Nov 22

Dish Hopper DVR upgrades enable control over HDMI, expand iPad support

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Dish Explorer on iPad

Dish’s Hopper software team is clearly busy; just two months after it brought home-automation support to its DVR, it’s rolling out another update that offers considerably more control. The new “Denver” firmware enables promised HDMI-CEC support, letting the Hopper send and receive commands from compatible HDMI gear. It can automatically switch TV inputs when powered on, for example. Other upgrades introduce universal search, a help app and a shelf-like layout for On Demand videos. As part of the revamp, Dish is also improving its Explorer iPad app; Apple tablet owners can both control every TV on the Hopper platform and find recommended shows. Neither “Denver” nor the Explorer update will necessarily get anyone switching TV providers, but it should make the viewing experience that much sweeter for loyal customers.

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Source: Dish, App Store

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Sep 26

Dish Hopper DVRs open up to home automation control, we wonder what’s next

Posted in: Today's Chili

Dish's Hopper DVRs open up to home automation control, we wonder what's next

Back in July Dish Network announced plans to open its Hopper DVR platform to mobile app developers, and today at CEDIA we saw the results of that initiative. Thanks to SDK access that can mirror the functionality of Dish’s own Explorer iPad app, home automation systems like Control4 can now directly access the DVRs. That means users with those systems (or others, we saw demos of integration with a few other systems although they haven’t been officially announced yet) can control their DVR with the same controls used to adjust their lighting, security and other services. So far, access is limited to simple remote control commands over IP while everything gets certified and secured, but eventually it will include full two-way communication, including guide data and more.

While that’s enough to make anyone who orders or builds custom systems drool, what could it mean for the rest of us? We’ll have to wait and see, but if Control4 can build in access, we can certainly imagine what the Xbox One, Google TV, Samsung’s Smart TV or any other rumored devices (*cough*) might be able to offer. We’ll probably have to wait until CES to hear more on that front, but we did get a quick preview of a feature in testing that’s coming to all Hopper DVRs: HDMI-CEC control. The ability to send and receive commands is something we’ve wanted on cable / satellite set-top boxes for some time, and Dish Network may well be the first to make it happen.

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Sep 04

HDMI 2.0 officially announced: 18Gbps bandwidth, 60fps 4K, 32 channel audio

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Only just after it leaked out, the folks at HDMI Licensing are announcing HDMI 2.0 officially. Arriving just in time for the wide rollout of a new generation of Ultra HDTVs, it adds a few key capabilities to the connection standard. With a bandwidth capacity of up to 18Gbps, it has enough room to carry 3,840 x 2,160 resolution video at up to 60fps. It also has support for up to 32 audio channels, “dynamic auto lipsync” and additional CEC extensions. The connector itself is unchanged, which is good for backwards compatibility but may disappoint anyone hoping for something sturdier to support all of those suddenly-popular dongles. The cables won’t change either, as the group claims current high-speed Category 2 wires can handle the increased bandwidth. Some companies have suggested upgrade paths for their UHDTVs already on the market — hopefully we’ll find out more about those plans this week at IFA 2013.

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Source: HDMI.org

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