Home Entertainment

New customers buying into the Tivo craze need to be thinking long term when they sign up for their subscription service with an early disconnection fee of $150 now applying to customers ending their subscription before the initial 12 months is up.

This disconnection fee applies to all new subscriptions activated from the 6th of September 2005.

Microsoft Corp. and Toshiba Corp., which have a patent-sharing agreement on consumer electronics and personal computers, will develop players for next-generation DVDs and the Longhorn operating system for portable computers.

The extended agreement will combine Microsoft’s knowledge of personal computers with Toshiba’s expertise in consumer electronics, the companies said in a statement. Microsoft’s new Xbox 360 video-game console may also use the HD DVD format developed by Toshiba, said Chairman Bill Gates at a Tokyo media conference today.

Xbox 360 May Include HD DVD Player

The Leviton Manufacturing Company, North America’s largest manufacturer of electrical and electronic wiring devices and Dedicated Devices, Inc. (DDi), a designer and manufacturer of a new generation of digital home networking products, announced today that they have begun distribution of their award-wining networked digital home entertainment system, the Leviton Entertainment & Applications Platform (LE&AP). LE&AP is now available for order by select Leviton distributors and certified Leviton installation and system integration firms operating in the home building and remodeling markets.

Two of the home building industry’s largest distributors, ADI and Worthington Distribution, were the first to sign on in March 2005. With more than 105 locations in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico and Mexico, ADI is one of North America’s largest wholesale distributors of security and low-voltage products. Worthington Distribution is one of the nation’s largest full-line distributors selling home automation and system integration equipment and supplies to dealers and installers.

LE&AP is the first commercially available and affordable digital home entertainment network product specifically designed and built to utilize the Ethernet structured wiring systems home builders have been installing to “future proof” new homes. Since the mid-1990s home builders have steadily increased the number of homes sold with complete Ethernet structured wiring. According to the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), 61 percent of the 1.9 million new homes expected to be built in 2005 will have structured wiring. By 2008, 10 million homes in the U.S. will have structured wiring systems in place, according to research firm Parks Associates.

For both large system integrators and independent custom electric installers, LE&AP increases the value of Category 5/5e Ethernet (CAT5/5e) wiring installations by creating a digital home entertainment network that unifies home theater and home networking to provide a true digital living experience for home owners. In the past month, some of the largest installers in the country have begun carrying DDi and Leviton’s product, making it available to production builders and the home buying public. These companies include, Efficient Electric, the largest low-voltage installer in Las Vegas, Nevada; AES, the leading systems integrator in San Diego and Riverside Counties, California; and Smart Systems Technology (SST), a major low-voltage integrator covering the Orange County, California and Phoenix, Arizona new homebuilding and remodeling markets.

“Today’s new-home buyers are eager to incorporate networking and entertainment products in to the final purchase price of their home, rather than deal with the cost and complexity of assembling a system on their own,” said Tom Burkett of Efficient Electric. “DDi and Leviton’s digital entertainment network provides homebuyers with a great digital living experience today, while providing a sound, expandable platform for future applications such as security and home automation.”

“Leviton’s expertise in structured wiring combined with DDi’s expertise in network and digital media product design led to an innovative product with the reliability and intuitive ease of use that today’s PC-based retail products and wireless networks simply cannot match,” said Jeffrey K. Moeser, co-founder, president, and CEO of DDi. “Because LE&AP was specifically designed for the new home construction and remodeling markets, we’re receiving substantial interest from the channel, including CE Pro 100 integrators working with production home builders as well as electrical, security, and AV installers in the custom home and remodeling market.”

“Wireless networks are great for web surfing mobility, but they can’t deliver the reliability consumers demand from home entertainment products,” said Ian Hendler, Director of Business Development for Leviton Integrated Networks. “DDi has helped Leviton design and deliver the first networked digital home entertainment product that leverages a home’s structured wiring installation and simply works from the day it’s installed.”

Dolby Laboratories (NYSE:DLB) announced today that the sound teams for television programs produced and presented in Dolby(R) Digital 5.1 last season received a record 20 sound-related Emmy(R) nominations for the upcoming 57th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. This number is up significantly from nine last year.

“It is an honor to be associated with these nominees. We are very proud to provide the television industry’s sound teams, producers, and content creators with the tools to deliver exceptional sound to enhance the audience’s entertainment experience,” said Tom Daily, Marketing Director, Professional Division, Dolby Laboratories.

The number of episodic television programs with Dolby Digital 5.1 has increased significantly from last year, with CBS, Fox, and NBC adding regularly scheduled episodic programming in Dolby Digital 5.1 in the 2004-2005 season. Networks such as ABC, HBO, and Showtime have been including Dolby Digital 5.1 audio with many of their original primetime programs and movies for several years.

The 57th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards will be broadcast internationally from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on Sunday, September 18. The sound category nominees who have produced their programs in Dolby Digital 5.1 are as follows:

Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation — “Down the Drain” — CBS — Alliance Atlantis Productions in association with CBSP

CSI: Miami — “Lost Son” — CBS — CBS Productions and Alliance Atlantis Communications in association with Jerry Bruckheimer Productions

Lost — Pilot (Part 1) — ABC — Touchstone Television

24 — “12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m.” — Fox — Real Time Productions in association with Imagine Television and 20th Century Fox Television

Outstanding Sound Editing for a Miniseries, Movie, or Special

The Life and Death of Peter Sellers — HBO — DeMann Entertainment and Company Pictures Production in association with HBO Films and BBC Films

Warm Springs — HBO — A Deluxe Pictures production in association with HBO Films

Outstanding Single-Camera Sound Mixing for a Series

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation — “Down the Drain” — CBS — Alliance Atlantis Productions in association with CBSP

Deadwood — “A Lie Agreed Upon” (Part I) — HBO — Red Board Productions and Paramount Television in association with HBO Entertainment

Lost — “Outlaws” — ABC — Touchstone Television

24 — “6:00 a.m.-7:00 a.m.” — Fox — Real Time Productions in association with Imagine Television and 20th Century Fox Television

The West Wing — “2,162 Votes” — NBC — John Wells Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television, Inc.

Outstanding Single-Camera Sound Mixing for a Miniseries or Movie

Lackawanna Blues — HBO — Bellah Films, Good Shepherd Production in association with HBO Films

The Life and Death of Peter Sellers — HBO — DeMann Entertainment and Company Pictures Production in association with HBO Films and BBC Films

Warm Springs — HBO — A Deluxe Pictures production in association with HBO Films

Outstanding Multi-Camera Sound Mixing for a Series or Special

Two and a Half Men — “Can You Eat Human Flesh with Wooden Teeth?” — CBS — Warner Bros.

Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Variety or Music Series, Special, or Animation

77th Annual Academy Awards — ABC — Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

The 47th Annual Grammy Awards — CBS — Cossette Productions, Inc./Ken Ehrlich Productions

Sound Editing for a Nonfiction Program

Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson — Episode One — PBS — Florentine Films in association with WETA Washington, DC

Sound Mixing for a Variety or Music Series or Special

Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival (Great Performances) — PBS — A co-production of Thirteen/WNET New York and Warner Strategic Marketing

Outstanding Sound Mixing for Nonfiction Programming (Single or Multiple Camera)

American Idol — 401/402 — Fox — FremantleMedia NA, Inc. & 19 TV Ltd.

Dolby Laboratories will host the Television Academy’s Sound Editing and Sound Mixing Nominees Reception at its Burbank facility this fall.

NME (OTCBB: NMEN) today stepped up its campaign for VMD (Versatile Multilayer Disc), its much talked about mega optical storage disc, following its newly appointed board and management under its CEO, Mahesh Jayanarayan.

Versatile Multilayer Disc is similar to DVD9 in that it is a multilayer technology. It is an advanced optical disc that enables mobile storage to be realized at unprecedented price-to-performance levels; far beyond the realm of existing DVD technology, it quadruples DVD storage capacity with no disruption or cost penalty to consumers, content providers or manufacturers.

Understanding & Solutions, a leading worldwide consultancy in optical disc markets reports, “NME’s multilayer disc offers the possibility to achieve capacities equivalent to ‘next generation’ blue laser based discs such as Blu-ray - i.e. up to 50GB - using the red laser technology employed by today’s DVDs. The discs can also be played on standard DVD-R drives with only minor modifications.”

Mahesh Jayanarayan who has considerable experience in the commercialization of new technologies has recently established several significant partnerships and strategic alliances, which demonstrate that the VMD technology is now fully equipped and ready to be commercialized.

He said, “The Company has spent the last two years in developing and perfecting the technology. We have run several commercial trials in the last 9 months. These trials have proved conclusively that we have a brilliant product. With a dynamic and experienced team at the helm, together with the support of our partners, we are confident that the planned launch of our 40GB multilayer storage disc - the VMD, in the fourth Quarter of this year, will signal the start of a bright future for NME.”

The CEO expressed that his first priority is the roll out of VMD with its partners this year to provide firm foundations for a successful and dynamic business, which should enhance shareholder value.

He went on to say that the company and its management will work hard to take a significant share of the $5 billion DVD industry.

“I know that NME has the potential to take a significant market share of the annual $5 billion DVD industry. We can offer the consumer and media industry a 40GB VMD disc that performs and features all aspects of DVD9 for a very similar price to a 8.5GB DVD9.”

He adds, “With only a small software change to existing drives, which our partners have already agreed to incorporate, and full backward compatibility, it makes the decision to adopt very easy for all parties. In my opinion it is a ‘no brainer’ and a ’slam dunk’ proposition.”

As further validation to this technology, the company has drawn a number of world leaders in optics and media to collaborate as strategic partners in the global roll-out strategy.

TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO), the creator and leader in advertising solutions and television services for digital video recorders (DVRs), today launched its next generation interactive advertising technology solution with advertising campaigns from General Motors and The WB Television Network, two of the world’s foremost brands.

The new features build on the history of innovative advertising solutions developed by TiVo and integrate client feedback received over the past three years . These features include:

Enabling advertisers to insert a customized call to action or branded “tag” in their commercial, replacing the generic ad tags previously used by TiVo’s advertising clients;
Ensuring advertisers’ traditional TV spots will be more visible in TiVo homes, whether viewed in normal play or fast forward mode;
Enhance the TiVo customer’s experience by allowing them to select the tag and “telescope” from the traditional 30-second ad while pausing their program to view long-form content, requests for information, or recording opportunities which will enhance the viewing experience;
Providing a dvertisers with the ability to receive leads directly from their TV spots, with the viewer’s consent, so advertisers can track leads to conversion and ensure a qualified return on investment;
Additional data for advertisers to gain a better understanding of the effectiveness of TiVo’s proprietary tagging feature, the strength of their creative executions, and the efficacy of their television media buying strategy.
TiVo’s new advertising t echnology is designed so that TiVo subscribers retain control over their viewing experience, while giving advertisers new tools to engage interested consumers.

David Courtney, Executive Vice President, CFO, and head of TiVo’s media and advertising services business, commented, “TiVo’s proprietary advertising technology presents a real opportunity for advertisers to enhance the effectiveness of traditional television advertising. Our platform enables advertisers to reach an attractive demographic . Launching with established advertising partners like GM and The WB Network is a validation of TiVo’s success and leadership in the interactive advertising space. We are pleased that these corporations have been working with TiVo for so long and are the first advertisers to capitalize on this new feature set.”

As part of this announcement, General Motors , the world’s largest automaker and a long-time TiVo advertiser, will extend its partnership with TiVo and will be the first car manufacturer to use TiVo’s new customized tags for its OnStar, GMC, Chevrolet, and Saturn brands. Using TiVo’s new tagging technology, viewers will be able to instantly access additional promotional footage and request information directly from GM.

GM’s General Director, Advertising and Media Operations, Betsy Lazar said, “Having worked on various interactive advertising campaigns with TiVo over a number of years, we have had great success. We look forward to our potential customers having the ability to learn about our product in more detail than ever before. This is a step forward in allowing consumers to shop and discover the GM portfolio of products in a revolutionary new way.”

In addition, The WB Television Network will be TiVo’s first television network partner to utilize the new TiVo custom record tags. The network will use the new technology in conjunction with promotional spots for upcoming WB shows. By pressing the green thumbs-up button on their TiVo remote, viewers will be able to record a single episode or the show’s full season on their TiVo.

The WB Television Network’s Co-President of Marketing, Lew Goldstein, said, “Our viewers are younger and eagerly adapt themselves to new technologies. TiVo’s advertising technology gives them added convenience and greater flexibility when deciding what content they would like to record . It also gives us the opportunity to remind our audience when to tune in to catch their favorite WB shows .”

“With our partners’ feedback, we have worked continuously to develop a leading ad platform that is relevant and exciting for TiVo subscribers and at the same time makes it valuable for advertisers,” said Courtney. “The advertising industry is ever-changing, and TiVo is uniquely positioned to lead the industry by continuing our history of innovation.”

According to Mr. Courtney, “Companies today are spending an estimated $60 billion a year on broadcast advertising. Ours is the only DVR to effectively enhance traditional TV advertising via a branding and direct response platform. Existing TiVo advertisers are already well ahead of the competition, learning about what type of content consumers will voluntarily view, how their traditional television media is consumed in a DVR home and what types of interactive advertising features can enhance their advertising messages as the technology develops.”

TiVo’s partnerships with service providers such as Comcast and DIRECTV, along with its loyal customers, provide a solid platform for advertisers to reach television viewers.

Comcast, the nation’s largest cable television provider, announced earlier in the quarter that it would deploy TiVo’s innovative advertising platform on Comcast’s existing DVRs beginning next year. In addition, TiVo announced the signing of a new services agreement with DIRECTV, extending the companies’ prior services agreement.

InFocus(R) (Nasdaq:INFS), a worldwide leader in digital projection technology and services, is pleased to announce that its joint venture company, South Mountain Technologies (SMT) Ltd., which provides high-quality projection engines for OEM TV manufacturers and front projectors, shipped the first front projectors from its new manufacturing facility two quarters ahead of original expectations.

The first product is the InFocus(R) ScreenPlay(R) 5000, a native high-definition home-entertainment projector. This is the first of three product platforms that SMT expects to produce for InFocus in the third quarter of 2005. These products were previously produced for InFocus by Flextronics in Malaysia.

“This milestone marks a significant step in the vision for SMT, which is to leverage InFocus innovations and technologies to provide competitive, high-volume projection products to the industry,” said Kyle Ranson, President and CEO of InFocus. “SMT is an important part of InFocus’ financial strategy because it enables us to grow the company’s business offerings globally, lower production costs and increase revenues by giving us access to manufacture and sell products in China, the world’s fastest-growing market.”

SMT recently met the stringent certification requirements from Underwriters Laboratories (UL) for producing finished front-projection products. David Glaess, Chief Executive Officer of SMT, stated, “We are pleased to be ramping both our engine manufacturing and front projector assembly this early in the year.”

SMT is leveraging InFocus’ extensive experience with imaging devices utilizing multiple technologies for rear-projection and front-projection engines to provide the best price-performance solutions to customers around the world. Established as an affiliate Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) company, SMT will manufacture and sell projection solutions to the parent companies and other brand operators in both China and the broader global market.

Joining the esteemed ranks of inventions such as the toothbrush, seat belt, computer and alarm clock, several TiVo inventions are featured in a new year-long exhibit at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Museum in Alexandria, Va., beginning July 13.

Designed to celebrate the nation’s most influential inventions, “The Invention Machine: A Day in My Life” exhibit features everyday inventions that impact and improve people’s daily lives, including the TiVo® digital video recorder (DVR) and the TiVo Service. The digital lifestyle that was launched by TiVo’s creation has brought choice and control to the lives of millions of Americans.

“It is an honor for TiVo, and for me personally, to be placed in the US Patent and Trademark Office Museum,” said James Barton, Senior Vice President of Research and Development, Chief Technology Officer, and co-founder of TiVo Inc. “It isn’t every day that an invention is embraced by millions of people. To be featured in such a terrific showcase is a great day for TiVo.”

Depicted in a three-dimensional virtual diorama, the TiVo display showcases a living room decorated with TiVo trademarked logos and icons on everything from rugs to wall decor. Set to upbeat music, a video loop displayed on a TV on the “living room” wall highlights the benefits of TiVo’s Time Warp patent (U.S. Patent No. 6,233,389), which covers TiVo’s proprietary technology for efficiently storing and playing back TV shows. The video loop also highlights other patented aspects of TiVo’s DVR and service, including novel ways of controlling live TV, TiVo’s intuitive user interface and TiVo’s award-winning remote control.

The USPTO Museum was designed and built by experts at Invent Now, a non-profit organization formed to recognize and encourage invention and creativity and curators of the National Inventor’s Hall of Fame. “Our goal with the USPTO Museum was to create a fun, thought-provoking, and memorable experience. The TiVo exhibit is sure to be a favorite among guests,” said Mitch Scott, Senior Designer for Invent Now. “We are showing visitors of all ages how imagination can be made real.”

Bose Corp. has announced the newest addition to its 3-2-1 product line, the GSX DVD home entertainment system, featuring fewer speakers and wires, and the capability to store and organize music collections through the uMusic intelligent playback system.

With uMusic, consumers can digitally store up to 200 hours of music directly into the system. Once stored, music is easily accessible and manageable, Bose notes, with no need for a computer, or to be connected to the Internet. The system also learns a user’s listening preferences, and offers up selections automatically.

Building upon its predecessor, the 3-2-1- GS Series II system, the GSX features two visible speakers, a hideaway Acoustimass module, and a media center. It includes patented Gemstone speaker arrays, and employs advanced Bose TrueSpace surround digital processing circuitry. It also boasts digital 5.1 decoding (Dolby and DTS), and Bose Videostage 5 decoding circuitry.

The media center supports the following formats: DVD-Video, CD, CD-R, CD-RW, MP3, and AM/FM; and a universal infrared remote is included, controlling the system as well as other connected components, like most TVs, VCRs, PVRs, cable, and satellite boxes. Set-up, Bose notes, is via an instructional disc that walks consumers through installation, step-by-step.

The Gemstone speaker arrays are available in either silver or graphite gray, and will be available in Canada in September for an estimated retail price of CDN$2,199.

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