the claims of its Time Warp patent. While DISH was pleased, considering the PTO's conclusions as "highly relevant" to its ongoing appeal, TiVo issued a statement calling this step "not unusual" pointing out that the exact same thing happened when its patent was reexamined in 2005 (and subsequently upheld in 2007,) and that the next step in the process is where it will be able to present its explanation for the first time. All you need to know is that it will still be a while before anyone involved (except the two company's lawyers) are cashing any large checks, or gets their DVR taken away.[Via Multichannel News]Read - TiVo Statement on Developments in Lawsuit Against EchoStarRead - DISH Network and EchoStar Statement Regarding Tivo
Echostar might SlingLoad other manufacturer's cable boxes
Even though some cable giants are already trying their hand at placeshifting with TV Anywhere, Echostar may be ready to leverage its technology by licensing the SlingLoaded feature to other set-top box manufacturers like Motorola, Cisco or Pace, according to Cable Digital News. With its tru2way cable box still notable lacking a distribution deal, this could be a way for Sling fans that don't want any additional hardware to get it in the home, but speaking of that T2200S (still not coming to retail channels according to Senior Product Manager P. Margit Tritt) the company's presence at The Independent Show also gave it an opportunity to feel out the needs of smaller cable operators. Either way, there's plenty of time before its planned Q4 2009 launch - go on, admit you're excited, we don't judge here.
TiVo asks court for a billion dollars in EchoStar case
Remember when we thought that those $90 million and $190 million judgments in the endless TiVo / EchoStar case were big noise? Yeah, they were apparently pocket change: according to documents recently filed with the court, TiVo's asking for nearly a billion dollars in contempt sanctions against EchoStar. Unfortunately, the original document in which TiVo made the request was filed under seal because it contains confidential information, but it appears that TiVo's none too pleased that EchoStar violated the permanent injunction that ordered it to disable some 193,000 DVRs in the wild, and it's looking for some payback. For its part, EchoStar says that it doesn't have to comply with the court's order because the injunction was put on hold pending appeal -- an argument that appears on the surface to make perfect sense, but since we can't read TiVo's motion we can't say for sure what's going on, and there's always a chance the company's just playing hardball in order to force a late settlement. Given the rocky history of this endless case, we doubt that's likely, but one thing's for certain: all these lawyers are eating well tonight.
TiVo coming to Time Warner Cable, potentially lots of other providers
It's been a long, messy road, but now that TiVo's beaten a victory out of EchoStar in that seemingly-endless DVR patent lawsuit it sounds like the company is trying to exert some muscle -- it's already in talks to bring its service to Time Warner Cable, and sources have told Bloomberg the ultimate plan is to eventually collect royalties from every pay-TV provider in the US. That might sound bullying and even a little trollish, but keep in mind these patents have withstood pretty much every legal challenge EchoStar could throw at them, so TiVo's operating from a position of some certainty here -- especially since it's got license agreements with huge players like Comcast and DirecTV to use as leverage in negotiations as well. Of course, none of this solves any of TiVo's actual problems with its products, and the company's topsy-turvy balance sheet has some analysts thinking its ripe for a buyout by one of the bigs, so things could change dramatically at any minute, but for right now it sounds like your chances of getting the TiVo interface on your cable or satellite company DVR just went up, and that's almost certainly a good thing.
DISH still trying to navigate a way around TiVo's DVR patent
It's a longshot, but DISH mentioned in a court filing Monday that it is still looking for a workaround that would keep its DVR from infringing on TiVo patents, but admitting it "does not know whether a further design-around is even possible." Multichannel News pulled out the one sentence filing, although whether DISH seriously believes it can do dual tuner recording without violating the "Time Warp" patent or is just stalling for time while it looks for an antidote is still unclear.[Picture courtesy one of many GPS accidents]
Is Dish considering swallowing TiVo's $7.5 billion poison pill?
One of our favorite rumors rides again, but this time it's Dish that might be interested in buying TiVo. The new twist this time though is the motivation, and we can totally see how Dish would love to make this happen. The problem of course is that TiVo isn't interested in any such shenanigans and has gone as far as to write a poison pill into its bylaws. Our friend Davis Freeberg has been writing about TiVo's poison pill for years and more recently, at about the same time as the latest court decision came down against Dish, he saw some interesting traffic in his web server logs from none other than a Dish Network IP. No clue who the user was, but they spent some time reading up on TiVo's poison pill. Davis is no lawyer, but it is his understanding that if Dish attempted to take over TiVo, it'd cost them about $71 per share -- which comes to about $7.5 Billion. This is about seven times what the stock is actually worth and although we'd be shocked if this happened, we have to admit that crazier things have.
DISH / EchoStar DVR injunction temporarily put on hold by court
It's the case that never ends -- the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has issued a temporary delay of of the injunction and fine handed down yesterday in the EchoStar / TiVo lawsuit while it considers an appeal, meaning that DISH owners with older DVRs won't have to worry about losing their pause-and-rewind functionality at least for now. That pretty much means we're back in stasis with this one, with even more delay to come if the appeal is granted. That's cool, we needed a nap anyway.
DISH / EchoStar ordered to pay TiVo $190 million in patent infringement case
We're a bit hesitant to call this one done given the history involved, but a federal judge in Texas has dealt DISH / EchoStar yet another serious blow in its long-standing dispute with TiVo, and this time he's taken a number of other measures that could cause EchoStar to finally rethink its workaround-litigate strategy. The big setback for EchoStar, however, is the one-two punch of $190 million in damages it's been ordered to pay TiVo and an order to disable the "infringing function" on all but 193,000 DVRs now in the hands of subscribers. The judge also found that EchoStar's recently-implemented workaround technology still violated the patent in question and, as a result, he's ordered EchoStar to inform the court before it decides to try its hand at another "design-around" of the infringing patent. For its part, TiVo says that it is "extremely gratified by the Court's well reasoned and thorough decision," while DISH / EchoStar would only say that it plans to appeal the court's decision and file a motion to stay the order with a federal appeals court.Read - The New York Times, "Court Awards TiVo $190 Million in EchoStar Patent Case"Read - TiVo Statement on U.S District Court for the Eastern District of Texas Decision
XStreamHD takes baby steps towards reality
XStreamHD picked the Satellite 2009 show (aren't you mad you didn't go now? we are) to demonstrate its advanced graphical user interface, moving things just a bit closer to reality after finally having some satellite delivered 1080p to show us at CES in January. A content parter or two would go even further in convincing the skeptics this has a shot to come to market, but for now we guess this will have to do.
Echostar shows off its SlingLoaded T2200S HD DVR for cable
It didn't take long for Echostar to turn its ViP 922 SlingLoaded DVR for DISH into a tru2way powered HD DVR for cable viewers ready to placeshift live and prerecorded TV, and now we've got a glimpse of what it will look like. The specs show off a 1TB hard drive ripped from its still-yet-to-launch predecessor, but new for the T2200S is a backlit capacitive touch control mounted up front, while that no numbers required touch remote the 922 flashed at CES is so far missing from the mix. It'll be at least Q4 before these go into production, but you can believe Echostar is pitching them to all willing to listen at Cable Show '09 this week, while interested customers are being advised to contact their cable provider and let 'em know they want a piece.
Cable customers can get SlingLoaded too with the T2200S tru2way DVR
Want a taste of the SlingLoaded DISH Network 922 DVR (pictured), without switching to satellite? Echostar, as expected, is ready to show off a tru2way compatible version of its latest box, the T2200S, this week at the Cable Show '09. The T2200S contains the 1TB hard drive, expandable storage and of course, Sling Media's placeshifting technology ready to send live or recorded TV to your Internet connected device of choice. Since it's tru2way, it's also capable of running either the SlingGuide software, or whatever middleware is chosen by the provider, and enabling remote video diagnostics, hopefully making many truck rolls unnecessary. Like the 922, we've no price or release date yet but hopefully all that work on tru2way and M-CARD means whether or not our cable company signs up, we'll still have the choice of purchasing one at retail.Update: Looks like the box is planned to start testing June, and go into production in Q4 of 2009, the specs from the PR are after the break. [Thanks, Justin]
DISH's SlingLoaded ViP 922 / 822 DVR hits the FCC
Up for an investigation? We've got a curious case going on with a recent FCC filing, which sees the user manual of the recently unveiled DuoDVR ViP 922 (yeah, the SlingLoaded one) alongside images of a heretofore unseen ViP 822 DVR. Curiously, the actual FCC label corresponds with the "922," through the logo on the pictured Sling DVR definitely shows "822." So, is this just the typical step a device takes before it hits shelves in America, or is this a DVR we've never seen before? Something tells us it's far less exciting than our imaginations are leading us to believe.
DISH Network sees Q4 profit grow 24%, still sheds over 100,000 subscribers
Unlike DirecTV, which managed to post remarkable Q4 numbers across the board, DISH Network is only able to partially celebrate. You see, the satcaster did see profits in the fourth quarter rise some 24 percent, but at the same time, 102,000 (net) subscribers decided to head elsewhere. A recent report on the matter suggests that DISH is hurting from increased competition from main rival DirecTV, not to mention fiber-based entrants such as AT&T and Verizon. Of course, the general economic environment hasn't exactly helped matters, but DISH's smaller amount of high-def channels seems to be a magnified issue when money's tight. Oh, and if DirecTV is somehow able to integrate Sirius service into its pay-TV offering, we'd say DISH will need to think fast if it hopes to stop the bleeding of customers. Speaking of, have any of you recently jumped from DISH to DirecTV? Vice-versa? [Image courtesy of PropertyWorld]
TiVo and DISH / Echostar head back to Texas for another patent duel
Well, just when it was starting to look like TiVo and DISH / Echostar may finally have put their seemingly never-ending patent dispute behind them, the two companies now look to be rekindling things in Texas this week, where they've landed in court once more to sort out that pesky patent involving TiVo's Time Warp software. As patent dispute junkies may recall, TiVo first wound up being awarded some damages in the matter way back in 2006, after which Echostar was forced to develop some workaround software that it claims no longer infringed on TiVo's Time Warp patent, which allows for recording of one channel while the user watches another. In the meantime, Echostar / DISH continued to fight back against TiVo, with things finally, apparently coming to an end when the Supreme Court ultimately denied DISH's appeal and awarded TiVo those aforementioned damages (plus interest) for real. Now, TiVo is alleging that the DISH's "workaround" software does still violate its patent after all, and it's asking a U.S. District Court Judge in Texarcana, Texas to sort it out. If this latest round plays out as TiVo hopes, DISH could be forced to disable most, if not all, of its DVRs, and potentially buy new DVRs that don't infringe on TiVo's patents.
