The FCC likely will hand T-Mobile, other wireless carriers and airlines a victory over the Mass. Port Authority (Massport) on a Massport demand that Continental Airline yank a Wi-Fi antenna from its frequent flyer lounge at Boston- Logan International Airport. Sources involved in the fight said Wed. the order has big implications for Wi-Fi’s future. Continental wants to offer customers free Wi-Fi service, competing with Massport’s $7.95-a-day service (WID June 5 p6).
TiVo ran a 2-week Showcase long-form ad augmenting Coca- Cola’s “subLYMONal” campaign for new Lymon-flavor Sprite. Long-format ads download automatically to a special section of the TiVo PVR’s hard drive. To hold viewers, each spot begins in voiceover: “Welcome to ’subLYMONal’ advertising. For best results, do not blink.” The ads also say they're “DVR Ready,” to encourage recording. Viewers who replay the ads can find extra content, including embedded codes that can be entered at a special Web site for premiums. The campaign was by Sprite’s ad agency, Crispin Porter + Bogusky; the ‘SubLYMONal’ site, by AKQA. The subLYMONal ads air on Soul Train Weekly, G4 and MTV. TiVo subscribers pause the linear TV stream to reach the “subLYMONal” Showcase. Showcase enables subscribers to view more Sprite “subLYMONal” ads and use TiVo trick-play features to learn how to use embedded codes. Coca-Cola was among the first companies to embrace PVRs, signing a pact in 2000 with then-independent ReplayTV to develop interactive ads. The deal began with banner ads on the ReplayTV service, but never advanced to interactive commercials. ReplayTV now is owned by D&M Holdings, which purchased it from Sonicblue. ReplayTV has since shifted its focus to PCs.
Consumers are confused, manufacturers are frustrated and govt. bodies underestimate the challenge of the U.K.’s switch to DTV and corresponding analog shutoff, Sony U.K. Managing Dir. Steve Dowdle said last week at a London conference hosted by CE trade association Intellect. Unless the course is righted, the ship will sink and govt. officials “will go down with it,” he said.
PHILADELPHIA: Judges gave mixed signals in their questions and reactions to attorneys as the 3rd U.S. Appeals Court, Philadelphia, Wed. heard oral arguments on the FCC’s designated entity order. Arguments unfolded over nearly 90 minutes in a case that will determine whether the long-awaited advanced wireless services auction will begin as expected Aug. 9. Lawyers watching the proceedings said the court’s direction was difficult to augur.
Google AdWords advertisers now have the option of “dayparting” -- adjusting their bids or pausing and resuming campaigns based on time of day or day of the week. An advertiser could, for example, run more ads at lunch or limit ad runs to business hours, the company said.
Sen. Hatch (R-Utah) has long irked fair-use advocates for pushing bills they deem too friendly to labels and studios and unfair to consumers. But not until this week did a tech-oriented PAC pin the bull’s-eye on Hatch’s seat. FireHatch.com, a campaign site backing Hatch foe Pete Ashdown, was created by the Information Policy Action Committee (Ipac). Ipac was set up to back fair use policies and help or punish legislators for their actions on intellectual property. Democrat Ashdown, founder of Xmission Internet, Utah’s oldest ISP, is a vocal critic of Hatch tech policies (WID March 29 p1). But his own skepticism on network neutrality proposals could complicate the tech coalition he’s trying to build to unseat Hatch.
Sling Media released SlingPlayer Mobile, a software package letting Sling users watch or control TVs via any network-enabled mobile phone. SlingPlayer Mobile users will be able to control DVRs to watch recorded shows, pause, rewind, and fast forward TV or queue new recordings remotely. The software works with devices running Windows Mobile Pocket PC 5.0 and 2003 Second Edition, Sling said, but a version for non-touchscreen devices based on Windows Mobile Smartphone will debut later this quarter.
Sling Media Thurs. released SlingPlayer Mobile, a software package letting Sling users watch or control TVs via any network-enable mobile phone. SlingPlayer Mobile users will be able to control DVRs to watch recorded shows, pause, rewind, and fast forward TV or queue new recordings remotely. The software works with devices running Windows Mobile Pocket PC 5.0 and 2003 Second Edition, Sling said, but a version for non-touchscreen devices based on Windows Mobile Smartphone will debut later this quarter.
Sling Media Thurs. released SlingPlayer Mobile, a software package letting Sling users watch or control TVs via any network-enable mobile phone. SlingPlayer Mobile users will be able to control DVRs to watch recorded shows, pause, rewind, and fast forward TV or queue new recordings remotely. The software works with devices running Windows Mobile Pocket PC 5.0 and 2003 Second Edition, Sling said, but a version for non-touchscreen devices based on Windows Mobile Smartphone will debut later this quarter.
It took a Tex. jury 2 hours, including a cigarette break, to decide EchoStar willfully infringed 9 sections of a TiVo patent on DVR “time warp” technology, but it will take much longer to sort how far into the DVR world the ruling extends. It’s not clear how the ruling, the appeals and an EchoStar countersuit affect other pay-TV competitors and manufacturers who supply them DVRs, analysts said Fri. But one things is certain, analysts said: The Tex. jury’s decision will be worth more to TiVo than the $74 million it was awarded.