TiVo Unveils Mobile Transfer Service
"TiVo Inc. pioneered digital video recording as a new way of watching television – when you want it. Now it could be TV where you want it, too. The long-awaited service feature called TiVoToGo, set to launch Monday, will give users their first taste of TiVo untethered.
"No longer confined to TiVo digital video recorders in the living room or bedroom, subscribers will be able to transfer their recorded shows to PCs or laptops and take them on the road – as long as the shows are not specially tagged with copy restrictions. That’s also the case for pay-per-view or on-demand movies, and some premium paid programming.
"Users also will be able to copy shows onto a DVD – soon after but not immediately at the service launch, company officials said."
May Wong. TiVo Unveils Portable Transfer Service. WashingtonPost.com. Jan. 3, 2005.
See also:
Benny Evangelista. Electronics Industry to Showcase Technologies That Let Consumers Watch TV Anywhere, Anytime. SanFrancisco Chronicle. Jan. 3, 2005.
(Editor�s Note: The Post allows free access to their stories on the Web for 14 days before sending the stories to the paper�s fee-based Archives.)
SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.
2004 Search Engine Trends
"So, 2004 turned out to be a very exciting search engine year, after all. For a moment, one could believe that we were moving into an era with a virtual Google monopoly, and monopolies are seldom good for innovation.
"Instead there has grown up new alternatives. Competition is as fierce as ever, and given that both users and stockmarkets reward innovation, there has been a large number of refinements, new services and new products."
No author. Search Engine Trends in 2004. Pandia. Dec. 31, 2004.
SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.
Microsoft’s New Year’s Resolutions
"Directions on Microsoft has released a list of what it considers the top 10 challenges for the software giant in 2005.
"’Left unattended, each (challenge) could ultimately interrupt Microsoft’s 25-plus-year run of growth and profits and leave the door open for younger, smaller and more nimble competitors,’ the analyst house said in its end-of-year research note Wednesday."
Tony Hallett. New Year’s Resolutions for Microsoft. News.com. Dec. 23, 2004.
SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.
The Management & Logistics of Digitization Projects
"Susan Wojcicki’s grandmother, a librarian for more than 30 years, ran the Slavic department at the Library of Congress. Now Wojcicki is overseeing Google Inc.’s ambitious plan to digitize the collections of five top libraries: Stanford, Harvard, Oxford, the University of Michigan and the New York Public Library.
"The project eventually will allow any Internet user anywhere in the world to search inside millions of volumes, seeing the pages exactly as they appear in the originals, complete with illustrations, charts and photos.
"The logistics involved are staggering."
Carolyn Said. Digitizing Books: A Mountainous Task for Google. SeattlePI.com. Dec. 24, 2004.
SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.
The Management & Logistics of Digitization Projects
"Susan Wojcicki’s grandmother, a librarian for more than 30 years, ran the Slavic department at the Library of Congress. Now Wojcicki is overseeing Google Inc.’s ambitious plan to digitize the collections of five top libraries: Stanford, Harvard, Oxford, the University of Michigan and the New York Public Library.
"The project eventually will allow any Internet user anywhere in the world to search inside millions of volumes, seeing the pages exactly as they appear in the originals, complete with illustrations, charts and photos.
"The logistics involved are staggering."
Carolyn Said. Digitizing Books: A Mountainous Task for Google. SeattlePI.com. Dec. 24, 2004.
SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.
Analysis of Microsoft’s EU Decision
"In rejecting Microsoft’s appeal this week a European court has dealt a significant setback to Redmond’s attempts to mount an attack on competitors based on intellectual property litigation.
"The decision by Judge Bo Vesterdorf at the European Court of the First Instance reveals for the first time many of the legal arguments that were made behind closed doors this year. The parts that interest us here are the decision itself, which rejects the idea that communication protocols are any kind of ‘trade secret,’ and the slightly astonishing admission from Microsoft itself that suing people for IP violations is bothersome, or in its lawyers’ own words: ‘a particularly complicated and inefficient exercise.’
"If we’re to take the lawyers at their word (always a risky business), then what has so often been described as a patent war between Redmond and open source developers looks much more like a phony war. Put the two together, and we have a much clearer idea of Microsoft’s strategy than we did twelve months ago."
Andrew Orlowski. How Microsoft Played the Patent Card, and Failed. The Register. Dec. 23, 2004.
See also:
Red Herring. Europe Smacks Microsoft. Dec. 24, 2004.
BBC. The European Court of Justice. No date.
SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.
A Look Back at 2004
"In the legislative battle over copyright and file swapping, you might assume the entertainment industry’s lobbyists are sitting fat and pretty.
"Nothing could be further from the truth, and the constellation of forces in Washington could be ripe for a redrawing, said Declan McCullagh–one of the many columnists who offered CNET News.com readers insight and analysis of the major tech events of 2004."
Charles Cooper. Year in Review:Politicos in the Crosshairs. News.com. Dec. 25, 2004.
SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.
COPYCENSE 