Business Notes

By Staff On Oct 9 2006 - 6:00am

Federal Court Stops TiVo's Injunction Vs. EchoStar

Alviso, Calif. — A federal appeals court stayed a permanent injunction won by TiVo that stopped EchoStar from selling its digital video recorders in the United States. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit granted the request of EchoStar to stay the permanent injunction imposed by the U.S. District Court to prevent the satellite provider from making, using, offering for sale or selling in the U.S. On April 13, a Marshall, Texas jury concluded that EchoStar had willfully infringed TiVo's Time Warp patent in making its own digital video recorder. In a prepared statement TiVo said, “We are confident that the jury's decision in TiVo's favor will be upheld once the Federal Circuit has the opportunity to review the entire record in this case.” In its statement EchoStar noted, “This action by the federal court reinforces our belief that the Texas court made significant errors during the trial process and we look forward to complete vindication of our position.”

XM Gains 285K New Subs In Q3

WASHINGTON — XM Satellite Radio reported third quarter subscriber numbers which include a net addition of 285,000. XM said it now has 7.185 million subscribers and added that its quarterly results are consistent with the company's latest guidelines which target a total of 7.7 million to 8.2 million subscribers by the end of the year, XM said. Its subscriber churn rate is under 2 percent. The satellite radio company plans to update its guidance during an upcoming conference call, it said.

Helio Debuts Hybrid Wireless Access

Atlanta — Helio unveiled a new wireless Internet access solution that promises to fuse 3G and Wi-Fi on a single laptop with a single bill. The Helio Hybrid package combines a software application, an EV-DO PCMCIA card and a Data Connect membership for 3G and Wi-Fi hotspot roaming. Laptops loaded with the software can switch between 3G networks and commercial Wi-Fi access points, in addition to free and private Wi-Fi networks. The package will be available free with a 2 year contract and an $85 monthly fee.