The Associated Press is reporting that DISH Network has unveiled plans that will allow subscribers to stream live satellite television to their mobile devices.

This means that they will be able to watch programming that is delivered to their mobile device via their home DVR systems and even change channels. It will also allow someone at home to watch a different channel at the same time if the DVR is equipped with two tuners.

Users will also be able to access and view programs that have already been recorded and stored on the DVR.

The new features are scheduled to be introduced this fall and will be available on Apple’s iPhone, Ipod Touch and iPad, as well as the BlackBerry and Google’s Android devices.

DISH Network customers wishing to take advantage of the new features will require special hardware at home, such as Sling Media’s SlingBox or a Sling-capable DVR such as the ViP922. Sling Media is owned by EchoStar Corp., the company that was once the parent company of DISH Network and is chaired by DISH Network CEO Charlie Ergen.

New technology and fierce competition among pay-TV providers will likely bring more new innovations from DISH in the future.

We’ve known for a while that DISH Network and Google have been collaborating on a plan that will bring web content to DISH Network subscribers through their DVRs. Although it may be something that is hard to wrap your head around without actually seeing it, the press release that announces that the plan “seamlessly integrates multichannel television with rich web media content.”

The new features of GoogleTV will allow DISH Network subscribers with the right equipment to simultaneously seek out content across DISH Network, the Internet and their own DVRs. It will also allow users to overlay internet content related to TV programs, movies, actors and more, and it will also link web content back to multichannel TV.

Like most new technologies that are announced, it probably doesn’t sound as cool as it actually is. DISH Network subscribers with HD DVRs will be able to take advantage of this new service when it is brought online. Currently, the companies are expecting it to be available sometime in the fall.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt had this to say about GoogleTV: “We are excited to bring the web to television and enable developers to innovate on the Google TV platform. With DISH Network’s contributions, Google TV delivers a richer user experience and a compelling product for consumers.”

I can think of a number of instances where functionality like this will be useful to get answers to questions that come up while watching your favorite program. I do not understand the exact details of GoogleTV yet, but I can envision a scenario like this:

You’re watching one of your favorite TV programs and an actor appears that you recognize but you cannot figure out where you have seen him or her before. You can probably check the name of the actor just by pressing the “Info” button on your DISH Network remote control, but if not, you will likely see it in the credits at the end of the show.

You could then access Google or Imdb.com and find out what other television programs or movies this actor has appeared in. All without leaving the comfort of your favorite TV-watching chair.

It’s been a while in the making, but DISH Network has announced their latest and most technologically-advanced DVR to date. The ViP922 has some pretty revolutionary features that continue the tradition of superiority in DVR technology.

I guess the most outstanding feature of the 922 is that it is SlingLoaded. What does that mean? Well, it means you can watch programming via your DVR from just about anywhere you can get access to the internet. That includes wireless devices that are capable of playing video. I guess you could say the 922 “slings” programming content out onto the internet for you to watch when you are not at home.

Compared with earlier DVR units such as the ViP622 and ViP722, you’ll find a lot of the same features on the 922, like remote access, searchable program guides, caller ID display and more. The big win for the 922 is the built-in ability to more-or-less take your TV with you just about anywhere as long as you can get on an internet-connected PC or internet-enabled wireless device.

This seems like the perfect solution for sports fans who sometimes have to record or simply miss the big game because they are away from home. It should not be too hard to sneak away for a few minutes and check the scores or the latest plays on the NFL’s RedZone channel on your cell phone even if you are at mom’s for Thanksgiving dinner.

It should also be noted that the ViP922 was selected as a “Best of CES” winner in 2009. You can read more about that here.

So I’m watching something on my DISH Network ViP622 DVR a couple of nights ago and the picture suddenly disappears. Think “fade to black,” but without the fade part. I noticed that the yellow light on the front of the unit had gone out and the green one remained on.

A few seconds later the green light also went out. I walked over to the unit and could hear it making the usual sounds it makes as it is being restarted. It attempted to restart itself three or four times until it finally seemed to stabilize and was OK for the rest of the evening. Thinking that there may have been some kind of urgent software update or something, or perhaps a technical glitch somewhere, I didn’t think too much more about it. Until last night.

Same story last night. This time I dialed up DISH Network right off the bat and got someone on the phone who tried to help me out. Problem was that the DVR just wouldn’t stay up long enough to do anything with. Just as she was walking me through some of the settings to check, it restarted itself again.

At that point, she decided it would be best to send me a new unit. She said they would ship it out ASAP and we can return the original DVR in the same box with a pre-paid label provided.

I had a pretty good hunch that the thing was on its way out, and I appreciated the fact that the support representative on the other end of the line did not treat me like a dope and have me trying all kinds of pointless tricks to make the thing work. The only thing we tried was unplugging the DVR from the power-surge protected power strip and directly into the wall. I was not surprised that it did not help.

After I hung up with DISH Network, the DVR managed to struggle back to its feet and seemed to be Ok for the time being. It restarted one more time a short time later but came right back up and seemed to work OK for the rest of the evening.

While I’m waiting for the new one to show up, I will go through my scheduled timers and make a note of all the programs I have set up to be recorded. I’d love to get the 8 recorded episodes of Planet Earth off of there and onto the new DVR when I get it, but I am not sure that’s possible and have not researched it yet. Heck, I can probably catch repeats of them some day. Could never bring myself to delete them.

Anyway, I was kind of hoping for a new model, but from what I can see when I log into my DISH Network account online, it looks like they will be sending me another 622. I was not even aware that they made them any longer.

I’ve had the unit about three years but it does get some pretty continuous use. I watch recorded programs on it just about every night and my wife records her share of programs as well. This is the first time we’ve had any serious issues with it.

Oh well, we’ll see what happens, and hope I can get through the next few days without too many restarts or a total failure.

Yeah, well what the heck does that mean? That was the thought that went through my mind when I saw that headline. Turns out that this is some really great news!

This promises to put an end to one of the most annoying experiences I’ve ever experienced while watching television. Those ridiculous changes in volume when a commercial comes on, or when you switch from one channel to another.

In my experience, the problem is with commercials the vast majority of the time. I always wondered if it was intentional, and wished that someone could do something about it. Well, it looks like DISH Network has stepped up to the plate and it set to put an end to the problem once and for all!

I have not seen the details of exactly which receivers and DVRs will be able to utilize this new feature, so it’s hard to say how many subscribers will have access to it. I’m hoping my ViP622 will be eligible, as it sounds like this will be rolled out as part of a software upgrade which DISH periodically sends out to receivers and DVRs to introduce new features and make corrections to various problems. Subscribers with older receivers may not see the benefit of this new feature, but again, I’m not sure of the details.

Anyway, the folks at SRS have developed this new technology called TruVolume which can equalize the volume level on your TV no matter what channel you switch to, or which annoying commercial comes on.

DISH Network is the only pay-TV service set to offer this new feature, which the company says will be rolled out to subscriber DVRs and receivers sometime early this year. Not surprisingly, a survey revealed that nine out of ten TV viewers noticed volume changes while watching TV, and 89% of them found volume fluctuations annoying. Frankly, I’m surprised that the number was not 100 percent! How the heck could someone not find that annoying?

Personally, I’m quite fed up with grabbing for the remote when the volume shoots up on its own when a commercial comes on, and my wife is yelling at me and saying “It’s too loud!” I surely don’t like it, but my wife is even less tolerant of it than I am.

This announcement, coupled with the announcement yesterday regarding “TV Everywhere” places DISH firmly at the top of the pay-TV service providers where technology is concerned. Sure, DISH might have some work to do in the customer service area, but if they can bring that up to match their technology, they will be the pay-TV provider to beat.

I guess this is why DISH Network has reversed the trend they were enduring as they lost customers to other providers, and they are now gaining customers once again. This one feature alone might be enough to convince me to try DISH if I were not already a customer!

I had wondered what kind of useful features DISH Network might be introducing when they announced a while back that we could not connect our DVRs to the internet. Due to the amount of work involved, I put it of for quite a while, but I finally got around to getting it connected via my home network a couple of months ago.

The big benefit I noticed right off the bat was that I had access to a lot more on demand content. Some of it was from channels I did not even subscribe to, so that was kind of cool. All you need to do is select one of the on-demand programs from the list and it will be downloaded via the internet for you to watch.

A while later I discovered another nice advantage to having my DVR connected to the internet. I could access and control my DVR from anywhere I could access the internet. I can sit in my office and browse the program guide on my PC and set up programs to be recorded while my wife is sitting in the living room watching TV.

Check out the story of how I managed to save the day by borrowing my son’s iPhone to access my DVR while riding in the car on the way back home one night after I realized I had forgotten to set the DVR to record something. Now that was cool.

I’ve heard this talked about for a while now, but it appears that Dish Network has implemented interactive advertising. I have only noticed it once so far, and I’m not sure if that’s because I don’t watch enough TV or because the new feature is in the testing phase or something.

About a week ago I was watching something on TV in the evening. I think it was the History Channel, and I was watching a very cool program about the early years of the U.S. space program.

During a commercial for a Ford truck, I noticed on the upper right-hand portion of the screen a small notice appeared that said something like “Press select for more information on this product,” or something to that effect.

Not being able to resist a new feature, I pressed “Select” and was taken to another screen showing a Ford truck and what appeared to be options for obtaining more information about them.

Being more curious about the new Dish Network feature and less curious about Ford Trucks, I selected the “Exit” option. It was then that I realized that Dish did not have all the bugs worked out of this new feature yet.

My VIP-622 DVR pretty much “locked up” and my TV went dark, as if it had been turned off. No amount of button pushing on the DVR remote or the DVR itself would bring it back to life.

I then resorted to the old pull-the-plug plan and yanked the power plug for the DVR from the wall outlet. After the DVR completed it lengthy start-up process, everything was fine and I was able to resume watching the program I had been enjoying.

I can honestly envision a time when I might actually have enough interest in a product being advertised to want more information about it, but I will be hesitant to use a feature like this again for two reasons:

1. Fear that it will lock up my DVR again.

2. Not wanting to miss a portion of the program I am watching in order to browse through product information. Now if the DVR allows me to rewind and view the portion of the program I missed as it can under normal circumstances, I will be much more likely to try this new feature again.

I guess a little experimentation is in order. Perhaps I can give it another shot some day if I see one of these interactive ad opportunities while I happen to be in the room while my wife is watching the Lifetime channel.

On second thought, that may not be such a great idea.

A new review from PC Magazine on the new VIP722 DVR From Dish Network just reaffirms my opinion of Dish Network’s DVR’s in general. I have the VIP622 myself and I just love it.

The 722 has some advantages over the 622 but they are not worth the $200 for an existing customer like myself to upgrade. Besides, I really don’t have a need for the new features anyway.

I guess the most notable new feature is the increased hard drive capacity. The 722 will hold 350 hours of standard-definition programming and 55 hours of HD programming while my 622 only holds 200 hours of standard and 35 hours of HD programming. I don’t know about you, but for me the 622 holds more than I will ever need. I don’t watch that much TV!

I’ve been completely satisfied with my Dish Network DVR so far. I’ve had it about a year and so far the only problem I have had with it is that it has failed to feed a signal to my TV a couple of times when I turned it on. Just unplugging it and plugging it back in solves that problem — I kind of DVR “reboot” if you will.

If you want to read PC Magazine’s full review, check it out here.