Archive for April, 2005

Finisar accuses DirecTV of violating patents

Monday, April 11th, 2005

Finisar accuses DirecTV of violating patents

Finisar Corp., a maker of gear for optical networks, Wednesday accused DirecTV Group Inc. of violating patents for an information-transmission system.

In a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, located in Beaumont, Texas, Sunnyvale-based Finisar said it seeks monetary damages and injunctive relief.

It said […]

Sea Launch Plans Newest Satellite Launch

Monday, April 11th, 2005

Sea Launch Plans Newest Satellite Launch

The DIRECTV Group has scheduled a late April launch for a satellite aboard a Sea Launch rocket.

Sea Launch, which launches satellites into orbit from a mobile sea-going platform near the equator, is headquartered in Long Beach.

The Boeing-built Spaceway F1 satellite is one of four that DIRECTV has scheduled for launch […]

DirecTV Shares Could Rise More Than 50 Pct - Barron’s

Monday, April 11th, 2005

DirecTV Shares Could Rise More Than 50 Pct - Barron’s

Shares of satellite television provider DirecTV Group Inc. could rise more than 50 percent within the next year, a Wall Street analyst told Barron’s newspaper.

DirecTV could prove to be a cheap investment in pay-television if it increases its cash flow at rates expected by analysts, the […]

AOL, XM Satellite to start Web radio service

Monday, April 11th, 2005

AOL, XM Satellite to start Web radio service

America Online Monday announced plans to launch a Web-based radio service with XM Satellite Radio in a move that may help XM win customers from AOL’s 24 million subscribers.

The service, which will offer about 200 channels streamed over the Web in CD-quality sound for a monthly fee, […]

Drop In, Drop Out

Friday, April 8th, 2005

Radio quality of either satellite radio service isn’t quite what either Sirius or XM Radio would have you believe in their marketing hype. It is not pure CD quality (although, technically, that may be what they’re streaming). (See this interesting thread on Sirius and XM sound quality.) I’m not the first to notice or […]

Good service and bad from Dish Network

Friday, April 8th, 2005

Good service and bad from Dish Network

I have been using Dish Network for more than a year.

In my December bill, there was a pay-per-view charge of $10.99 which we did not use.

I called to inquire and my extra charge got eliminated from the bill. I was impressed with their customer service.

Later, when I tried using […]

XM, Sirius gaining traction

Friday, April 8th, 2005

XM, Sirius gaining traction

Car dealer Tom Barenboim considered himself a skeptic of satellite radio until a customer made it clear: He wasn’t going to buy the $34,000 silver Jeep Grand Cherokee unless it had a $199 satellite receiver.

“Two months ago, I would have told you I didn’t really see it getting any traction,'’ says Barenboim, […]

Sirius Scores Four-Year Wimbledon Deal

Friday, April 8th, 2005

Sirius Scores Four-Year Wimbledon Deal

Adding to its growing Sports lineup, Sirius Satellite Radio announced Wednesday it has signed a four-year agreement with the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club to air play-by-play and other courtside updates of the Wimbledon Championships. As part of the agreement, Sirius will become the Official Satellite Radio Partner of […]

Stock Madness 2005: Netflix vs. Sirius

Friday, April 8th, 2005

Stock Madness 2005: Netflix vs. Sirius

And so it ends. Here. Now. With the unlikeliest of unlikely finals. Sirius vs. Netflix. One is an outrageously overvalued satellite radio company. And the other is a movie rental business in decline.

To get here, each of us has had to sink a lot of the kind of 30-footers that […]

Did DIRECTV Try to Buy TiVo?

Friday, April 8th, 2005

Did DIRECTV Try to Buy TiVo?

A little over a year ago, the DIRECTV-TiVo relationship seemed to be a perfect marriage.

The satellite TV provider was using the Digital Video Recording service to attract new subscribers, particularly among early adopters of new technology.

TiVo, which had struggled to persuade VCR owners to try the new technology, could count […]