Cable TV Industry Takes Peek at Future Innovations at New Orleans Convention May 5, 2004 12:00am Source: Newsday, Melville, N.Y. Distributed by=20 Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. Newsday: May 4--NEW ORLEANS -- So you already=20 have hundreds of channels, on-demand films,=20 high-definition pictures, a digital recorder,=20 high-speed Internet and even telephone service=20 from your local cable TV company, and you're=20 wondering what's next. How about a $30,000 Jacuzzi with a built-in=20 43-inch HDTV screen, six surround-sound speakers=20 and floating remote control? Or a Philips=20 bathroom mirror with a built-in television screen? Or a videophone that looks like a remote control=20 attached to a Palm Pilot and works without jerky=20 pictures? Those are among the flashy products on display at=20 a 7,000-square-foot broadband home of the future=20 that the cable TV industry built for its annual=20 convention here this week, with the help of more=20 than 50 companies and $500,000. The idea is to find new ways for cable operators=20 to fend off satellite TV competition and ratchet=20 up monthly bills without turning off couch=20 potatoes. Some of the items are luxuries for the few, such=20 as a $5,700 picture frame that covers a wall TV=20 screen with a painting. Others appear to be=20 retreads of services the cable industry has been=20 touting for years without gaining widespread use,=20 including on-screen caller ID and interactive TV=20 features such as customized news and sports=20 tickers. But some others are ready or nearly ready to roll=20 and may help the industry justify the $85 billion=20 it has spent to upgrade its cable lines and=20 equipment for broadband services. "There is no one thing in here worth the $85=20 billion," said Mark Bell, senior director of=20 industry affairs for the National Cable &=20 Telecommunications Association, the trade group=20 that runs the convention. "But all these things=20 make cable service a much more compelling value=20 to the consumer." A company called Beyond makes a small black box=20 that allows special appliances including=20 refrigerators, microwaves and breadmakers to call=20 up recipes based on the bar codes on products. iFIT.com of Logan, Utah, offers a service that=20 connects a home treadmill to an on-screen=20 personal trainer for $9.99 to $39.99 per month.=20 Healthium allows doctors to check patients'=20 weight and blood pressure while they are at home. Walt Disney Co. is fine-tuning a Kim Possible=20 interactive video game that allows youngsters to=20 collect trading cards through the TV and trade=20 them anonymously with other youngsters. Cablevision Systems Corp. unveiled a package of=20 interactive video games -- including Bob the=20 Baloney Frog and Sumo Tsunami -- that costs=20 digital customers $4.95 extra per month. Cable operators are encouraged by the initial=20 success of telephone service that uses cable=20 modems and Internet technology, which Cablevision=20 is offering to all customers and Time Warner=20 Cable expects to offer all customers by the end=20 of this year. "I think that product is going to jump off the=20 shelf," said Time Warner chairman Richard=20 Parsons, adding that such products are needed to=20 keep subscribers from defecting. "There is not=20 one of us that is not worried about satellite,"=20 he said. The operators are wondering what the next big=20 product will be. Videophones linked to cable=20 modems are among the most intriguing products,=20 even though they have been talked about in one=20 form or another for decades. The highest hurdles may be financial. "It's=20 going to be a marketing challenge to introduce=20 such an array of products to the marketplace,"=20 said ESPN executive vice president Sean Bratches,=20 "and then send consumers a monthly bill for $600." << Copyright =A92004 Newsday, Melville, N.Y.=20 Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business=20 News. >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways: - Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org - By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line.