CES 2014

Dish President and CEO, Joe Clayton, kicked off the company’s press event by welcoming the crowds to “part three of DISH’s transformation.”

Building on the success of its Hopper and Joey multi-room DVR system, DISH announced several significant upgrades to the system today. Where the previous Hopper system was capable of recording three programs at once – or up to six when using the PrimeTime Anytime feature – the new SuperJoey will record a breakthrough eight shows at once! (Any four shows plus the four major broadcast networks when using PrimeTime Anytime, or the five network tuners recording/watching any five shows from any network.)

SuperJoey is a client that adds two network tuners to the Hopper’s native three and unless you are the Brady Bunch, this should virtually eliminate any viewing or recording conflicts! Coupled with the Hopper’s ability to store 2,000 hours of content, this will allow users to record/view an unprecedented amount of programming. SuperJoeys are backwards compatible for all models of the Hopper so existing users can enjoy the added capability.

Also new to the Hopper troop line-up are the Virtual and Wireless Joeys.

Virtual Joeys address one of the biggest objections to the satellite consumer, by eliminating the requirement of using a set top box. The new Virtual Joey will work with the Sony PS3, PS4 and LG SmartTVs, and with this “app” users can experience the full Hopper/Joey experience without requiring a dedicated STB. Users will still have full DVR control and access to channel guides.

Wireless Joey allows adding the DISH Hopper experience to any TV, anywhere in the home, without needing a coax or Ethernet cable connection. With Wireless Joey, customers can now add DISH content to any TV in the home regardless of the existing wiring. The Wireless Joey installation includes a Wireless Joey Access Point that can serve two Wireless Joey clients by creating a dedicated 802.11AC WiFi connection in the home. This ensures that the streaming picture and sound quality won’t be affected.

“Television placement is so often dictated by where the set-top box can be and where the wires are – this new application literally unleashes the TV,” said Clayton. “Together, we are giving our customers more choice and control over their entire television experience.”

DISH is also bringing an updated version of its DISH Anywhere app. This update will integrate the DISH Transfers feature giving users to view recorded content anywhere – even when no Internet connection is available. This is also being released for Android and iPhone, expanding beyond the previous iPad version.

Finally an updated DISH Explorer app will allow Hopper voice search and control capabilities.

“We’ve taken voice search for TV to a new level,” said Vivek Khemka, DISH senior vice president of Product Management. “Customers can now perform and build voice-driven searches to find live TV shows, make video-on-demand selections or play back anything they have recorded on their Hopper.”