Dish prepares Hopper multiroom DVR service

Dish Network (Nasdaq: DISH) is expected to unveil a new multiroom DVR at the Consumer Electronics Show on Monday. The product will rely on a three-tuner DVR that Dish will brand Hopper, and thin-client set-tops that will be named Joey. Logos Dish has created for Hopper feature kangaroos, which are nicknamed hoppers, while Joey is a nickname for baby kangaroos.

Dish's Hopper page -- not quite live.

FierceCable first reported in November that Dish Network had trademarked the brands Hopper, HopBox and Joey for use in digital video recorders and digital media streaming devices. News of the Hopper multiroom DVR was reported earlier this week by TWICE and ZatzNotFunny. While TWICE has pulled its story, reporter Dave Zatz managed to pull some screen grabs that show the kangaroo logo.

Dish has also created a Web page for Hopper that teases the Jan. 9 unveiling of a "whole new animal in home entertainment." Dish spokesman Marc Lumpkin declined to comment on Friday, but noted that the company plans to unveil new products at a press conference in Las Vegas Monday at noon PT.

Hopper could help Dish compete with multiroom DVR offerings from Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) , DirecTV (Nasdaq: DTV), Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and other rivals. The company may be able to differentiate itself by using the place-shifting software from corporate sibling Sling Media to allow subscribers to access DVR content on mobile phones, tablets and laptops.

For more:
- ZatzNotFunny has this story

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