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TI chips power Palm Pre, sales growth

Texas Instruments raised its outlook for the second quarter Monday, as analog chips and processors for high-end smartphones like the Palm Pre drive sales.

In a "scheduled update" to its business outlook for the second quarter of 2009, TI said Monday that it expects revenue of between $2.30 and $2.50 billion, compared with the prior estimate of between $1.95 and $2.40 billion. Earnings per share is now expected to be between $0.14 to $0.22, compared with the previous estimate of between $0.01 and $0.15.

Though analog chips are the biggest … Read more

EchoStar says appeals court stays ruling on DVR workaround

Less than 24 hours after a federal judge found EchoStar in contempt in its long-running patent dispute with TiVo, another judge issued a temporary stay Wednesday, according to EchoStar.

"We are pleased that the Federal Appeals Court in Washington temporarily stayed the district court's order in the TiVo litigation. Dish Network customers can continue using their DVRs. We believe that we have strong grounds for appeal," the company said in a statement.

The temporary stay drags out even further a legal contest that is now five years old. It seemed like it had come close to reaching … Read more

Court orders Dish to pay $103 million to TiVo

A federal court has awarded TiVo $103 million plus interest in its long-running patent dispute with EchoStar Communications and ordered EchoStar to disable infringing features found on its subscribers' digital video recorders.

U.S. District Judge David Folsom on Tuesday also found EchoStar, which is now part of Dish Network, in contempt of court for violating a permanent injunction by reprogramming millions of DVRs with a new "workaround."

"The harm caused to TiVo by EchoStar's contempt is substantial," Folsom wrote. "EchoStar has gained millions of customers since this court's injunction was issued, customers … Read more

TiVo loses $4 million

This post was updated at 3:45 p.m PT with information from the earnings call.

TiVo on Wednesday reported a loss of $4.1 million, or 4 cents per share, for the first quarter of fiscal year 2010.

It's a letdown for TiVo, which a year ago recorded a $3.6 million profit. The Alviso, Calif.-based maker of digital video recorders had been anticipating a $6 million to $8 million loss for the quarter ended April 30.

The company's technology and service revenue was $48.5 million, down just more than 12 percent from last year'… Read more

Give your DVR a storage boost

Ever since I wrote about Apricorn's DVR Xpander, I've received many e-mails from readers asking about a similar unit for their TiVos. Today I have the answer.

Western Digital announced Wednesday its TiVo-verified My DVR Expander, which offers up to 1TB of storage capacity. The unit is designed to work with TiVo Series 3 and TiVo HD digital video recorders. Apart from TiVo, it has also been tested to work with Scientific Atlanta's Explorer 8300 series DVRs, which includes the 8300, 8300 HD, 8300 MR, and 8300 HD-MR models.

The new expander allows you to instantly and … Read more

Amazon Video on Demand goes high-def

It's been a long time in coming, but Amazon Video on Demand is finally available in high-def. Owners of TiVo HD/Series 3 DVRs, the Roku Digital Video Player, the Sony Bravia Internet Video Link, and Panasonic VieraCast TVs (and, presumably, VieraCast-enabled Blu-ray players) will be the first to enjoy Amazon's content in HD (software updates to enable HD viewing on those products should be available imminently). Likewise, Windows and Mac users will also get access to HD video content via Amazon's Web site.

As with competing services, HD movie rentals will cost $3.99 to $4.… Read more

Teach your iPhone five cool TiVo tricks

TiVo and iPhone, the gadget superpowers of home and pocket. Don't you think it's time they joined forces?

As it happens, your iPhone can perform all kinds of nifty TiVo tricks. Here are my five favorites:

i.TV Forgot to set your TiVo to record the big game/new show/classic "Simpsons" episode? No problem. Just find the listing in i.TV's guide and tap the TiVo icon. You can even choose which TiVo to use (if you have more than one) and tweak the recording settings. Hard to believe this handy app is a … Read more

3D-based Captchas become reality

I wrote a blog about a new way of creating Captchas by using 3D images that Taylor Hayward, a blogger, came up with and thought it would be really cool when implemented. Now, 3D Captchas seem to have become a reality--however, not from Hayward.

Incidentally, the folks at YUNiTi.com, a social Web site, have been working on the same idea for a few weeks and have implemented the method on their Web site.

The site announced Wednesday that it has created a 3D Captcha method that is unbreakable by current computer technology, yet much easier for humans to identify. … Read more

Blockbuster OnDemand coming to TiVo DVRs

Blockbuster will become the latest Internet video-on-demand service to appear on TiVo DVRs.

The two companies announced late Tuesday that they are working to make Blockbuster's service available on all TiVo Series2 and Series3 DVRs (including the HD and HD XL models) in the second half of 2009.

The announcement marks the first non-PC device to support both Blockbuster OnDemand and its archrival, Netflix. TiVo DVRs also support Amazon Video On Demand, YouTube, Jaman, and some Disney movies via CinemaNow.

In addition to Blockbuster's online video service being available on TiVo, Blockbuster will sell TiVo hardware at its … Read more