LITTLE ROCK — Dish Network Corp. revealed a set-top box called “Hopper” last year, named for its ability to send the TV signal “hopping” from room to room, covering all the TVs in the house. This year, it’s upgrading the Hopper so that it follows a user wherever he goes - even outside the house.
The new all-in-one digital video recorder and set-top box, revealed recently at a news conference ahead of the International CES trade show in Las Vegas, is adorned with the same kangaroo logo and can transfer recorded TV shows or movies to an iPad for viewing any time.
The transfer of stored content only works in the home, with an iPad connected via Wi-Fi to the same Internet router as the Hopper. Dish is planning to take the feature to other devices as well.
The new Hopper can also transmit live TV programming to iPads, iPhones, Android phones and computers, even outside the home.
Dish is the first cable or satellite company to offer such a feature. It may raise eyebrows in Hollywood and among the TV networks that supply the satellite broadcaster with programming because it could dig into the extra revenue they get from sales of content for offline viewing through iTunes. Dish is already fighting suits from Fox and NBC over the automatic ad-skipping feature it introduced with the first Hopper.
Business, Pages 22 on 01/14/2013