Uh-oh.. Dish might be going up.. Tivo won a $74 Million suit

[SoCalDem]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/business/3793116.html

April 13, 2006, 7:54PM
Patent Case Win Key to TiVo Survival


By MAY WONG AP Technology Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press

SAN JOSE, Calif. — TiVo Inc. just got a new lease on life. A jury's $73.9 million damage award Thursday to the digital video recording pioneer in its patent lawsuit against EchoStar Communications Corp., gives the struggling company not only a welcome cash infusion but also new leverage to seek additional licensing revenue from the growing number of other DVR providers.

"If they lost the lawsuit, it would have been the death knell for TiVo," said Vamsi Sistla, an industry analyst with market research firm ABI Research. "Now this gives them some breathing room to chug away and try to enter new markets."

TiVo-based DVRs currently account for less than one-third of the more than 15 million American homes that have some kind of digital video recorder box, but Forrester Research predicts that DVRs _ with or without TiVo's own branded service _ will be found in nearly half of U.S. households by 2009 as cable operators and other electronics makers add DVR features to their equipment.

The TiVo patent at the heart of the Echostar case involved a "multimedia time warping system" to pause, rewind or fast-forward live TV programs by recording them on a hard drive _ which are precisely the basic functions that define any DVR.

snip

[goclark]

1. So is my TIVO obsolete

Can I get something to do the same thing for less?

[SoCalDem]

2. TIVO won the suit..

[rinsd]

3. I love my TiVo

I have DirecTV with a 40 hour recorder. We got the unit for $100 and pay $6 a month for service.

I compare that to other DVRs I have seen for cable and dish and I can't believe that

a) How much more in depth and easier to use the TiVo is

b) How the monthly fees for DVR service were almost always higher for non-Tivo subscripts?

I think b may have to do with renting the recorder but I am not sure. It came to $15 a month for my sister and two other people.

[SoCalDem]

4. I have a 100 hour one from Dish.. It doesn't cost extra

because we have the "Everything Package".. I absolutely LOVE it.. We use it for "realtime" viewing too.. We deliberately tune in about 15 minutes late and then just skip all the commercials as we go :)

[rinsd]

7. That's awesome

It not shocking that Comcast in NJ(referring to my sister's situ) is once again ripping off its customers.

"We deliberately tune in about 15 minutes late and then just skip all the commercials as we go"

Every TiVo user I know does this now. And like an unpaid salesman I swear to everyone that TiVo will completely change how you watch TV.

[nonconformist]

8. I have a 100 hr one from Direct TV, it didn't cost any extra either

Well, after rebate. I LOVE it!

[NYCGirl]

5. I have a standalone 80-hour TiVo with the built in DVD burner. It's

wonderful!

[demosincebirth]

6. I love my tivo, too. I don;'t know how I ever lived without it.

We record every thing that we normally watch and watch it the next day...without the commercials.
Program it once and thats it!




1

[UTUSN]

9. Dang! Dish going up? They're hitting me where I live

Fergit the gas tank going up. Even my dog's pills are going from $60 to $180 for a 90-days' supply.