As Yahoo! is busy assimilating the top management team and their technology from Meedio, it seems Yahoo! while having taken a big step back from content creating is seeking to leverage their core asset, the portal as all things and places Yahoo!

Since they already have such a deep bench in terms of content distribution in IM, Flickr, LaunchCast and their portal bringing them all together via a pc hub seems a rational move.

While, the beta leaves Mac and Linux users on the sidelines for the moment, it will be interesting to see how compelling the experience will be for users as they move physically from place to place and move content from room to room. I am looking forward to seeing their UI after having had a brief flirtation with an LG equipped Microsoft program guide unit. I would gather Yahoo! would make the system work with their extensive TV listings.

What you may notice on their TV listings site is a link to schedule on a Tivo, which one would now think a competitor? in addition, since my Humax unit is already connected to my network I can move video, audio and still content to my DLP. More to come.

Part of the announcement from Yahoo!

Bring Yahoo! into your Living Room Introducing Yahoo! Go for TV (Beta)
The Digital Home team has launched a beta version of Yahoo! Go for TV.
Yahoo! Go for TV is designed as a remote-control-friendly experience,
Giving consumers access to Yahoo! on their television sets without needing to pick-up a keyboard or touch a mouse.

The Yahoo! Go for TV beta is available today through an easy to install
downloadable application that will run on any PC connected to a TV. The
beta is initially available in the United States only on Yahoo! Next.
Yahoo's can download it from http://go.connect.yahoo.com/go/tv/index

Key features of Yahoo! Go for TV includes:
. Yahoo! Video Search
. Watch featured and most popular searched video content from Yahoo!
. Find videos using Yahoo!'s industry leading video search technology\
. Yahoo! Photos and Flickr
. View photos from Yahoo! Photos or stored on a local hard drive
. View Flickr photos from communities around the world
. Yahoo! Movies
. Watch the latest and top box office movie trailers
. Get movie info and Yahoo! ratings and recommendations
. Get listings for local theaters and show times
. Yahoo! Music
. Listen to LAUNCHcast radio, including customized stations
. Watch music videos in stereo
. Yahoo! TV
. Built in DVR for recording and managing TV shows and movies
. Integrated TV listing guide that allows consumers to browse by
channel or time

Logo is ™Tivo

The House Energy and Commerce subcommittee defeated by an 23-8 margin, a provision within pending telecommunication legislation that would require Net Neutrality, a democratic backed initiative aimed at ensuring equal access and delivery of media content.

The basic concern is that Telco's might not provide external content companies with the same level of transport service they enjoy and or extend to affiliate partners. The legislation, which is still pending: To consider H.R. ____, a Committee Print on the Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act of 2006

Extensive testimony from varied interest groups can be viewed:

http://energycommerce.house.gov/108/ram/03302006_telecom.ram
(Note: their audio does not start until 1:05 into the clip)

I will be covering this area in detail and with interviews in the coming month, stay tuned.

With an opening salvo about AOL's IPTV offering in2TV, writer, Gina Bellafante wrote in The New York Times on March 24th that, "LAST week, America Online introduced the first broadband television network on the World Wide Web, fueling the question, Has the Internet truly been a net positive for civilization?"

My question then is, did the advent of moveable type in 1440 by Gutenberg cause the deterioration of civilization at that time or since?

"The fashion world has already demonstrated, that "vintage" in modern parlance has simply come to mean old."

Since this is not the fashion world, I would reserve to an individual's particular tastes as to what they considered old verses, vintage or even classic. John Coltrane is old material, but some might consider his material vintage, La Femme Nikita, though not vintage, could be considered by some, classic. It is all subjective.

The rest of the article delves into questions that seem far removed from the relevancy of what IPTV can offer, namely allowing people to view content--any content--when they want and on any platform, be it wired or wireless and in a time and place of their choosing.

AOL has made a bold move here, having jumped into the not-yet-so-warm- waters of IPTV content delivery, which I applaud. Clearly, some people seem to be watching these programs and this is an evolutionary process. Using existing content before ramping up production or co-producing with established directors is an incremental step from a Cap-Ex perspective and that it does not appeal to Ms. Bellafante personal tastes, is not really the point.

As I am a bit verklempt by this article I am going to chill out in front of the tube (unfortunately not yet on-line) and see if I can find a syndicated episode of "Northern Exposure" or "The X-Files", definitely classics, and beside that, I like them!

In yesterday's Japan Times , there was an article about the rollout of One Seg, or One Segment, which will allow cell, GPS and mobile game users the ability to watch their favorite television programs.

®Vodafone 905SH, One Seg enabled phone

What is the hook that is going to get passive viewers motivated to purchase? The article spoke of product placements for example, an actress wearing a dress. The viewer interested in owning that item would follow links to on-line shopping malls. I do not know what the metrics suggest about successful rates using this method however, it certainly has been done before and is worth leveraging.

While there is no mention of a specific demographic targeted, it is fair to say teens and young adults constitute a large portion, especially since they have been in the vanguard of embracing new phone technologies.

"If users just watch TV programs, we will not be able to gain a profit," said Kazunori Higuchi, a spokesman for NTT DoCoMo, the country's biggest mobile phone service provider. "We hope users will visit sites related to the TV programs," which would allow the telecommunications carrier to charge users for data services.

It got me thinking about my post on Social Networking and IPTV . What is the connection? I think an interesting hook to motivate teens to buy featured products beyond a static link, would be a social networking layer running on top of the IPTV UI. Give teens the ability to chat with friends, peers or even a store clerk as they walk past a boutique and ask about the latest trend in nautical fashions or what actress and model, Yu Yamada is wearing in her latest commercial. If they were using a Jambo.net enabled device, their tastes in clothing, cosmetics or any other opted-in data would be available to share with retailers and help drive merchandise sales, kind of like Tom Cruise walking through the mall in Minority Report.

This is but one slice, and the article went on to list reasons why One Seg might threaten Telco's. That said, perhaps making the experience more interactive would motivate people into action? Just ask the kids on the street. The street does not lie!