Hasta La Gadget!

Dish Network has announced the arrival of its second generation HD Whole-home DVR, the Hopper with Sling. With the DVR, subscribers have access to some new features, as well as improvements on existing features, making for an all-around better experience. In addition, the Hopper with Sling will be accompanied by the Transfers app, allowing subscribers to watch recorded content offline via an iPad.

The Hopper with Sling allows users to watch both live and recorded TV via mobile devices and PCs with an Internet connection via Sling at no additional charge, likewise with the DISH Anywhere app, or offline on an iPad with the Transfers app. The DVR brings a bit of Smart TV functionality to subscribers’ TVs with multi-player game apps, as well as what it calls “flinging” media content to smartphones and tablets.

The Transfers app features parental blocks for those with children, and allows subscribers to schedule transfers of entire TV show seasons or single episodes. The transfer process is seamless, and doesn’t require any extra devices on top of the iPad and DVR. The app will be released in the Apple App Store once the Hopper with Sling DVR is released. For now, no information on pricing or availability has been given.

Dish Network’s President and CEO Joseph P. Clayton offered this statement. “Last year, Hopper delivered the DISH TV experience to multiple rooms. This year, we top that and deliver it anywhere. With Hopper, the value equation for pay TV becomes radically different. Customers pay only once for their content and can access it anywhere they choose, in the home, or on the go.”

Dish announces Hopper with Sling HD DVR, offers offline recordings on iPad is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Dish CEO Joseph Clayton, a kooky bossman who once brought out a scared kangaroo in the middle of a press conference filled with nerds, nearly topped his stunt last year by dressing up and busting into a full blown rap (a hip hop hippity hop…) and then went on to make fun of the networks who have been battling Dish because of its Auto Hop feature. This guy is the best. More »

We’re very happy that 2012 ended up being the year of whole-home DVRs. We reviewed Dish Network’s Hopper earlier this year and now we’ve spent some quality time with DirecTV’s Genie — can’t say we expected the cute names. Capable of serving up to eight rooms in your house (but only four at once), the Genie system works with a variety of setups, including being built into some newer Samsung TVs. Only available as part of DirecTV service, the Genie can be had for free by some new DirecTV customers who are willing to sign a term agreement and select the right package, and available to existing customers as an upgrade for $300 depending on the circumstances. If DirecTV didn’t already have you at five tuners, 1TB and up to eight rooms, then click through for a full rundown on the latest the original direct satellite broadcast TV provider has to offer.

Continue reading DirecTV Genie whole-home DVR review

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

Comments

Comcast isn’t opening up its set-top boxes (UI and all) in the way we’d like, but it has established a reference spec (RDK) for potential hardware partners to build their own versions of its next generation setup. As reported by Light Reading, Cisco, Humax, Pace, Technicolor and others are working on hardware for a new multiroom setup based on a central gateway (or maybe a Cablevision-style network DVR) that streams video to IP-connected extenders called the XI3. Now Humax’s Xfinity-branded XI3-H has been revealed in an FCC filing spotted by Wireless Goodness. It sports a coax in/out connection for MoCA and TV, HDMI in and out, Ethernet and a USB port for a WiFi adapter. There’s also an SD card slot interestingly, which could potentially be used as local DVR storage for quick pause and rewind without pulling from the main server.

Continue reading Humax’s take on an IP-connected TV box for Comcast passes through the FCC

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

Comments

Source: Wireless Goodness, FCC

It’s been a few months since UK TV operator Sky added remote control features to its iPad app, and now there’s a similar refresh for the iPhone and iPod touch. The v4.2 update gives users brings remote control with support for gestures, DVR scheduling and management, a new guide as well as revamped navigation and search on the smaller screens, as long as they’re connected to the same WiFi network as the box. The Android app is still without the new features, however they’re promised to arrive there “in the coming months.” As usual the update app is available at no charge via iTunes, hit the link below to check it out, or check out the press after the break for more details along with a demo video of the iPad version.

Continue reading Sky+ app update brings remote control features to iPhone, iPod touch

Filed under: HD, Mobile

Sky+ app update brings remote control features to iPhone, iPod touch originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Nov 2012 04:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  iTunes  | Email this | Comments