While Time Warner Cable (partly owned by Time Warner, parent company of AOL, which owns Engadget) won't go down as the first cable company to modify the oh-so-lovable fast-forward feature, at least the latest hamstringing won't affect those willing to pay up. Dubbed "Look Back," the newfangled DVR feature will reportedly come "without a monthly fee," and will only allow customers to skip ahead and back in predetermined chunks of time; moreover, it will be limited to programs that are watched back before midnight of the day they air. The firm plans to test it out this October in South Carolina before "gradually introducing it around the country," and it was also noted that this -- along with the "Start Over" feature that functions exactly as it sounds -- would not require viewers to "remember to record programs," but alas, it also eliminates the ability to keep a library of stored content onboard. Ah well, so long as we diehard DVR users can keep on coughing up the dough required for a fully-functional FF button, we've no real qualms with this option joining the fray.

In a marketing case that just sounds too good to be true, vending masters Apex Corp. have purportedly laid out plans that will bring free or subsidized non-alcoholic beverage to thirsty consumers who are willing to watch a 30-second commercial before partaking. Aiming to launch next month in Japan, the MediCafe project will give users the option of plunking down the ¥70 ($0.58) to ¥120 ($1) required to purchase an item, or watching an advertisement for half a minute while the machine dispenses their liquid of choice. It was noted that not all drinks would be free, as some advertisers would only be offering up discounts in exchange for your attention, but this still sounds like a much more legitimate way to receive gratis soft drinks than other alternatives we've seen.

[Via PlasticBamboo]

In what looks to be another accomplishment on its supposed quest for world domination, Google is expanding yet again. This time, the search-engine-turned-conglomerate is making way for AdWords customers to get their plugs into the ears of XM satellite radio listeners. In a deal between the two companies, XM will allow Google's AdWords clients to get their spots on whichever non-music XM channel they feel appropriate -- apparently not even Google had the wherewithal (or the desire) to get advertisers onto XM's "commercial free music channels." Having purchased dMarc Broadcasting for $102 million in Janurary, Google isn't a radio newcomer, and this signing provides a fairly enormous audience when combined with their plans for terrestrial radio (they're already advertising in Detroit). Google, presumably looking out for the little guys (and its profit margins), envisions satellite ads to be less expensive and more appealing to small businesses by cutting out the lengthy sales pitch typically found in plain 'ole AM / FM radio advertising. Aside from making the process of getting a commercial on the air much less painful, touting those "7 million XM subscribers" as potential buyers will likely attract a new wave of AdWords customers as well. So, what've they got their hands in now? Your Dell PC, a new internet, a vast supply of "dark fiber," WiFi in cities, and now satellites -- apparently the plan is coming together beautifully.

It was no surprise that TiVo's fast-forward banner ads didn't quite take as they might have hoped, but BusinessWeek is reporting that next month we can expect to see some new TiVo-based advertising systems rolled out, including interactive ads and ads on demand. Yes, yes, we've seen interactive advertising and enhanced television done umpteen times now, but from what it sounds like (BizWeek was kind of vague -- we don't have a lot of specifics yet), TiVo's taking a slightly different approach by background-downloading and storing ads in the system for viewing; this also lends to a new kind of choose your own adventure style ad system that lets viewers pick how they want to be advertised to with spots that unfold depending on user input. The irony here is that the first round of TiVo's interactive ads were apparently bought by Sony for the new Bravias they've been pimping so hard lately -- HDTVs that your trusty old standard def DVR won't be able to take full advantage of. Still, if you want to learn more about Sony's new TVs, their TiVo commercial will apparently have twelve different endings to choose from.

[Via TechDirt]