Gizmodo: directv

DirecTV Uses a Few Other Dead Celebrity Spokesmen

Adam Frucci — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:27:11 EST

Man, if you thought it was tacky and gross when DirecTV used Chris Farley in their ads, you probably won't like the Heath Ledger, JFK or Jesus Christ spots. [LandlineTV]

Obnoxious Local Ads Coming to DirecTV in 2011

John Herrman — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:05:02 EDT

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.The WSJ is reporting that DirecTV has conscripted the talents of software startup Invidi to show targeted—meaning local—ads to its customers, starting in 2011.

DirecTV currently only sends out two feeds—one to the east coast, one to the west—which each broadcast uniform content and advertising across their various markets. For advertisers with limited reach, this is wasteful; likewise, for viewers, this can mean annoyingly irrelevant ads.

More often than not, though, it just means that local or regional advertisers don't even bother with DirecTV, which is bad for its business, and most importantly deprives its customers of the crucial information they need to choose the right repossessed furniture dealership. [WSJ]

DirecTV's iPhone App Browses, Searches and Sets Recordings

Jason Chen — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 19:20:00 EDT

The DirecTV iPhone App is available now, and can let you browse 2 weeks of shows, set recordings and control more than one DVR in the house. And, it's free.

TUAW says this is much, much better than the web-based method, and works well on 3G or EDGE. It requires one of the compatible models, and can even set a recording two minutes before a show starts. If you have a DTV DVR and an iPhone, you should get this. [App Store via TUAW]

Inappropriate DirecTV Commericals Won't Help Win Any Customers

Adam Frucci — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:00:00 EDT

CollegeHumor looked at those DirecTV ads where they reenact a famous scene from a movie and asked "what if we used horribly inappropriate movies?" Hilarity ensues.

[CollegeHumor]

DirecTV PC Tuner Officially Canceled

Sean Fallon — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 16:40:00 EST

DirecTV has officially canned their efforts to bring the HDPC-20 tuner to market. The device would have allowed subscribers to integrate their service with Windows Media Center.

A company spokesperson noted that the decision was made after "assessing the impact of missing the August 2008 release of Windows Media Center update and considering timing of the next release." How disappointing. If it is any consolation, DirecTV knows that we want Windows integration and they have expressed a commitment to making it happen. Nah, that doesn't make me feel better. [Gearlog]

AT&T to Dump Dish Network, Start Selling DirecTV

matt buchanan — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 17:10:36 EDT

After punting their agreement with Dish Network to sell satellite as part of a triple play package, AT&T has decided to settle down with DirecTV. They'll keep hawking Dish through Jan. 31, after which they'll offer DirecTV anywhere they can't give you U-Verse as a TV option. Multichannel notes that this leaves second-place Dish without a major reseller partner, so not great news for them. [Multichannel]

A Complete Guide to Watching Your Favorite Shows (Legally) Without Paying a Dime

Mark Wilson — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 11:00:00 EDT

You can spend up to $100 a month for various cable and satellite services to watch the new season of programming that began this week. Or, if you've got an internet connection and are willing to be a little more creative than buying episodes for $2 off Amazon Unbox or iTunes, you can view most of it for free. There are limitations, of course, but after digging through each channel's website, I found the sheer amount of cost free (and often commercial free) content to be staggering—even for the traditional "cable" channels.

So here's how you get it.

Network Shows (HD) Grade: A+
We're going to knock out a big "duh" point right off the bat. If you have an HDTV with an integrated HD tuner, there's a good chance you can get all of the major networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX and even PBS) in HD for no cost at all. How? Over the air (OTA) HD via antenna—a signal that probably has less compression than cable or satellite. Stick it to the man by purchasing any UHF/VHF antenna. If you don't have the time/money for a roof mounted antenna, we've had success with the flat (non rabbit eared) RCA ANT1500. It runs about $30. To find the OTA channels offered in your area, go here.

Network Shows (Runner Up Options) Grade: Mostly Honor Roll
For NBC and Fox/FX programs including 30 Rock, The Office, Heroes, and House, Hulu is your best runner-up resource to OTA HD (full show list here). The quality isn't quite as good as you'd get in a standard def broadcast, but the shows are available commercial free online and play instantly in full screen mode. ABC.com is superb as well, offering their highest rated shows like Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy and even 4 seasons of Lost in HD streaming. CBS.com is the most disappointing with somewhat random, limited offerings of their programming, and no episodes of their top-rated CSI shows available online.

Bravo Grade: F

Our first cable channel starts with a strike-out. Bravo has a huge thumb print online, all of their content is chopped into tiny clips, as if sliced and diced by Top Chef contestants into a mocking plate of amuse bouche. Bravo's site lacks any full episodes of their big shows; Hulu lacks them too (which is a bit surprising because NBC owns both entities). Moving on...

Cartoon Network/Adult Swim Grade B+
Both Cartoon Network and its after dark Adult Swim alter-ego offer substantial content online. It's standard streaming quality, but the embedded video goes full screen and quite a few original shows (like The Boondocks) as well as syndicated shows (like Family Guy) are available in constantly rotating episodes.

Comedy Central Grade: A+
Sometimes it seems like Comedy Central plays nothing but The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. Luckily, both of these programs are available in full online dating back several weeks (the price is that you have to put up with a few commercials). A huge amount of South Park's back catalog is available as well. But don't go to Comedy Central's main site. Instead, hit up the links that we cleverly hid in each show's title.

Discovery Networks (Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, etc) Grade: F-
This is where you take a blow for being cheap. The only programs currently offered online from Discovery Networks are Meerkat Manor, Flip That House, Smash Lab and Project Earth. Plus, you'll also have to download their player (ick) to watch these programs. One of, if not the highest rated show on Discovery Networks is What Not To Wear. Needless to say, it's not part of their online lineup. But kudos to Discovery for not compressing Sunrise Earth to YouTube sizes.

ESPN Grade: A for Effort, C- for Execution
It's not HD. It's not even SD. But while the true sports fan might feel slighted by ESPN360's resolution, no one can question the content. Quite simply, there's more on ESPN360 than the real ESPN and ESPN2 combined. At any time, you can watch a multitude of live major sports games—over 10 while we're writing this. And if you forget to tune in, ESPN360 keeps the content online for 24-48 hours. The big catch: ESPN360 won't work with all internet providers (depending who your ISP is, you may not be able to access the player).

FX Grade: B- and Improving
On their site, FX promises complete shows "coming soon." But until then, we have an alternative. In case you didn't see the note above, many FX shows are available on Hulu. Their complete show listing is here. (Note: Hulu claims to have The Shield, but its links come up dead.)

MTV Grade: B+
MTV is now shoved full of so many advertisements that nobody should pay for it. Luckily (depending on your definition of the word), most (if not all) of their content appears to be available through their website. Music videos along with their top-rated show The Hills are available, as are many of their other shows including gems like True Life and Made. Aside from the commercials, the main catch is the spastic, often unorganized presentation of MTV.com.

SpikeTV Grade: Incomplete
Good news and bad news. The good news is that SpikeTV has an excellent, high quality video player that offers most of their shows commercial-free, and shows are easy to find in straightforward episode lists. The bad news is that if you watch SpikeTV for Ultimate Fighter—their biggest show—you'll still have to tune in the old-fashioned way.

Travel Channel Grade: FF
Complete miss here. But if you enjoy one-minute clips of Samantha Brown, live it up. Their site is chock full of 'em. Otherwise you have to subscribe (!) to the channel or buy episodes through Unbox etc.

USA Grade: B- for Execution
Does anyone watch USA anymore? If so, Monk, Psyche, Burn Notice and In Plain Sight are available on their site. Streaming is fast and quality is somewhere around SD widescreen. About three episodes of each show are available at a time in rotation and a pretty annoying DirecTV logo knocks the full screen player off center. If you're not satisfied with the USA website, Hulu has a nice selection of USA content as well.

When It's Worth Paying For
If you don't have a media PC, then the convenience of watching television on your television may be worth the large premium for cable/satellite. Then again, a few hundred dollars can buy you a powerful media PC that will not only allow you to watch streaming content, but record OTA HD with a tuner. How much is your cable bill per month?

If you watch niche interest channels like TLC, Bravo or Travel Channel, you'll find that only limited content is available at all online (through services like Amazon Unbox) and, of course, it costs money. Still, if you only use Bravo for, say, Top Chef, buying a season through Unbox for $23 isn't the worst alternative to a multi-month cable subscription.

But most of all, if you want to watch non-network content in HD, cable and satellite are both, by far, your best options. Even with as much as Comcast and DirecTV compress HD signals, you'll be looking at a picture that's far more beautiful than streaming web content or what you can buy from Amazon or iTunes (at the time of this writing). But if your service provider still doesn't offer the smaller cable channels in HD, then just why are you renting that box again?

TiVo HD Coming to DirecTV Next Year

Mark Wilson — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 10:15:00 EDT

TiVo and DirecTV have a chaotic history, but now that it's all straightened out, the two companies can move forward to release new hardware. Now they're planning a follow up to the HD DirecTiVo, the aging, discontinued HD TiVo platform for DirecTV that used inefficient MPEG2 encoding. Expected in the second half of 2009, the new TiVo HD will support MPEG4 recording and newer TiVo features like Swivel Search. As a former TiVo user who's now running an HR21 with a less than optimal interface, I can only see more DVR options as a good thing. [Zatz Not Funny]

DirecTV Adding 30 HD Channels on August 14th, 1080p Movies Later This Year

Sean Fallon — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 18:00:00 EDT

DirecTV is poised to take the lead in the HD battle by adding 30 extra channels starting on August 14th. That would give them 130 channels of HD in total—putting them well on their way to the 150 mark they floated around early this year. By the end of this month they also plan to be the first company to transmit all of their HD programming in the MPEG-4 Advanced Video Coding standard with Dolby Digital Audio. And the icing on the cake will come later this year in the form of 1080p movies.

Some of these new HD offerings include: Showtime Extreme HD, Showtime Showcase HD, Planet Green HD, ABC Family HD, additional DIRECTV HD pay per view channels and an additional 23 Regional Sports Networks. DirecTV is also planning to launch satellite #12 next year, which will push the national HD content to 200 channels. Sure, there are compression issues and those 23 RSNs are all filler, but hey—its better than watching standard crap. [WSJ Marketwatch via Electronic House]

News Corp. Hires Hacker to Break Into Dish Satellite Network, Steal Security Codes for Pirate Cards

matt buchanan — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:30:00 EDT

This is classic corporate espionage/sabotage at its finest. Dish Network is accusing News Corp.—which used to have a 39 percent stake in DirecTV and still provides its security tech—of hiring hacker Christopher Tarnovsky to break into Dish's network, steal the security codes, and use them to make pirated cards to flood the black market. It sounds insane, but Tarnovsky admitted in court he was paid James Bond villain style, with $20,000 cash payments mailed from Canada hidden inside "electronic devices."

He says that he was just hired to write pirate programs to make DirecTV's own network more secure, but one of his projects for News Corp., the "stinger," can talk to any smart card in the world. Another hacker claims that he bragged about using the stinger with News Corps.'s people to reprogram a bunch of Dish's cards, but Tarnovsky claims he's being set up to take the fall.

Dish says the hack attack has cost them over $900 million. Either way, this whole thing is some serious material for a TNT movie of the week. [Reuters via Valleywag]

Is CBS Blocking Shows From Your DVR?

Benny Goldman — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 20:10:00 EDT

John Sciacca at Sound & Vision says his DVR no longer lets him record his favorite show, Survivor. Sciacca claims that despite setting his Time Warner box to record every episode of the reality show, when the time comes, it acts as if there is nothing to record. Sometimes, he says, the record light even goes on during the show, but it isn't saved to the hard drive. Apparently he's not the only one stuck without Survivor.

Following Sciacca's advice, I ran a Google search for "'Survivor' 'dvr' 'didn't record'", and found several message board posts detailing similar problems. The issue is present in other DVR types as well, including DirecTV and standalone TiVo. However, some other users say that they haven't experienced any problems with their time-shifted Survivor eps at all. To make sure this problem was confined to Survivor, I checked other popular shows like Lost and American Idol, and came up empty-handed.

We've put in a call to CBS to explain this paranormal activity, and the folks there are looking into the problem. Sciacca suggests that this may be a case of altering show metadata to instruct DVRs to stop recording—in the past, networks have been known to alter their programming to stop DVR users from getting content (and skipping ads)—but we will reserve judgment until we hear more. In the meantime, if you've been experiencing similar problems, please share. [Sound & Vision]

Man Uses Gun to Blow Hole in Wall for Satellite Dish, Kills Wife by Accident

Adam Frucci — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 14:30:00 EDT

This is what tools are for, my friends. Ronald Long of Deepwater, MO, was trying to install a satellite dish in his bedroom. He was having trouble putting the necessary hole in the wall and, thinking himself quite clever, decided to use his gun to get the job done quickly. Unfortunately, his wife was outside and caught the bullet in the chest. She was rushed to the hospital but was declared dead on arrival. On the upside, Ronald now has DirecTV. Silver linings, people. [KCTV via Boing Boing]

Proof Satellite Sucks: Dish and DirecTV Get FCC Approval to Downgrade HD Channels Until 2013

matt buchanan — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 13:00:31 EDT

High-def channels consume bandwidth like Britney Spears at a Frappuccino trough (props, last night's South Park). That's a problem for twinkly satellite providers Dish Network and DirecTV, who just don't have the capacity to blast every channel in HD—so the FCC just gave them the nod to downcovert broadcasters' HD signals until 2013. Basically, it means that just because a channel is broadcast in HD, they don't have to give it to you in HD.

In 2010, they'll have to have full HD carriage—"carry one, carry all in HD"—in 15 percent of markets where they offer HD, creeping to 30 percent the next year, 60 the next, and finally 100 percent of their HD markets in 2013. Since the FCC didn't tell them which markets the rollout would have to hit, people out in the sticks are going to be stuck with sub-HD signals on some channels for the longest, since the competition out there is softer than stiff.

Suckier still, if a digital station "demands HD carriage," then Dish and DirecTV don't have to offer it in standard def to people without HD boxes. Cable on the other hand, got none of these concessions from the FCC, so while it might be harder on them, it's better for us, at least on the surface. [Multichannel, Image via Flickr]

DirecTV Video-On-Demand to Be Half Satellite, Half Internet Next Quarter

Jesus Diaz — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 12:10:29 EDT

According to the Wall Street Journal, DirecTV is testing a new video-on-demand service that depends on both the customers' satellite dish and their internet connection. To be launched in the second quarter, the service will use the satellite to send a limited number of movies to store in all DirecTV DVRs, for instant on-demand playback, while the rest of the movie catalog will be available not-so-instantly using regular ground-based broadband. Movies like Kevin Costner's Waterworld will be sent on VHS tapes via regular mail from DirecTV's office in Madagascar. [WSJ]

Best Buy Says It Will Cover Part of Your DirecTV Bills

Wilson Rothman — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 12:57:11 EST

Best Buy just announced that it would pay a portion of customers' DirecTV bills each month for a year. That is, if you spend $999 or more on a high-def TV and switch to DirecTV's high-def package, Best Buy says it will credit you $30 per month on your bill for 12 months. If you are cheap enough to dip below $999 on your HDTV purchase (yeah, Insignia buyers, I'm talking about you), Best Buy still has your back, with six months of payments. It's funny how far a chain will go to not have to give you a free HDMI cable, am I right? Jump for the fine print.

Best Buy to Help Pay Customers' DIRECTV(R) Bills
Unique offer brings cost savings to new HD set-ups
MINNEAPOLIS —(Business Wire)— Mar. 3, 2008 Ready for HD? Best Buy is ready to help you pay your bills.

Beginning March 2, Best Buy will launch a relationship with DIRECTV(R) where Best Buy will pay $30 monthly on new customers' DIRECTV bills.(1) Designed to encourage customers to experience the best in high definition, Best Buy will actually pay a portion of customers' bills in the form of a credit appearing on each monthly statement. Customers can receive the credit through one of three new offers:

— Twelve months of credits when adding HD Access(2) and buying any HDTV priced at $999 or higher (a $360 value).

— Six months of credits when adding HD Access and buying any HDTV priced under $999 (a $180 value).

— Three months of credits when activating any new DIRECTV service (a $90 value).

The offer continues Best Buy's efforts to promote a complete HD experience for customers. Through advertising, promotions, in store and online education efforts, Best Buy has worked to educate people that high definition television is about more than just the television. Connecting to an HD source, using the right cables, adding surround sound and having the home theater professionally installed are all vital elements of HD.

"We know that customers buying HD televisions are doing so because they want a certain kind of experience," said Chris Homeister, vice president of merchandising for home entertainment services for Best Buy. "By offering to help pay a customer's DIRECTV bill we're making a dramatic statement about the importance of connecting a television to the right source for HD programming. We want customers to have the same quality picture in their home that they saw in our stores."

The promotion runs until June 24, 2008.

About Best Buy Co., Inc.

Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) operates a global portfolio of brands with a commitment to growth and innovation. Our employees strive to provide customers around the world with superior experiences by responding to their unique needs and aspirations. We sell consumer electronics, home-office products, entertainment software, appliances and related services through nearly 1,300 retail stores across the United States, throughout Canada and in China. Our multi-channel operations include: Best Buy (BestBuy.com, BestBuy.ca and BestBuy.com.cn), Future Shop (FutureShop.ca), Geek Squad (GeekSquad.com and GeekSquad.ca), Pacific Sales Kitchen and Bath Centers (PacificSales.com), Magnolia Audio Video (Magnoliaav.com), Jiangsu Five Star Appliance Co. (Five-Star.cn) and Speakeasy (Speakeasy.net). Best Buy supports the communities in which its employees work and live through volunteerism and grants that benefit children and education.

Notes

(1) Customers who order new DIRECTV service at a participating Best Buy store between 3/2/08 - 6/24/08 and activate DIRECTV service (along with HD Access and purchase a qualifying HDTV for 6 and 12 month offers) before 7/24/08 will automatically receive a $30 bill credit per month for 3, 6, or 12 consecutive months, depending upon offer selection. Bill credit provided by Best Buy(TM). AFTER 3, 6 OR 12 CONSECUTIVE MONTHS (BASED ON OFFER), BILL CREDITS WILL AUTOMATICALLY DISCONTINUE AND ALL SERVICES TO WHICH CUSTOMER IS SUBSCRIBING, INCLUDING $9.99/MO. HD ACCESS FEE, WILL AUTOMATICALLY CONTINUE ON THE 4TH, 7TH OR 13TH MONTH AT THE THEN-PREVAILING RATES (WHICH MAY INCLUDE REMAINING PROGRAMMING AND/OR BILL CREDIT OFFER(S) FROM DIRECTV). LIMIT ONE $30/MO. BILL CREDIT OFFER PER DIRECTV ACCOUNT. Account must be in "good standing," as determined by DIRECTV in its sole discretion, to remain eligible for either offer. Hardware and programming available separately. DIRECTV System lease requires 18 consecutive months (24 for advanced receivers) programming commitment at $29.99/mo. or above. HD Access fee required for HD or HD DVR lease. Receipt of DIRECTV programming subject to DIRECTV Customer Agreement; copy provided at directv.com/legal and in your first DIRECTV bill. (C)2008 DIRECTV Inc. DIRECTV and the Cyclone Design logo are registered trademarks of DIRECTV, Inc. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners.

News Corp Set-Top Box Becomes DVR: Just Add External Hard Drive

Wilson Rothman — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 16:55:00 EST

How much simpler can it get? You take the HD satellite set-top box already sitting in someone's living room, perform a quick firmware update, plug an external hard drive into the USB jack and voila, it's a bleedin' DVR. Voila is right, though, since this News Corp-owned software fix is currently only available to Canal+ satellite customers in France. Correct me if I'm wrong, but there's no such thing for News Corp's DirecTV customers in the US, right? Nah, letting people keep their existing hardware is so un-American. It's bad for business, I tells ya! Press release after jump.

CANAL+ Chooses the Latest Generation of NDS Middleware to Transform Subscribers' Set-Top Boxes into Digital Video Recorders
¶ Highlights: ¶ — CANAL+ GROUP has deployed the latest generation of NDS' MediaHighway(R) middleware, allowing subscribers to easily transform their HD set-top boxes (STBs) into HD digital video recorders (DVRs) ¶ — CANAL+ and CANALSAT subscribers in France can now add an external hard drive via the USB port on their HD STB to have a fully functional HD DVR ¶ — CANAL+ has also deployed NDS' MediaHighway to support its latest dual-tuner HD STB
LONDON & PARIS —(Business Wire)— Feb. 26, 2008 NDS (NASDAQ:NNDS), the leading provider of technology solutions for digital Pay-TV, today announced that CANAL+ GROUP, France's leading Pay TV provider, has chosen the latest generation of MediaHighway(R) middleware to enable subscribers to transform their HD STBs into DVRs. CANAL+ launched its first HD STB two years ago and currently there are about 250,000 HD satellite STBs installed in subscribers' homes.

CANAL+ subscribers can connect an external hard disk to their HD STB via the USB port. Only external hard disk units which meet the requirements of CANAL+ for performance, stability and security will be integrated to provide the service. On its website, CANAL+ GROUP publishes a list of approved hard disks that are now available to buy in retail outlets.

As part of the adoption of the new version of MediaHighway, the middleware has automatically downloaded new software to each HD STB. The HD STBs now detect the addition of a new external hard drive and format the drive for use as a DVR. Subscribers may use more than one external hard drive if they wish.

CANAL+ has kicked off a marketing program to encourage customers to upgrade to HD and DVR functionality.

In addition, NDS today announced that CANAL+ has deployed NDS' MediaHighway to support its latest satellite dual-tuner HD STB for the French market.

MediaHighway is the market-leading middleware for digital pay TV worldwide. There are currently over 76.4 million NDS middleware clients deployed, and there are over 10.4 million NDS-powered DVRs in viewers' homes around the world.

"MediaHighway was the only middleware that enabled CANAL+ to offer its consumers the choice of industry-leading pay-TV solutions it required. MediaHighway has demonstrated yet again that it can handle complex requirements," commented Caroline Le Bigot, NDS Vice President, EMEA.

About CANAL+ GROUP

CANAL+ GROUP is the leader in Pay-TV in France with more than 10 million subscriptions to a wide range of offers including CANAL+, CANALSat and the former TPS. Within its offer, CANAL+ LE BOUQUET, the first multi-channel premium offer in France, available via satellite, cable, digital terrestrial television and ADSL networks, features six premium content channels built around the leading premium general-interest channel, CANAL+. CANAL+ GROUP also produces a range of channels dedicated to subscribers' favorite themes which include films (CineCinema), sport (Sport+, Infosport), news (i>Tele), series (Jimmy), documentaries (Planete) and programs for young people (Piwi, Teletoon). CANAL+ GROUP distributes CANALSAT as well, a multichannel offering available on satellite, cable, ADSL, DTT through a minipack and adapted for third generation (3G) mobile telephones. CANAL+ GROUP is also a major producer of French pay-TV channels and, through StudioCANAL, a significant contributor to the financing, acquisition and distribution of films. A pionner in new technologies, CANAL+ GROUP is the first Pay TV operator to have launched HD programs via satellite in Spring 2006 and have today the largest offering in the French TV market with more than 10 HD channels.

About NDS

NDS Group plc (NASDAQ:NNDS), a majority owned subsidiary of News Corporation, supplies open end-to-end digital technology and services to digital pay-television platform operators and content providers. See http://www.nds.com for more information about NDS.

New DirecTV Satellite Capable of 150 HD and 1,500 Local Channels

Sean Fallon — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 16:20:04 EST

The latest DirecTV 11 satellite just built by Boeing could potentially increase the total capacity of their programming network to 150 national HD channels and 1,500 local channels. So get ready to fire up those HDTVs—the satellite is expected to launch in March. [Boeing]

DirecTV DVRs Get Cellphone Scheduling on the Go

Jason Chen — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 15:00:29 EST

DirecTV's rolling out its cellphone-enabled mobile DVR scheduling for its HR20-700 units. This means that you can hop on your cellphone and queue up American Idol (just about the only new show on right now) to watch when you get home. Other DirecTV models will follow in February. Hit the jump for a list of compatible phones. [dbstalk]

* Apple - iPhone
* RIM Blackberry 8100 (Pearl), 7290, 8700c, 8820, 8300 (Curve)
* LG VX 8300
* Motorola KRAZR K1 M, i850, RAZR V3, SLVR L7, v360, v365, RAZR V3x, ROKR L6W
* Nokia 2610, 6103, 6133, 6315i, 5300, 6102/6102i, 2660, 6086, 6126, 6300, N95
* Palm Treo 680, Treo 700p
* Samsung U740, a707, a870, a920, Blackjack
* Sanyo Katana SCP-6600, MM 7500
* Sony Ericsson W300i, W810i, z525a, K550i, Z500
* ...and any phone with Internet Explorer or Opera.

DirecTV PC Tuner Photos Surface Online

Adrian Covert — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 15:23:47 EST

Scans of DirecTV's PC Tuner showed up on the DBStalk forums. The tuner supposedly has two coaxial inputs, one USB output, Ethernet and USB inputs, Vista Media Center support and a DVR interface that uses your PC's HDD. No word on whether the tuner is HD or SD, but If this is the real deal, it looks promising. [DBStalk Forums]

Afternoon News: HP and Compaq Laptops May Brick, Comcast and DirecTV Have a Catfight, I Weep For My Home Town and More

Benny Goldman — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 15:59:00 EST

• A security researcher published code that is capable of ~~bricking~~ corrupting Windows boot sectors on most HP and Compaq laptops. That doesn't sound too good. [Slashdot]
• Microsoft continues to rename everything in sight, this time folding IPTV, HD DVD, and Media Center into one group called Connected TV. [News.com]
• Comcast settled a lawsuit with DirecTV about the latter's hissy fit over an ad campaign last spring. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but from the sound of it, Comcast came out on top. However, when anything involves these two companies, does anyone really come out on top? [Ars Technica]
• THE NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS LOSE!!!...At a chance to show their last game to Time Warner Cable customers after TWC would not agree to binding arbitration with the NFL. Gotcha! [Consumerist]
• Finally, stepping out of the gadget world for a second, here's something that happened in my home city of Detroit. A bus driver transporting special needs students was arrested for soliciting an undercover cop for prostitution at 7 in the morning! It's funny because it's tragic! [Detroit News]