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DISH Network will be first to bring you* 1080p resolution HD content through broadcast means.  Say goodbye to the 720 garbage you’ve been forced to watch and bask in the 1080p you should have had all along.  Available tomorrow is “I am Legend” video on demand will be in full 1080p.

The asterisk after “you” above means you may not actually be “you”.  According to Electronista:

The upgrade in resolution isn’t available for all subscribers but will be a no-charge addition for anyone who owns an HD DVR capable of playing MPEG-4 video. A software upgrade will be pushed out at the same time as the 1080p service that enables playing the video format, though no mention is made of supporting the HD resolution for recording regular TV shows.

No word on how smooth the image will be or if it’s compression means we’ll be seeing chopped action.  Either way, it is a step in the right direction.

Read [Electronista]

Western Digital has just unleashed their My DVR Expander external hard drive.  This WD drive is certified to work as an external storage device for Dish Network DVRs.

The hard drive line sports 500GB of storage, which in TV terms, is 300 hours of standard definition content and 60 hours of high definition content.  The drive will definitely work with the Dish set top boxes.  However, on top of the device’s $149.99 price, you will have to pay a fee to activate the USB port on your set top box.

Western Digital is hoping to expand the compatibility of such external drivers to other TV providers.

Via [CrunchGear]

I have often passed a parcel of property that I’d love to buy knowing that sometime or another it would be a great investment. Immediate timing is not always right for an acquisition but down the road it could be perfect. This is just the position that Dish Network has found itself in. Was it by chance or was it a calculated bet? 

Recently, blocks of wireless airwaves came up for auction since the analog TV will soon go all digital. In a surprising turn of events Dish Network partnered with Frontier Wireless won a block of one-way communication licenses. 

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If you haven’t been following all of the EchoStar and TiVo madness, here’s what you need to know… TiVo sued EchoStar (owners of Dish Network) for “willfully infringing patents that allow for the digital storage of TV programming.” In their August hearing, the Judge ordered EchoStar to pay TiVo $90.6 million in damages.  Now, EchoStar has made a statement about the merits of the Texas court injunction.

“We are pleased the Federal Court found that EchoStar has a ‘substantial case on the merits’ and blocked the Texas decision for the duration of the appeal. This action by the Federal Court reinforces our belief that the Texas court made significant errors during the trial process and we look forward to complete vindication of our position.

As a result of the Court action, our customers will not be disrupted and all of our DVR models will continue to be available through the EchoStar distribution system.”

So if you’re a Dish Network subscriber, have no fear - you’ve probably got another couple of months until your DVR box is shut off.  Enjoy it while you have it!

We’ve got to say, EchoStar (owner of DISK Network) has not had a good couple of weeks.  A couple of weeks ago, they paid out $90.6 million to TiVo for patent infringement, and this week, they’ve agreed to pay $100 million to network affiliates (ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox) so they don’t shut off “distant network channels.” According to the press release, “Distant channels are ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox network channels that originate from a market outside the community in which the subscriber lives.”

With the announcement, EchoStar has now reached settlements with almost 800 channels and hopes to be done with the 9 long years of litigation.  I cannot possibly imagine how relieved their lawyer is.

Quick Fact: EchoStar has paid out about 1.3% of their 14.33 billion market cap in just 2 weeks.

Just four months ago, EchoStar paid out $74.9 million to TiVo for willfully infringing patents that allow for the digital storage of TV programming.  Now, EchoStar has done it again.  That’s right, they didn’t learn their lesson the first time, and now the judge has ordered EchoStar to disable the digital video recording functionality issued to several million Dish satellite TV subscribers...oh yeah, and is having them payout an additional $5.4 million in interest payments and $10.3 million in supplemental damages.  If our calculations are correct, that’s a grand total of a whopping $90.6 million.  It sounds like TiVo just got a whole lot richer.  I have a feeling EchoStar won’t infringe on TiVo’s patents again.

Read [Yahoo News]