PVR Wire http://www.pvrwire.com PVR Wire http://www.pvrwire.com/media/feedlogo.gif PVR Wire http://www.pvrwire.com en-us Copyright 2008 Blogsmith, LLC. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/Zune sales low, but numbers are promisinghttp://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/19/zune-sales-low-but-numbers-are-promising/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/19/zune-sales-low-but-numbers-are-promising/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/19/zune-sales-low-but-numbers-are-promising/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,


ZuneIt's interesting to read the various slants taken on the news surrounding sales of Microsoft's Zune player, particularly those of the Mac-obsessed naysayers.

According to media reports scattered across the web today, Microsoft's first foray into the MP3 player market, the Zune, accounted for 9% of US MP3 player sales in its first week this year, making it the second-best seller of hard disk drive-based media players for 2006. (Corrections thanks to user Curtis Blow)

Meanwhile, Apple's total market share for the year has fallen to 82.7 percent, compared with 86.8 percent a year ago -- a share that also includes flash-based players, which Microsoft currently doesn't offer. (Ask Steve Jobs which figure he'd prefer, and I'll give you my life savings if he said he'd be happy with a drop in numbers).

Of course, the first thing all Worshipers at The Temple of Steve do when they see such mouth-wateringly low figures, is to bang away at their shiny white keyboards to produce some suitably dull and scathing criticism peppered with sneering remarks about the derisory brown-coloured MP3 player's pitifully low sales.

Let's get something straight here: the Zune has been officially on sale for less than six weeks -- yet it's still on course to sell a million units in its first fiscal year.

This is at a time when the market is literally saturated with MP3 players of all shapes, sizes -- and colours -- not least of which are the six different varieties of iPod you can currently waste your money on. (And, please, let's try not to pretend they won't be superseded by so-called 'newer models' before summer 2007).

Looking at it historically, the first iPod only managed to sell 250,000 units when it was released late in 2001, only to be superseded by a new model less than a year later -- and this was at a time when there was absolutely zero competition in the marketplace other than Creative Labs. Compared to Microsoft, Apple had a dreadfully slow start, and it took them until well into Q4 of 2003 before they reached the million sales mark -- almost two years.

It's much more interesting to read Microsoft's take on the whole thing, rather than the rantings of those struck blind by the glow from their G4 case:

"Microsoft expressed little concern about the sales. Jason Reindorp, director of product marketing for Zune, said, ``We are happy with the position Zune currently holds in the market, and are on track to meet our sales projection of 1 million units by end of the fiscal year.''"

I'm no Microsoft fan, and the Zune might seem a bit foolish for an MP3 player, but there's plenty of fools still prepared to buy it.
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]]>ipodmicrosoftsaleszuneMartin Conaghan2006-12-19T06:16:00+00:00Online video set to explode in '07http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/15/online-video-set-to-explode-in-07/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/15/online-video-set-to-explode-in-07/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/15/online-video-set-to-explode-in-07/#commentsFiled under: , ,


Strategic AnalyticsOh, contradictory data reports, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

  1. This week ABI Research announces that only 5% of the folks who watch video online are willing to pay for it.
  2. And now, Strategic Analytics tells us that revenues from digital video downloads will grow to $1.5 billion by the end of next year, and $5.9 billion by 2010.
Apparently in 2006 more than 100 million TV shows, movies, and other videos have been downloaded in 2006, generating $298 million in revenue for companies selling digital video online.

I'm sure there's some wonderful model that projects how quickly this will grow. But the truth is, while it's becoming increasingly clear that the line between computer and television is blurring, I'm not convinced that people will be much more enthusiastic about paying for movies online in 2007 or 2010.

To put it another way, more and more content is available to cable customers via video-on-demand. And the Telcos like Verizon and AT&T are getting into the game, delivering content to customers through the same pipes they use to pump data and voice. I think customers will be able to get a more internet-like experience on their TV sets in the near future without necessarily having to log onto a computer to download movies which they can then stream or transfer to a box near their TV set.

Of course, I could be totally off base here, and maybe a coalition of companies headed by YouTube, Netflix, and Apple will kill off traditional broadcast and cable television, instead convincing viewers to buy all of their videos online.

[via Digital Lifescapes]
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]]>digitalfinancial analysisFinancialAnalysisonline videoOnlineVideoBrad Linder2006-12-15T11:00:00+00:00How much have you spent on a digital living room?http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/08/how-much-have-you-spent-on-a-digital-living-room/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/08/how-much-have-you-spent-on-a-digital-living-room/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/08/how-much-have-you-spent-on-a-digital-living-room/#commentsFiled under:


Sony Digital Living SystemThe other day, I posed the question, what would the perfect digital living room look like? Several of you wrote in to describe your current setups. And it got me thinking, how much money are audio/video enthusiasts willing to spend on the perfect home theater setup?

I'll start things off with our current home setup, but I'd love to see your lists in the comment sections.

1. Hauppauge WinTV-PVR 150 - $90
2. Hauppauge WinTV-PVR 150MCE (I'd have gotten the 500MCE, but I bought the two cards separately) - $70
3. BeyondTV Bundle (BTV 3.5, Beyond Media, and a Firefly RF remote control) - $99
4. Upgrade to BeyondTV 4.0 - $30
5. NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 video card with video-out - $50
6. X10 wireless video sender and 2 receivers (one for the bedroom, another for the living room) - $75

Total: $414

It's been a while since I bought some of these items, so the prices aren't exact. But keep in mind, my goal was a frugal setup. We have analog cable so I don't have to two cable boxes and IR blasters to change the channels on my 2-tuner setup. I already had a computer and a TV. This doesn't count the Series2 TiVo we bought and sold before settling a PC-based PVR, the RCA wireless video sender I fried by plugging in the wrong power supply, etc.

In the future I'd like to get an HDTV tuner or two, purchase a nice 32" LCD 1080P set for the living room, and possibly cram all of my PVR components into a nice HTPC case for the living room.

Now, who's got a system that's more frugal than mine but can offer the same functions? And who's got the dream setup with the nightmare price tag?
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]]>costliving roomLivingRoommoneyBrad Linder2006-12-08T10:00:00+00:00TiVo reports gains in the 3rd quarterhttp://www.pvrwire.com/2006/11/29/tivo-reports-gains-in-the-3rd-quarter/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/11/29/tivo-reports-gains-in-the-3rd-quarter/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/11/29/tivo-reports-gains-in-the-3rd-quarter/#commentsFiled under: , ,


TiVoTiVo announced its third quarter financial results for the fiscal year today. Here's some of the highlights.

  • Service and technology revenues rose 22% to %52.6 million, up from $43.2 million during the same period last year.
  • TiVo reported a loss of $11.1 million, or $0.12 per share, compared with $14.2 million, or $0.17 per share a year ago.
  • TiVo-owned subscriptions were up this year, while DirecTiVo subscriptions were down. Overall, total subscriptions are up slightly from last quarter, to 4.4 million.
  • TiVo-owned subscriptions were up 10% year-over-year. That's the first year-over-year increase in the past six quarters.
TiVo CEO Tom Rogers touted the release of the Series3 box, the new slogan "It's not a TiVo unless it's a TiVo," and the Comcast distribution partnership as keys for continuing to differentiate TiVo from its competitors in the future.





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]]>earningsquarterly resultsQuarterlyResultsBrad Linder2006-11-29T17:44:00+00:00Sky+ subscriber numbers continue to climbhttp://www.pvrwire.com/2006/11/06/sky-numbers-continue-to-climb/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/11/06/sky-numbers-continue-to-climb/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/11/06/sky-numbers-continue-to-climb/#commentsFiled under: , ,


Sky+Here's a little news snippet we missed last week: apparently, Sky+ subscriber number have continued to climb in the UK over the last quarter.

According to financial reports, BSkyB's digital satellite subscribers in the UK increased to 8.26 million, with a growth of 82,000.

However, Sky+ households increased 139,000 over the quarter to 1.69million. THe company also claims over 96,000 homes in the UK now have Sky+ HD, but the Sky+ numbers and Sky+ HD numbers are thought to be a combined figure.

Overall profits at BSkyB have dropped due to an increase in expenses, but the massive jump in Sky+ PVR users will be encouraging to Rupert Murdoch and co.
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]]>Martin Conaghan2006-11-06T09:59:00+00:00It's official, Google own YouTubehttp://www.pvrwire.com/2006/10/09/its-official-google-buys-youtube/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/10/09/its-official-google-buys-youtube/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/10/09/its-official-google-buys-youtube/#commentsFiled under: ,


Google Tube
Brad blogged it in our Sharewatch last week, and Chris mentioned it again yesterday -- and now it's official: Google has purchased video-sharing website YouTube for $1.65billion of Google stock options.

According to a statement from Google, the two companies will continue to operate independently, a situation which will undoubtedly change as things progress and the web reacts to the news.

As I mentioned in my post earlier this evening, this puts Google in pole position in the race to act as a market leader in the rapidly-increasing world of video-on-demand in the coming months and years.
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]]>financialgoogleyoutubeMartin Conaghan2006-10-09T17:37:00+00:00Is Apple on the verge of a paradigm shift?http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/09/13/is-apple-on-the-verge-of-a-paradigm-shift/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/09/13/is-apple-on-the-verge-of-a-paradigm-shift/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/09/13/is-apple-on-the-verge-of-a-paradigm-shift/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


Apple Cover FlowSo Wired has an analysis of Apple's new Cover Flow, a system for visually browsing through your music or movie collections. There's no doubt Cover Flow is a beautiful system that makes your digital media seem almost tangible.

The article goes on to say that as Apple carries this level of graphical ease of use into the living room when it releases the iTV next year, it could win the living room wars. TiVo has held on to its fan base largely based on the superiority of its interface. But Apple's is prettier (argues Wired commentator Leander Kahney).

This raises a question -- if Apple isn't releasing a PVR, and in fact, Steve Jobs said the iTV is meant to sit on top of your cable box and DVD player, is Apple trying to win the battle of the living room? Could it?

At $1.99 per TV show, is it feasible that one could live on iTunes alone? I did some quick math this morning and realized that maybe I could. I'm paying $54 a month for cable service right now. That's 26 TV shows.

Now, assume I'm canceling my cable service, I'd probably by an over the air HD TV tuner or two for my computer. Now I'm getting high quality copies of most of the network shows I watch for free. And if the shows I watch that are on cable networks only air about 4 times a month, I can afford to keep track of 6 different series simply by buying them on iTunes. Or I could probably get them even cheaper if I purchase the whole season at once.

I'm not saying that Apple plans to replace the current model of TV distribution -- but the idea's not as far fetched you might think.
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]]>appleapple cover flowAppleCoverFlowcover flowCoverFlowitunstivoBrad Linder2006-09-13T08:30:00+00:00PVR Wire Sharewatch Fridayhttp://www.pvrwire.com/2006/09/08/pvr-wire-sharewatch-friday/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/09/08/pvr-wire-sharewatch-friday/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/09/08/pvr-wire-sharewatch-friday/#commentsFiled under: ,


Sharewatch

As the markets close on Friday, BskyB (BSY.L) ended the week exactly where it began, at 560. Comcast (CMCSA, CMCSK) dropped about half a point. Echostar (DISH) dropped about a full point, while DirecTV (DTV) ended the week just 3 cents a share down from opening on Tuesday. TiVo (TIVO)was the only company on our Sharewatch list to see an increase this week, moving from 7.77 a share on Monday to 8.03 on Friday.
Here's a roundup of the week's PVR-related financial news:
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]]>sharewatchBrad Linder2006-09-08T20:13:00+00:00SeaChange's Success with Video on Demand Servicehttp://www.pvrwire.com/2006/09/01/seachanges-success-with-video-on-demand-service/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/09/01/seachanges-success-with-video-on-demand-service/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/09/01/seachanges-success-with-video-on-demand-service/#commentsFiled under: ,


SeaChange Logo - Video on DemandHere is a company you have probably never heard of, SeaChange. SeaChange is a company that specialized in delivering video on demand content.

SeaChange works with big companies such as Echostar, Dish Network and Comcast by providing the infrastructure for delivering on demand video, through their media servers, to cable and satellite company's subscribers. SeaChange can even insert appropriate advertising into the video streams with ease.

The reason why I'm talking about SeaChange today is because they have seen a record quarterly revenue increase up 73% year over year. Last year the company turned over $26.2 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2006, now this year the have turned over $45.4 million.

This just goes to show that video on demand content delivered over broadband connections is becoming increasingly popular. Where content producers and broadcasters were hesitant to this new form of content delivery, they are now beginning to embrace it. This new adoption of video on demand is making innovative companies like SeaChange a financial success.
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]]>SeaChangeVideo on DemandVideoOnDemandChris Tew2006-09-01T20:18:00+00:00PVR Sharewatch Fridayhttp://www.pvrwire.com/2006/09/01/pvr-sharewatch-friday/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/09/01/pvr-sharewatch-friday/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/09/01/pvr-sharewatch-friday/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Great week for BSkyB (BSY.L) as the companies shares were at 554.00 Monday but increased a hefty 13.50 by this afternoon thanks largely to JP Morgan upping its target shareprice from 627.00 to 667.00.

Comcast (CMCSA or CMCSK) shares ended the day slightly higher but down overall from the beginning of the week. The company is still in the process of bidding on licenses for wireless radio spectrum in the airwaves auction that's still underway. The consortium Comcast Corp. is a part of has currently won 133 licenses bidding $2.34 billion.

EchoStar (DISH) was up .60 over the course of the week to end at 32.30. EchoStars legal issues continued on Thursday when Fox requested a Florida District Court to ban EchoStar from transmitting network programming from one city to satellite subscribers in other cities. Apparently, Fox is the largest shareholder of EchoStars main competitor DirecTV (DTV). Nothing like sticking up for your little brother. DirecTV shares were up .41 on the day, and up .57 on the week to end at 19.20.

As reported earlier in the week, TiVo (TIVO) held its quarterly conference call. Revenues rose to $59.2 million from $39.3 million in the prior quarter; however, the company still reported a quarterly loss of $6.45 million. Although the figures look poor, TiVo actually exceeded Wall Streets expectations. The shareprice fluctuated wildly during the week but ended this afternoon largely unaffected at 7.90.

The U.S. markets are closed on Monday for Labor Day. We'll be back with an update on Tuesday.

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]]>JJ Hawkins2006-09-01T18:15:00+00:00TiVo reports better than expected losseshttp://www.pvrwire.com/2006/08/30/tivo-reports-better-than-expected-losses/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/08/30/tivo-reports-better-than-expected-losses/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/08/30/tivo-reports-better-than-expected-losses/#commentsFiled under: , ,


TiVoTiVo (TIVO) announced its second quarter results this afternoon, showing a net loss of $6.4 million, which comes to $.07 a share for the quarter ending July 31. That's better than expected by many Wall Street analysts, but a much deeper loss than over the same period last year.

Sales shot up about 50% to $59.2 million this quarter when you include earnings from service and technology, rebates, and hardware sales.

In a statement, TiVo CEO Tom Rogers said it's been a busy three months for TiVo. The company's doubled the number of retail outlets selling TiVo units by adding Radio Shack. Rogers says the company hopes to further expand its reach through its partnerships companies like Comcast and BellSouth. TiVo's also been working hard to build relationships with advertisers.

TiVo shares closed down 14 cents at 7.66 on Wednesday
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]]>lossesprofitsTiVoBrad Linder2006-08-30T18:22:00+00:00TiVo gains the upper hand (again)http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/08/28/tivo-gains-the-upper-hand-again/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/08/28/tivo-gains-the-upper-hand-again/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/08/28/tivo-gains-the-upper-hand-again/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,


TiVoWith all the news of TiVo's victory of EchoStar in Court, and the judge's order that EchoStar may or may not soon have to cease selling PVRs, you may have forgotten that EchoStar filed its own patent infringement suit against TiVo last year.

Well, in another big win for TiVo, the federal courts have ordered a stay on that lawsuit until the patents in question can be reexamined.

Specifically, EchoStar had claimed that TiVo and Humax were violating patents for "Interruption Tolerant Video Program Viewing," "Multimedia Direct Access Storage Device and Formatting Method." EchoStar's original complaint had alleged two other patent infringements, but it's not clear from today's announcement what the status will be of those patent challenges.

In a press release distributed this morning, Tivo said " TiVo will continue to defend its technology vigorously and will not be intimidated by claims such as those EchoStar asserted against TiVo -- claims EchoStar asserted in response to TiVo's successful suit against EchoStar."

No word yet from EchoStar's press room. But in other legal news, EchoStar announced a settlement to a 9-year legal battel with ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox over distribution of local network affiliates.The satellite provider will expand its local network channel offerings from 165 to 175 markets by the end of the year, which will cover 95% of the U.S. The company will also pay affiliates $100 million to help ensure the stations can continue to offer local channels to subscribers outside of the local market.
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]]>dishdistant channelsDistantChannelsechostarinjunctionlawsuitesatellitestaytivoBrad Linder2006-08-28T08:31:00+00:00Cisco to buy Arroyo -- network PVRs still on holdhttp://www.pvrwire.com/2006/08/22/cisco-to-buy-arroyo-network-pvrs-still-on-hold/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/08/22/cisco-to-buy-arroyo-network-pvrs-still-on-hold/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/08/22/cisco-to-buy-arroyo-network-pvrs-still-on-hold/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Cisco buys Arroyo
Cisco Systems has agreed to pay $92 million dollars to purchase Arroyo Video Solutions, a company that provides video-on-demand services for Comcast and Time Warner.

Cablevision had tapped Arroyo to develop a trial remote-storage PVR system. Cablevision executives think network PVRs could be the wave of the future, theorizing that it could be cheaper to record and store video remotely than to put a set-top PVR in every customer's home. But the trial program has been on hold since June, until a lawsuit is resolved.

Television networks and movie studios allege that the remote storage PVR could violate copyright laws. Of course, they said the same thing when set-top PVRs first hit the shelves in the late 90s.

Anyway, it looks like Cisco is hoping to use Arroyo's expertise in video-on-demand to roll out other interactive cable services. So if the lawsuit is resolved, it looks like those network PVRs could still be on the horizon. Whether anyone actually wants to store and record their video remotely is another question.
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]]>Arroyo Video SolutionsArroyoVideoSolutionsCisco SystemsCiscoSystemsnetwork pvrNetworkPvrremote storage pvrRemoteStoragePvrBrad Linder2006-08-22T08:13:00+00:00PVR Wire Sharewatch: DirecTVhttp://www.pvrwire.com/2006/08/21/pvr-wire-sharewatch-directv/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/08/21/pvr-wire-sharewatch-directv/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/08/21/pvr-wire-sharewatch-directv/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

DirecTV

DirecTV (DTV) opened at 18.03 Monday, down .12 from closing on Friday.

I'm still curious to see what kind of long term impact the TiVo/EchoStar ruling will have on DirecTV in the coming months. I'm not sure how many customers choose their satellite providers based on the PVR unit they offer, but knowing that DirecTV will still have PVRs can only be a plus while the fate of EchoStar's Dish Network boxes remains unclear.

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]]>DirecTVsharewatchBrad Linder2006-08-21T11:00:00+00:00PVR Wire Sharewatch: Comcasthttp://www.pvrwire.com/2006/08/21/pvr-sharewatch-comcast/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/08/21/pvr-sharewatch-comcast/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/08/21/pvr-sharewatch-comcast/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Comcast

Comcast (CMCSA and CMCSK) opened at 34.33 this morning, down .23 from closing on Friday.

You can't read too much into a minor dip like this though, if you look at the company's growth over the last 6 months.

Recent Comcast news:
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]]>comcastsharewatchBrad Linder2006-08-21T10:03:00+00:00Guba cuts video download priceshttp://www.pvrwire.com/2006/08/21/Guba cuts video download prices/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/08/21/Guba cuts video download prices/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/08/21/Guba cuts video download prices/#commentsFiled under: ,


GubaCould this start a price war? Guba is one of a growing number of companies making movies available for download the same day they are released on DVD. You can rent or download videos, which is to say they have varying levels of DRM.

But for the most part, sites like MovieLink and CinemaNow have been charging DVD-like prices for movies that play at just at a reduced quality 700kbps. For example, you can purchase V for Vendetta for $19.99 or rent Annapolis for $3.99.

Right now, V for Vendetta is just $9.99 at Guba. But they don't seem to have Annapolis at all. Guba's selection is far more limited than some other sites, but they've been building their network of movie studio partners in the last few months.

One thing I've always felt about music and movie download services is that people don't place the same value on digital goods that they do on physical goods. People usually don't want to spend the same amount of money for a song they could accidentally delete as they would on a CD with a case and a cover. I thought $.50 a song would be a fair market value, but Apple proved me wrong by coming out with a must-have music player that allowed people to take their music everywhere, making the downloaded product feel more tangible.

Still, at $.99 a song, it's usually cheaper to buy music on-line than at a store. And it should be. There's no distribution costs. Marketing costs should be lower. And there's no printing of CDs or packaging. You're just paying for content. Hopefully Guba's limited-time offer will be wildly successful and become permanent. And hopefully it will prompt other video download services to think about reducing their prices as well.
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]]>downloadgubaBrad Linder2006-08-21T08:47:00+00:00PVR Wire Share Watch: DirecTVhttp://www.pvrwire.com/2006/08/18/pvr-wire-share-watch-directv/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/08/18/pvr-wire-share-watch-directv/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/08/18/pvr-wire-share-watch-directv/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

DirecTV

DirecTV (DTV) shares closed Friday afternoon at 18.15, down .18 from opening Friday morning, but a full point from opening on Monday.

The battle between TiVo and EchoStar doesn't seem to have had much impact on DirecTV stock. The big story of the week as far as DirecTV is concerned is that the satellite company pulled out of an FCC auction for wireless broadband spectrum. That portion of the spectrum could be used to carry voice and data services. By Friday, the auction price had reached $11-billion.

This appears to hurt DirecTV's chances of becoming an internet service provider, but analysts say it also shows DirecTV is being responsible in its spending.
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]]>auctionbroadbanddirectvsharewatchspectrumtivowirelessBrad Linder2006-08-18T17:11:00+00:00Appeals court stays the Dish PVR injunctionhttp://www.pvrwire.com/2006/08/18/appeals-court-stays-the-dish-pvr-injunction/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/08/18/appeals-court-stays-the-dish-pvr-injunction/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/08/18/appeals-court-stays-the-dish-pvr-injunction/#commentsFiled under: , ,


TiVoAccording to a press release issued by TiVo this afternoon, the federal appeals court granted a temporary stay on the injunction against EchoStar.

Yesterday, U.S. District Court Judge David Folsom ruled in favor of TiVo, that EchoStar's Dish Network PVRs violated patents held by TiVo. He ordered EchoStar to stop selling those PVRs within 30 days, and to end service to customers who owned existing PVRs.

Lawyers for EchoStar appealed the decision -- and asked the appeals court to block the injunction. According to TiVo's release, that has happened. The block is only in place until the court determines whether the injunction should be stayed throughout the entire appeals process, which could take months, or even years.

The temporary stay does not indicate whether the court is leaning in favor of TiVo or EchoStar, but rather a procedural matter
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]]>EchoStarinjunctionlawsuitTiVoBrad Linder2006-08-18T13:42:00+00:00TiVo and Echostar reacthttp://www.pvrwire.com/2006/08/18/tivo-and-echostar-react/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/08/18/tivo-and-echostar-react/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/08/18/tivo-and-echostar-react/#commentsFiled under: , ,


TiVo
EchoStar put out a press release this morning stating that the company will ask the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals to block the injunction requiring EchoStar to stop selling PVRs.

Echostar's take on the whole situation:

The court determined that the company did not intentionally copy TiVo's technology, and EchoStar will continue to work on modifications to their PVRs to make sure they don't accidentally infringe on any patents in the future. But ordering EchoStar to stop selling PVRs within 30 days, and to shut down service to its customers' PVRS -- that's just a bit too much. Since there's still a month to go, they're telling customers not to worry, since they're "not immediately impacted."

Translation: Please don't switch services, we're hoping we can still provide you service next month.

Tivo's response:

"This decision recognizes that our intellectual property is valuable and will ensure that moving forward EchoStar will be unable to use our patented technology without our authorization." TiVo's press release also points out that besides the "Time Warp" patent that Echostar allegedly infringed on, TiVo holds 86 other patents.

Translation: If you want to use our technology, pay for it. And if we get to a point where people don't see value in owning a TiVo brand TiVo, at least we'll still collect licensing fees in the future.

We'll keep you posted on the latest details of EchoStar's appeal.
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]]>DishEchoStarinjunctionlawsuitTiVoBrad Linder2006-08-18T08:06:00+00:00 TiVo beats EchoStar (once and for all)http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/08/18/tivo-beats-echostar-once-and-for-all/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/08/18/tivo-beats-echostar-once-and-for-all/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/08/18/tivo-beats-echostar-once-and-for-all/#commentsFiled under: , ,


TiVoDave Zatz has the exclusive on the latest news to emerge from the TiVo/EchoStar lawsuit, which ended in a massive win for TiVo earlier in the year.

Well, the final ruling on the appeal is now in, and EchoStar has been ordered to disable all functionality on their DVR products within 30 days and award TiVo a financial claim somewhere in the region of $90million.

We would expect some kind of out-of-court settlement to be announced in the next few days, but this has massive implications on EchoStar's business and the future of PVRs in the US.

Whatever the case, it's totally saved TiVo's bacon.
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]]>echostarlawsuittivoMartin Conaghan2006-08-18T03:10:00+00:00