Dish, which introduce the king of DVRs last year, has updated the Hopper DVR to include Sling. Previously, using Sling with Hopper required an adapter. Now, you get to watch live and recorded TV from any tablet, smartphone and computer for free with Dish’s Anywhere App. More »
We got a sneak peek at Dish’s Explorer app earlier today, but now we’re able to provide a closer look. This application serves as a “second screen” — it’s most useful when you’re in front of the TV, and essentially replaces your standard remote control with a social media-enabled content-rich touchscreen experience. That means full Twitter and Facebook integration, with sidebars to outline what your friends or contacts are watching at that very moment, so you don’t end up feeling left out when your office’s favorite show is discussed at the water cooler the next day. The app also ranks current shows based on their popularity on Twitter, updated in realtime, and organizes programs by category, displaying movies sorted by genre, or current televised sporting events.
You can also search for films and television shows, and once you’ve come across one you’d like to watch, you can tap to watch it now (your linked TV will flip to that channel immediately), then tweet your impressions, complete with the proper (pre-loaded) hashtag. We spent a few minutes poking around Explorer, and the app seemed to work well, with an intuitive structure and useful added content, such as a Rotten Tomatoes rating atop each film’s cover art. It’s a useful way to discover more about whatever you happen to be watching currently, while also serving to help you locate interesting content amid a sea of programming garbage. Dish Explorer will be available beginning later this month.
Gallery: Dish Explorer app hands-on
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Software, HD
Dish Network reportedly plans to begin selling mobile phones out of Blockbuster’s brick-and-mortar stores. Even more shocking, Blockbuster still has brick-and-mortar stores. More »
It’s no secret that groups like Dish Network aren’t always happy about the rules they’ve got to follow when it comes to the FCC, and today it’s become extra apparent that Dish isn’t afraid to dish, as it were, on their frustrations. The FCC has issued a ruling on Dish to allow them to build an LTE Advanced mobile network in its MSS spectrum just recently, biut technical rules inside this proposition have limited up to 5MHz of Dish’s spectrum in the meantime. Dish has responded with a message saying that the FCC’s proposition is “deeply flawed.”
This message makes it clear the Dish believes that the rules “could add years to a process that has already lasted 20 months”. This wouldn’t be favorable to a company looking to get their network up and running as quickly as possible, of course, especially in the face of a possible roll-out with Google in the wings – read more about that in a post from earlier this week. This proposition and set of rules is separate from an announcement from Dish that they’d be auctioning the H Block of PCS spectrum starting in 2013, with Sprint making it clear that they want said tech for their fledgeling LTE network.
Dish currently believes that the ruling issued by the FCC here in the autumn of 2013 will hinder their ability to jump into the business:
“While the FCC would grant full terrestrial rights, its proposal to lower our power and emissions levels could cripple our ability to enter the business. … Until we know how to manage issues like interference from the H Block, we may have to put on hold activities like radio design and network build out while we wait for the H Block rulemaking and another 3GPP process to be completed.” – Dish Executive Vice President and General Counsel R. Stanton Dodge
The FCC currently hasn’t provided specific details on the proposals and the five-member commission must still vote to put them all into action. The next open meeting for the FCC is set for November 30th where they’ll more than likely move forward on this set of measures. Dish attained approval from the FCC in March to gain access to mobile satellite spectrum – 40 MHz of MSS S-band spectrum in the 2 GHz band, to be precise. This spectrum was renamed AWS-4 by the FCC, and Dish has made it clear that they intend on launching their own LTE advanced network on the spectrum by 2016 if the FCC allows them terrestrial services.
[via Fierce Wireless]
Dish sends FCC an angry message on their AWS-4 Spectrum rules is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
The Wall Street Journal reports that satellite TV giant Dish Network tried to purchase MetroPCS before T-Mobile stepped up and bought the prepaid cellular carrier. Dish Network reportedly offered $4 billion in August report people familiar with the deal. The four billion dollar offer valued MetroPCS at $11 per share.
Dish Network would’ve paid 30% in cash and 70% in stock according to a MetroPCS SEC filing. Talks between Dish and MetroPCS fell apart in late August, and MetroPCS later announced that it was being purchased by T-Mobile USA in early October. T-Mobile buying MetroPCS meant that the fourth and fifth largest carriers in the US would be combining.
Dish Network is looking intently at entering the wireless phone market. The satellite TV provider has billions of dollars of airwave rights to spectrum to carry wireless phone signals that it has purchased since 2008. Some speculation has hinted that Dish Network might simply sell off its spectrum to turn a tidy profit.
However, the satellite provider’s serious bid for MetroPCS signals that Dish Network wants to become a wireless provider. Dish is also waiting for the FCC to decide whether it can use some of the spectrum it owns for a ground-based cellular network. The FCC is expected to approve Dish Network’s request with a caveat that the satellite provider has to restrict a portion of its airwaves to provide a barrier against interference on neighboring bands.
[via WSJ]
Dish Network tried to buy MetroPCS before T-Mobile is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
While they’ve not reached final talks by any means whatsoever, it appears that Google (along with several other large-name groups in the market) have been speaking with Dish about creating a mobile carrier service of their own. This set of talks has been tipped by sources speaking with the Wall Street Journal where they almost immediately warn that the conversation was not “advanced” and that they “could amount to nothing.” Google has been tipped to be getting into the wireless data business for smartphones and tablets since Android was first acquired by the company known then as a Search Giant back in 2007.
An agreement between Dish and Google very well could put them in direct competition with the largest wireless carriers in the United States, with a bankroll that’s to be reckoned with and two brands that are already well established in their own right. Dish has been vocal for some time about its intention to partner with a company to build out a wireless network with wireless spectrum it already owns. Dish purchased an amount of wireless spectrum earlier this year and isn’t going to let anyone forget about it.
Google has meanwhile been making it clear that they will continue to expand into the services industry with projects such as Google Fiber which has citizens working with super-speed internet in their homes for undeniably low prices. With Google appearing to have some success in that respect, it could be time for them to move forward with connecting their Android empire as well. As the Google Fiber connection spreads across the USA, so too might Dish be pushing the big G into your smartphone more than ever.
Sources also speaking with the WSJ have made it clear that Dish does not intend to “flip” the spectrum they now own over to the highest bidder when they come knocking. Instead, they’re demonstrating commitment to building a wireless network with a partner and keeping themselves onboard as they do it. Have a peek at the timeline below to see more on the Dish saga as it unfolds – excitement afoot!
Google Mobile Carrier real possibility with tipped Dish agreement is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
It is safe to say that Google owns quite a fair share of the internet. After all people are now saying that you should “Google it”, as opposed to “search for it” when trying to find information online. Google has also made tremendous headway when it comes to the mobile space as well, with Android being a huge competitor against Apple’s iOS platform, so it wouldn’t be completely out of line to imagine if Google might one day like to become a carrier of their own. In turn this could help Google control the mobile space a bit better, and allow them to push out timely updates to their handsets without having to await carrier approval first.
This was revealed in a report by the Wall Street Journal where they cited anonymous sources who claims that Google is in talks with Dish Network Corp, where Google is hoping to be Dish’s partner in an upcoming wireless service which they have assumed could be in reference to Google becoming a carrier of sorts. The source has indicated that the talks with Google were not advanced and it could very well result in nothing, but at the same time Dish has confirmed that they are still seeking potential partners who might be interested in becoming a carrier using its own spectrum.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Dish Network Survey Hints At Google TV Pricing Options, Google and Dish Network working on TV search service,
Like many people, I have a serious love-hate relationship with movie and television studios. I love a lot of the content they produce, but they never cease to irritate me when it comes to their heavy-handed approach to trying to block viewers from accessing content the way we want to access it. I think one of the best DVR features I’ve heard of in a long time is Dish Networks’ AutoHop technology.
This technology allows Dish Network users with compatible DVRs to record prime-time programming on major networks, including ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox and automatically skip all the commercials. The users can watch recorded content the day after the original broadcasts without having to sit through any advertisements or having to fast-forward.
As you can imagine that feature made the networks very angry, and Fox sued Dish Network for copyright infringement among other things. Thankfully, Dish Network and TV fans around the country have won this battle for now, with the judge presiding over the case ruling in Dish Networks favor. The judge found no copyright infringement for customers using the feature and ruled that the PrimeTime Anytime feature doesn’t infringe on the studio’s exclusive reproduction rights under federal copyright laws.
Ah, commercials. They’re convenient for those times you want to grab more snacks without missing any of your show, and maddening when you just want to watch TV without seemingly endless commercials. Dish Network offers two features via its Hopper Whole-Home DVR that allows users to record shows and skip commercials. Fox tried to block these features, but a judge has ruled in Dish’s favor.
PrimeTime Anytime allows subscribers to record prime time shows (hence its name), while AutoHop gives an option for skipping commercials on certain recordings. Fox requested a preliminary injection to block these two features, concerned about the effect it will have on advertising revenue. According to a statement published by Dish Network, District Judge Dolly Gee ultimately rejected Fox’s request.
Says the announcement, the block was rejected for several reasons, a few of which were related to copyright. The ruling stated that the use of PrimeTime Anytime does not infringe on Fox’s reproduction rights and that users cannot be held liable for infringement, and neither of the two features fall under unauthorized distribution. About AutoHop specifically, Judge Gee ruled that the feature doesn’t violate Dish and Fox’s 2010 RTC agreement’s Video-on-Demand provision, but that it does “likely violate” the RTC agreement in general. Fox, however, hasn’t provided any proof that it has been harmed by the feature.
Dish’s Executive Vice President and General Counsel R Stanton offered this statement. “Today’s ruling is a victory for common sense and customer choice … The ruling underscores the U.S. Supreme Court’s ‘Betamax’ decision, with the court confirming a consumer’s right to enjoy television as they want, when they want, including the reasonable right to skip commercials, if they so choose.”
[via Dish]
Judge rejects request to block Dish AutoHop and PrimeTime Anytime is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Dish Network announced Sunday that the long and drawnout court case between it and AMC Networks along with sister company Cablevision Systems had finally been settled. The court case focused on a now-defunct service called Voom, and was originally filed in 2008. Dish Network later decided to drop AMC claiming that its channels cost too much.
Dropping AMC networks meant that Dish Network subscribers no longer had access to some the best and most popular shows on television including Mad Men, Breaking Bad and the zombie hit The Walking Dead. Fans of that show were particularly peeved because the show recently started its latest season. In fact, the entire last season of Breaking Bad was missed by Dish subscribers. During the blackout, AMC even ran an unprecedented and aggressive marketing campaign against Dish.
The good news for fans of the zombie drama is that the service came back on Sunday night, just in time to watch the latest episode of The Walking Dead. The settlement will have Dish Network paying Cablevision and AMC Networks $700 million in cash. Other AMC Networks channels, including IFC, We TV and the Sundance Channel will return to Dish Network on November 1.
[via ZDNet]
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