Fortunately, I don’t need to come up with the perfect ‘Ads of Super Bowl 44′ lede as NewTeeVee pretty much nailed it: Beer solves lots of problems, women hold men back from their dreams and this year, pants are optional. But I can’t say there are any commercials we’ll remember beyond this week. My personal fave was the Kia ad (above) – fun, engaging, not crass, and it made me think about their product. (What does Go Daddy do again?) Speaking of crass, the most entertaining pantsless commercial didn’t even make it on the air. And I’m bummed Denny’s Nannerpus nemesis has been replaced by chickens.

In what’s become an annual tradition, TiVo determined the top ads of Super Bowl 44 “using aggregated, anonymous, second-by-second audience measurement data about how 30,000 TiVo subscribers watched the game, and for the first time, determined not just the most viewed commercials, but instead the most engaging ads throughout the game.”

1. Doritos  – “House Rules”
2. Snickers – “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry”
3. Focus on the Family – “The Tebows Celebrate Life”
4. Doritos – “Underdog”
5. 2010 Intel Core Processors – “Jeoffrey the Robot Gets Hurt”
6. E*Trade Financial – “Baby Love Triangle”
7. Bud Light – “Observatory”
8. CareerBuilder – “Casual Fridays”
9. TruTV’s NFL Full Contact – “ Punxsutawney Polamalu”
10. Hyundai Sonata – “Brett Favre MVP, Still Playing at 50”

If you missed any of the commercials, or just want to catch them again, hit Hulu, CBS, or YouTube. What were your favorites?

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TWTRCON, Jerad Hill Photographer

We don’t typically cover personnel moves, but we’re making an exception this week as I’m personally bummed that TiVo Inc. is letting Shanan get away. Most know her as the long-time “voice of TiVo” … but she’s served a far more important internal role as consumer advocate. As TiVo seems to focus more on corporate partnerships and patent lawsuits, while their direct subscriber count dwindles, I was disappointed to learn of her upcoming departure and wonder if TiVo can (or will) find a similar champion for we, the people. (I was a TiVo customer long before I was a TiVo blogger.) Specific to Shanan, our friendship transcended TiVo Inc. years ago. She knows I’ve got her back and wish her great success with the next thing(s).

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Earlier this week, DirecTV expanded their previously private whole-home DVR viewing pilot into an opt-in open beta. DirecTV’s rendition of multi-room viewing is similar to most – stream recorded content from a HD DVR to any other HD DVR or receiver around the home via a unified or filtered playlist. Additionally, you’ll be able to schedule recordings or delete programming from any receiver. In addition to having received the appropriate software update, you’ll also need to have networked your HD DVRs (models HR20-23) or receivers (models H21-23). In this case, on your own via Ethernet or via a DirecTV-purchased powerline or MoCA solution. Unlike most whole-home DVR solutions, once launched from beta, DirecTV will charge for this functionality. Something unseen since the days long ago that TiVo sold a Home Media Option. For more details, including hands-on experiences, check out DBSTalk. In addition to an active, evolving thread, they’ve also put together a PDF (mirrored below) covering the multi-room service with pics.

It’ll be interesting to see if the upcoming DirecTV TiVo solution will support multi-room viewing at launch. (Or at all.) Related, I’d like TiVo to launch a more modern, sophisticated MRV within their retail product line to the replace simplistic show copying (often prohibited by one’s cable provider).

(via Multimedia-PCs)

The plot thickens… After taking a pound of flesh from DISH Network (with more to come?), TiVo was looking for a repeat time shifting patent infringement performance from Verizon and AT&T. But AT&T isn’t quietly acquiescing to a licensing settlement. As Microsoft, who provides the Mediaroom DVR experience to AT&T’s U-verse customers, has just filed suit against TiVo for patent infringement of their own related to:

a system that displays programmable information and a secure method for buying and delivering video programs.

It’ll be interesting to see how these two cases play out. Although, it’s likely the public won’t actually see much of anything. As I suspect TiVo, AT&T, and Microsoft will choose to skip the time and expense of protracted courtroom battles, with uncertain outcomes, by cross licensing each others intellectual property. And then moving on. Which leaves Verizon.

As ardent fans know, TiVo had a quiet 2010 CES in the public eye — forgoing major announcements in favor of private briefings. Including a productive one of my own. And while it’s not yet time to blog what I’ve learned, I didn’t leave Vegas empty handed. One lucky ZNF reader will receive the TiVo fleece blanket and stainless steel water bottle shown above. Entering the giveaway is as easy as it gets, simply leave a comment below. (US residents in the lower 48 only, please.) I’ll choose the winner at random in a few days.

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Now that 2009 has come to a close, it’s time for some personal tech reflection – beyond the “boxes of the year” and my entry level HD video cam recommendation. By and large, my primary 2009 gadgetry looked quite similar to what I used regularly in 2008 (never minding some model upgrades): iPhone, Macbook, Xbox, TiVo. The two notable additions to my lineup were the Sonos S5 and Sprint’s edition of the Novatel MiFi. Although, I wouldn’t have been so dependent on that MiFi had AT&T not provided me significantly worse coverage in 2009 than in 2008.

Michael Gartenberg has put together his Best Personal Tech of 2009 for Engadget which is worth a read, as I agree with many of his selections. So let’s focus on a few items he and I don’t see eye to eye on. Instead of the 27″ iMac, I’d rather single out Apple’s redesigned 21.5″ model. It has a much better price/performance/features ratio and is truly a bargain by Cupertino standards. Plus, it ships without screen issues. On the software front, Gartenberg highlights both Snow Leopard and Windows 7. Which are merely evolutionary upgrades by any measure. In fact, Snow Leopard would be called a service pack from anyone else and Microsoft’s most notable Windows 7 “feature” is not being Vista. Lastly, I’m not yet sold on any of the underpowered, novelty “pico” projector devices/functionality.

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Due to a possible shipping slip up, we may have just caught our first glimpse of the next model in TiVo’s Series3/HD line. When Patrick McCarron recently upgraded to a TiVo HD, his packaging contained a TiVo Premiere and Premiere XL setup guide. Which diagrams a back panel we’ve never seen before.

The reworked DVR is limited to a single multistream CableCARD slot (M-Card), versus the two slots found on prior HD models. Additionally, S-Video output has been dropped along with the dialup modem. All of which results in a slimmer package that should lower HD TiVo production costs.

Other than the “Premiere” branding, given my doubts we’ll see a retail tru2way TiVo anytime soon (reinforced by TiVo’s recent FCC filing), it seems like this would be an evolutionary product. However, it could still be significant if the DVR incorporates more horsepower, 3 or more tuners, and/or an updated TiVo user interface. Perhaps we’ll learn more about the hardware refresh next week from CES. (Thanks, bfdtv!) (more…)