http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/08/13/echostar-lines-up-to-make-tru2way-boxes-too/ Engadget HD Comments for EchoStar lines up to make tru2way boxes too http://www.engadgethd.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadgethd.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/08/13/echostar-lines-up-to-make-tru2way-boxes-too/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/08/13/echostar-lines-up-to-make-tru2way-boxes-too/
2. The manufacturers don't want to sell them to end users because of the potentional support nightmare (Ben, being a Vista Media Center Cablecard user, you should have some knowledge on this).

3. The retailers don't want to carry them, again because of support issues.

]]>Aug 13th 2008 1:58PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/08/13/echostar-lines-up-to-make-tru2way-boxes-too/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/08/13/echostar-lines-up-to-make-tru2way-boxes-too/
The fact is, if someone released a compelling-enough STB, consumers will sit up and take notice, and carriers and retailers will support it. Just ask Apple and iPhone users.]]>Aug 13th 2008 3:07PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/08/13/echostar-lines-up-to-make-tru2way-boxes-too/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/08/13/echostar-lines-up-to-make-tru2way-boxes-too/
I, for one, would prefer to research and purchase my own STB or TiVo (if they were permitted to support CableCard) rather than put up with my crappy Comcast Motorola STB that doesn't even have HDMI output.]]>Aug 13th 2008 4:26PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/08/13/echostar-lines-up-to-make-tru2way-boxes-too/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/08/13/echostar-lines-up-to-make-tru2way-boxes-too/
And I am not talking HD enthusiasts (and posting here makes you one) I am talking just the guy with his Vizio who just wants to watch TV and record stuff with a DVR.



]]>Aug 13th 2008 4:31PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/08/13/echostar-lines-up-to-make-tru2way-boxes-too/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/08/13/echostar-lines-up-to-make-tru2way-boxes-too/Aug 13th 2008 7:46PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/08/13/echostar-lines-up-to-make-tru2way-boxes-too/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/08/13/echostar-lines-up-to-make-tru2way-boxes-too/
If we assume $7 per month for a HD 2-way digital box and $12 per month for a HD-DVR (right out of my Comcast rate guide). The most you could charge for a plain STB is probably $168. The most you could get for an HD-DVR is $288. I don't think you can build something "compelling" for that much. The Tivo HD comes close but you have that $10 a month service fee + cablecard charges on top of it that I think turns the average consumer off on that solution. VMC has no monthly charge other than cablecard but is at minimum a $1,000 solution and that is only going to attract high-end consumers.




]]>Aug 13th 2008 4:28PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/08/13/echostar-lines-up-to-make-tru2way-boxes-too/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/08/13/echostar-lines-up-to-make-tru2way-boxes-too/Aug 13th 2008 5:22PMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/08/13/echostar-lines-up-to-make-tru2way-boxes-too/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/08/13/echostar-lines-up-to-make-tru2way-boxes-too/
1.) The tuner resolver for Tivo I believe only is meant to work with SDV. To get PPV/On-Demand I think will take a new model with the OCAP application stack.

2.) The biggest problem with Tru2Way (and what doomed Cablecard before it) is the lack of a requirement (based on what I read) for the head-end to send guide data for the TV or STB. You ended up with three scenarios, either no guide at all (like my LG Plasma), the crappy TV Guide On-Screen solution that never seemed to work quite right, or a Tivo/VMC solution which required a network connection and a fee to get the data (either paid monthly ala Tivo or built in to the price of the product ala VMC) and that requires some kind of network connection. Not something J6P will want to bother with.

]]>Aug 14th 2008 7:09AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/08/13/echostar-lines-up-to-make-tru2way-boxes-too/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/08/13/echostar-lines-up-to-make-tru2way-boxes-too/Aug 14th 2008 11:47AMhttp://www.engadgethd.com/2008/08/13/echostar-lines-up-to-make-tru2way-boxes-too/http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/08/13/echostar-lines-up-to-make-tru2way-boxes-too/Aug 14th 2008 12:37PM