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July 03, 2005
EchoStar Invests in Archos
Recently, TiVo made news with their TiVo-To-Go announcement. Now EchoStar (which operates the satellite TV DISH Network), has made a $9 million investment in Archos. Archos is acompany which announced last January will be supplying it with portable DVR's.
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The DVR's that Archos is developing for EchoStar will have 20-40GB hard drives and screens that range in size from 2.2 inches to 7 inches. According to EchoStar, the devices, which will be marketed under the brand "PocketDish," will support USB 2.0, making it possible to download a recorded movie from an EchoStar set-top box in around five minutes. They will also store music, games and photos. EchoStar says that it will begin offering the devices later in the summer or in the early fall.
I had used the EchoStar DVR's up until when I moved last week. My experience with them is that their UI was very well thought out and quite good. Too bad I will not be able to take advantage of this offering.
For the bean-counters in the audience, the investment was made through the private issuance of convertible bonds at a subscription value of $4.10 per bond. The bonds are convertible into approximately 26% of Archos' share capital and bear interest at an annual rate of 5%. They are convertible by EchoStar at any time, with the conversion rate set at one share per bond, subject to possible further adjustments. Archos has the right to convert or redeem a portion of the bonds at any time, subject to certain restrictions.
UPDATE:
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Archos releases a PC-independent portable device that combines featues of the iPod and DVR. |
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» EchoStar Invests in Archos from PVRLib
[Source: Reinvent TV] quoted: The DVR's that Archos is developing for EchoStar will have 20-40GB hard drives and screens that range in size from 2.2 inches to 7 inches. According to EchoStar, the devices, which will be marketed under the brand "PocketD... [Read More]
Tracked on July 5, 2005 10:54 AM
» Now I can be a Hammock Potato from The Digital TV Weblog
Is it too late to trademark that phrase? TiVo created its TiVo-To-Go program that allows you to carry your recordings on portable devices such as a laptop. This blog reported about Echostar investing in Archos to do that same thing... [Read More]
Tracked on July 7, 2005 07:48 AM
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