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<\/a>2004 ISP Summit advertisement<\/a><\/p>\n
Quick Jump Menu to this Issue’s ArticlesDecember 2nd, 2003 OverviewWestern Show Means CommerceHDTV – A Gift for the Holidays?Yahoo! and the Multimedia Home:Bits and Bites…Home Multimedia.. <\/p>\n
THE VIODI VIEW<\/b><\/p>\n
by Ken Pyle<\/a> <\/b><\/p>\n In this Issue: HDTV Gift, BMW Launches Interactive Game and much more<\/em><\/b><\/p>\n December 2nd, 2003 Issue<\/strong><\/p>\n Subscribe to Viodi View<\/a><\/p>\n Last Issue<\/a><\/p>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \u00a0 Couldn’t Make the Conference?<\/strong><\/p>\n Click Here for the Next Best Thing<\/a><\/p>\n \n For the past 23 years, I have associated the week after Thanksgiving with the fun and excitement of the Western Cable show<\/strong>. The warm climes of Southern California combined with the hottest programming, the latest cable television technology and the best parties always made the Western Cable show a memorable experience. So, this week\u2019s will be a little bittersweet, as I attend the final Western show. Even though it is the last show, the string of press releases that have crossed my electronic desk in the past week suggest that there will be a fair amount of activity.<\/p>\n Something that U.S. telecom equipment suppliers<\/strong> should check out while they are at the Western Cable show is the Department of Commerce. The focus of the Commerce Department\u2019s presence is to help U.S. manufacturers be more effective exporters. They will be located in the International Business Center (IBC), located in Hall C, upper level, above the registration area. Suppliers will have the chance to meet international buyer delegations and get export counseling from Department of Commerce personnel. The South Korean delegation is purported to be 100 person strong contingent<\/strong>, so, if that is an indication, this could be a good way to make some international connections. To read the press release from the Department of Commerce, please click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n HDTV – A Gift for the Holidays?<\/strong><\/p>\n I should be the last one writing about HDTV, as the newest television in the Pyle household is a 1987 model. So, this is the frame of mind that I had when editing Peter Lowten and Doug Mielke\u2019s presentations from Viodi\u2019s Independent Telco Content Conference. The key message from Lowten is that we are getting very close to a \u201ctipping point\u201d when HDTV becomes a \u201cmust-have\u201d<\/strong> feature for an independent telco offering video services.<\/p>\n Even though I had watched most of this HDTV presentation at the conference, I missed several subtle things. Click here<\/a> to read some of the things I observed from listening and viewing their presentations. Also, in the spirit of the Holiday season, read this article to learn more about the unique, no-strings attached, gift that Viodi is offering readers of the Viodi View<\/strong>.<\/p>\n BMW’s Latest Marketing Effort – A Sign of Things to Come? <\/strong><\/p>\n BMW which always seems to be on the cutting edge of applying technology to marketing and promotion<\/strong> (e.g. BMW films<\/a>), announced yesterday that they have launched an, \u201con-line gaming experience that centers around the adventurous personality of the X3.\u201d Skyworks Technologies (whose President, Garry Kitchen, spoke at Viodi\u2019s iTVcc) developed this unique form of advertainment. I felt obliged to give it a five minute whirl and found it to be both very easy to use and so realistic that I was a little car sick from my poor driving.<\/p>\n This type of content is not just limited to expensive, high-end products like BMW. Skyworks Technologies has developed gaming web sites for companies such as Post Cereal and Pepsi. Clearly, the launch of this advanced game is, today, only applicable to PCs that have high-speed Internet connections. The launch of BMW\u2019s X3 game points to what will probably be a continued blurring<\/strong> between content and advertisements in both the online and television worlds, as viewer expectations shift<\/strong> from a linear channel line-up to an on-demand model.<\/p>\n TelcoTV – a Big Success<\/strong><\/p>\n Unfortunately, I missed TelcoTV<\/strong> this year \u2013 at least in person. I have talked to a number of people who did go and the general feeling was that the conference was a great success<\/strong>. With over 900 people, one attendee suggested it was a \u201cpacked house\u201d in the most positive sense of the term. The focus of the conference was video from the perspective of telephone operating companies and it apparently had a great mix of content, speakers and exhibiting vendors. Space will be left in the next issue for any impressions from readers who attended this event.<\/p>\n By the way, I was there in a sort of virtual way<\/strong>, as I produced and appeared in a five minute video that discussed one way an independent telco can leverage their local connections. Thank you Steve Hawley <\/strong>of Advanced Media Strategies for including this video as part of your session!<\/p>\n Yahoo! and the Multimedia Home:<\/strong><\/p>\n In the last issue, we talked about some of the interesting things observed at the Parks Associates\u2019 Home Multimedia Conference in San Jose. There was just too much good information to fit into the last issue, so this issue attempts to cover what was missing. One of the highlights of the conference for me was the chance to meet Jeff Schrock, Vice President of Broadband for Yahoo!<\/strong> I was especially interested in what he had to say, as Yahoo! has figured out how to be successful with their broadband offering<\/strong>\u00a0while remaining independent. Click here<\/a> to read the rest of the article.<\/p>\n Bits and Bites from Parks Associates’ Home Multimedia Conference:<\/strong><\/p>\n I ended up with seven pages of notes from the Home Multimedia Conference. This conference provided a comprehensive view<\/strong> of the direction of consumer electronics, especially as it relates to home networking. From 7.2 terabyte, personal servers to sub-$100 DMAs (Digital Media Adaptors), Club Viodi members can read about the wide array of topics covered at this conference by clicking here. <\/a><\/p>\n The\u00a0Korner: – If It Looks Like a Duck…..<\/strong><\/p>\n One of my favorite things about writing the Viodi View is the feedback I get. Most of it is positive; all of it is helpful. An e-mail I received a week or two ago, caused me to take a closer look at the sender\u2019s web site<\/a>. The site was very easy to use and informative. What was amusing<\/strong>, however, is that a significant portion of the web site is dedicated to a duck, Sally, who made their office yard her home. The folks at Hastad Engineering<\/strong> are so accommodating, they even made sure she had her own private pool. I guess this is just another example of Heartland hospitality<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Next Article<\/a><\/p>\n Back to Top<\/a><\/p>\n Last Issue<\/a><\/p>\n Click Here for Information on Sponsoring the Viodi View<\/a><\/p>\n Please forward<\/strong> this free publication to anyone you know who is involved in some way with independent telephone companies.<\/p>\n Mission of the Viodi View:<\/p>\n In this on-line publication, we share our analysis, opinions and direction on the interactive television news and views that we believe will be of interest and use to our friends associated directly or indirectly with independent telephone companies. For more information on Viodi’s efforts to unite the independent telephone company’s interactive television efforts, please send an email to vodalliance@viodi.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Disclaimer:<\/p>\n The Viodi View [Viodi, LLC] and its associates used their best efforts in collecting and preparing the information published herein. However, the Viodi View [Viodi, LLC] does not assume, and hereby disclaims, any and all liability for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions resulted from negligence, accident, or other causes.<\/p>\n Click Here to Subscribe<\/a><\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/www.viodi.com\/images\/smalllogo.jpg\"\/)
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