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TiVo Users to Still See Many Ads Wed Nov 17, 5:50 PM ET NEW YORK (Reuters) - TiVo (news - web sites) Inc.(Nasdaq:TIVO - news), maker of digital television video recorders, will next year add ways for viewers to see advertising and corporate logos even as they try to skip commercials, the company said on Wednesday. Starting in March, most viewers who fast-forward through programs on their TiVo digital video recorder (DVR) -- a set-top box that saves shows on a built-in computer hard drive -- will see small pop-up billboards or logos related to the brands represented in some of the ads. TiVo said it worked with more than 30 of the biggest U.S. advertisers, including auto manufacturers and Hollywood studios, in a strategic move to bolster its tiny ad unit, which generates only a fraction of the company's revenue. TiVo spokeswoman Kathryn Kelly said the move, which will allow advertisers a chance to offer viewers contest entries and giveaways, will not affect consumers' ability to fast-forward through commercials. "It is just another way for advertisers to show their brands in a less intrusive way than traditional advertising," she said. Subscribers, who pay up to $13 a month for the full TiVo service, will see the change automatically through a software upgrade. Later in 2005, TiVo hopes to launch a system that lets viewers buy merchandise and take part in surveys using the buttons on their remote controls, Kelly said. However, subscribers who receive the TiVo service via satellite provider DirecTV Group Inc.(NYSE:DTV - news), TiVo's biggest source of new customers, are not expected to see a change in their service. Unlike so-called "standalone" TiVo subscribers, who buy their boxes in retail stores, DirecTV chooses which set-top boxes and services are funneled to its users. "DirecTV doesn't always roll out all the features that we offer," she said. TIVO AT CROSSROADS The advertising plans come as TiVo hits a crossroads. It has swelled to 2 million subscribers, but U.S. cable companies are starting to offer similar services at cheaper prices. Moreover, DirecTV -- controlled by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. (NYSE:NWS_W - news) -- has hinted that its future may not include TiVo. TiVo seeks to drive retail sales with enhanced features and services and boost revenue from other sources, such as advertising and audience measurement, which tracks the viewing behavior of its users. In the past, advertisers and TV networks viewed DVRs as a threat, arguing that some devices' commercial skipping features violate copyright laws and rob them of revenues. But DVRs are becoming a mainstream product and TiVo, which counts entertainment giants NBC, the General Electric Co.(NYSE:GE - news) unit, and Time Warner Inc.(NYSE:TWX - news) as stakeholders, has generally chosen to partner with advertisers. EchoStar Communications Corp.'s (Nasdaq:DISH - news) Dish Network, a DirecTV rival, said it does not plan to change the ad-skipping features of its DVR set-top boxes. "We don't have any of the pop-up features that TiVo says they want to include," said spokesman Marc Lumpkin. 3:27:51 PM

TiVo has 2 mln paying subscribers. In an article describing TiVo's moves in DVR advertising, Reuters mentions TiVo boasting 2 mln paying subscribers. Subscriptions start at $13 a month. More on this story at www.ITfacts.biz [AlwaysOn Network] 3:22:46 PM

450 mln DVD players by 2008. In a story on VHS departure from some leading retail chains CNet compares DVD sales statistics to those of VHS. Sales of DVD players outstrip those of VHS players by a factor of 40 to one globally. Blockbuster reports that over 80 percent of its rentals are DVDs. Internationally the market for DVDs is currently estimated at some $15 billion a year. The industry expects that some 450 million households will have a DVD player by 2008. More on this story at... [AlwaysOn Network] 3:20:11 PM

ICQ joins webmail battles with new service. The increasingly competitive webmail market has a new player: Instant messaging provider ICQ now offers a fee-based service that includes 2GB of storage, a calendar feature, task manager, notepad, wireless access and support for both POP3 (Post Office Protocol 3) and IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol). [MacCentral News] 3:16:48 PM

RSS Newsfeeds, MP3 And Podcasting: Will The BBC Take Them All Mainstream?. The recent news that the BBC is experimenting at the bleeding edge of the new media technology world, with podcasting, probably shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. They have been experimenting with the newest of new media technologies...... [Robin Good's Latest News] 1:27:57 PM

USB Flash Card with Calculator I get a few spammy emails from predominately Taiwanese vendors showing off their products¡Xoccasionally they're even worth mentioning, like this 'credit card' USB flash drive with a solar-powered calculator on the front. Earth shaking? No, but a nice efficiency of space. No price, but if you want to try their email, it's e2591259@mail.apol.com.tw. Usually these companies are only interested in selling in bulk, though, so bear that in mind. - lev (joeljohnson@gmail.com) [Gizmodo] 1:00:49 PM

Nokia sets TV goals By 2006 TV over mobile will be a reality with Nokia phones. Within two years as many as 20 different TV channels will be made available, Anssi Vanjoki, Nokia's general manager of Multimedia said. Nokia says it will support the DVB-H standard for mobile phones, but transmission frequencies for mobile TV have not yet been allocated yet. At the annual Nokia Capital Market Day in New York, Nokia senior management set out clear targets and milestones to build new competitive advantage. Nokia said it expects the mobile device industry to grow approximately 10% in volume in 2005, but to achieve this the company is recognised it needs to keep up its investment in R&D, and focus on customer satisfaction. "Industry dynamics have shifted, and we have been adapting our mindset, customer approach, product portfolio and technologies to sharpen our competitive position," said Jorma Ollila, Chairman and CEO, Nokia. "Our goal is to bring Nokia's overall R&D expenditure down to 9% - 10% of net sales by the end of 2006 with increased focus and efficiency gains to be achieved by reducing cycle time by approximately 50% to get the most compelling products to market at the right time," said Ollila. 8:16:11 AM

CNN plugs Podcasting. CNN has been promoting an article on Podcasting on their homepage. [Adam Curry: Adam Curry's Weblog] 8:08:19 AM

Nokia Neo The folks over at Mobile Gadgets appear to have somehow gotten their hands on a Nokia Neo (or at least gotten their hands on pics of it), and I must say that I'm not impressed. It looks cool for about, oh, 20 seconds, but then you realize it looks too much like the revision Nintendo did to the NES way back when. Mobile Gadgets reports the Neo has no hard drive, which the community was hoping for. Hell, it hasn't even got a keypad ¡X you have to use a scroll wheel to input numbers/letters into the phone. Nokia Neo - mobile phone with ipod-usability [Mobile Gadgets via Engadget] - Liam (zmcnulty@techjapan.com) [Gizmodo] 8:02:29 AM

Dedicated Device’s Digital Distribution Center and Digital Player Posted Nov 16, 2004, 7:40 AM ET by Peter Rojas Related entries: Home Entertainment We would have been massively stoked about this a couple of a years ago when there weren’t already a ton of other companies trying to do basically the same thing, but Dedicated Devices has been showing off the Digital Distribution Center, a media hub with a built-in hard drive and 8 Ethernet ports that can stream up to eight audio and four video streams to Digital Player receiver boxes which you can connect to TVs and stereos around the house. The system supports playback of MP3 and WMA audio files and MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and MPEG-4 video files and doubles as a DHCP server (which is handy for remotely accessing your files), but eHomeUpgrade notices the lack of any support for wireless (they’re more forgiving about it than we would have been) or the ability to record and playback shows TiVo-style, a couple of features that at $2250 per hub and $299 per receiver, you might feel legitimately entitled to. 8:00:45 AM

Building an Email Client in Director. Use the Multiuser Xtra to connect to a POP server and retrieve email. [Director Online Articles] 7:56:25 AM