TiVo And EchoStar Continue Their Legal Dance

Posted on Friday, November 21, 2008 by MegaZone

On Thursday the United States District Court of Texas set a date for a bench hearing to decide of EchoStar and DISH Network’s software workaround makes their DVRs non-infringing to TiVo’s patents, as well as if they’re in contempt of the court’s injunction and if more damages are owed to TiVo, on top of the $104.6 million already awarded. The bench trial will take place February 17, 2009.

After the announcement, EchoStar and DISH Network issued this statement:

“We are pleased that the district court did not find us in contempt on the face of the injunction. We look forward to the February bench trial on our software design-around. Our subscribers can continue using their award-winning DVRs from DISH Network.”

TiVo responded with a statement of their own:

“We are pleased that the U.S. District Court has scheduled a hearing on EchoStar’s purported workaround on February 17, 2009. Contrary To EchoStar’s statement today, the Court did not rule on TiVo’s pending motion for contempt of the injunction. The Court will do so after the hearing as well as rule on the amount of damages owed to TiVo beyond the nearly $105 million already paid by EchoStar. This is a positive step, particularly the accelerated discovery ordered by the Court, towards the ultimate resolution of all issues in the litigation and we remain confident that we will prevail in showing that EchoStar’s workaround does not avoid infringement.”

So more jousting on both sides. Now we stay tuned until February.

UPDATE: TiVo issued a revised statement today, note the difference:

“We are pleased that the U.S. District Court has scheduled a hearing on EchoStar’s purported workaround on February 17, 2009. Contrary to EchoStar’s statement yesterday, the Court did not rule on TiVo’s pending motion for contempt of the injunction. The Court will do so after the hearing as well as rule on the amount of damages owed to TiVo (which EchoStar admitted at the September 4, 2008 hearing are owed) beyond the nearly $105 million already paid by EchoStar. This is a positive step, particularly the accelerated discovery ordered by the Court, towards the ultimate resolution of all issues in the litigation and we remain confident that we will prevail in showing that EchoStar’s workaround does not avoid infringement.”

Disclaimer: I work for Sling Media, which is owned by EchoStar.

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Seven Days With TiVo In Australia

Posted on Thursday, November 20, 2008 by MegaZone

Louisa Hearn of the Sydney Morning Herald recently replaced her “ageing video recorder” with a brand new TiVo. And she chronicled the ups and downs of the first seven days with her new TiVo. In the end there are more ups than downs, and by the end of the week she says:

Perhaps it is the “post purchase satisfaction” they talk about in the marketing world or just the fact that it has a nice, uncluttered, user interface and an intuitive remote control, but I am growing rather attached to my new DVR.

I found it interesting because it isn’t the usual techie review, but more of a journal of the experience, brief as it is. She and her family ran into a few issues that other users may well experience, such as needing to configure their home network and sorting out how to wire their system with a TiVo and DVD player. I think it is a good view into the experience for folks just thinking of getting their first TiVo.

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Sonic Solutions Buying CinemaNow

Posted on Thursday, November 20, 2008 by MegaZone

Sonic, the digital media company best known for their Roxio products, not the drive-in food chain, is acquiring CinemaNow. I think that leaves Netflix as the last independent digital movie rental site. Akimbo is gone, Blockbuster bought Movielink. I suppose you could count VUDU, though they’re tied to their own hardware platform – so I don’t. Sonic and CinemaNow have already been working together, with CinemaNow offering download-to-burn content for Qflix DVD drives, via Sonic’s software.

Interestingly, both companies also have relationships with TiVo. TiVo recently added downloadable content from Disney, which is provided through CinemaNow. More CinemaNow content is promised going forward. And, of course, Sonic’s Roxio Creator, Toast, and Popcorn are the only commercial products officially sanctioned for use with TiVoToGo.

Press release:

Continue reading →

Posted in General, General Tech, PC, TiVo | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Software 9.3.2 Out For Series2 And Series2DT TiVos

Posted on Wednesday, November 19, 2008 by MegaZone

A new software update is out for Series2 & Series2DT TiVo units – 9.3.2. If you’d like to get it sooner, register your TSN(s) on the TiVo Software Priority Request page. The update is available for model numbers starting with 110, 130, 140, 230, 240, 264, 275, 540, 542, 565, 590, 595, or 649. According to that page:

This service update reorganizes some of the TiVo Central menu choices, specifically adding a menu item for Video on Demand content from TiVo and it’s partners. If your DVR is connected to broadband, you’ll be able to enjoy the latest movies, television shows, and web videos directly from this menu. You’ll also find a new way to start Swivel Search anytime you pause a program!

Zatz Not Funny has several screencaps of the new interface. The Showcases item has been pushed off of TiVo Central, and is now a sub-item on the Music, Photos, & Showcases screen, renamed from Music, Photos, Products, & More. This has freed up a slot for a new Video on Demand menu item, which slots in just below the renamed Find Programs (no longer Find Programs & Downloads, thanks to the new item).

And now when you pause a program you may see ‘Press UP to show extras‘. When you so, you are presented with the option to find out more about the program, which links to Swivel Search. I expect that the extras could expand in the future to include other items, such as Amazon shopping for items related to the program, maybe links to bonus content, etc. EDIT: Correction – I was corrected in the comments, when you pause a program you see the Swivel Search link and can hide it by pressing ‘Down’, pressing ‘Up’ brings it back.

Like Dave, I’m sure we’ll see these new features added to the Series3, TiVo HD, and TiVo HD XL as well. Likely in a 9.4.x release in the coming weeks. TiVo traditionally has a fall update, and it is about that time. Although, unlike Dave, I’m not that surprised to see the S2 boxes getting an update. While the future is clearly with the HD units, with their newer hardware capable of things the S2 simply cannot do, the units still have a great deal in common with a shared core architecture. So it should be easier for TiVo to continue supporting the S2 than it was with the S1, which had a different architecture. Not to mention the sheer numbers of Series2 units in the field, much larger than the total number of S1 units sold. I think TiVo will continue to provide at least basic updates for the S2 platform for a while just to keep those users active.

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Roxio Creator 2009 Ultimate $59.99 At Buy.com

Posted on Wednesday, November 19, 2008 by MegaZone

Buy.com is selling Roxio Creator 2009 Ultimate for $99.99 with $40 in mail-in rebates, making it $59.99. The full MSRP is $129.95 so this is better than 50% off. Roxio Creator is the only Windows software officially sanctioned for use with TiVoToGo.

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