[Milominderbinder2]

What do you think will be shown at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week?

How about at the Investor/Analyst Day Next Month?

Do you think that we will hear about:

+ New Interactive Interface?
+ New Interactive Guide (More like a Mix Channel)?
+ New HD Channels (History HD, E! HD, CNN HD, etc.)?
+ New HD Locals (500+ total by Q4'07)?
+ Sony DVR may be announced?
+ Broad Band Video On Demand?
+ PC Card?
+ Multi-Room Viewing?
+ Direct2Go?
+ Maybe the next gen DVR?

Let's hear your predictions!

Here is one source for CES Updates:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2075118,00.asp

- Craig

 

[Earl Bonovich]

Be sure to monitor DBSTalk's CES Forum...

http://www.dbstalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=116

 

[Stuart Sweet]

- Prototype DirecTV to Go device, we'll be told it's going to be available Q207.

- DirecTV-branded Linksys WGA for wireless connectivity.

- HR21 or whatever they call the pro HD-DVR.

- Black HR20 (HR20-700B?), no hardware difference between the current one

- R20 DVR, a new SD DVR which is black to match the HR20-700B. This will be a stripped down HR20, not an upgraded R15. It will have all the capabilities of the HR20, will even decode MPEG4, but will only record and display at 480i.

- Announcement that the D series receivers (D10, D11) are going to EOL by Q108.

- H21 HD receiver, black to match the new DVRs, small like the D11, will be the only non-DVR receiver. MPEG-4 decoding of course.

- No new software or interfaces will be shown.

- DirecTV will announce a major shift in programming to go into place when the new birds go up. At least 30 new HD channels, all MPEG-4. Starz HD, Cinemax HD and National Geographic HD definitely. If there's a religious or shopping channel currently in HD, you can bet that they'll be there too.

- It will be leaked that this major shift required several realignments of bandwidth and guide information. Astute members of DBSTalk, AVSForum, and TivoCommunity will realize that the black screen bugs and other bizarre behaviors since late December were neither software-based nor hardware based. It will be clear that DirecTV knew this was a possibility and picked a time when most shows were in reruns, and before the super bowl, to complete this task.

 

[Milominderbinder2]

Be sure to monitor DBSTalk's CES Forum...

http://www.dbstalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=116

Sorry Earl,

Maybe this should be under the CES Forum topic? Or, maybe it is good to leave it here as a reminder?

- Craig

 

[Earl Bonovich]

Sorry Earl,

Maybe this should be under the CES Forum topic? Or, maybe it is good to leave it here as a reminder?

- Craig

Just here as a reminder.

The CES Forum, is just going to be a re-director to stories.

 

[Milominderbinder2]

Here is what some others are predicting:

http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/articles/2007/01/ces_2007_predictions.php
DirecTV Announces Expanded HD Package - It won't be the 150 National channels everyone is hoping for, but with their new satellites going up this spring, expect them to announce an expanded HD package that will go live this summer. Specifically, expect National Geographic, owned by News Corp just like DirecTV. Also expect some additions as a result of DirecTV's new largest shareholder: Liberty Media. LM owns Starz and Encore, so it would seem natural for DirecTV to announce carriage of their HD networks as well.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6403282.html
Partnership Predictions

Today at 11:00 AM MST is the DirecTV Press Event.

- Craig

 

[Stuart Sweet]

What, am I the only one bored at work today?

 

[greenwave]

What, am I the only one bored at work today?

nope, you are not alone. how is your replacement unit doing?

 

[Stuart Sweet]

The unit itself seems ok, but I have been having a lot of Black Screen bugs, (as have 80% of posters here, according to the survey). I'm serious though, that I think that the current firmware release isn't really to blame. Given the problems with HR10's and SD Tivo's, it seems too coincidental. If anything you can blame the software for not being robust enough to handle it.

 

[bonscott87]

What, am I the only one bored at work today?

Yep. But I think your predictions are spot on.

 

[HarleyD]

What, am I the only one bored at work today?

Can't focus today.

Too anxious to see my Buckeyes chow down on some Gator meat tonight.

Sitting here in Central Florida listining to these homers go on doesn't help. You'd think UF was the favorite to hear some of these folks go on.

UFs only chance would be if the Buckeyes took the game lightly.

But Tressell always has him teams prepared to play, ever since his days at Youngstown State. tOSU is not going to take this game as a given and they will come prepared to play and play hard.

 

[greenwave]

The unit itself seems ok, but I have been having a lot of Black Screen bugs, (as have 80% of posters here, according to the survey). I'm serious though, that I think that the current firmware release isn't really to blame. Given the problems with HR10's and SD Tivo's, it seems too coincidental. If anything you can blame the software for not being robust enough to handle it.

I hope you're right.

 

[Stuart Sweet]

I hope you're right.

Well, I've been running 100% stable since my last batch of RBRs last Thursday. It will be interesting to see if I can record "Dirt" this week since it failed twice recording on the HR20 and also failed once on the old R10. At this point my R10 has been showing a lot of the same symptoms as the HR20 (failure to record, failure to identify First Run/Repeats) and even did a perfect imitation of the Black Screen bug yesterday morning.

 

[Stuart Sweet]

...by now I think the press event is on, and hopefully someone will fill us all in.

 

[Earl Bonovich]

...by now I think the press event is on, and hopefully someone will fill us all in.

Wasn't the press at 11am MNT?
Which would be 1pm EST (12pm CST)?

 

[jaybee]

So the BSB was D* moving stuff around? I haven't had a BSB in about a week. They could have just let us know that it wasn't related to software and kept a few folks from boiling over.

 

[Stuart Sweet]

Wasn't the press at 11am MNT?
Which would be 1pm EST (12pm CST)?

Now I'm confused because Las Vegas is not in the mountain time zone, it's in the Pacific Time Zone (as am I). FYI it's 9:30 here.

 

[Earl Bonovich]

Someone posted in the General forum, that the press conference is to be starting soon

 

[Bay CIty]

the ces event schedule web page

http://www.cesweb.org/press/events/exhibitor_events.asp

has the directv press conference scheduled for 11 am-12pm pst
and if anyone is interested the echostar conference is 10-11 am pst

 

[Earl Bonovich]

Is there a web-cast of the event?