November, 2006

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IARU inaugurates electronic newsletter
The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) has launched a monthly electronic newsletter, The IARU E-Letter. The e-publication reports on various IARU activities and projects in all three IARU regions. The newsletter appears on the IARU Web site and is distributed to subscribers via the "iaru-news" e-mail list maintained by the IARU International Secretariat. Anyone who would like to receive The IARU E-Letter via e-mail should e-mail a request. http://www.iaru.org/e-letter/

Microsoft's Zune to be available Nov. 14 in U.S. for $249.99
Microsoft Thursday said its Zune media player will be available in the U.S. on Nov. 14 for a retail price of $249.99. The Redmond, Wash.-based Dow component added that the online service for Zune will also be available on this date with a subscription allowing access to "millions of songs" costing $14.99 per month. The Zune, Microsoft's competition for Apple Ipod product, will come with 30 gigabytes of memory and feature a three-inch liquid crystal display screen, a built-in FM tuner, and wireless functionality for content sharing.

The future of in-flight entertainment
How would you like to download an ipod playlist directly to your airline seat when you book it? Or send instant messages from the air? Such amenities could be closer at hand than you think, according to a report in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Technology and communications companies promoting the latest in in-flight entertainment gathered last week at the annual World Aviation Entertainment Association Convention in Miami Beach to tout their wares. "The technology to do amazing things is available now," Michael Rogerson of Intheairnet, a firm that installs entertainment systems, tells the paper, which frames in-flight services as a competitive issue, noting that the airline "that provides the best customized entertainment is the one that will generate the most loyalty." The only thing slowing the deployment of such systems is cost, as already strapped airlines are hoping to avoid having to pass on additional charges to passengers. It was high charges for in-flight Web service, as much as $30 for an international flight, that kept demand low for Boeing's Connexion service, prompting the company to pull the plug on the service last month. Also attending the convention were several broadcast networks and movie studios -- including NBC, HBO, Warner Bros., E! and CNN -- hoping to score lucrative airline contracts, as well as vendors for "amenity kits, earphones, dinnerware, airsickness bags and a variety of other products the airlines buy in huge quantities."

Fox tries to thwart DVR fast-forwarding
LONDON -- Fox is running a 30-second television spot with just one staticimage in an effort to reach viewers who fast forward through ads using digital video recorders like TiVos. U.K. advertisements for Fox's new drama, Brotherhood, which premieres in Britain in October, simply show an image of Providence, where the show is set, and the program's logo. Viewers fast-forwarding through the ad would see the image for a few seconds; those watching it normally would hear dialogue from the show in the background. Jon Hollett, a Fox International spokesman, said the company was experimenting with ways to get its messages to DVR users who routinely breeze through ads without antagonizing real-time viewers by broadcasting a flat, silent image for thirty seconds. "This is something that is going to have to be addressed one way or the other," he said. "Making sure that you can get to your viewers when they're fast forwarding ... is of crucial importance." Television executives fear the new technology could make ad-supported free programming obsolete. In the United States, DVR users could dodge as much as $8 billion of the $74 billion in television ads shown this year, according to Jupiter Research, a technology consulting company. Some media companies have attempted to fight the trend. One DVR provider, ReplayTV, was driven into bankruptcy in 2003 by a lawsuit over its automatic ad-skipping feature. Advertisers also have begun experimenting. Earlier this year, KFC Corp. promised coupons at its restaurants to viewers who could identify a secret code only visible when its commercials were replayed in slow motion. Twentieth Century Fox International, a unit of News Corp., said its ad would begin appearing Friday.

November, 2006

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