Dishing Up a Download Service
By Linda Moss -- Multichannel News, 1/14/2007 7:00:00 PM
Las Vegas — EchoStar Communications last week gave a glimpse into its new video-download service, Dish Online.
At the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show, the nation's second-largest satellite provider for the first time confirmed it will permit its Dish Network subscribers to use Internet connections to download content such as HDTV programming, Hollywood movies, international programming and niche shows.
EchoStar is now testing a beta version of Dish Online, according to company officials. But they didn't yet have any launch date for the service, or any names of content providers who will participate.
Subscribers who have Dish Network's ViP receivers, which have an Ethernet port in the back, will be able to receive the software download that enables Dish Online to work.
At EchoStar's CES press conference, Mark Jackson, president of EchoStar Technologies, said that this year's new version of the company's ViP HD-DVRs will include a hard drive that can store 500 Gigabytes of content.
That typically can store about 200 hours of DVD-quality video or 60 hours of high-definition programming.
“One thing that was really impressive was EchoStar's focus on creating memory storage,” said Jimmy Schaeffler, president of the Carmel Group. “That to me is world-class. Nobody else has got that focus and nobody else is doing that … That is one hunk of storage.”
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