Googleopoly: The Definitive Guide To Antitrust Investigations Against Google

We’re another step closer to the US Federal Trade Commission launching an expected antitrust investigation of Google. If it does, the FTC will join the EU and Texas in doing broad investigations. But Google’s been examined for antitrust issues many times before this and mostly come through OK. Here’s our comprehensive guide to Google and antitrust actions, over the years.
December 2007: FTC Approves Google Purchase Of DoubleClick
Perhaps Google’s first real antitrust challenge, it had to fight for approval to purchase DoubleClick. Plenty of opponents lined up against the deal, but Google won FTC approval in December 2007 and later EU approval in March 2008. Some background stories
Nov. 2008: DOJ Helps Kill Google-Yahoo Search Deal
In November 2008, Google pulled out of a proposed deal to power Yahoo’s search results, over fears that the US Department Of Justice would file a monopoly suit against the company, if it went ahead. To date, this has been the company’s only major loss in an antitrust conflict.
Outcome? If the hope was to make Yahoo stronger, and keep the search marketplace more competitive, the results are mixed. Once Google was out of the picture, Microsoft was pretty much the only partner left for Yahoo. Microsoft went from being willing to pay $8 billion for Yahoo’s search assets to paying nothing up front and letting Yahoo keep a majority of ad sales.
There’s no particular evidence that the deal has somehow made search ads at Google cheaper, which isn’t surprising. There’s no “rate card” that Google uses to compete against Microsoft for ad sales. Advertisers, instead, compete against each other.
There’s also no particular evidence that the deal has helped Yahoo. The company continues to get battered on the financial front; search share is largely static to dropping, whenever I look. But by effectively taking Yahoo out of the search space (it argues differently), it allowed Microsoft to emerge as the heir to second place throne in mindshare, if not soon in marketshare.
May 2010: FTC Allows AdMob Purchase
When Google wanted to buy mobile ad network AdMob, it seemed the Federal Trade Commission was going to say no. But thanks to its bigger fears of Apple, the FTC allowed it to go through:
June 2010: French Regulators Rule Google Couldn’t Block Advertiser
Chalk this up to irony. Google’s under pressure in the US to block mobile apps in Android that report DUI checkpoints (something that police departments are actually required to do).
But in France, when it blocked a company that reported speed camera locations — thinking it was complying with French law — it wound up at the end of an antitrust complaint. Google’s challenging the ruling to allow the ads, which it lost:
Sept. 2010: Texas Antitrust Investigation, Ads For Favorable Listings?
In Septemer 2010, we broke the news that the Texas Attorney General had decided an investigation of Google on antitrust grounds was in order. To date, I don’t think the office has ever made clear what exactly the “Texas” angle is to this — which major Texas businesses that have been allegedly harmed, for example.
Still, plenty of businesses in Texas purchase ads through Google; plenty of people in Texas use Google. The office is looking in particular on whether Google is trying to use its editorial listings to boost its ad business. IE, buy an ad, get better rankings in Google.
Google has often come under such accusations over the years. I’ve never once seen a case that actually held up.
Other states may dive in. Ohio and Wisconsin are also both said to be considering actions
Sept. 2010: Skyhook Cries Foul
Perhaps one of the most interesting and strongest cases against Google isn’t from a government body but rather Skyhook Wireless, which has sued Google for unfair business practices. It suggests that Google used its dominance of the “open” Android platform to hinder Skyhook. In South Korea, somewhat similar claims came up in April 2011. More here:
November 2010: EU Opens Antitrust Investigation
The European Union decided at the end of November that several allegations against Google, in particular that it had tried to keep competitors out of its rankings, warranted investigation. The EU wrote in a press release at the time:

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The Commission will investigate whether Google has abused a dominant market position in online search by allegedly lowering the ranking of unpaid search results of competing services which are specialised in providing users with specific online content such as price comparisons (so-called vertical search services) and by according preferential placement to the results of its own vertical search services in order to shut out competing services . . .
The Commission’s probe will additionally focus on allegations that Google imposes exclusivity obligations on advertising partners, preventing them from placing certain types of competing ads on their web sites . . .
Finally, it will investigate suspected restrictions on the portability of online advertising campaign data to competing online advertising platforms
In March, Microsoft — which has been behind-the-scenes with some of the companies in Europe that have raised allegations, stepped forward with some of its own. or more, see:
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U.S. post suspends retirement payments to save cash

The Postal Service -- which posted a $2.2 billion net loss in the second quarter and said it might be unable to pay its debts by September -- said on Wednesday that halting payments to the Federal Employees Retirement System would free up $800 million for the fiscal year.
The mail carrier makes biweekly payments of $115 million and says it has already paid a surplus of about $6.9 billion to the program.
The Postal Service has been struggling for years with falling mail volumes and competition from FedEx and United Parcel Service, but the agency also has said personnel costs weigh heavily.
The Postal Service on Wednesday repeated a call to Congress to give the agency more flexibility to manage its finances.
The Office of Personnel Management has estimated that the mail carrier overpaid into retiree pension funds, and officials say the Postal Service is required to set aside more for health insurance benefits than other agencies do.
The agency, which does not receive tax revenue, announced in March that it would eliminate 7,500 jobs and close 2,000 post offices, and has been looking for other ways to cut costs.
Maine Senator Susan Collins in February introduced legislation that would reduce the agency's payments to pension funds and improve its contracting practices. President Barack Obama included similar reforms in his 2012 budget request.
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Apple granted patent on webpage scrolling behaviors, media granted patent on crazy

So Apple got yet another patent granted today, and now there’s yet another media firestorm over whether it means Cupertino will be able to sue every other phone manufacturer out of business, or at least out of the business of making multitouch devices. And, as usual, most of the hysteria is based on a fundamental misinterpretation of what the patent claims actually say, and what behaviors they actually cover in iOS. I don’t know why we keep repeating this sad cycle, but I do know that it’s always, always better for us to read the claims and try to figure them out for ourselves — and in this case, they’re actually pretty narrow.
Now, the key to understanding patents is to read the claims. That’s step one. Every single element of each claim is important! Anything that doesn’t hit on every single element of the claim doesn’t infringe. And any patent article that doesn’t include a specific analysis of the claims isn’t worth your time. It’s that simple. So! Let’s look at the first claim of patent #7,966,578, which was granted on June 21 — it’s very, very specific:
1.You need a “portable multifunction device with one or more processors, memory, and a touch screen display.” Check!
2.That device needs to display “a portion of a web page in a stationary application window,” and that portion has to include both the regular page content and a “frame displaying a portion of frame content.” That’s something like a Google Maps embed — it’s a frame within a webpage that displays other content.
3.The device has to “detect a translation gesture by a single finger,” and in response somehow translate both the main content and the frame content. That means when you scroll with a single finger, everything has to move.
4.Lastly, the device has to be able to detect “a translation gesture by two fingers” and in response translate only the frame content without translating the main content. That’s exactly what happens on the iPhone today — you can pinch-to-zoom on a map embed without zooming a main web page. It’s easier to show this in a video, actually:
And… that’s it! That’s all the patent covers. The other claims of the patent attempt to broaden this language somewhat by changing the specific number of fingers to the variables N and M and by saying the technique can be used in applications other than the browser, but the main idea is always the same: you interact with a main interface display using N fingers, and you interact with a frame within that display using M fingers, in a way that doesn’t alter the main display.
Now, that’s a pretty narrow patent, and I don’t think the big brains at Google or Microsoft (or Motorola or Samsung or HTC or whoever) will have a hard time engineering around it — it’s really just one specific type of multitouch interaction. I certainly wouldn’t call it an “iPhone patent” or anything nearly so broad or sensational. That said, it’s certainly yet another arrow in Apple’s quiver of patents on the things that make the iPhone work the way it does, and Cupertino may well assert it against another OEM sometime down the line. But even still, Apple’s already locked in litigation against HTC, Samsung, and Motorola — one more granted patent isn’t going to swing the balance by much. So let’s all take a breath and remember to read the claims carefully next time, shall we? It’s better for everyone.
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Yahoo approaches Hulu about possible acquisition

Yahoo Inc. recently approached Hulu to discuss a possible acquisition of the popular online video service, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
Hulu, which streams television shows on the Internet, has been the subject of intense speculation about its future. The company, whose owners include media giants News Corp., Walt Disney Co. and Comcast Corp., has been struggling to find a balance between the desires of consumers to watch shows free online and its owners' interest in protecting the value of their programming. Late last year, it launched a paid subscription service to complement its free offerings.
Although there has been interest in the company, it remains unclear whether its owners have any desire to sell. Hulu has not taken any traditional steps associated with a sale such as retaining an investment bank to field offers. However, it is currently undergoing a restructuring that would give Chief Executive Jason Kilar and his executive team greater autonomy while imposing new rules on the availability of television content.
On Tuesday afternoon, word of the unsolicited offer spread and was subsequently confirmed by people close to the company. It is not known whether the offer came from Yahoo or another entity. Spokespersons for Yahoo, Hulu, News Corp. and Comcast declined to comment. A spokeswoman for Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Hulu's board of directors has not met to consider any offers, a person close to the board said. The Santa Monica company's board includes executives from News Corp., Disney and Providence Equity.
Comcast, which acquired its stake when it took control of NBC Universal, has no say in the operations of the company. It forfeited NBCUniversal's Hulu board seats and role in management as part of the conditions of government approval of Comcast's acquisition of the entertainment company.
An earlier attempt for Hulu to become an independent, publicly traded company was quashed because the service didn't have long-term rights to stream the broadcast TV shows that have attracted 27 million monthly viewers to the site. Any potential buyer would probably want to secure a long-term commitment to content from the current owners.
The Wall Street Journal first reported on the unsolicited offer.
-- Dawn C. Chmielewski and Ben Fritz
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New Top-Level Domains Approved by ICANN

The Board of ICANN today gave final approval to the most dramatic change to the Internet in four decades — allowing the expansion of new Top-Level Domains (TLDs). This monumental decision will allow companies and organizations to turn their own brands into Internet domain extensions (that is .brand) or to create broad generic strings such as .CAR, .SPORTS or .BANK. ICANN's TLD expansion plan was first announced three years ago on June 26, 2008 at the 32nd ICANN Meeting in Paris. The ICANN board members voted 13 for, 1 against, 2 abstain during its 41st international meeting currently underway in Singapore.
"ICANN has opened the Internet's addressing system to the limitless possibilities of the human imagination. No one can predict where this historic decision will take us," said Rod Beckstrom, President and Chief Executive Officer of ICANN. "Today's decision will usher in a new Internet age," said Peter Dengate Thrush, Chairman of ICANN's Board of Directors. "We have provided a platform for creativity and inspiration, and for the next big dot-thing."
ICANN in it's official announcement said today that it will soon begin a global campaign to tell the world about this dramatic change in Internet names and to raise awareness of the opportunities afforded by new gTLDs. Applications for new gTLDs will be accepted from 12 January 2012 to 12 April 2012
ICANN has indicated that it anticipates between 300 and 1,000 new TLDs could be created under the new program, providing an alternative to existing TLDs such as .com or .net.
Steve Crocker, ICANN Board Member, in his remarks during the board session said: "Many people will write positive and negative things, I'm sure. I hope that this is studied in business schools going forward and analyzed in many ways. And we'll look back and try to understand what the results were compared to what we expected. And I think that's a very healthy process. But having been involved in a series of key decisions along way from the very beginning, I fully understand that trying to do it exactly right and particularly trying to hold things up to get things exactly right, is exactly the wrong thing to do."

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According to Melbourne IT Digital Brand Services, ninety-two per cent of the 150 organizations which have expressed interest to the company about applying for a new Top Level Domain (TLD) indicated their preferred choice would be their core brand name, or a ‘.brand’.  (For example: Canon has publicly stated they will apply for ‘.canon’).  A further 11% indicated they were interested in applying for a generic term as a TLD (example generic names could be .bank, .hotel and so on).

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Kinect: Microsoft's accidental success story

- Microsoft introduced a peripheral device for gaming in November called Microsoft Kinect for Xbox 360. The product turned out to be a brain-dead simple-to-use, innovative and completely new user interface. It became the fastest-selling consumer electronics product in history, and has now sold more than 10 million units.
Kinect's reception has been more akin to an Apple product like the iPod, iPhone or iPad than a Microsoft one. Usually Microsoft has to spend hundreds of millions of marketing dollars just to become a second-tier player. Think of Bing, or Windows Phone 7. But not the Kinect. It just took off. Everyone loves it. The Kinect is Microsoft's iPad -- the hot consumer appliance with no significant competition.
Then something really unusual happened. Kinect became the hottest platform in the industry for bold new inventions. Scientists, hobbyists and inventors started "hacking" the Kinect to build crazy new contraptions, all without Microsoft's knowledge or permission.
Microsoft is used to battling pirates, counterfeiters, hackers and users who want to use without paying. So it was even more surprising when the company embraced and encouraged the movement. Microsoft's approach to Kinect reminds me of Google's approach to Android. In both cases, the companies have no idea where others will take the platform and take a hands-off approach to the direction of innovation.

Related Blog

Richi Jennings:
Microsoft Kinect in the enterprise: Not just for gaming
Microsoft officially sanctioned such "hacks" this week by releasing a software developers kit (SDK) for Kinect. What's unusual about the release is that Microsoft says it's "a free beta release for noncommercial applications." In other words, it's for hobbyists, tinkerers, hackers, scientists and inventors, rather than industry partners, software developers and OEMs. The company plans to release a commercial version later, which can be used for third-party applications that will be sold to the public.
Microsoft's SDK is very exciting for one major reason: People have already done mind-blowing things with Kinect even without the SDK. Kinect has been hacked to make serious breakthroughs in technology for marketing, medicine, business, computer science, entertainment and robotics.
Marketing
A Russian company called ARDoor has created an in-store "mirror" called the AR Door Kinect Fitting Room that superimposes clothes on shoppers. They can quickly cycle through different outfits to see how they'll look.
Medicine
An academic researcher at the Technical University of Munich created something he calls the "Magic Mirror." Designed for teaching anatomy, the system creates the illusion of a mirror that shows the user's insides through a "hole" in the body.
Business
A graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill created a 3D video conferencing system using four Kinect devices. The system uses head tracking to simulate reality. For example, with a conventional videoconferencing system, the other user is just flat on the screen. If you're looking at the user straight on, the view doesn't change when you move to the side. But with the Kinect-based 3D system, if you move to one side, you see the side of his or her face, rather than just the front.
Computer Science
MIT researchers built a working version of the user interface from the Steven Spielberg movie Minority Report, which involves computer control via very fine hand and finger gestures.
Researchers at Germany's Fraunhofer Institute created an elegant system for controlling a Windows PC with in-the-air hand gestures.
Entertainment
One "Kinect hacker" invented a motion-controlled sound-and-laser system that enables an on-stage performer to control an audio track and laser lights just by moving around. The laser beams can imitate the performer's motion or respond to gesture-based commands, and the sounds mirror the movement of the lights.
Accessibility
A Portugese scientist created a shopping cart system called the wi-GO for people in wheelchairs that follows the user around automatically.
A team of researchers at Sweden's Lulea University of Technology invented an autonomous wheelchair for the blind. The wheelchair contains a map of its surroundings, which it uses to navigate. But it can also avoid obstacles and people.
French researchers are working on a Kinect-based system for reading sign language. The user signs, and the system translates it into written or spoken language.
Robotics
UC Berkeley scientists created an autonomous flying robot using Kinect. The system's software can detect the floor, which it uses to know its own altitude, as well as objects and most importantly researchers to avoid flying into them.
Researchers at Technical University Munich used Kinect to enable a robot to shop and cook. Their custom software identifies the locations of products on a shelf, as well as ingredients on a counter, or cooking tools like pots, pans, spoons and so on.
Engineers at the University of Pennsylvania even taught a robot to read signs and posters using Kinect. The Kinect hardware is used to identify the signs, and compensate for different reading angles, which enables better optical character recognition.
Not bad for a cheap gaming peripheral.
Microsoft has an amazingly hot product on their hands, and something even better: A hot platform.
There's no question that in-air gesture-based interfaces will be huge in the future. Microsoft's lead is so vast, and so many people have already invested so much time and effort mastering the system, that it's unlikely anyone will catch them.
Microsoft is helping out with SDKs. But to truly exploit this once-in-a-generation opportunity, Microsoft should be funding hot Kinect projects, awarding grants to Kinect-based academic researchers and giving away Kinect units to inventors like candy. And Microsoft should wait and see who builds what, then buy the companies with technology that can be integrated into either Xbox or Windows.
Nobody should have to tell the company's motion-gaming division the obvious truth: Microsoft needs to make the right moves if it wants to win. And so far, so good.
Mike Elgan writes about technology and tech culture. Contact and learn more about Mike at Elgan.com, or subscribe to his free e-mail newsletter, Mike's List.
Read more about Emerging Technologies in Computerworld's Emerging Technologies Topic Center.

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Apple could buy the mobile phone industry

The second quarter ends in less than two weeks. When it does, I expect Apple will have over $70 billion in Cash, Cash Equivalents, Short-term marketable securities and long-term Marketable Securities. That figure has been growing predictably.
Also predictable has been the decline in value of Apple’s mobile phone competitors. Most spectacularly Nokia and RIM. The enterprise values of the public companies selling 75% of all phones sold world-wide are as follows:

• Nokia $22.6b
• RIM $13.8b
• HTC $25.4b
• Motorola Mobility $4.2b

The values of the profitable phone-making subsidiaries are a bit more difficult to estimate but we can use multiples of trailing operating profits. I generously use the multiple applied to HTC (14).

• Sony Ericsson $0.21b x 14 = $3.0b
• Samsung $3.76b x 14 = $53b

That leaves valuing LG’s phone business which has not been profitable in the last four quarters. I assume a nominal value of $10b. These data points are shown in the following chart:
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LulzSec - 1000th tweet statement

Dear Internets,
This is Lulz Security, better known as those evil bastards from twitter. We just hit 1000 tweets, and as such we thought it best to have a little chit-chat with our friends (and foes).
For the past month and a bit, we've been causing mayhem and chaos throughout the Internet, attacking several targets including PBS, Sony, Fox, porn websites, FBI, CIA, the U.S. government, Sony some more, online gaming servers (by request of callers, not by our own choice), Sony again, and of course our good friend Sony.
While we've gained many, many supporters, we do have a mass of enemies, albeit mainly gamers. The main anti-LulzSec argument suggests that we're going to bring down more Internet laws by continuing our public shenanigans, and that our actions are causing clowns with pens to write new rules for you. But what if we just hadn't released anything? What if we were silent? That would mean we would be secretly inside FBI affiliates right now, inside PBS, inside Sony... watching... abusing...
Do you think every hacker announces everything they've hacked? We certainly haven't, and we're damn sure others are playing the silent game. Do you feel safe with your Facebook accounts, your Google Mail accounts, your Skype accounts? What makes you think a hacker isn't silently sitting inside all of these right now, sniping out individual people, or perhaps selling them off? You are a peon to these people. A toy. A string of characters with a value.
This is what you should be fearful of, not us releasing things publicly, but the fact that someone hasn't released something publicly. We're sitting on 200,000 Brink users right now that we never gave out. It might make you feel safe knowing we told you, so that Brink users may change their passwords. What if we hadn't told you? No one would be aware of this theft, and we'd have a fresh 200,000 peons to abuse, completely unaware of a breach.
Yes, yes, there's always the argument that releasing everything in full is just as evil, what with accounts being stolen and abused, but welcome to 2011. This is the lulz lizard era, where we do things just because we find it entertaining. Watching someone's Facebook picture turn into a penis and seeing their sister's shocked response is priceless. Receiving angry emails from the man you just sent 10 dildos to because he can't secure his Amazon password is priceless. You find it funny to watch havoc unfold, and we find it funny to cause it. We release personal data so that equally evil people can entertain us with what they do with it.openbox s9
Most of you reading this love the idea of wrecking someone else's online experience anonymously. It's appealing and unique, there are no two account hijackings that are the same, no two suddenly enraged girlfriends with the same expression when you admit to killing prostitutes from her boyfriend's recently stolen MSN account, and there's certainly no limit to the lulz lizardry that we all partake in on some level.dreambox dm8000,Azbox Mini Me Satellite Receiver
And that's all there is to it, that's what appeals to our Internet generation. We're attracted to fast-changing scenarios, we can't stand repetitiveness, and we want our shot of entertainment or we just go and browse something else, like an unimpressed zombie. Nyan-nyan-nyan-nyan-nyan-nyan-nyan-nyan, anyway...
Nobody is truly causing the Internet to slip one way or the other, it's an inevitable outcome for us humans. We find, we nom nom nom, we move onto something else that's yummier. We've been entertaining you 1000 times with 140 characters or less, and we'll continue creating things that are exciting and new until we're brought to justice, which we might well be. But you know, we just don't give a living fuck at this point - you'll forget about us in 3 months' time when there's a new scandal to gawk at, or a new shiny thing to click on via your 2D light-filled rectangle. People who can make things work better within this rectangle have power over others; the whitehats who charge $10,000 for something we could teach you how to do over the course of a weekend, providing you aren't mentally disabled.
This is the Internet, where we screw each other over for a jolt of satisfaction. There are peons and lulz lizards; trolls and victims. There's losers that post shit they think matters, and other losers telling them their shit does not matter. In this situation, we are both of these parties, because we're fully aware that every single person that reached this final sentence just wasted a few moments of their time.
Thank you, bitches.
Lulz Security

4 Million Users Strong And Apple Design Award In Hand, Pulse Grabs $9 Million Series A

Apple doesn’t hand out a lot of design awards. When they do, it’s a pretty clear indication of the apps they feel best showcase their platforms. This year at WWDC, one of the winners was Pulse, the visual news-reading app created by Alphonso Labs. And Apple isn’t the only one taking notice of the app, so are investors.
New Enterprise Associates, Greycroft Partners, and Lerer Ventures have just poured $9 million into Pulse. As you might imagine, the nice-sized Series A will help the small team grow and continue to push towards creating the perfect news reading apps for modern devices. NEA’s Patrick Chung will join Pulse’s board, and Greycroft Managing Director Alan Patricof and Lerer Ventures Manager (and Huffington Post co-founder) Ken Lerer will serve as advisors to the company.
While it first launched on the iPad and got some nice early traction (and mentions on stage by Apple during events), Pulse is now available on the iPhone and Android devices as well. With the new money, the team will be looking at other platforms too. Presumably, things like webOS for the new HP tablets coming out.
Pulse also recently passed 4 million total users across all the devices they’re currently available on. And a couple weeks ago, they launched a new way to save stories for later reading, Pulse.me.
With the new money, they’re just shy of $10 million in total funding.
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Dreambox DM500HD Satellite Receiver

Dreambox DM500HD Satellite Receiver Specifications

Digital satellite receiver for digital TV and radio programs.
Main features are a 400 MHz processor the Dreambox DM 500 HD supports the Linux TV API
experience high definition TV on your Dreambox
10/100 compatible Ethernet Interface
HDMI connection
Technical data:
400 MHz MIPS processor
Enigma 2, Linux Operating System
2 x LED - display
MPEG-2 / H.264 Hardware decoding
Tuner: DVB-S2
1 x Smart Card Reader (Dreamcrypt CA)
Service Mini-USB
10/100Mbps Ethernet Interface
1 x Scart (RGB, CVBS, YUV or S-Video)
HDMI
analog modem
S / PDIF optical port
64 MB Flash, 256 MB RAM
unlimited channel lists for TV / Radio
Channel change in less than a second
automatic channel search
Supports directly bouquet-lists
Supports EPG (electronic program guide)
Teletext Decoder
Supports multiple LNB-Switching control (DiSEqC)
OSD in many languages ??and skin-support
External 12V power supply

DreamBox DM 500 HD Specifications:
DBS-Tuner DVB-S2:
Input frequency range 950 .... 2150 MHz
Demodulation DVB-S (QPSK), DVB-S2 (8PSK, QPSK)
Symbol Rate DVB-S: 2 ... 45 Mbaud / s, SCPC / MCPC
DVB-S2: 10-31 Mbaud / s (8PSK), 10 - 30 Mbaud / s (QPSK)
Video decoder:
Video compression MPEG-2 and MPEG-1 compatible, H.264
4:3 / 16:9
Letterbox for 4:3 TV-Device
Audio coding:
Audio compression MPEG-1 & MPEG-2 Layer I and II
Audio Mode Dual (main / sub), Stereo
Sampling frequencies 32 kHz, 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, 16 kHz, 22.05 kHz, 24 kHz
Output analog:
Output Level L / R 0,5 Vss on 600 Ohm
THD> 60 dB (1 kHz)
Crosstalk <-65 dB
Output digital:
Output Level 0,5 Vss on 75 Ohm
Sampling frequencies 32 kHz, 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz
S / PDIF-Output optical, Toslink
Video output:
Output Level 1 Vpp + / - 0.3 dB on 75 Ohm
Video parameter:
Input level 1 Vpp + / - 0.3 dB on 75 Ohm
Teletext filter in conformity with ETS 300 472 Standard
TV-Scart:
Output: CVBS, YUV, RGB, S-Video
Mini USB service interface
Function Update of Firmware
Ethernet:
10/100 MBit compatible interface
Function Update of Firmware
Analog Modem:
analog modem for Internet access
LNB power supply:
LNB Current 500mA max. In short circuit protection
LNB Voltage vertical <14V without load,> 11,5 V at 400mA
LNB Voltage horizontal <20V without load,> 17,3 V at 400mA
LNB shut-off in standby mode
Number of active satellite position:
DiSEqC 1.0/1.1/1.2 and USALS - Rotor Control
Power consumption:
<12W at 12V operation
<1W Standby
Input voltage:
External power supply:
Input:
110-240V AC / 50-60Hz / 0,6 A
Output:
12V = / 3,0 AGeneral:
Ambient temperature +15 . .. +35
Humidity <80%
Dimensions (W x D x H): 195 mm x 130 mm x 40 mm
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dreambox dm500s does not move motor help please

Dreambox 500s Does not move motor HELP PLEASE !!!
Hi guys and firstly let me thank anyone for their help.
I have a dreambox 500s and it doesnt seem to have enough power to move the motor, so what I have done is reinstalled my Technomate 5400 to drive the motor which it does no problem and finds all the sweet spots in all satellite I have searched for without a problem.
I have run a cable from the TM5400 out of LNB out to the LNB In on the dreambox and can watch all the channels that way via Scart of course.
Is there anyway possible that I can use to dreambox via the TM5400 to drive the motor without having to change cables all the time?
Thanks again in advance
Bopper
DM 500s are not the best for driving motors but they do work slowly , have you got a long run from dish to stb that could possibly cause dm500 not enough power to move dish, alternativly use tm as positioner and loop through to dm
Hi dale yeah the run is about 40 mtrs or so and the dm just doesnt move it at all but if i press the east / west button on the motor it will move then.
Thanks for getting back as quick by the way.
if the motor moves manually then it has the power, try turning usals of and manually scan a couple of sats in ie 13 e 15.8 e 19.2e note that you have to save every sat you tune in , then try and see.
The DM500 doesn't have the power to move a motor plus its a clone so it definitely wont have enough power to move the dish. Don't think you can use the Dreambox to control the Technomate you'll just have to switch between them.
you must be using different DM500S to me then aamir007 cos most ive fitted for customers on reletavely short runs do move the motor and only occasionally stick with a reboot normally rectifying the problem, personnally i wouldnt supply them for motorised i usually use tm500/600/super with technomate motors with no problem whatsover, not all members can afford top of the range boxes and have to make do with what they can afford , so i think we should be helping these members not telling them that dm500s dont work with motors, which is not the case m8.
Sorry about that dale094 i've never used a DM500 to move a motor and from what i've seen and heard there not very good at it. My apologies i've got this one wrong i'll be sure to mention in my future posts that they are capable of moving motor on short runs.

If it doesn't happen with the Technomate receiver it is not down to cable length. Maybe just getting a better quality power supply would make all the difference. If the motor is moving when you push the button there is enough power to drive the motor. What is probably happening is once the motor starts to move the power it is drawing causes the voltage to drop sufficiently that the controller circuit in the motor forgets the command it has just been sent. Making sure the first channel when the motor moves is horizontally polarised might help because in horizontal mode there are 5 volts more going to the motor.
mine had problems moving the motor with the stock power supply you get with the dm500. replaced the power supply with a 5amp one from a broken pc monitor, this solved it and it has been fine. the clones are renouned for dodgy power supplies.
Bopper has already stated that the dish moves manually so the power supply doesnt look like the problem , It could just be a case of the sats have not been saved , try a manual scan of sats and save positions then try.
Dale it can still be the power supply even if the dish moves when you press the button. When you press the button you are just looping power straight to the motor. Voltage drop doesn't matter. When you send a DiSEqC command you are using the microprocessor in the motor to interpret the command and control the motor. In this case if voltage drop is too much the the microprocessor will "forget" what it is doing and the motor will stop... or not even start in the first place.
Correct me if im wrong but all switching and voltage control is determined through the box.
The specified power supply voltage (Vcc) is 5.0 volts ± 10%.
At a nominal oscillator frequency of 6 MHz the typical current consumption
of the chip is 6 mA.
The normal port pins in the 80C51 series of microcontrollers have “quasi bidirectional”
characteristics. To achieve this, the on-chip circuitry provides a
weak pull-up (source) current of about 50 μA, and a rather stronger pull-down
(sink) current of a few mA when a logical ‘0’ is written to the port pin. At
power-up and reset, the microcontroller’s internal hardware automatically
sets all the port pins high. To use any pin as an input, the software leaves (or
sets) the pin “high” and then the external signal only needs to sustain the
relatively small pull-up current. When used as an output, an “active low”
(sink) current of up to a few mA is available, or some “active high” (source)
current may be obtained via an externally connected resistor of typically
3.3 kW to Vcc.
The switching characteristics for the normal port pins are:
Input “low” voltage = 0.8 volts maximum at 4.5 volts Vcc
Input “high” voltage = 2.0 volts minimum at 5.5 volts Vcc
Output “low” voltage = 0.45 volts maximum at 1.6 mA (sink)
Output “high” voltage = 2.4 volts minimum at 60 μs (source)
so if voltage looped through works then it should when switched.
Forget the Dreambox and it's power supply for a minute. Just think about the motor. Supply it with 13 volts down the coax. Press the button and the motor moves. Send it a DiSEqC command down the coax and the processor circuitry inside the motor interprets that command and moves the motor. Lower the voltage on the coax to 8 volts. Press the button and the motor moves. Slower than with 13 volts but it moves. Send a DiSEqC command down the coax to the motor and it doesn't move. It doesn't move because 8 volts is not enough for the processor in the motor to work properly and interpret the DiSEqC command. Since all power ultimately comes from the plugin power supply if it is not man enough to maintain the demand the voltage level at the motor will fall below the point where the processor in the motor ceases to function properly or at all.

So you have just answered my question : power supply: not multi but single to reciever-> reciever ->coax->motor->LNB: The motor being the slave: so if the power supply is man enough to move motor manually-> and reciever is first point then sending commands to slave: then chain working to motor, so it is the box and not the power supply that supplies the power to the slave .wholesale
I stand corrected: but hey we are here to help , but it seems Bopper has moved on weeks ago and cant be bothered to return any findings to us : so as Alan Sugar would say : Im out.
Lets face it the DM500 isn't a proper receiver. I've had the pleasure of setting up a few, even had one myself for about 3 days
They are only any good for single sat systems or multiple ones that run off a DISEqC switch. Motors have always been a waste of time with these receivers.
Even if you can get the motor to move, nine times out of ten it will try and park itself in the wall.
Horrible nasty pieces of kit which should be avoided at all costs.
Thanks everyone for your thoughts on this problem, i still have the problem though so I am saving my cash to buy a better box so now the question??? What is the best box to get that is like the DB500s.
I was fortunate the other week to see an original Dreambox 500s, it drove the motor faultlessly and with USALS/Goto X as well, no probs. Its the crappy clone rubbish thats the problem.Ditto the DM800 clones also.Waste of cash IMHO. These machines are just a PITA, as you never know whether the clones will work properly or not.

sources from: http://www.crown-sat-receiver.com/