DirecTV in Deals with Intel, Microsoft on Networked Devices

The Intel announcement was short on specifics other than that Intel will use the ViiV platform debuted last year to enable remote viewing of DirecTV services and programming via notebook and desktop PCs, portable media players and set-top boxes. The firms will collaborate on a PC tuner, verification of which is expected this year as it’s made available to PC makers deploying ViiV-based models, Carey said.

For its part, Microsoft is developing a subset of its IPTV platform for use with DirecTV products, Window Client Systems Senior Vp Will Poole said. Goal: distribution of DirecTV content to portable devices, PCs and STBs. Among items to be transferred to a DirecTV platform are connecting media and transcoding, Poole told us. In its new focus on home networks, DirecTV joined the Digital Living Network Alliance (DNLA) and Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) Forum. DNLA is an open standards effort to insure interoperability of products; UPnP works within those guidelines.

“We're building technology at a lower level [than the IPTV platform] to enable the bridging of all these various devices to allow for the free flow of your content,” Poole said. “Whatever technology we need to have to make the bridges work, we'll build it.”

Microsoft is no stranger to DirecTV. In 2001, it brought out the ill-fated UltimateTV device, an early- stage RCA brand satellite receiver/PVR later deep-sixed. But even with the demise of UltimateTV, Microsoft benefitted from “learning a lot about content security and robustness,” Poole said. “It’s 2 different worlds,” he said. “What we did then was build a PVR box in a closed environment. What we're doing now is helping [DirecTV] build bridges between the closed environment and all the other devices. It’s a very different engagement.”

The Microsoft deal brings “an array of services to build into the new DirecTV platform… a whole home solution that includes TV, PC, mobile devices and Xbox,” Carey said. One service DirecTV expects to offer is GameStar, allowing access to games on a home network through STBs and PVRs, Carey said.

DirecTV expects to launch a video-on-demand (VoD) service in March, using its DirecTV Plus receiver, which will reserve about 60 GB of a 160 GB hard drive for content storage, Carey said. The VoD content likely will be delivered from a DirecTV satellite at 101 degrees W., he said. The service will launch as DirecTV continues to deploy more MPEG-4-equipped DirecTV Plus receivers and offers to upgrade customers to the new mode at no cost, Carey said. The DirecTV Plus product uses NDS PVR and other interactive software, which started replacing TiVo last fall. DirecTV continues to hold a “small amount” of TiVo product in inventory, Carey said. “It’s a very attractive product with a lot of functionality, so if someone asks for it we will have a few there,” Carey said.

In HD, DirecTV expects to have local HD service in 100-plus markets by mid-2007 as it launches new satellites, Carey said. DirecTV has about 775,000 subscribers to an HD package that includes 15 channels.

DirecTV is readying a new HD PVR and a professional home theater system, and will move to match EchoStar’s DishPlayer portable devices with DirecTV 2Go, a prototype of which featured a 4.3” LCD and 20 GB hard drive. -- Mark Seavy

CES Notebook

EchoStar CEO Charles Ergen said he expects no settlement in the company’s legal battle with TiVo and that the suit will continue to its scheduled trial date in March. TiVo and EchoStar sued each other, each claiming the other infringed PVR patents. Following a news conference at CES, Ergen said he didn’t believe an agreement heading off a trail could be reached between the companies. “We were doing DVR long before they did,” Ergen said. We believe they violated our patent. We didn’t violate theirs.” TiVo sued EchoStar 2 years ago claiming its PVR violated a patent granted in 1998. EchoStar countersued last year.

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In a much anticipated legal action, Proton filed suit in Cal. Central Dist. Court, L.A., alleging that Prosonic Corp. was infringing its trademark by selling products under the “Protron” brand. Protron brand LCD TVs have been sold through Sears, among other retailers. The complaint alleges Prosonic is “improperly” using the Protron brand to sell products under a “confusingly similar name,” Proton said. In addition to Sears, Protron products have appeared in ads for Longs Drugs and Staples, Proton said. Proton, which markets LCD TVs up to 55W, said it had no relationship with Protron and that the brand has “caused confusion in the marketplace.” Consumers asked retailers why Proton products are more expensive than “the same product” they have seen advertised for substantially less. The confusion has harmed Proton sales and hurt its “business reputation and good will,” the complaint states. Prosonic officials couldn’t be reached for comment at our deadline Fri.

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The top 4 U.S. cable operators and smaller peers unveiled plans to introduce interactive digital products that employ the OpenCable Application Platform (OCAP) standard. The specification lets firms deploy interactive services on digital set top boxes, CableLabs said Thurs. Time Warner Cable will use OCAP in headends serving N.Y.C. and other markets totaling about 2.5 million customers, Chmn. Glenn Britt said at the Consumer Electronics Show. This year, Comcast will follow suit in Philadelphia, Denver, Boston and elsewhere, said CEO Brian Roberts. Charter, Cox, Cablevision and Advance/Newhouse discussed similar proposals, said CableLabs.

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Yahoo unveiled a suite of applications extending its Web services to TV, mobile devices and desktops. The services will be known as Yahoo Go, with the headings Go Mobile, Go TV and Go Desktop. Go Mobile, to provide Yahoo services on mobile devices, will launch with AT&T companies and Cingular Wireless in 3 domestic markets and AT&T and Cingular in AT&T’s 13-state local service footprint. The service will be carried by Nokia in 10 nations in Europe and Asia, and be preinstalled on some Nokia devices. Go Mobile includes Yahoo Messenger, including its Audible features, a first for a mobile device, Yahoo said; Yahoo Mail with real-time new-message notification and local storage on the device; Yahoo Search with full-color map and search shortcuts for Wi-Fi hotspots and other categories; Yahoo Photos with photo upload from and download to the mobile device; synchronized address book and calendar; and Yahoo Mobile Portal direct link. “Consumers want communications that revolve around them, not the other way around,” AT&T Consumer Chief Mktg. Officer Scott Helbing said. Go TV will make video, photos and Web content accessible on TVs. Users will be able to search and view online videos; watch their and others’ slide shows from Flickr or a hard drive; access personal data from My Yahoo; search movie playtimes from theaters or watch online trailers; and find movies on their DVR, TV or DVD player, all through a remote-controlled TV interface. A Yahoo TV service will provide full recording functionality, including trick play features, PC access to view stored content, and TV tuning capabilities to control the user’s TV remotely. Yahoo Go TV will run through a small downloadable application and work through any remote control, the firm said. User PCs must be connected to their TVs to use the service. Go Desktop aims to make Web content easily accessible short of opening a browser window. It will feature a “dashboard” application connecting personal user information to Yahoo services, such as hard drive-based personal contacts linked with Yahoo Local. The Yahoo Widgets Engine, featuring small files on the desktop that perform simple tasks like detecting Wi-Fi hotspots, will be part of Go Desktop upon launch.

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Motorola will integrate a Google icon onto select devices so users can connect directly to the search engine, the company announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The mass-market handsets will be distributed in early 2006 to select Motorola customers worldwide. Oppenheimer called the deal a “win-win-win” for Motorola, Google and carriers. For Motorola, the deal should create demand for new handsets, and for Google more searches mean additional ad revenue. For carriers, the collaboration could mean more subscribers will potentially sign up for data service, thereby adding to carrier ARPU, analysts said. Google CEO Eric Schmidt said the deal with Motorola was non-exclusive, but Oppenheimer said Google was motivated to sign an agreement with the company because of the success of its RAZR devices.

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Intel and NBC Universal (NBCU) will provide Intel ViiV-based PC and Centrino-based laptops with a selection of on-demand broadband-delivered entertainment content, the companies said Thurs. at CES. The first programming will include NBCOlympics.com delivery of highlight coverage from the upcoming Olympic Winter Games. NBCU CEO Jeff Zucker said to look for more announcements from his company and Intel in the coming months. Intel and Google separately announced plans to work together to bring Google Video to the new ViiV platform. The project aims to give consumers an easy way to search, manage and consume the massive amount of video available on the Web.