Hasta La Gadget!

Every year at the end of March, basketball fans go crazy as the March Madness collegiate basketball tournaments kick off to find the top team in all the land. I know several people who take off the entire week just so they can sit home and watch basketball games all day. If you can’t take that type of time off, and have the Dish Hopper DVR in your home, you will love this.

Dish Network has announced some cool upgrades to improve its Hopper DVR and second screen viewing experience. Their updated Hopper Apps now have a Game Finder to display all of the games on one easy to navigate page. Viewers can also tune in to watch a specific game or record current games or future games directly from the app.

The Hopper app also offers faster navigation and access to scores for other games. Fans can also hide games that are blacked out in their area. The Dish Explore app for the iPad has also been updated, and features a dedicated NCAA Tournament tab on the main screen. That tab allows basketball fans to see upcoming games, times, and channels. The app also allows fans to record the games from the same page. The updated apps are available now.

CES today issued a press release announcing that DISH’s Hopper with Sling technology built-in is the “Best of Show” after all, an honor it will share with existing winner the Razer Edge for the 2013 show. The decision follows the revelation that CNET was ordered to remove the Hopper from consideration after CNET parent company CBS asked them to. CBS is currently involved in litigation with DISH over Hopper functionality.

Along with the granting of the award, CES also announced that it will launch an RFP seeking a new partner for the “Best of CES” awards “soon”, since it isn’t confident that relationship with CNET will continue to be beneficial for the CES brand.

“CES has enjoyed a long and productive partnership with CNET and the Best of CES awards,” CEA SVP of Events and Conferences Karen Chupka said in the release.  “However, we are concerned the new review policy will have a negative impact on our brand should we continue the awards relationship as currently constructed.  We look forward to receiving new ideas to recognize the ‘best of the best’ products introduced at the International CES.”

The DISH Hopper with Sling can record and play back programming within a 24 hour window after its airing, without commercials, which is the source of CBS’s legal dispute with DISH. CEA joined up with other tech organizations last week to file a brief in support of DISH around the Hopper, as the company is clearly eager to distance itself from the editorial decision made by CNET and its parent company, which came under fire from other media organizations (ours included) and tech industry watchers alike.

CEA came out in strong support of the DISH Hopper in a statement from Gary Shapiro included in the release:

We are shocked that the ‘Tiffany’ network which is known for its high journalistic standards would bar all its reporters from favorably describing classes of technology the network does not like. We believe that the DISH Hopper DVR is fully covered by the Supreme Court’s ruling in Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios Inc. The simple fact is making television easier to watch is not against the law. It is simply pro-innovation and pro-consumer.

The fallout for CNET has already resulted in the departure of Greg Sandoval from the network, who resigned his post, citing a loss of confidence in CBS’s commitment to editorial independence as his reason for leaving.

Dish was quick to take advantage of its Sling Media integration with remote live TV, but it hasn’t put as much of an emphasis on what happens when we’re still sitting comfortably in our living rooms. It’s filling that hole with the launch of its Explorer app for the iPad. Viewers with a Hopper DVR can control their set-top box directly from the tablet, as you’d expect, but they’ll also get a companion to whatever they’re watching, whether it’s live or recorded. Explorer catches the buzz around a show on Facebook and Twitter, including rankings if you’d like to see what shows are the hottest; it also builds in Thuuz sports stats and ratings to identify what’s likely to be the big game for the day, even as it’s happening. The app doesn’t officially reach the App Store until Monday, and there’s no word of an Android port, but we’ll be sure to share our first-hand experiences as soon as possible.

Continue reading Dish Explorer for iPad steers Hopper DVRs, tells TV watchers what’s trending

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Tablets, HD

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Source: Dish