Dish Bid For Sprint Could Revolutionize The Cable-Media-Telecom Industry

via businessinsider.com

In a surprise move, satellite-TV operator Dish Network has made a $26 billion bid for Sprint, the U.S.'s third-largest wireless operator.

Sprint is already in the approval process to sell a majority stake to Japanese telecommunications firm Softbank.

Dish's bid is higher than Softbank's and may therefore trigger a bidding war between the two suitors.

Dish has offered about $7 a share for Sprint, with a mix of cash ($4.74 per share) and $2.26-worth of Dish stock. Dish's stock fell about 5% on the news, and the total value of the offer will continue to fluctuate based on Dish's stock price. Dish estimated that the initial offer was worth about 13% more than Softbank's offer.

Posted via email from Create | Inspire - DM2 Studios

Microsoft's next Xbox will take over your TV, interact with your cable box

via theverge.com

Microsoft is investing in TV in a big way with its next Xbox console as part of a fight for the living room. Multiple sources familiar with the company's Xbox plans have revealed to The Verge that Microsoft will introduce a feature that lets its next-generation console take over a TV and set-top box in a similar way to Google TV. We understand that the next Xbox will require an online connection to use the entertainment services, allowing them to be always-on for streaming and access to TV signals.

The functionality will work by taking a cable box signal and passing it through to the Xbox via HDMI, allowing Microsoft's console to overlay a UI and features on top of an existing TV channel or set-top box. We're told that this is a key part of the next-generation Xbox and that it will go a step further than Google's TV implementation thanks to Microsoft's partnerships with content providers. Extended support for various cable services will be rolled out gradually, but the basic functionality will be available at launch.

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Yes, Intel Is Building a Web TV Service (A Box, Too)

via allthingsd.com

It was a poorly kept secret to begin with, but now it has finally been revealed: Intel is indeed developing an Internet TV service, and a set-top box to boot.

Speaking at D: Dive Into Media Tuesday, Erik Huggers, corporate vice president at Intel Media, confirmed rumors that have been circulating for months.

“We have been working for about a year now to set up a group called Intel Media,” Huggers said “It’s a new division with new people — people [we've hired] from Apple, Netflix and Google. And it’s devoted to developing an Internet television platform.”

That group’s mandate: Build the best Internet television service ever.

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11 Alternatives To Paying For Cable

via businessinsider.com

Now that most American workers will see 2 percent more of their take-home income disappear this year, it's as good a time as any to find ways to trim household costs.

By far, the simplest place to start is with your cable bill.

Anyone with a solid Internet connection, a computer, and a couple hundred bucks to invest should be able to break their cable addiction.

To give you a leg up, we've compiled our favorite gadgets and hacks to help you finally cut the cord –– for good.

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USB 3.0 Is Going To Double Speeds

via gizmodo.com

USB data transfer is about to get a hell of a lot faster. The USB Promoter Group is rolling out SuperSpeed USB, a supplement to USB 3.0 due out later this year that should surge your speeds two-fold.

SuperSpeed USB is supposed to give you 10 Gbps USB data rate, which is the same as Thunderbolt. It's also expected to feature better data encoding for transfers, more efficiency power efficient ports, and best of all, compatibility with existing devices. Later this year when you download a movie or a CD, it could take much less time thanks to the new standard.

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Apple Might Strike Deals With Cable Companies That Could Change TV Forever

via businessinsider.com

Remember a few months ago, when everyone was hyperventilating about the forthcoming Apple TV?

This was the magical "sheet of glass" powered by Siri that Apple was going to start selling for twice the price of a regular TV.

Apple was going to go do big deals with the TV content companies, disrupt the cable companies, and drive its stock straight to $1,000 by revolutionizing the TV business.

Well, no one talks about the Apple TV anymore.

We're not sure why.

Posted via email from Inspiration

Best Cable Management Solutions

via businessinsider.com

There are more tangled, knotted cables on our desk than we can count.

In looking for a way to get a handle on them, we found these 10 products and ideas that other people say have worked for them.

Posted via email from Inspiration

How to watch the Olympics without cable

via gigaom.com

NBCOlympics.com will stream 3,500 hours of live coverage from London, but only to viewers that can authenticate themselves as pay TV subscribers of one of 97 pay TV service providers. In addition, users must subscribe to a bundle that contains both CNBC and MSNBC. Most people should meet that requirement, but subscribers of analog basic cable, as well as cord cutters, have to look elsewhere.

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Over 1 Billion (Hours) Served: Netflix, Big Cable, And The Innovator’s Dilemma

via techcrunch.com

Netflix yesterday announced that its viewers watched over 1 billion hours of video over the course of June, which comes down to about an hour of video per subscriber per day. At the time I wrote about it, I pointed out that chances are, each hour of Netflix viewing means one less hour being watched of regular old live TV.

BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield extrapolated that data and declared Netflix the “most viewed cable network on television.” (Free registration required) It’s an imperfect comparison for a number of reasons, in part due to the number of accounts that Netflix subscribers share per household. But it’s indicative of the shift in attention that’s occurring, as viewers begin to watch less broadcast and cable television, and move toward on-demand shows that are streamed online.

Posted via email from Inspiration

Netflix just became cable’s biggest TV network

via gigaom.com

Netflix subscribers watched more than one billion hours of video in June, according to the company’s CEO Reed Hastings. That means that U.S. subscribers watched around 80 minutes of Netflix per day last month, which makes the service more popular than any traditional U.S. cable network, estimated BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield.

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The Xbox 360, Now A True Cable Box Killer

via techcrunch.com

Microsoft just threw down at E3 2012. After exciting the crowd with Halo and Gears of War titles, the company unveiled new additions to the 360′s vast media offering. Don’t be distracted by the video game trailers: this is Redmond’s biggest news of the show. In fact the new offering could lead to a rival of the cord cutting movement.

The Xbox 360 has nearly always had an impressive suite of media streaming options with Netflix and others. For most households, though, the offering was never enough to replace cable. In fact, it was more of a supplement. But today’s announcement brings a host of new options, stations, and apps to the Xbox 360.

With these new features, the Xbox 360 has finally become Microsoft’s Trojan Horse. The target? Cable companies.

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Google may offer its own paid cable-TV service

via digitaltrends.com

Google is considering plans to launch its own cable-TV service, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Google is considering launching its own paid cable-TV service, reports the Wall Street Journal. Such a jump into this new business would be a first for Google, which has so far not operated as a direct service provider, and could alter the landscape of the highly competitive cable TV business.

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Xbox Might Get Comcast and Verizon Cable Soon

via gizmodo.com

Microsoft appears to be close to closing the deal on bringing Comcast and Verizon to the Xbox, with the console serving as a set-top box, according to Digiday.

If the reports are accurate, the deals could be done within the next 30 days. The deals would allow customers to subscribe to TV packages through Comcast or Verizon Fios directly through their consoles and avoid the dreaded dance with the cable guy.

Posted via email from Inspiration