DIRECTV/DISH Push for Regional Nets: Comcast clearly doesn't want to do it, but with its big merger on the line in D.C., the MSO has reportedly opened negotiations for carriage of its regional sports nets with DIRECTV and DISH. An FCC rule change eliminating the so-called terrestrial exemption sparked the talks. Comcast reportedly wants DIRECTV to give up its exclusive NFL Sunday Ticket in exchange.
2Q: BSkyB's strong 2Q results were boosted by speedy take-up of its HD offering, CEO Jeremy Darroch told financial broadcaster Cantos. Echoing the News Corp party line, the 9.86M sub service says it has no interest in offering free-to-air channels. (No free news for the White House either as News Corp.'s WSJ upped its clipping services by $600k/year.) --- Motorola saw 2nd quarter earnings of $162M v. $26M y/y; the company singled out its Enterprise Mobility Solutions and Networks businesses for boosting the bottom line. The Networks business is being acquired by Nokia Siemens Networks. --- SureWest 2Q results got a boost from broadband revenue growth of 7% y/y; overall the company reported net income (minus severance-related costs) of $323,000. --- Sprint Nextel added 111K wireless subscribers and showed a net loss of $760M for the second quarter.
Programming: Univision says it will finish the July 2010 Sweep as the #1 network in primetime, broadcast or cable, English or Spanish, among ALL Adults 18-34 and Persons 12-34. That would beat ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX and CW. --- ESPN 3D will start its inaugural college football season with No. 2 Boise State v. No. 5 Virginia Tech on Monday, Sept. 6 at 8 p.m. ET. --- InDemand is offering two free "classic bouts" as a run-up to its live PPV rematch featuring Juan Manuel Marquez v. Juan Diaz on Saturday, July 31.--- BSkyB has purchased exclusive rights to the entire HBO catalog for an estimated £150M ($234.3M) over five years.
Gov't and Regulations: The ACA got its two week extension for reviewing documents on the Comcast/NBC-U deal. New deadline is August 19. -- Retransmission reform is gaining ground in D.C. as lawmakers pen letters saying the process needs fixing.
Technology: DIRECTV has signed a contract extension with Technicolor for SD and HD boxes. Technicolor also has a deal to supply next-gen routers for Verizon FiOS broadband. --- SkyWave has added new features plus battery life extenders to new versions of its DMR-800 satellite data and SureLinx 8100 dual-mode satellite/GPRS data terminals. --- The world satellite machine-to-machine communications market is experiencing exponential growth, says Frost and Sullivan. From $726M in 2009 the market is expected to grow to $1.9B by 2016.
as seen on skyreport
Apple Looking Into Reports of Problems With iOS 4 on iPhone 3G
The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple is "looking into" reports of issues being experienced by iPhone 3G users who have upgraded to the company's new iOS 4. Discussion forums at Apple, MacRumors, and elsewhere have been filling with reports from users experiencing problems with system responsiveness, battery drains, and overheating.
The most common criticism is that the phone is slow after an upgrade. There are also many complaints that the phone drains the battery quickly and becomes excessively hot. Concern about general problems such as slowness and battery life on gadgets isn't unusual, but using iOS 4 on the iPhone 3G seems to make the problems so bad that the phone is nearly unusable for some people. In venting their frustration, some users have even gone so far as to create parody videos demonstrating the iPhone 3G's inability to run iOS 4 smoothly.
Meanwhile, some reports have indicated that iOS 4.1, currently in beta testing by developers, will address these issues to some degree.
Apple has made clear since the initial introduction of iOS 4 in April that the new operating system is not fully compatible with all generations of the iPhone and iPod touch due to hardware limitations, with only limited compatibility for the iPhone 3G and second-generation iPod touch suggesting that those models are being pushed to their limits with some of iOS 4's features. Users, however, understandably expected that Apple's steps to disable certain resource-intensive features on those devices should have left the remaining features operating relatively smoothly. That does not, however, appear to be the case for some users.
It's not as fancy as an iPad, but it's far more affordable: Kmart's July 25 circular advertised a 7-inch tablet by Augen running the Android operating system.
The GenTouch78 is on sale through July 31 for $149.99.
That's far less than the cost of a laptop computer, and significantly less than the cost of a typical netbook. It's even less than the up-front cost for many popular carrier-subsidized smartphones -- and it doesn't require a pricey monthly contract.
In fact, this device is roughly the size and cost of the Wi-Fi version of the latest Amazon Kindle. It's small enough to carry in a purse, and light enough to hold up easily if you're lying down in bed to read.
All of this puts the GenTouch78 in a very interesting market position. It's a net-enabled tablet that is truly affordable for a mass consumer audience. In this unboxing video, YouTube user MrJn7 compares the Android tablet to his iPad and notes that while the iPad functions more smoothly and has a more compelling display, you can buy three GenTouch78 tablets (and then some) for the price of the least expensive iPad model.
This tablet certainly has some shortcomings. According to MrJn7's video, the touchscreen is plastic (not glass) and requires a much firmer touch than the iPad. It even comes with a stylus, which seems like a technological throwback.
Furthermore, the Android operating system may not be as intuitive as the Mac OS -- although it probably is not more difficult than Windows, which has been the choice of cost-conscious computer users for decades.
The big deal is: Devices like this -- and rest assured, there will be many more of them -- can help address the class biases of technology and bridge the digital divide.
Tablets like the GenTouch could become popular among people who have never owned a computer, or who own a computer and just want light web access on the go. I could see them becoming popular with teens and students, with seniors (who often feel overwhelmed by learning a computer), or anyone who wants more than an e-reader but less than a netbook as long as it's inexpensive.
I also could see this kind of device catching on among businesses and organizations where people must walk around while recording or accessing information. I could envision cost-conscious shoppers opting to meet their communication needs via a small Wi-Fi tablet plus a no-contract, simple-feature phone -- and not feeling left behind by the smartphone craze.
The Satzen z500 is available from www.EFTA.us for $179.99
Well, Zoomsat has done it again, the new Satzen z500 FTA receiver ROCKS !(available NOW at www.EFTA.us w/Free shipping and handling) This time around the guys at Satzen concentrated on video quality as well as end user entertainment upgrade compatibility. The setup is just as user friendly and easy as the previous z300 unit. (It takes 10 minutes to set up at most.) Some thought was given to different remote frequencies for those of you hobbiests that may have multiple Satzen units installed. An HDMI port was a welcome addition for ease of installation and superior video quality. Also the much needed ability to up-convert all channels to 720p or 1080i was also included. This is a new approach to poor video quality, which has been a problem that has plagued all standard definition FTA units in the past, and is an option that will quickly become a standard in the next gen units. The z500 has all the normal outputs; composite video and audio, component video (YPbPr), loop through for another unit, as well as the HDMI port for newer TV's and projectors. PVR functionality with a external hard drive or USB memory stick is also an option you will find very useful and easily accessible with the z500's on-screen menu.
And with the Satzen z500, everything you need to get up and going is provided with the unit (you provide the internet). Network setup has never been this easy, just set it to auto and it does the work for you. Satzen's IKS stability has FAR OUTPERFORMED all other IKS formats to date, and is expected to continue for a long time to come. The ability to share media between your z500 and your home network is included and easily accessible through the z500's on-screen menu, and easily integrates into any Home Theater or entertainment network. All in all, I'll give the z500 5 out of 5 stars, and the z500 is my new personal favorite choice for an FTA receiver. Check it out at www.EFTA.us for only $179 , with FREE shipping and Handling.
The CNX Nano 2 is available at www.efta.us for only $199.99
The Conaxsat Nano 2 replaces the Nano. In addition to the same features on the original Nano such as USB 2.0 and PVR support, the Nano 2 comes with a built-in ethernet chip and a separate RS-232 to ethernet converter (included). Simply connect the RS-232 to ethernet converter to the Nano 2's serial port and you are ready to network your Nano 2. Another innovative feature the of CNX Nano 2 is the home streaming support which allows users to stream video files from PC over local area networks (LAN).
The Nano 2 has a front USB port which makes it easy to load updated software with a USB thumb drive or enable PVR options with a USB hard drive. The picture is as good as any standard definition receiver. It is also well supported in areas that many other boxes are not. For International channels on 118.9 it has better support than most of the other top rated boxes, so if ethnic channels with foreign languages are of interest to you, then you would do well to buy this one.
The Nano2 is the first receiver that CNX has released that was designed for connection to the internet. It has a built in ethernet chip so all you need to do is connect the ethernet to RS232 adapter and connect an ethernet cable to the receiver and with a bit of set up enjoy some TV. Physically, it looks good. It is of a smaller size similar to the Kbox and Coolsats as compared to the size of the SV units. It has a sleek look, all black, very nice and evident quality to the case. It has the standard door on the front of the unit which covers the usb port. It can connect via component cables (red, green, blue) for video as well as composite (yellow). It also has an spdif port for audio via fiber optic cable.
It has automatic network setup from the network configuration menu, it works very well, when you select it it makes all your network settings automatically in just a few seconds. The remote is small and well laid out, however it is not and universal remote and can not be programmed to control other components such as a TV or sound system. The info bar is one of the best I have ever seen and give you lots of info. One of the best things about it is the fact that it not only tells you what in playing at that time, but it also tells you what is coming on next. Super nice. Other than that, it has all the basic information on it that most brands do.
The guide is nice and easy to read. It has the typical layout with a small window that shows what is playing on the channel you are on, and a box that tells what channel you are on with the description of what is showing on that channel. The PVR on the unit works very well. You can manually start recording or program them to start at a later time automatically. You can also set it up to change channels and start recording. It all works very well.
The CNX Nano 2 is available at www.efta.us for only $199.99
First off, I'd like to say WOW! for 179 bucks this unit provides an extreme number of features normally only seen in a much higher end and expensive reciever.
The z300 is a new and upcoming FTA receiver with IKS ability (Serial to rj45 adapter is included with every unit for no additional charge) as well as PVR ability with a standalone USB harddrive or a USB memory stick. And the unit is also built for full DVB compatibility with almost any provider world wide.
My first impression of the unit was admiring how small that it actually was when unpacked. The unit comes with most every cable needed for installation, and the front top edge located USB port made software upgrades and additions very easy and fast. The ethernet functions also extend to your personal home network; allowing easy sharing of media.
The IKS setup was also surprisingly easy; it took me about 15 minutes total to set the unit up and start watching TV. I've payed special attention to the IKS performance since I installed the z300. And I'm very pleased to report that it is the most stable IKS solution I've seen to date. During the last 72 hours, I've witnessed both Nfusion and Sonicview having stability problems with their solutions. But not the z300, it has been stable and strong.
The menu system on the z300 is very well laid out and makes sense. I was also impressed by the level of control the unit has for picture calibration and OSD (on screen display) options. The z300 also had a few surprises for me as I surfed through the channels, such as the integration of EPG and PVR options into the info panel GUI (graphic user interface) that's visible on every channel. It makes keeping up with channel details and receiver functions more in your face and easy. And naturally the z300 is equipped with component video and digital audio outputs for easy home theater integration.
In closing I'd like to add, if you're on a budget and want Dishnet, this is the unit for you.
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