One for the history books. This has been a great year for Solid Signal Tech, and before we look forward to a fantastic 2013, let’s take one more look at the products and events that made it the best year ever for us!
10 Years
This was our anniversary year. Most small businesses don’t live to celebrate 10 years, and even fewer of them make it in the tough world of consumer electronics. Solid Signal celebrated 10 years serving you and we did it in style. Our product selection is even bigger than ever and we’re always looking for new products to offer you.
(re)Birth of the Blog
This year, to better serve you, we massively relaunched our social media presence. Our company blog and support forums, which have been around since 2003, were merged and revamped into a tech support and information powerhouse (but you know that, since you’re reading it.) To date over 7,000 members and 25,000 people per month come visit and read the over 4,000 articles housed here.
Super DVR Cage Match
This year saw two titans emerge to do battle on the field of satellite tv. I speak of course of DISH’s Hopper and DIRECTV’s HR34 Genie, the most powerful DVR leviathans on the planet. Both give you the power to record every show on the major networks simultaneously with enough capacity to keep you watching for a month or more. Best of all, both give full DVR functionality to tiny clients — Joey and C31 Genie Client — that sit silently and give you full power without the size.
Year of the Fee Fight
No “year in tech” story would really be complete without the real drama of the year. For years, the content providers have played chicken with the pay-TV companies, and someone always blinks before channels go off the air. This year, we saw more and more fee fights turn into blackouts. Whether it was DIRECTV and Viacom in the largest media blackout in history, or DISH’s long fight with AMC, everyone bickered and no one benefited. DIRECTV chose not to air PAC-12, but eventually picked up TWC Sportsnet just before socking local markets with a $3 fee for additional sports programming. No question, it got “real” in 2012.
The Cell Phone Smackdown
Solid Signal has a large customer base who rely on us for cellular boosters, and so we have to watch the cell phone market even though we don’t sell the phones themselves. This year it was all about Apple and Samsung. Samsung may have lost in court, but they fielded the first phone to really make a dent in Apple’s dominance. Apple came late to the party with a new iPhone but failed to impress with some high-profile flubs like its flawed maps product.
Rise of the Antenna
The year wouldn’t be complete without mentioning our top product, the HD-BLADE antenna. This was our most exciting product launch ever. You can’t get this product anywhere else and the more we put it out there for independent review, the more happy people we found. This product outperforms any other antenna its size and even some larger outdoor ones.
MDTV – The Revolution’s late but it’s finally here
It took years but we finally saw a mainstream MDTV product with the eyeTV Mobile. There’s still a demand for live TV while out and about, and using your data plan isn’t the way to go. Now there’s a product that turns your iPhone or iPad into a TV, even in a moving car.
At the end of it all, though, our proudest achievement has been that our customer satisfaction has never been higher. Let’s all enter 2013 knowing that it’s going to be the best!
Your Solid Signal team
