ITV has launched a subscription-based model for its ITV Player app for iOS devices, allowing users to skirt commercial interruption for the first time.

The £3.99 a month premium subscription will provide a substitute for the revenue the broadcaster makes from commercials on its catch-up service.

It gives users who complain about the ads (i.e. most of us) the chance to put-up-or-shut-up by handing over their monthly dues to enjoy Corrie and Emmerdale. without the Go Compare man ruining it.

Naturally, the scheme only applies to the catch up offerings on ITV1, 2, 3 and 4, and CITV and not to the live simulcasts also offered through the service.

Pay your money, take your choice

Users will be given the option to sign up for an ITV Player Premium subscription next time they update the app, but can continue enjoying catch-up content and live telly for free if they don't opt in.

Steven Power, Product Manager for ITV Player on Mobile, said: "As ITV Player on mobile devices continues to grow – over 7 million downloads on iOS to date – it is important we deliver innovative business models and adapt the product to the evolving market. I'm genuinely excited that we're the first commercial broadcaster to offer viewers the choice to watch content with or without advertising."

There's no news yet on whether ITV plans to roll the functionality out to the Android app or web-based player.

• Speaking of paid access, whatever happened to that plan to offer access to archive content for a fee?

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has reaffirmed his staunch unwillingness to offer the company's most popular games on smartphone or tablet devices.

The gaming giant has continually resisted the clamour from fans (and even shareholders) for classic franchises like Mario and Zelda to arrive on iOS and Android platforms, despite the ongoing slump in console sales and ensuing financial losses.

However, Iwata said launching Super Mario Bros. and co. for the iPhone or iPad would only be a short-term money-spinner for Nintendo, while abstaining could ensure the company is still standing in 20 years.

He told the Wall Street Journal: "If I was only concerned about managing Nintendo for this year and next year - and not about what the company would be like in 10 or 20 years - then I'd probably say that my point of view is nonsense.

"But if we think 20 years down the line, we may look back at the decision not to supply Nintendo games to smartphones and think that is the reason why the company is still here."

Ploughing on

Instead the company will continue ploughing on with its attempts to engage gamers with its own handheld gaming device, the Nintendo 3DS and, of course, the struggling Nintendo Wii U console.

Both devices can expect an influx of top-level games throughout 2013, but whether they'll be enough to increase the uptake remains to be seen.

Nintendo announced Mario Kart 8 and Super Mario 3D World at E3, this week, but developers are hardly clamouring to make games for the consoles. EA, for example, appears to have walked away from the Wii U completely.

Do you agree with Iwata's stubborn stance or should Nintendo cash in while the going's good? Let us know in the comments section below.

• Still buying what Nintendo's selling? Check out the new line-up of games waiting in the wings

Samsung has been churning out some interesting devices – but in doing so is ruining its flagship handset.

It's a conundrum many brands face: do you try to create loads of recognisable ranges of products, or do you get everything to revolve around one key product?

It's a strategy that works both ways: for every iPad, there's an HTC Desire. Sometimes moniker-linking products together can really help the sale of an otherwise anonymous device, and other times it can dilute the effect of the hero product.

That seems to be what Samsung is doing with the Galaxy S4. While we can see the logic in releasing a Galaxy S4 Mini (want the brand but can't afford the phone? Do we have a deal for you!) but doing it so soon after launching the main S4 means cannibalising sales; at least with the Galaxy S3 Mini many months had passed before Samsung got its shrink-ray out.

Too many cooks...

But now we've got not only the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini, but also the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active (for the rugged, athletic members of the human race) and the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom (for, erm, those that like chunky phones and really, really need a decent camera around at all times). And we haven't even mentioned the S4 Nexus...

Imagine walking into your local phone emporium and being greeted with all of these options at once. You might be drawn instantly to the main S4, but then your eye will fall on the cheaper model. "Do I really need to spend all that money when I can get most of the features for less?" you might muse.

Then your hand will brush the rugged Galaxy S4 Active – instantly taken by its tough exterior, you'll think "Oh, is the 'normal' S4 not that strong then? Maybe I should go for this one just in case… even though it doesn't have that awesome AMOLED screen."

And you'll be confused once more. And then, in the middle of all the confusion and umming / ahhing, you'll notice the Galaxy S4 Zoom. Before dismissing it as you've realised you've already got a camera and that's one hefty beast.

More isn't always better

Sure, more options can be great. Samsung will obviously point to the fact it's always offered choice, and it's now the number one smartphone manufacturer, with robust sales in all segments of the market, and this is just a continuation of that policy.

But really, these should be products in their own segment. The Mini should be a W or an Ace, the Active an Xcover and the Zoom… well, just a camera. Using the Galaxy S4 name reduces the lustre of the main brand, and that's something you can't put a price on.

Well, you can: Samsung's stocks tumbled recently when analysts predicted that sales of the S4 were set to come in under estimates, pointing to the lower margin products obviously bringing in less cash, as well as the dilution of the brand caused by multiple S4 models.

I'm sure Samsung will still sell bucketloads of Galaxy S4 device, in the same way Apple is shifting record numbers of iPhone 5 units despite a general indifference from many Apple fans at the new device.

But long term, Samsung needs to make sure it preserves the hero status of its key products. Make them something consumers yearn for, not offering them halfway-house versions of the same thing.