While the men’s Div. 1 college basketball final between North Carolina and Michigan State might have been lacking in excitement, CBS Corp. April 13 said its online properties, including the March Madness on Demand video player, set records for unique visitors.

The annual NCAA tournament (“March Madness”) pits the nation’s top 64 men’s college teams.

Nearly 7.5 million unique visitors downloaded the video player, watching 8.6 million hours of content (including for the first time in high-definition) — up 58% from 4.8 million visitors last year. Indeed, more than 5.6 million unique visitors frequented the MMOD player during the first four days of the tournament, which ended April 6.

Underscoring the video player’s appeal during work hours, the so-called “boss button” — which superimposes a fake spreadsheet image over the player — was utilized 2.8 million times.

CBS cited March Madness for triple digit month-over-month gains at CBSSports.com in unique users (134%), visits (121%), minutes (158%) and page views (147%).

In addition CBS said TV.com, which streams repurposed content from more than 19,000 TV series, including non-CBS programming, recorded record traffic in March, according to Nielsen Video Census.

The site posted a 1,315% increase in unique viewers, 2,348% increase in streams and 1,190% rise in minutes spent on the site, compared to the same period last year.

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/streaming/cbs-video-sites-score-big-march-15333

Verizon is weighing on the philosophy it believes the U.S. government should take when doling out $7 billion for the broadband stimulus program.

The telco giant says the program should focus on two key objectives: extending broadband Internet connections to unserved areas, and addressing demand-side factors that hamper growth of broadband subscriptions, such as the lack of a computer in many households.

In recommendations filed today with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Rural Utilities Service (RUS), Verizon said 90 percent of U.S. households have access to broadband, and of the households that have computers, 80 percent of them subscribe to broadband services.

Verizon suggested three principles to guide the broadband stimulus program, which is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009: Be open to a wide range of projects to help finish what has already been started; rely on state and local expertise in identifying unserved areas; and maintain transparency and accountability.

The company also stressed the need for quick action on the part of the agencies cooperating to produce an economic stimulus, and the importance of administering the programs in a way that encourages broad participation.


http://www.xchangemag.com/hotnews/verizon-shares-broadband-stimulus-ideas.html

Time Warner Scraps Bandwidth Cap Testing (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2345430,00.asp)

Time Warner Cable has shelved plans to test consumption-based billing until it can improve its "customer education process," the company announced Thursday.

"It is clear from the public response over the last two weeks that there is a great deal of misunderstanding about our plans to roll out additional tests on consumption based billing," Time Warner CEO Glen Britt said in a statement. "As a result, we will not proceed with implementation of additional tests until further consultation with our customers and other interested parties, ensuring that community needs are being met."

Time Warner started testing bandwidth caps last year in its Beaumont, Texas market – a test that it recently expanded to North Carolina and New York.

But while rival Comcast implemented a 250GB bandwidth cap for residential customers last year without much fanfare, and AT&T announced plans to test a 150GB cap, Time Warner took some heat because its caps were relatively low – between 5GB and 40GB.

The company eventually announced it would also offer a 100GB "super tier" and unlimited service for $150 per month, but by then, Congress was already up in arms and interest groups were circulating online petitions against the caps.

"While we continue to believe that consumption based billing may be the best pricing plan for consumers, we want to do everything we can to inform our customers of our plans and have the benefit of their views as part of our testing process," Britt said Thursday.

As part of its education process, Time Warner will provide customers with tools to help them understand how much bandwidth they consume. No mention of how long that will continue before testing resumes.

Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, was in Rochester Thursday afternoon to speak out against the proposed caps, according to stopthecap.com, a Web site set up to protest the caps.

"StoptheCap has been working with the senator's office throughout the day today to help coordinate the visit, which will take place in Irondequoit at the home of just one resident who will be directly impacted by Time Warner's plans," according to the site.

"We look forward to continuing to work with Senator Schumer, our customers, and all of the other interested parties as the process moves forward, to ensure that informed decisions are made about the best way to continue to provide our customers with the level of service that they expect and deserve from Time Warner Cable," Britt concluded.

Free Press, which set up an online petition to encourage a congressional investigation into the Time Warner caps, applauded the move.

"We're glad to see Time Warner Cable's price-gouging scheme collapse in the face of consumer opposition," Timothy Karr, campaign director of Free Press, said in a statement. "Let this be a lesson to other Internet service providers looking to head down a similar path. Consumers are not going to stand idly by as companies try to squeeze their use of the Internet. This is a major victory, but the fight for a fast, open and affordable Internet is far from over."

The National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) – which championed Time Warner's testing process on Wednesday – said the company's decision "is completely consistent with how they have approached this from the beginning."

"Bottom line: they have been and are engaged in exactly the kind of outreach and transparency interest groups profess to want," NCTA president and CEO Kyle McSlarrow said in a statement.

Verizon Has Ambitious LTE Schedule (http://www.von.com/news/verizon-has-ambitious-lte-schedule.html)

04/15/2009
Verizon Wireless may be looking to complete its national LTE mobile broadband coverage roadmap faster than previously imagined, with recent executive comments indicating a completion date by 2014.

As Verizon announced at CTIA, it expects to have two trial LTE markets by the end of this year, with a first commercial launch early in 2010, and 25 to 30 markets live by the end of 2010.

And then this week there was this: "From there we'll build it out in the next two, three years, where we'll have LTE deployed throughout our footprint," Gurnani said in a video interview with Unstrung.

That would indicate full deployment sometime in 2013.

Verizon has been on a roll with its LTE news, starting by naming Alcatel-Lucent, Starent Networks and Ericsson as its 4G suppliers in February at Mobile World Congress. It is perhaps feeling the pressure from Clearwire Corp. and Sprint-Nextel Corp., which have an aggressive time-to-market advantage for WiMAX.

Verizon will be one of the first in the U.S. market with LTE, but won’t be the last. In the United States, AT&T Inc. is planning to deploy in 2011, with Metro PCS saying it will launch LTE in the second half of 2010. And T-Mobile USA’s parent company, T-Mobile, has also said it would go with LTE, skipping interim HSPA upgrades to get a jump on the market.

Best Buy plans online movie service (http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6652262.html)

Chain, CinemaNow in talks for downloads
By Susanne Ault and Jennifer Netherby -- Video Business, 4/16/2009

Stung by falling DVD sales, Best Buy is on the verge of launching a digital movie service with a third-party partner that could debut as early as this summer, according to studios.

The chain is in talks with CinemaNow and other online movie services to create a download business that Best Buy hopes will offset falling DVD sales, studio execs said.

Details on how exactly Best Buy would benefit from a potential partnership with CinemaNow, and others, are still being finalized. But one possibility, according to studio execs, is that Best Buy would market and sell Web-enabled hardware devices—from TVs to Blu-ray Disc players—that would include immediate, built-in access to CinemaNow’s library. Such devices could roll out as soon as this summer. Best Buy would presumably share with CinemaNow or another third-party provider the resulting download and/or streaming revenue.

Currently, Best Buy is advertising job openings for digital movie executive positions at such tech-geared sites as PaidContent.org.

The strategy is similar to what Blockbuster and online disc retailers Amazon and Netflix have done over the last year. Blockbuster partnered with CinemaNow in January to offer movie downloads through a variety of set-top devices including TiVo digital video recorders and Blu-ray players. The partnered service is set to debut in the second half of the year. Amazon offers its Video on Demand service through TiVo and Roku players, and Netflix offers its instant viewing service on those devices and others.

It’s unclear how Best Buy would align with manufacturers for these new digital movie-enabled devices.

Spokespeople for the chain and CinemaNow didn’t respond for comment.

CinemaNow has pushed to offer its download service through a variety of devices and partnerships. Previously, Best Buy had been working to launch its own separate branded download store. It appears these plans fell through sometime in 2007.

DVD leader Wal-Mart briefly sold downloads with partner Hewlett-Packard through Walmart.com in 2007, but the service never evolved out of a test phase, and the retailer’s site was closed when partner H-P exited the download business. Downloads were tied to a PC and unwatchable on a TV or other devices.

Physical DVD merchandising also is undergoing changes at Best Buy, following the chain reducing staff to cut expenses. Jill Hamburger, VP of movies and entertainment, has left the company, according to sources. She reported to Mike Vitelli, VP of consumer electronics/product management, and it’s not expected that her position will be replaced. Marlys Thorson, merchandise leader for DVD software, also has exited Best Buy.

Prison, fines for founders of file-sharing site

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (CNN) — A Swedish judge Friday found four men involved in a file-sharing Web site guilty of collaborating to violate copyright law and sentenced each one to a year in prison and 30 million kronor ($3.6 million) in damages.

The four men include three founders of The Pirate Bay site, along with one patron.

The defendants promised before the verdict that they would appeal if found guilty.

It is a landmark case in the fast-growing Internet piracy industry that involved both a criminal case and a civil claim filed by major media companies including Warner Brothers, Columbia, Twentieth Century Fox, Sony BMG and EMI.

The year-long prison terms are for violating Swedish law, and the damages are compensation to the media giants in the civil case. Specifically, the trial dealt with the illegal file-sharing of 20 songs, nine films, and four computer games, the Swedish newspaper The Local reported.

The companies had asked for 110 million kronor ($13 million), but the judge at Stockholm City Court ruled the men must pay one-third of that amount. Each will pay a portion of the total damages

http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/

Neowin Exclusive: Lets talk some Zune HD specs (http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/04/15/exclusive-lets-talk-some-zune-hd-specs)

Over the last week there has been a ton of buzz around Microsoft's upcoming device update which we have confirmed will be labeled as the Zune HD. We've teamed up with Ryan Rea (aka volvoshine) from LiveSide.net and are going to let the world know what we do and do not know about the Zune HD. We've got the green light to go ahead and share the specs that our sources within Microsoft have confirmed to us.

An overview of the Zune HD specs:

3.6 inchish OLED full touch screen.
NVIDIA Tegra powered.
4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, and 120GB versions.
HDMI Connection to stream straight to your TV.
HD Radio.
Web Browser.
WiFi compatible, with wireless marketplace.
Released, early fall.
International release of the Zune device itself.
Home AV packs, Car packs, Charge packs.
Unconfirmed rumors (A Microsoft spokesperson declined to comment or confirm):

...[rumors follow]HDMI connection ??? :)

Neowin Exclusive: Lets talk some Zune HD specs (http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/04/15/exclusive-lets-talk-some-zune-hd-specs)

HDMI connection ??? :)

And an OLED screen. Sweet!

Except it seems like there won't be enough storage space for me. I need a minmum of 70GB just for my music.

My Mythical Online Rental Service for Movies
Why Hollywood is so slow to catch up on offering all of its movies and shows online.

http://www.slate.com/id/2216328/

My Mythical Online Rental Service for Movies
Why Hollywood is so slow to catch up on offering all of its movies and shows online.

http://www.slate.com/id/2216328/Good article, although I'm surprised that the author freely admits illegally downloading his entertainment. Didn't a Fox entertainment reporter/reviewer just get fired for that?

The larger point of the article stands, though. If the studios aren't going to make their content available online, people will find alternatives, costing them revenue. And, the problem with that, is if you allow your product to sell for nothing, you're devaluing it in the marketplace. It will be hard for them to eventually sell content for what they really think it's worth.

The author is right, it's time for them to start the distribution now, or they will follow the same fate as the music industry. It's very close to being too late.

Scott

Good article, although I'm surprised that the author freely admits illegally downloading his entertainment. Didn't a Fox entertainment reporter/reviewer just get fired for that?

The larger point of the article stands, though. If the studios aren't going to make their content available online, people will find alternatives, costing them revenue. And, the problem with that, is if you allow your product to sell for nothing, you're devaluing it in the marketplace. It will be hard for them to eventually sell content for what they really think it's worth.

The author is right, it's time for them to start the distribution now, or they will follow the same fate as the music industry. It's very close to being too late.

Scott

The studio execs and TV broadcasters have been talkin about this. They know they need to get their stuff online in a legal and convenient way because people want to consume it that way. Their choice is to provide that method or let people find illegal alternatives. Pretty simple.

Aneesh Chopra will promote broadband rollout, streamlined government technology functions and technological innovation.

President Barack Obama has named Aneesh Chopra to the post of chief technology officer. Chopra had been Virginia's secretary of technology. The president made the announcement Saturday in his weekly video address.

In addition to streamlining government technology functions, Chopra will "promote technological innovation," which includes the nationwide rollout of broadband, one of the White House's key technology issues.

Ed Black, president of the Computer & Communications Industry Assoctation, said, "Obama said part of Chopra's job will be to expand the use of technology to boost broadband access," said Black in a statement. "With those marching orders and Chopra's abilities we look forward to seeing expanded, affordable access to an open Internet and the increased economic activity that comes from it."

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/209482-Obama_Names_Chief_Technology_Officer.php

Joe Ambeault, Director of Product Development and Management for Video Services at Verizon has been added as our final keynote at next month's Streaming Media East conference. Over the last 3 years Verizon has been employing a spiral development approach in close collaboration with a wide cross section of consumer segments to progressively deliver more of the Internet to the television in a mass market friendly manner. In Joe's keynote, attendees will learn about Verizon's first Internet applications for FiOS TV's approach for bringing Internet video to the set top box and Verizon's vision for the future of Internet TV.

http://blog.streamingmedia.com/the_business_of_online_vi/2009/04/east-keynote.html

Good article, although I'm surprised that the author freely admits illegally downloading his entertainment. Didn't a Fox entertainment reporter/reviewer just get fired for that?

The larger point of the article stands, though. If the studios aren't going to make their content available online, people will find alternatives, costing them revenue. And, the problem with that, is if you allow your product to sell for nothing, you're devaluing it in the marketplace. It will be hard for them to eventually sell content for what they really think it's worth.

The author is right, it's time for them to start the distribution now, or they will follow the same fate as the music industry. It's very close to being too late.

Scott
It's amazing the reasons people use to rationalize theft of intellectual property.
There are a million reasons the thief uses to justify his crime.

It's not the right format.
It costs too much.
They charge too much for tickets.
They're loaded, they won't miss it.
I would not have paid to see it anyways.

He should be fired.

Would you feel the pain if I told you... if you don't leave the door to your house open my friends and I will find a way to get in and take your property anyways.
Gives you a warm fuzzy feeling doesn't it?

The downside of this is less money to invest in new property which hurts us all. This is the devaluing of creativity.
But hey, at least the thief was able to get his share of the loot. After all, it's really just about "me" anyways.

Adobe in Push to Spread Web Video to TV Sets (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/20/technology/20adobe.html?ref=business)

The denizens of Hollywood and Silicon Valley have, by and large, vastly different value systems, role models, even tastes in cars, food and clothing.

But they increasingly agree on one thing: a standard for online video called Adobe Flash.

Flash was once known primarily as the technology behind those niggling Web ads in the 1990s that gyrated and flickered on the screen. Today, it is a ubiquitous but behind-the-scenes Web format used to display Facebook applications, interactive ads and, most notably, the video on sites like YouTube and Hulu.com.

Now Adobe Systems, which owns the technology and sells the tools to create and distribute it, wants to extend Flash’s reach even further. On Monday, Adobe’s chief executive, Shantanu Narayen, will announce at the annual National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas that Adobe is extending Flash to the television screen. He expects TVs and set-top boxes that support the Flash format to start selling later this year.

For consumers, what sounds like a bit of inconsequential Internet plumbing actually means that a long overhyped notion is a step closer to reality: viewing a video clip or Internet application on a TV or mobile phone.

For Hollywood studios and other content creators, a single format for Web video is even more enticing. It means they can create their entertainment once in Flash — as the animated documentary “Waltz With Bashir,” from Sony Pictures Classics, was made — and distribute it cheaply throughout the expanding ecosystem of digital devices.

“Coming generations of consumers clearly expect to get their content wherever they want on it, on any device, when they want it,” said Bud Albers, the chief technology officer of the Disney Interactive Media Group, who will join Adobe executives at the convention to voice Disney’s support for the Flash format. “This gets us where we want to go.”

Adobe, based in San Jose, Calif., is among the oldest Internet powers but perhaps one of the least visible to users. Founded in 1983, the company first developed a common language for laser printers called PostScript and later built or bought popular desktop publishing tools like Illustrator and Photoshop.

In 2005, Adobe acquired Macromedia, the originator of Flash, and expanded from making software to create and share digital documents, like Adobe Acrobat and the PDF file format, to dominating the budding market of tools to create online graphics and video. Last year the company reported net income of $871.8 million on revenue of $3.6 billion.

According to Adobe, Flash is now on 98 percent of all computers, and about 80 percent of Web videos are viewed using it.

Adobe says Flash was installed on 40 percent of cellphones shipped last year, and it recently announced efforts to increase that penetration by abolishing the licensing fees it was charging handset makers, much as it offers the Flash player free to consumers and video sites like YouTube.

Adobe makes money on Flash by selling software to help companies create and deliver Flash content to the Web.

Some major players in the phone market do not support Flash. Most notably, Apple, maker of the iPhone, says Flash uses too much processing and battery power. Mr. Narayen says handset makers will ultimately not be able to resist, since it will make viewing the Web on a phone no different from surfing on a PC.

“Anyone who wishes to deliver Web browsing on smartphone devices, supporting Flash will be an integral part of the experience,” he said.

Despite its problems wooing Apple, Adobe considers the television screen the last great frontier for Flash. To support the new effort to bring Flash to the TV, it has signed partners including Intel, Comcast, Netflix and Broadcom, the company that makes many of the components that go into cable and satellite set-top boxes. (The New York Times Company has also agreed to support this initiative to bring Flash to the TV set.)

While television makers like Sony and Samsung are not involved yet, analysts say integrating Flash — or at least some kind of Internet video — into the living room television is inevitable.

“It’s hard to differentiate TVs these days. They’ve gotten about as big and thin as you can get them,” said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at Interpret LLC. “This idea of being able to standardize on Flash-based content across devices and platforms will be something TV vendors can get excited about because it will distinguish their products.”

One company standing in Adobe’s way is Microsoft. Its rival to Flash, called Silverlight, is used by Netflix and the BBC, among others, and was used by CBS to stream the N.C.A.A. men’s basketball tournament and by NBC last year to stream the Olympics.

Microsoft says the second version of Silverlight has been installed on 300 million PCs since it became available six months ago. It also claims that Silverlight better supports live, high-definition video in what is called 1080p resolution, which is paramount to bringing Internet content to large HDTVs.

“I can’t imagine what could be more important on a television than high video quality,” said Brad Becker, director of rich client platforms at Microsoft — and a former Adobe executive. Adobe executives say the new Flash for televisions will support such high-definition video.

Some analysts are not counting out Microsoft just yet. They say the company has a significant presence in the living room with devices like the Xbox 360 game consoles that can stream movies to a TV. Microsoft, with annual revenue that is 17 times that of Adobe’s, also has the resources to finance an escalating competition.

“There hasn’t been a true competitor to Adobe for quite some time and Microsoft could potentially start bridging the gap between the PC and the TV even more effectively,” said Josh Martin, an analyst at the Yankee Group. “Maybe they could start putting out some of the fire that Adobe has long held.”

Apple Consolidating AV Cables Ahead of iPhone HD Launch (http://www.phonenews.com/apple-consolidating-av-cables-ahead-of-iphone-hd-launch-7648/)

Apple has advised Apple Authorized Resellers to begin placing on clearance both the Apple Composite AV Cable and Apple Component AV Cable. PhoneNews.com has learned that Apple will be consolidating these cables, ahead of the launch of the next iPhone.

Both current cables were not well received by the public. The cables first added encryption chips, which (upon the release of iPhone OS 2.0) made it impossible to use other, cheaper AV cables with Apple’s most advanced mobile devices (iPhone and iPod touch). In addition, many were unhappy that the Apple Component AV Cable did not support composite output, forcing customers to pay over $100 for the ability to output to both HDTV and SDTV displays.

Apple will remedy this with a cable, which is known simply as the Apple AV Cable. The cable will function similar to the Xbox 360 Component AV Cable. The consolidated cable will support both component and composite output, allowing users to plug in to both HDTV and SDTV displays without the need for multiple cables.

The reason that Apple is doing this has been confirmed by PhoneNews.com. The next generation of iPhone and iPod touch will make broad and sweeping changes to HD display capacity on the devices. First, Apple will likely offer at least one version of the iPhone and one version of iPod touch with an even higher resolution screen, targeting both Microsoft’s Zune HD, as well as HTC’s Touch HD and Touch Pro2.

However, Apple is also planning across-the-board output of HD video. Apple, realizing the lukewarm success of Apple TV, the company plans to focus both iPhone (and eventually, iPod) as the easiest way to watch HD videos from your PC.

Currently the iPhone and iPod touch do not exceed 480i and 480p (respectively) in terms of video resolution. However, the next iPhone and iPod touch will enable full HD playback, with 720p and 1080i output modes.

Multiple options will be given to users to get HD video onto their TV, via iPhone and iPod. First, consumers will be able to store HD shows on their devices directly. However, considering the limits of flash storage, this is a time consuming process. Enter Bonjour. Apple will also provide the ability for users to plug their iPhone into their HDTV, and gateway onto a user’s Wi-Fi network, and access their entire iTunes library on their HDTV.

The end result is that a user can sit at their HDTV, using an Apple AV Dock and an Apple Remote, controlling their iPhone much as they do an Apple TV today. This ensures that a new iPhone owner will be able to purcase, for under $100, all the equipment needed to access (via the iPhone) all of their computer-stored HD content, on their HDTV.

At under $100 (less than half the cost of an Apple TV), Apple will be able to take on low-cost video devices, as well as game consoles, with competitive advantage. Consumers will now have cheap HD access to their entire iTunes library, as well as portable HD playback of shows, videos, and photos on their device.

Apple has made great strides towards bridging the HD gap with content providers. The iTunes Store now accepts HD TV Shows from all major networks, as well as offering HD Movies. The latest iTunes update for Mac and PC also enables HD playback of rented movies (previously limited to Apple TV).

WoW!!

iPod and iPhone to both be bridges to get PC / Internet video on to the primary display.

That is pretty significant! With the upcoming Hulu iPhone app, this could be VERY big!!

Amazon Officially Adds HD Content, and It Looks Good (http://newteevee.com/2009/04/21/amazon-officially-adds-hd-content-and-it-looks-good/)

Amazon today started offering both movies and TV shows in HD, a welcome and rumored upgrade. I took the Video on Demand service out for a quick test drive, and found the HD video quality to be very good and the overall system simple to use.

Amazon Video on Demand lets you rent or purchase movies and TV shows from its library of about 40,000 titles on your computer or from your TV, with the help of a compatible set-top box. Amazon didn’t provide a specific number of HD titles available but a press announcement said users can browse through “hundreds of selections.” Compatible devices include some TiVo DVRs, Roku’s Digital Video Player, Sony’s Bravia Internet Video Link and Panasonic Vieracast. Most titles will cost $1 more to rent or purchase in HD: TV shows, which typically sell for $1.99 an episode in SD, will cost $2.99, and movies that go for $3.99 to rent in SD will cost $4.99 in HD.

I tested the HD streaming capabilities on Roku’s Digital Video Player, a small set-top box that also streams Netflix movies. You connect the $100 device to your TV and to your home network, either via Ethernet or wirelessly. From the comfort of your couch, you can browse all of the titles that Amazon has available, and can decide whether to rent or purchase a movie. (You will need to set up a pin online before making any purchases, though.)

I rented Tropic Thunder in HD, and viewed some of it while connected to my home network via Ethernet and some while connected wirelessly. When the Roku box was connected via Ethernet, the experience was a delight. The movie began playing almost instantly, and the picture looked nearly as sharp and clear as a Blu-ray movie or an HD title rented on demand from my cable company. It was a significant upgrade from an SD movie rented from Amazon, and also better quality than a Netflix title streamed in HD.

When I switched to a wireless connection, though, video quality degraded noticeably. The movie seemed to buffer a bit before starting, and the picture stuttered and broke up a few times. Even when I had the movie playing smoothly, the picture still never looked quite as sharp as it did when I had the Roku box connected via Ethernet. If my only option were to connect my Amazon-compatible device wirelessly, I don’t think I’d bother paying the extra $1 it costs to rent movies in HD as opposed to standard definition.

In both situations — wired and wireless — I fired up several computers on the same network, and had all of them streaming YouTube videos in HD. I noticed no performance hit on the Amazon movie at all, regardless of how much activity was taking place on my network. What might be of greater concern, though, is the amount of bandwidth you’ll be using, especially if your broadband provider is one of the many considering limiting the amount you use. I asked both Amazon and Roku if they knew the size of the files being streamed, but did not receive an answer in time for posting this. We’ll update with more information if we receive it.

If you already have a compatible Amazon streaming device, today’s announcement is a great news for you. But is it enough to make me run out and pick up one of those set-top boxes? Almost — but not just yet.

Amazon Instant HD page:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=amb_link_84165351_1?ie=UTF8&docId=1000364351&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0VJA8W17FAFRDRH44JRT&pf_rd_t=1401&pf_rd_p=474948071&pf_rd_i=1000364351

With long-form video slated as the fastest-growing form of Internet use, YouTube is upping its commitment with a number of new deals that will add longer content to its site.

This week, the Google unit said it reached agreements to exclusively debut the 90-minute environmental film Home on June 5 for English, French, German and Spanish-speaking countries and show four short films that will be exhibited at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York this week.

The agreements follow YouTube's announcements earlier this month that it will start offering free full-length movies and television shows on its site after it reached deals with content providers such as Sony, Lionsgate and Starz.

Long the world's most popular online-video Web site, YouTube, which was acquired by Google for $1.65 billion in 2006, attracted almost 90 million unique users in February, or triple the visitors to the No. 2 long-form video site, Yahoo!, Nielsen said in a report last week.

The popularity of long-form video sites boosted the amount of time people spent watching videos in February by 23% from a year earlier, making videos the second-fastest growing use of the Web after social networking, according to Nielsen. Additionally, the average video stream in February was about two-and-a-half minutes, or 22% longer than a year earlier, Nielsen said.


http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6654734.html

Anyone else remember someone making this rather lame argument? :D

For whatever reason, the media earlier this year became obsessed with the idea that the recession was driving people back to dial-up, despite not having any actual data to support this claim. Still, countless human interest stories surfaced featuring isolated examples of people thinking about ditching broadband, and all of them (be they the Associated Press, Tampa Tribune or Chicago Tribune) featured Earthlink pitching dial-up to cost conscious customers. Despite the endless free advertising, Earthlink's first quarter earnings (via Dan Frommer) indicate they still lost 160,000 customers (9%) on the quarter. Perhaps Netzero and Juno owner United Online (who jumped into the floral business last year to offset dial-up losses) will unveil the missing millions in dial-up subscriber additions when they post their earnings May 5.

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/So-Much-For-DialUps-RecessionDriven-Resurgance-102140

PBS is testing a free online video portal with content ranging from such archived shows as Julia Child Cooking With Master Chefs and The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer to newer shows including environmentally themed content from such filmmakers as Jean Michel Cousteau.

PBS launched the portal last week as part of its commemoration of Earth Day, the organization said in a statement last week. PBS has about 200 hours of programming available on the portal, with a goal of approaching 1,000 hours by this summer, according to PBS spokesman Kevin Dando.

PBS is looking to broaden its audience with a larger Internet presence. Last September, the company launched a video player aimed at family audiences that now streams more than 1 million video clips weekly.

http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6654855.html

The Walt Disney Co. is taking a stake in Hulu.com. This means titles from The Walt Disney Studios library of films and full-length episodes of ABC television shows will join the online video site.

Disney joins NBC Universal, News Corp. and private equity firm Providence Equity Partners, who own Hulu in a joint venture.

Disney said Chief Executive Robert Iger, Disney/ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney and Kevin Mayer, a Disney senior vice president, will join Hulu's board.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118003024.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

Internet users face regular “brownouts” that will freeze their computers as capacity runs out in cyberspace, according to research to be published later this year.

Experts predict that consumer demand, already growing at 60 per cent a year, will start to exceed supply from as early as next year because of more people working online and the soaring popularity of bandwidth-hungry websites such as YouTube and services such as the BBC’s iPlayer.

It will initially lead to computers being disrupted and going offline for several minutes at a time. From 2012, however, PCs and laptops are likely to operate at a much reduced speed, rendering the internet an “unreliable toy”.
While the net itself will ultimately survive, Ritter said that waves of disruption would begin to emerge next year, when computers would jitter and freeze. This would be followed by “brownouts” – a combination of temporary freezing and computers being reduced to a slow speed.
Engineers are already preparing for the worst. While some are planning a lightning-fast parallel network called “the grid”, others are building “caches”, private computer stations where popular entertainments are stored on local PCs rather than sent through the global backbone.

Telephone companies want to recoup escalating costs by increasing prices for “net hogs” who use more than their share of capacity.

etc. http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article6169488.ece

When discussing yesterday's stellar earnings in a conference call with analysts, Comcast cable division president Steve Burke spent a lot of time talking about "Project Cavalry," a bandwidth-reclamation effort Burke calls "one of the most important projects for us this year." The plan involves spending roughly a billion dollars to reclaim 40 to 50 channels of analog spectrum, freeing up bandwidth for DOCSIS 3.0, more HD channels, and more VOD. "This project is going to deliver more additional bandwidth than any improvement we've ever made," says Burke. Cable Digital News has a great write up on the project, and Seeking Alpha has the transcript of Comcast's entire earnings call, which touches several times on the company's aggressive DOCSIS 3.0 deployments.

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Comcasts-Billion-Dollar-Project-Nets-Big-Bandwidth-102221

(Misc FUD removed) http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article6169488.ece

Already being discussed and been refuted here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1143504

An analysts take on Disney's investment and integration with Hulu.

Disney is changing with the times.

Online video destination Hulu just gained its third fairy godmother. Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) joined ranks with News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) and General Electrics' (NYSE: GE) NBC Universal unit as it bought a nearly 30% stake in Hulu. Now, the only major network missing from that one-stop all-you-can-watch site is CBS (NYSE: CBS).

You can't watch Ugly Betty or Desperate Housewives on Hulu just yet (but Scripps does offer Desperate Landscapes from its DIY Channel). For now, you still have to visit ABC.com for that -- but since ABC's own video service is quite good, that's not too bad of a trade-off.

Given the strength of Disney's own solution, one can only surmise that ABC parent Disney wanted to have a hand in how commercial video content gets distributed and watched from now on. Hulu is a strong contender for the title of "most popular full-length video aggregator" in the next few years. Other alternatives include TiVo (Nasdaq: TIVO), which appears to be growing its digital video recorder expertise into a software-based media hub, and Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX), which is doing the same thing based on a decade of movie rental experience.

Disney, like NBC and News Corp.'s Fox before it, clearly saw potential in Hulu and didn't want to leave such a powerful toll entirely in the hands of the competition.

http://msn.fool.com/investing/general/2009/04/30/disney-has-seen-the-future-and-its-hulu.aspx

Has anyone seen a maxter matrix of all the video download services with what plays on what box, cost, etc.?

Convergence baby!

There’s one less set-top box needed today, thanks to a new partnership between movie on-demand service Vudu and IPTV company Entone.

Starting this summer telecommunications companies employing Entone’s IPTV technology (more than 50 worldwide) will be able to offer Vudu’s library of more than 14,000 movies and TV titles to their customers, without a need for the Vudu box.

Steve McKay, CEO of Entone, said the two companies began working on the concept at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

“The thinking around that time was that everyone was pitting the over-the-top guys (video delivered outside of cable and satellite) against the operators,” he said. “Consumers had to choose between pay TV services and over-the-top Internet video services where the latter was something you did when you were not watching TV.”

This is the first time those two “competing visions” will come together in one service.

“By marrying the two concepts, your online movie library is now available as part of your core TV viewing experience from the same user interface and remote control,” McKay said.

Using existing in-home cabling, Entone’s IPTV set-top boxes enable viewing on all TVs in a household.

“Entone’s approach of embracing rather than defending against online video services is a win-win-win for operators, content providers and consumers,” he said.

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/electronic-delivery/vudu-partners-with-iptv-company-entone-15597

The Digital Entertainment Group (DEG) May 4 said it added consultant Deloitte and San Diego-based video format creator DivX as associate members.

Deloitte advises more than 500 media and entertainment clients in the United States, while DivX last month announced its technology would be incorporated in LG Electronics’ new digital HDTV line to enabled playback of Internet-based HD videos in 1080p resolution.

“As our industry continues to evolve, we invite the participation of all companies to help us explore new horizons for entertainment technology,” said Ron Sanders, president of both DEG and Warner Home Video.

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/news/deg-expands-member-company-scope-15594

Sweet!! It looks like this means better integration of the various sources of streaming video to the Television display device!

Macrovision Solutions Corp. has brought HDTV company Vizio on as the latest company to license Macrovision’s interactive program guide (IPG) technologies.

Tom Carson, EVP of sales and services for Macrovision, added, “Vizio’s licensing agreement for our IPG technologies underscores the importance that manufacturers place on helping their customers find, manage and enjoy the plethora of digital content that is available to them.”

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/hdtv/vizio-licenses-macrovisions-interactive-program-guide-15595

It’s not enough for studios to put movies and TV shows online and wait for consumers to find it. To build viewership, and in turn revenue, executives on a panel at Digital Hollywood here Tuesday said they’re finding they have to market to consumers through social networks and merchandise titles so they are easy to find.

Everyone seems to agree that for digital to grow, it must be easy for consumers to play content back on multiple devices, just as they can with DVDs.

Paramount's Ducard predicted a year from now digital will include more bells and whistles, with studios offering consumers “more than just movies, but digital ownership on par with physical.”

The companies that win will be the ones that serve consumers best. As Blockbuster OnDemand senior VP and general manager Bruce Anderson said on an earlier panel Tuesday, “consumers are going to win.”

On both panels, Apple, Netflix and the Roku box won the most praise.

http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6656739.html

Another article on the Vudu/Entone deal, with some additional details.

Entone, a provider of Web-based TV interactivity through telecommunication partners, has signed on to offer Vudu’s library of more than 14,000 movies and TV titles later this summer.

The about 200,000 Entone subscribers will have access to Vudu's library, including the video-on-demand service's high-definition downloads, through Entone’s set-top box. Entone’s ‘media hub’ is deployed through about 70 telephone companies.

Many online film services, such as iTunes and Xbox Live, offer high-def content but as streaming/rental options. In February, Vudu became the first company to offer permanent high-def downloads as potential competition to Blu-ray Disc. Vudu launched with a selection of 50 such high-def title options, from such companies as Magnolia Pictures and First Look Studios.

“This arrangement brings together the best of live television, as supported by Entone’s market-leading IPTV home connectivity products, with the best of Internet on-demand movies, as supported by Vudu’s vast movie library from every major Hollywood studio and over 40 independents,” said Steve McKay, CEO of Entone.

Edward Lichty, executive VP of strategy and content for Vudu added, “IPTV is becoming an option for consumers, and we want consumers to get access to Vudu through the devices they already have in their home. Entone’s integration with Vudu is a great consumer experience, and we are looking forward to Vudu’s inclusion in the next generation of devices to be rolled out by Entone and its telco customers.”

http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6656867.html

Hulu, the Internet TV venture backed by NBC Universal, News Corp. and The Walt Disney Co., announced it has added popular international TV shows and movies - including content from Britain, Japan and India - but the service, for now, is still available only to U.S. users

The new content includes Bollywood films and hit U.K. television shows from Endemol, as well as Japanese anime.

Hulu in a statement confirmed that the Web site is still restricted to viewers in the U.S. and will remain that way for the time being. Hulu is not disclosing a timeframe regarding possible international expansion at this time.

Currently, Internet users who try to access Hulu from outside the U.S. see a message that says: "Hulu is committed to making its content available worldwide. To do so, we must work through a number of legal and business issues, including obtaining international streaming rights."

In March, the company hired Johannes Larcher, who previously ran international operations for Friendster and Overture, as senior vice president of international operations.

Meanwhile, Hulu posted a job listing earlier this week seeking a director of international business development, who will "help build a service that lets people find and enjoy the world's premier content when, where and how they want it," a role that will include defining regional and country-specific market-entry strategies.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/231706-Hulu_Adds_International_TV_Shows_But_Only_For_Americans.php

yes i am able to download video files

Apple files patent for download kiosk (http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6657639.html)

MAY 11 | DIGITAL: Just as the digital music and movie kiosk business appears poised to launch, it looks like startup companies in the space could face some heavyweight competition from Apple.

Apple filed a patent in 2007 for a digital entertainment kiosk capable of delivering movies and music to portable devices over a wireless connection. The kiosks would be placed in areas where wi-fi isn’t available, such as on airplanes and in airports, according to the filing.

AppleInsider dug up the patent last week.

In the filing, Apple says it will deliver movies over a “virtual physical connection” between portable devices, mobile phones, etc. and the kiosk.

Apple says it chose to use a wireless connection rather than requiring that a device be hooked up to it because “the continuous engagement and disengagement of the media device connector may result in excessive wear and failure of the connector.”

Apple says the kiosks could be placed anywhere and “address deficiencies” in other systems and methods for delivering media.

“The media distribution system advantageously enables the distribution of media content to a media device via a [kiosk] residing in virtually any location such as an airport, hotel, stadium, train station, shopping mall, stores, planes, ships, public transportation vehicles and the like,” according to the filing.

Users could not only download new content to their devices, they also could access other digital content they own.

Sensors in the kiosk would be able to tell when a portable device (presumably an Apple portable) was nearby.

The kiosks would be filled with popular content, but it also would be able to connect with the iTunes store so that users could download other content.

Earlier this year, Warner Bros. and Paramount Digital Entertainment became the first studios to sign deals to offer downloads through digital kiosks in an agreement with MOD Systems. MOD, which is backed by heavyweights Toshiba and NCR, is in talks with three retailers to put kiosks in stores in the second half of the year in a pilot launch. MOD’s kiosks would allow users to save movies onto an SD memory card, the type used to store digital photos. Users would save the movie to the card and then place the card in a compatible device or use a bridge device to watch it on a TV.

Online video-on-demand service Vudu, which offers movies and TV shows through its own set-top box for a fee, is bringing in some ad-supported content.

Vudu has partnered with Brightcove to make the latter's content deals available via the Vudu box. The first content available will be music videos from Sony Music's MyPlay Video Network affiliate program.

The partnership is a first for Brightcove, whose content was only available on Web sites prior to this deal. The Vudu deal makes Brightcove's ad-supported content playable on TVs.

Brightcove director of technology partnership Chris Johnston said, "The partnership announced today with Vudu is a significant step forward for media businesses that want to centrally manage distribution and monetization across the Web while also taking advantage of the high-quality TV experience Vudu enables."

Vudu executive VP of strategy and content Edward Lichty added that the deal means content owners can "make all of their online video available on the television without changing their monetization strategy."

http://www.videobusiness.com/blog/1730000173/post/600044460.html

Epix To Use Akamai's HD Streaming Service (http://www.multichannel.com/article/232290-Epix_To_Use_Akamai_s_HD_Streaming_Service.php)

Movie Network From Paramount, MGM, Lionsgate Plan to Offer Full-Length Movies Online

By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 5/12/2009 9:01:57 PM MT

Epix, the fledgling movie service formed by Paramount, MGM and Lionsgate, is planning to deliver full-length HD movies over the Internet using a dynamic-streaming feature offered with Akamai Technologies' content-distribution network.

Epix previously said it was expecting to launch initially as a broadband-video service in May, followed by the linear cable channel in October.

Akamai is offering the dynamic-streaming feature through Adobe Flash Media Server 3.5. With the feature, video playback adapts to the capabilities of users' computers, adjusting the bit rate of the video stream for lower-speed processors or slower Internet connections.

Epix is aiming to provide new releases, catalog titles and original content over a variety of platforms, including TV, computers and mobile devices. Epix has not announced carriage agreements with pay-TV providers.

"The Epix model of commercial-free, uninterrupted current Hollywood movies will set a new online content bar," Epix chief digital officer Emil Rensing said in a statement. "Akamai's dynamic streaming solution enables us to be one of the first to provide the accessibility, quality and convenience which today's digital consumers desire. We're excited to build our online ecosystem with a partner who is also intent on delivering tomorrow's technology today."

Epix's titles are expected to include The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Cloverfield, Defiance, Drillbit Taylor, The Duchess, How She Move, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Iron Man. In addition, the service also have the rights to all 17 remastered James Bond movies, as well as Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Akamai and Adobe set up a Web site to demonstrate the dynamic-streaming technology at www.streamflashhd.com. The companies expect the solution to be commercially available before the end of June.

CBS said today it will begin stream a sampling of CSI, NCIS, How I Met Your Mother episodes in not just HD, but 1080p HD, equalling quality delivered by Blu-ray. Of course, you'll have to watch it on the computer, so maybe not quite.

Hulu and others who have also added HD streams and downloads in the last year, though Hulu's and most others are only 720p HD. CBS allows viewers to choose between HQ, HD and 1080p for its high definition streams. The 1080p streams are also available on CBS-owned streaming site TV.com.

http://www.videobusiness.com/blog/1730000173/post/1220044522.html

http://www.cbs.com/hd/

Yikes. For the arm of a tech based company that is a pretty startling statement.

BAD INTERNET: The panel was about the future of filmmaking, but that didn’t mean anyone had to like what they saw. “I’m a guy who doesn’t see anything good having come from the Internet,” said Sony Pictures Entertainment chief executive officer Michael Lynton. “Period.”

At a breakfast cohosted by the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University and The New Yorker Thursday, Lynton wasn’t just trying for a laugh: He complained the Internet has “created this notion that anyone can have whatever they want at any given time. It’s as if the stores on Madison Avenue were open 24 hours a day. They feel entitled. They say, ‘Give it to me now,’ and if you don’t give it to them for free, they’ll steal it.”

Co-panelist Nora Ephron, who started her career in print, said the Internet has had a greater effect on “our beloved print than it’s had on the movie business.” But, she conceded, “We’re in the last days of copyright, if you want to be grim about it….Stop it. I dare you.”

Lynton tried out another simile. Referring to the Obama administration’s goal to spread broadband access without, he said, regulating piracy, Lynton compared it with building highway systems without speed limits or driver’s licenses. “We do need rules of the road,” he said. (Lynton may not have liked Ephron’s chosen analogy for the way some people in the movie business are paid: “It’s a giant Ponzi scheme set up to compensate a few people at unbelievable rates,” she said, adding, “These people live like pashas. You cannot imagine the scale of wealth in Hollywood. People live like that here, but we live in apartments so you can’t see as much.”)

Though Anne Hathaway, also on the panel and wearing Stella McCartney, lamented the Internet “inhibits your ability to get lost,” either in a role or in watching a film, she shrugged off moderator Ken Auletta’s question about whether the blogosphere had coarsened coverage of actors like her. “It was always true,” she said. “It’s just giving everyone a bathroom wall to write exactly what they think.”

— Irin Carmon

http://www.wwd.com/media-news/fashion-memopad/memo-pad-uniqlo-nabs-deyn-bad-internet-classic-martha-2136751?src=rss/recentstories/20090515#/article/media-news/fashion-memopad/memo-pad-uniqlo-nabs-deyn-bad-internet-classic-martha-2136751?page=2

Yikes. For the arm of a tech based company that is a pretty startling statement.



http://www.wwd.com/media-news/fashion-memopad/memo-pad-uniqlo-nabs-deyn-bad-internet-classic-martha-2136751?src=rss/recentstories/20090515#/article/media-news/fashion-memopad/memo-pad-uniqlo-nabs-deyn-bad-internet-classic-martha-2136751?page=2

More to the point, it is an ignorant and fear based statement. Anyone, in any field who can say “I’m a guy who doesn’t see anything good having come from the Internet, Period." is out of touch.

I really hope this gets picked up by a real news outlet and not just some fashion blog. If it does, this fool is going to be backpedaling so fast that he is going to have no idea which way is up.

I can see the headlines now... "Sony exec states '(Nothing good has come) from the Internet".

Vivendi Entertainment has secured the U.S. DVD, digital and mobile distribution rights to the Palisades Tartan catalog, which includes 2004 Cannes Grand Jury Prize winner Oldboy.

The deal will make Palisades Tartan’s blend of Asian horror and arthouse titles available for the first time to download and streaming services.

Other Palisades Tartan highlights from its Asia Extreme and Art House labels include Shutter (The Original), 9 Songs, Red Road and Silent Night.

Prior to selling its assets to Palisades Pictures in 2008, Tartan Video U.S.A. had distributed its titles through Genius Products. Financial problems led U.K.-based Tartan Films to shutter its U.S. operations, selling Tartan Video U.S.A’s 100-title library to Palisades. Ultimately, Palisades also acquired a majority of Tartan Films U.K.’s library of more than 400 titles.

“The Palisades Tartan catalog features an incredible slate of cutting-edge and innovative feature films,” said Tom O’Malley, Vivendi Entertainment president. “We are thrilled to be in business with them, as we have admired this library for a very long time.”

Vin Roberti, chairman of Palisades Tartan, added, “Since acquiring the Tartan catalog in 2008, we have entertained a number of significant offers for the right to distribute our product. Vivendi Entertainment not only provides a strong financial partner but an incredibly talented management team. We feel strongly that this team has the tools and expertise to market our extraordinary catalog to its fullest potential for the benefit of our licensors and shareholders.”

http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6659174.html

Microsoft Adds Netflix to Windows Media Center (http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/165216/microsoft_adds_netflix_to_windows_media_center.html)

Microsoft is adding Netflix to the list of content providers in its Windows Media Center feature for Vista PCs as part of the company's drive to give people more entertainment options on their computers.

Microsoft already has a deal to deliver movies from Netflix through its Xbox game console, but people can only play back movies that are available for instant streaming on that platform. The Netflix application in Windows Media Center allows people not only to instantly stream movies that are available that way, but also to manage their own physical disc queue for DVDs they receive from Netflix in the mail, said Ben Reed, senior product marketing manager at Microsoft.

Like Netflix's "Watch Instantly" application -- which allows people to watch titles available for streaming from Netflix via a Web browser -- the Windows Media player application uses Silverlight to deliver the video.

People with a Netflix account have access to more than 12,000 videos on demand via the Netflix application in Windows Media Player in Vista; they also can manage their physical disc queue, which gives them access to 100,000 titles, Reed said. However, they can't view those instantly: They still have to receive physical DVDs in the mail to watch those titles.

Windows Media Center used to be a distinct version of Windows, but Microsoft made it a feature in premium versions of the OS when it released Vista. This was part of an overall move to add more multimedia-delivery capabilities to PCs. Delivering entertainment on PCs -- an increasingly popular way for people to watch content -- is also a way for Microsoft to deliver advertising and further monetize the platform.

Windows Media Center also will be built into Windows 7, with new features to make it even easier for people to find entertainment they want to watch, Reed said. One of those is a guide for both Internet TV channels and broadcast channels, differentiating between the two by displaying them in different ways in the guide.

Microsoft also has added a "Turboscroll" feature to Windows Media Center in Windows 7, which makes it far faster for people to scroll through and find specific entertainment content they're looking for, Reed said.

Microsoft has said it plans to make Windows 7 available in time for the holiday shopping season, which is typically the end of November and December. Reed would not comment on whether the Netflix application would be available in Windows 7.

http://www.neowin.net/images/uploaded/netflix1.png

Despite rise in streaming, 99% of all video watched on a TV

Internet streaming and watching video on a mobile phone are increasing, but doesn't hold a candle to watching television. Americans watch an all-time high of 153 hours on average per month, according to the latest viewing data from Nielsen. ...

http://static.arstechnica.com/media/nielsen_q109_tv_viewing.png

http://arstechnica.com/media/news/2009/05/despite-rise-in-streaming-99-of-all-video-watched-on-a-tv.ars
http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/nielsen_threescreenreport_q109.pdf

The Dream of Streaming

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/streaming/-dream-streaming-15861

Netflix launches Web-application section (http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6659178.html)

Netflix last week launched a section on its Web site dedicated specifically for applications that can be used by subscribers looking to order movies from either their mobile devices, from the Twitter microblog or from Web sites such as movie-review site Rotten Tomatoes and the New York Times movie section.

The company’s “Netflix App Gallery” had 16 applications as of this afternoon with prices ranging from free to $2.99. The gallery will be updated weekly to reflect new applications being created by third-party technology developers, Netflix director of engineering Michael Hart wrote on the company’s community blog late last week. Included in the gallery are nine different applications for mobile devices as well as an application that allows customers to manage their movie queues using microblog Twitter, Hart wrote.

In addition to applications allowing users to order movies from the New York Times, Rotten Tomatoes and Facebook Web sites, the gallery includes nine different applications specifically for mobile devices as well as an application that allows customers to manage their movie queues using Twitter, Hart wrote

The application page reflects the growing propensity for Netflix’s 10.3 million customers to order movies using devices other than personal computers. As of last month, about a dozen developers have created Netflix applications for Apple’s iPhone, and there are already applications for such devices as Research In Motion’s BlackBerry.

Meanwhile, application developers are tapping into a growing market of mobile-device owners who are looking for more ways to choose their evening’s entertainment. Annual global shipments of mobile devices are expected to grow by more than 50% a year, from about 54 million units in 2007 to more than 400 million units in 2012, research firm iSuppli said in a March report.

http://images.ientrymail.com/webpronews/article_pics/netflix-app-gallery.jpg

Despite rise in streaming, 99% of all video watched on a TV

Internet streaming and watching video on a mobile phone are increasing, but doesn't hold a candle to watching television. Americans watch an all-time high of 153 hours on average per month, according to the latest viewing data from Nielsen. ...

http://static.arstechnica.com/media/nielsen_q109_tv_viewing.png

http://arstechnica.com/media/news/2009/05/despite-rise-in-streaming-99-of-all-video-watched-on-a-tv.ars
http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/nielsen_threescreenreport_q109.pdf

Take off the blinders - I stream video to my TV via Vudu. That chart doesn't tell the whole story.

Take off the blinders - I stream video to my TV via Vudu. That chart doesn't tell the whole story.

The chart is funny because it is totally irrelevant. Can you imagine what the a chart that showed how many people watch TV shows on their TV (via cable, broadcast, DVD, etc) versus the number of people who watch TV shows via Blu-ray?

The facts are that streaming is increasing at a healthy pace and NOT cannibalizing broadcast media! A true win/win for everyone involved.

From that same article:

About 131 million people are watching an average of three hours of video per month via the Internet, according to Nielsen's data. That's up from 116 million watching a monthly average of two hours this same time last year. Additionally, about 13 million mobile phone subscribers—up 52 percent from nearly 9 million last year—report watching an average of 3.5 hours of video a month on a mobile phone (time measurements are not available from Q1 last year).

Those are significant increases. The main factors fueling these changes are increases in broadband availability and bandwidth nationwide, increased exposure of services like Hulu and YouTube, and an increased proliferation of advanced, video-capable smartphones for mobile phone viewing.

DIGITAL: Just 3% of consumers bought a movie download, but 7% digitally rented

http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6660103.html

Survey: Only 8% of teens watch TV online

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/technology/news/e3ibb9b7bb2eb298a660a34b085e86133a7

Baker & Taylor is expanding its digital distribution capabilities by partnering with technology provider OverDrive.

Wholesale distributor Baker & Taylor will create a Digital Media Library, powered by OverDrive, to deliver retail clients such downloadable content as e-books, audio books, music and video. Additionally, clients can work with Baker & Taylor to offer their store customers digital content directly for playback on a variety of devices.

OverDrive CEO Steve Potash said, "The market timing for this alliance is perfect. The demand for digital media is exploding, and Baker & Taylor is in a prime position to give customers a bundled solution, digital content in multiple formats along with physical media.”

http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6660547.html

Overnight video star Hulu is close to breaking even, NBC president and CEO Jeff Zucker said at the Wall Street Journal’s AllThingsDigital conference Thursday.

Now Hulu, a joint venture between NBC Universal, News Corp. and Disney, “has to figure out the monetization game,” he said. One additional way the ad-supported site might boost revenue is through subscriptions, which Zucker said Hulu is open to, according to the WSJ’s recap.

Hulu has shot up to be the third most popular video site since its launch last year, but has come under some criticism from users lately for pulling some content and limiting viewing beyond the computer. Earlier this year, Hulu pulled FX show It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Zucker said the goal is to eventually put all shows online, but didn’t commit to how many episodes of shows would go online at a time.

Zucker said digital sales remain small for the studio. Asked about his famous comment that studios are replacing analog dollars with digital pennies as they move content online, Zucker said digital revenue is improving.

“What I have said is we are now up to digital dimes. I think that’s progress,” he said. “We still have a 90¢ gap. Hopefully, I can come back and, in a year or two, we will be at digital quarters.”

Zucker said NBC would consider putting its shows on Facebook and other platforms.

“We’ll put our shows anywhere. We want to get paid for it,” he said. “But if we can’t get paid for them, then we can’t afford that cost structure.”

http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6661342.html

Disney Invokes Vudu For HD Movies (http://www.multichannel.com/article/278157-Disney_Invokes_Vudu_For_HD_Movies.php)

Buena Vista Home Entertainment Offers 60 HD Titles Download-To-Own Via Internet Set-Top

By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 6/4/2009 8:19:34 AM MT

The Walt Disney Co.'s Buena Vista Home Entertainment division will offer more than 60 download-to-own titles in high-definition through Vudu's Internet-connected set-top boxes -- the first online service through which Disney is distributing HD movies.

Vudu plans to offer every HD release from Buena Vista Home Entertainment for purchase as those titles are added to the service, day-and-date with DVD release.

Initial titles available through Vudu from Disney-owned studios, including Touchstone Pictures and Miramax Films, will include Doubt, High School Musical 3, No Country for Old Men, The Sixth Sense and National Treasure.

"Consumers are expanding the way that they acquire and watch films and Buena Vista Home Entertainment wants to support this growing medium of digital delivery," said Lori Macpherson, Buena Vista Home Entertainment's general manager for North America, in a statement. "We are pleased to work with Vudu as a distributor of our HD films for digital purchase."

The Disney-owned movies offered through Vudu will be available for purchase in both 1080i HD and Vudu's HDX format, encoded at variable bit-rate in MPEG-4 H.264 in 1080p at 24 frames per second.

Vudu -- which has not disclosed how many subscribers it has signed up for its service -- has signed distribution deals with major U.S. movie studios and more than 50 independent studios and distributors. The company currently offers more than 15,000 movies and TV episodes, including more than 2,000 HD movies.

Under a separate deal announced last month, Sony Music Entertainment will offer free music videos on Vudu's set-tops, through Sony's partnership with Brightcove to deliver ad-supported Web content to the device's users.

In addition, IPTV gateway vendor Entone Technologies recently announced plans to make Vudu's online video service available to telcos through its devices.

Vudu's investors include venture-capital firms Greylock Partners and Benchmark Capital. The privately held company was founded in 2004. Question to ponder:

So how can one small company like Vudu that has only been around for 1.5 years, have 2000 HD movies available, while blu-ray, with support from the entire movie and CE industry and 20 million players sold, only has 1500 titles after 3 full years on the market?

So how can one small company like Vudu that has only been around for 1.5 years, have 2000 HD movies available, while blu-ray, with support from the entire movie and CE industry and 20 million players sold, only has 1500 titles after 3 full years on the market?

Ive wondered this myself; how does vudu seem to be able to remaster so many movies in multiple versions of differing HD quality in so short a time period when it seems like such a long time frame for studios to be able to transfer existing movies to blu-ray and/or large companies such as amazon & netflix not being able to output the same amount of titles or even same level of quality.

Ive wondered this myself; how does vudu seem to be able to remaster so many movies in multiple versions of differing HD quality in so short a time period when it seems like such a long time frame for studios to be able to transfer existing movies to blu-ray and/or large companies such as amazon & netflix not being able to output the same amount of titles or even same level of quality.

All movies are shot in "HD" and don't need remastering or any processing to be shown in HD. However, encoding and other processing is needed to get a movie on a Blu-Ray disc.

fafner

All movies are shot in "HD" and don't need remastering or any processing to be shown in HD. However, encoding and other processing is needed to get a movie on a Blu-Ray disc.

fafner

Semantics aside, the point still applies that it takes every major studio and also large companies such as netflix & amazon a much longer time period to release a fraction of the movies that vudu is releasing. so how is this small company able to accomplish what these large companies can not?

The economics of mastering a blu-ray disc and producing enough copies to justify the production is what prevents blu-ray from being able to keep up with the Vudu library. Vudu doesn't carry any of the overhead associated with producing a big pile of future landfill materials.

The economics of mastering a blu-ray disc and producing enough copies to justify the production is what prevents blu-ray from being able to keep up with the Vudu library. Vudu doesn't carry any of the overhead associated with producing a big pile of future landfill materials.

The time lines for actually encoding these movies is what is being discussed.

The timeline for releasing physical discs is equally economics driven. If they dropped a 1000 new blu-ray "catalog" titles on the shelf of Best Buy tomorrow it would take a very long time to break even on producing the physical inventory, not to mention an actual profit. Those are real costs that have to be accounted for. The physical media strategy seems to be to let out a few titles at a time and wait until they are purchased in enough numbers to make a profit. It is a supply/demand strategy built around an iron fist control of the supply that hopes it can create demand.

That is deflecting from the conversation and does not explain away how vudu is encoding movies faster then netflix, amazon and every major studio in the country.

That is deflecting from the conversation and does not explain away how vudu is encoding movies faster then netflix, amazon and every major studio in the country.

Do you think cable and satellite have to do encoding for their HD broadcasts like Blu-Ray does? No they just stream the movies. Same with Hulu.

fafner

Do you think cable and satellite have to do encoding for their HD broadcasts like Blu-Ray does? No they just stream the movies. Same with Hulu.

fafner

What does that have to do with Vudu encoding faster then blu-ray studios, netflix and amazon?

Well for one VUDU has been doing it longer than them. (for HD)

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadgethd.com/media/2009/06/hulublockedps3_fwc_06272009.jpg

Hulu to PlayStation 3 browsers: "This video is not available on your platform" (http://www.engadgethd.com/2009/06/27/ps3-owners-get-boxeed-hulu-this-video-is-not-available-on-yo/)

The PlayStation 3 has kept access to Hulu even without PlayOn or other workaround while others were blocked -- with the exception of its own remote friendly desktop software -- thanks to its browser's Flash support, but this morning multiple users have reported the above message indicating "Unfortunately, this video is not available on your platform. We apologize for any inconvenience." Some odd glitch related to the recent 2.80 firmware update or other temporary problem, or is this the latest platform to get the Boxee treatment when trying to bring streaming video to TV screens? We've reached out to Hulu for an explanation but so far, haven't heard a response. Interestingly, the Hulu TOS was just updated as of June 26, and although we haven't found any PS3-specific passages, changing a browser's user-string to match the console reveals it is definitely being specifically blocked.

Companies that sell video-on-demand systems and software have cranked up efforts to deliver products for high-capacity "RS-DVR" services, after the Supreme Court this week declined to review a ruling that Cablevision Systems' network-based digital video recorder complies with copyright laws.

Most current VOD systems may not be suited to cost-effectively build a remote storage DVR service, as it has been deemed legal, according to industry executives. But vendors including SeaChange International, Cisco Systems, Arris and Concurrent are gearing up to deliver VOD systems with much higher ingest and storage capacity to meet those higher performance requirements.

Cablevision's RS-DVR is designed to provide subscribers with dedicated storage space in the headend. That architecture allowed the MSO to successfully argue that the service was no different than an in-home DVR.

"Technically, we're capable of building these things," he said. "The questions come down to the financial aspects of building these systems." He said he expects to see VOD servers that are "financially viable" within 12 to 24 months.

Cisco, meanwhile, also is looking to turn up the volume. Currently, the vendor's Content Deliver Engine 420 server provides 1,000 channels of ingest and 24 Terabytes of storage in a 4RU system. "You'll see the economics become increasingly attractive to do time-shifted services," said John Wheeler, director of video product marketing and business development.

Cablevision's RS-DVR, as described in court documents, was developed in the testing phase with VOD servers from Arroyo Video Solutions, which Cisco acquired in 2006. Wheeler declined to comment on Cisco's current work with the MSO on the network DVR project.

Arris, for its part, is shooting to deliver a version of the ConvergeMedia XMS server that provides 2,500 playout streams and 2,500 hours of storage in a 2RU configuration by the end of the year, said Cliff Aaby, principal system architect for on-demand platforms. Overall, the XMS platform would be capable of providing up to 20,000 streams to serve RS-DVR-type applications.

Other aspects of a cable operator's infrastructure must also be modified to deliver an RS-DVR system, Aaby noted. The interactive program guide must be upgraded, and an MSO would certainly need to increase spectrum allocated to unicast services.

In areas Time Warner Cable has introduced Start Over, Concurrent's Brickmeier noted, VOD utilization rates have roughly doubled compared with traditional on-demand services, to more than 20%. With a network DVR service, the utilization rates would be even higher, in the 30% to 40% range, he said.

Brickmeier predicted a hybrid model for network DVR will emerge, in which the most popular content is licensed -- as in the Start Over model -- for optimal efficiency, while lower-demand programs are recorded by an RS-DVR system.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/307338-VOD_Vendors_Fast_Forward_Network_DVR_Plans.php

All movies are shot in "HD" and don't need remastering or any processing to be shown in HD. However, encoding and other processing is needed to get a movie on a Blu-Ray disc.

fafner

Come again? I'm not sure I fully understand what you are claiming and I think you are overstating things.

What's the difference between encoding a movie for Vudu or for Blu-ray from a master? What "other processing" is required for Blu-ray since you mentioned it in order to get on Blu-ray disc? It is true that any movie filmed has the ability to be presented in HD because of the traditional camera having still a higher resolution then 1080p but this doesn't mean it comes prepackaged and ready to stream.

How can you just stream any movie as HD through Vudu service? They encode movies just like studios do for Blu-ray.

What you said doesn't make sense.

Same process and the final product is AVC or VC1 video and TrueHD, DTS-MA or LPCM for Blu-ray and dolby digital for VUDU. If anything Vudu doesn't offer uncompressed audio so Blu-ray actually has it easier in terms of just slapping and transferring the master audio track to the disc. Vudu has to encode every audio track as Dolby Digital. In addition, processing for Vudu needs to be done carefully in order to allow streaming optimization and that means that data encoded needs to be done a certain way to allow quicker caching (smaller data chunks) so you can start watching a movie right away.

VUDU audio tracks are encoded in Dolby Digital plus. Then the box transcodes it to DD for output.

Come again? I'm not sure I fully understand what you are claiming and I think you are overstating things.

What's the difference between encoding a movie for Vudu or for Blu-ray from a master? What "other processing" is required for Blu-ray since you mentioned it in order to get on Blu-ray disc? It is true that any movie filmed has the ability to be presented in HD because of the traditional camera having still a higher resolution then 1080p but this doesn't mean it comes prepackaged and ready to stream.

How can you just stream any movie as HD through Vudu service? They encode movies just like studios do for Blu-ray.

What you said doesn't make sense.

Same process and the final product is AVC or VC1 video and TrueHD, DTS-MA or LPCM for Blu-ray and dolby digital for VUDU. If anything Vudu doesn't offer uncompressed audio so Blu-ray actually has it easier in terms of just slapping and transferring the master audio track to the disc. Vudu has to encode every audio track as Dolby Digital. In addition, processing for Vudu needs to be done carefully in order to allow streaming optimization and that means that data encoded needs to be done a certain way to allow quicker caching (smaller data chunks) so you can start watching a movie right away.

Google for "Real Time Streaming" or "How does Streaming Video Work?" and you will find out that just an "encoder" and a "streaming server" are needed. The content just needs to be run through the encoder once...indeed a very simple and "cheap" process. No physical disc, no artwork, no package, no promotion, no advertising, etc., as with Blu-Ray.

fafner

Online streaming video service Hulu has added episodes from three Viz Media anime series, including the first 32 episodes of Viz’s popular “Inuyasha.”

“We’re very excited to launch ‘Inuyasha,’ which has been a well loved series for many years, on Hulu,” said Ken Sasaki, VP of strategy and business development for Viz. “The availability of these episodes will undoubtedly help continue to grow the online audience for ‘Inuyasha.’”

The first 11 episodes of “Nana” and the first dozen episodes of “Honey & Clover” are also now available at Hulu.com.

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/hulu/hulu-adds-anime-viz-16446

Roku, whose set-top boxes let Amazon.com and Netflix customers play digitally-delivered movie and TV titles on their TV sets, will add a channel dedicated to Mediafly podcasts, giving users access to more than 25,000 free audio and video podcasts.

Roku will unveil the Mediafly channel this fall, closely held Mediafly said in a blog posting earlier this week. The podcasts will include content from NBC, ABC and Fox as well as independent producers.

The agreement gives closely held Roku, which has distribution agreements with Amazon.com and Netflix, access to podcasts that Chicago-based Mediafly already provides to mobile users through such devices as Apple’s iPhone and Research in Motion’s BlackBerry.

http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6672686.html

The content providers these days seem to be putting more and more pressure on hardware companies to stop them from being able to stream internet video content to your TV. I think this is truely bogus and falls along the same lines as the Telecom companies a few years back trying to stop VOIP. Long term it just wont hold up.

I got sick of it and have been trying to find a convienent way to stream my PC content to my 50" Plasma. I ran across a new product from a company called Warpia. They call it a "Wireless USB Display Adapter Kit". It works really well and streams up to 720P HD content. They claim a wireless stream to your TV up to 30ft away. I have a PC ~20ft from my PC and it works well. They sell off of their website and they also sell on Amazon as well.

I reccomend it to anyone who is a sick as I am at the big corporate conglomorates trying to stop internet video content from being streamed to the PC.

Xbox 360 officially the only console to stream Netflix -- sorry, PS3 and Wii (http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/11/xbox-officially-the-only-console-able-to-stream-netflix-sorry/)

We actually had to brush the fog off of our spectacles to ensure that hazy conditions weren't clouding our comprehension abilities, but sure enough, that Netflix streaming that Xbox LIVE members have grown to love won't ever land on Sony's PlayStation 3 nor on Nintendo's Wii (PlayOn notwithstanding). At the very bottom of Microsoft's long list of details surrounding today's Xbox LIVE update, we're clearly told that the Netflix Watch Instantly integration is now an "exclusive partnership," with Microsoft going so far as to say that the "Xbox 360 will be the only game console to offer this movie-watching experience, available to Xbox LIVE Gold members who are also Netflix unlimited plan subscribers." Of course, we'd heard rumors over the years that Netflix could sashay over to other consoles in due time, but it looks like the suits in Redmond had the foresight to lock things down while they still had a chance. So, are you reconsidering that Xbox 360 purchase, or just looking that much more intently in Roku's direction? Full blurb is after the break.

Netflix Partnership

This exclusive partnership offers you the ability to instantly stream movies and TV episodes from Netflix to the television via Xbox 360. Xbox 360 will be the only game console to offer this movie-watching experience, available to Xbox LIVE Gold members who are also Netflix unlimited plan subscribers**, at no additional cost.

From the Netflix Web site, simply add movies and TV episodes to your instant Queue, which will appear automatically on the TV screen via Xbox 360. Once selected, movies will begin playing in as little as 30 seconds. In addition to instantly streaming Netflix movies to the TV, Xbox LIVE Gold members can browse and rate movies, fast-forward, pause and rewind, all using either their Xbox 360 Controller or Universal remote.

Zune HD TV Interface Walkthrough (http://gizmodo.com/5337532/zune-hd-tv-interface-makes-it-a-media-center-for-your-pocket)

You've already seen the player hands-on; the final reveal for the Zune HD was how well it handled when docked on a high-def TV. As you can see in this video, it blows away anything else in its class.

I was trying to figure out what it was about the Zune HD's TV interface that I was enjoying so much, and then I realized: Unlike every other device of its size and capacity, this thing is a true portable media center. It's not as fast as a fully fledged PC running Windows Media Center, but it is zippy as hell for a pocketable, portable player.

Zune HD goes dark when it's docked, like you see in the gallery. This isn't like an iPod—once docked, it's invisible, the power behind what you watch or listen to. The remote is the key. I bopped around, browsing music, scanning for radio stations (that HD has a few meanings, including an HD radio receiver, so you can see the "what's playing" data and everything) and even watching a short full-screen video on this 60-inch Samsung. The demo Zune only had the one video—I can't wait to see what it's like to fill a 32GB one with great movies and TV episodes.

The only noticeable thing missing from the interface was any online connectivity—you can't download movies to a Zune without a PC anyway, but docked, I am not even sure you can stream music (as you can when carrying a Zune in a Wi-Fi environment). More on that when we review it, naturally.

As we showed you months ago, the player itself takes the PMP user interface to a new level. When you select something, all the screen elements move at different vectors, creating at times a 3D effect, as you can catch up close in the video below. (Pardon the glare, but that's one hazard—for better or worse, it's a shiny shiny screen.)

I don't want to say more—this is not a review, and I won't be the reviewer when we do pass judgment—but let me say that, as someone who's never been terribly excited by past Zunes, this one took me pleasantly by surprise:cool:

Amazon, iTunes price downloads aggressively (http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6685334.html?nid=4756&source=link&rid=5460522)

Just as DVD retailers get more aggressive in cutting prices on discs, Apple iTunes and Amazon Video On Demand are getting fierce in promoting and slashing prices on digital movie and TV downloads.

Both sites have begun running near regular promotions selling catalog films for less than $5 and renting back-catalog movies for as little as 99¢, well below digital competitors.

Amazon, meanwhile, is now pricing new releases on par with iTunes at $14.99, below the site’s previous new releases tag of $17 and often below the price the site sells those same movies for on DVD and Blu-ray Disc.

The two sites also are quickly dropping prices on select new releases: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, released in May, is selling for $9.99 on both sites, lower than the $14.99 price tag for other new releases that debuted around the same time. Amazon is selling the single-DVD version of Benjamin Button for $14.99 and the Blu-ray for $24.49.

Amazon also has slashed the price of digital downloads of Slumdog Millionaire to $12.49 to $13.49 and Knowing to $13.99 to $14.49, lower even than the $14.99 iTunes price for those titles.

Neither Amazon nor Apple representatives commented on the price drops.

An executive at an independent studio said digital companies are engaged in a land-grab and trying to reach customers any way they can.

Other competitors—CinemaNow, Blockbuster, Vudu, etc.—haven’t been as aggressive, running fewer promotions and mostly pricing new releases above $17 and sticking to the typical $9.99 price tag on catalog downloads and $2.99 rental price for older films that has been the de facto industry standard across movie download sites and among VOD operators.

Blockbuster offers some catalog film downloads for $9.99 and new release downloads for $17.99. Vudu sells new release downloads for $14.99 to $19.99.

Amazon has been aggressively competing with iTunes in the digital music space, slashing prices of albums and singles in its MP3 store to try to grab market share from iTunes, FutureSource analyst David Sidebottom said.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they did the same on the video side,” he said. However, Sidebottom doesn’t think Amazon will be as aggressive in video as the site has been in music because studio deals might limit discounting to some extent and because video tends to be higher priced than music.

Amazon and iTunes have been particularly aggressive with catalog title promotions. ITunes is now offering a “Back to School” promotion, with movies School of Rock, Clueless, Good Will Hunting and others available as a download for $4.99.

ITunes has a continual promotion running with a category of “Films under $5 and $6,” including such catalog films as Rosemary’s Baby ($5.99), Meet Bill ($4.99) and Made ($3.99).

Amazon VOD has its own category of “Movies for $5.99,” which includes Terminator 2: Judgment Day ($4.99) and Troy ($5.49).

But some of the best deals are on TV series, an area in which both sites also face online competition from ad-supported video sites Hulu, TV.com and others. Amazon is selling full-season downloads for as little as $5, the price for NBC hit series 30 Rock: Season 1.

ITunes is selling episodes of NBC shows for 99¢ in one promotion (below the usual $1.99) and “Starter Packs” of Fox shows, with the first five episodes of a show for $4.99.

Studios join to offer DVD downloads (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118007730.html?categoryid=13&cs=1)

Paramount, Sony, Warners, Lionsgate join with Film Fresh

Starting today, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Warners and Lionsgate will begin offering the first movie downloads that can be burned to disc using virtually any DVD or Blu-ray disc burner for playback on a broad range of devices already in millions of consumer homes.

These studios will offer the downloads through under-the-radar online movie service Film Fresh, which inked the first U.S. movie delivery deal with Divx, maker of a popular video format supported by millions of DVD players, Blu-ray players, TVs, mobile phones, the PlayStation 3 and other devices from the biggest consumer electronics brands including LG, Samsung and Sony. Divx-format downloads can be burned to DVD or Blu-ray disc or transferred to USB drives from any Mac or PC with Divx software for playback in any Divx-certified device.

Film Fresh's ability to offer the first downloads that can be legally burned to disc using standard disc burners could give it an edge over larger competitors in the movie download space. Film Fresh CEO Rick Bolton thinks the Divx ecosystem will allow it to take on Apple, the leader in the movie download arena thanks to the iPod.

Digital download sales are growing fast, but business has been held back some by consumers' limited ability to burn films to disc or easily move them between devices for playback. Currently, Roxio CinemaNow is the only other digital movie company offering major studio movie downloads burnable to disc, but consumers are limited to using a Pioneer or Dell Qflix DVD drive to do so.

Film Fresh will offer all new release films, including tentpoles such as "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," and a selection of catalog films from its studio partners and a number of independent and international companies, Bolton said. Film Fresh is selling only download-to-own movies and DVDs for now. It does not offer rental downloads.

Bolton said the company would price newer films between $10 and $13. The site is aggressively pricing recent-release films to be competitive with both iTunes and Amazon.com, the two low-price leaders on digital films. Divx and Film Fresh will each run promotional campaigns around the relaunch of the Film Fresh site today.

Bolton, a former exec at Razorfish and Disney Online, founded Film Fresh using his own money in 2005. The site has sold independent and foreign downloads and DVDs since then. Bolton more recently brought in former Sony exec Mike Arrieta as his business partner.

"We're doing a fair amount of handholding on the site because a lot of people probably do have Divx-enabled devices and don't know it," Bolton said.

The studios have been slow to offer DVD burning of movie downloads because of copy protection concerns. Divx has its own built-in copy protection so that films can be played back only on certified Divx devices that a consumer registers for his downloads.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=23064

For the first time ever, movie titles from Lionsgate, Paramount, Sony and Warner Bros. will be available for download online in the DivX format.

DivX, Inc. and movie site Film Fresh on Wednesday announced that Film Fresh will offer titles such as The Da Vinci Code; Spider-Man; Reservoir Dogs; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Religulous and the Harry Potter franchise in the “download-to-own” DivX format, beginning today.

The move marks the first time the major Hollywood studios are linking up with DivX to offer their films, which can be viewed on DivX-certified digital TVs, Blu-ray players, Sony’s PlayStation 3, and phones from LG, Philips and Toshiba, among others.

But will it put Apple’s iTunes on high alert?

ZDNet sat down with DivX content services director John Greene, DivX technical architect Eric Grab and Film Fresh CEO Rick Bolton to discuss the move toward media-less movies.

ZDNet: What’s the significance of “download to own” media?

Eric Grab: Now you can download a movie from the Internet and move it to a television or a phone or a USB drive.

When you see that logo on a DivX device, it’s going to play those movies. They’re download-to-own experiences. It’s about $10 to $15 for a download, and it’s yours to keep. You can copy it to a USB drive, and walk it over to a TV. You can burn it to a disc, and you can play it in your car if you want to…you know, if you’re a passenger. We don’t want drivers watching movies!

The file is protected and self-contained. If the file gets damaged, you can go online and download it again.

ZDNet: Why Film Fresh?

Rick Bolton: Film Fresh has been around for about four years now, and when we started, we began offering independent films and global films in DivX format. Now that the [major] studios have gotten more interested in the electronic sell-through format…we’ll probably have about 1,000 films available in DivX format.

It’s exciting to be the first DivX store in the U.S.

ZDNet: How will you convince American consumers to drop the DVD? Even Blu-ray hasn’t shaken their habits.

RB: DivX tech enables a wider group of people to participate in downloading entertainment. There just hasn’t been a content service for those people.

EG: It’s about one gigabyte or more for a nice movie. The download process doesn’t necessarily have to be real time — if you have a good connection, you can download it in 15 minutes. If you don’t, you can do it over a longer period of time.

ZDNet: How are you going to bring legally downloadable movies to parts of the U.S. that isn’t served by high-speed Internet?

RB: It’s still an interesting moment from an infrastructure perspective. The studios have decided to put a bet on the infrastructure. They believe there’s enough bandwidth in the U.S. to do this. And we’re hoping that President Obama addresses this. It’s particularly important for rural people.

EG: Our base is very large. From a footprint standpoint, 12 million people come to our site each month, worldwide. There have been 1 billion hits to our player throughout the year.

You’re getting more for your money. We’re offering a better value. There’s going to be grassroots support of this. A key market is the enthusiast market.

ZDNet: Don’t people like holding physical media, though? Despite the success of the MP3, full-length movies haven’t really taken off online.

RB: I think we are at the tipping point right now. We’ve seen a little more dramatic consumer adoption of our own service, but now we’re seeing studios being more willing to make deals with us. People are adopting download-to-own. Part of this is because of iTunes and the ground Apple broke. Studios are throwing their weight behind the effort.

EG: It’s downloading for everybody, on every device. It’s really about the three screens: computer, TV, phone.

ZDNet: That last one is particularly important as more smartphones and portable media players support high-quality video.

RB: We’re very interested in mobile, and the next-generation of DivX-enabled phones will be pretty significant for us. Right now we’re completely focused on the market advantage that DivX can be moved around.

EG: It’s a technical challenge and a legal challenge. You can download a movie at the same time as the DVD release.

RB: The rate of DVD sales is going down and the rate of digital sales is going up.

What’s exciting for us is that no one’s quite sure what consumers want to do, even consumers. That’s exciting. We’re making a bet that consumers are going to want to download movies in DivX format and that be a substantial part of entertainment, period.

It’s dramatic. It’s exciting.

Comcast: 80% DOCSIS 3.0 Coverage By Year's End (http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Comcast-80-DOCSIS-30-Coverage-By-Years-End-103824)

As we've noted countless times, Comcast had promised to have 65% of their network upgraded to DOCSIS 3.0 technology by the end of this year, and 100% of their network upgraded by the end of 2010. In addition to doubling the speeds on existing tiers, the upgrades deliver new $62.95 22Mbps/5Mbps and $99 "Extreme 50" 50Mbps/10Mbps tiers, both of which require a new DOCSIS 3.0 modem. Comcast now tells us that the deployment is going so well, they should be able to accomplish considerably more installs than originally predicted.

"We have raised our goal to roll out DOCSIS 3.0 to nearly 80% of our national footprint before the end of this year," Comcast spokesman Charlie Douglas tells us. "That would mean passing about 40 million homes and businesses with the new wideband offerings Extreme 50 and Ultra 22, in addition to doubling speeds for existing Premier customers for no additional cost," he notes.

Comcast already provides the service to the Twin Cities, the Boston Metropolitan region and parts of Southern New Hampshire, parts of Hartford, the City of Philadelphia as well as the greater metropolitan area, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, parts of New Jersey, Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Ft. Wayne, Chattanooga, Portland, Eugene, Seattle and Spokane. The next market should be announced within weeks, Comcast tells us.

"I think part of raising the estimate is just we are getting it implemented and we are a little further along the line and continue to be big believers in it," Comcast COO Stephen Burke said this morning on a conference call with analysts. "I think everybody in the industry eventually is going to put DOCSIS 3.0 pretty much everywhere and it is just a question of how fast you go."

Parks Associates: Network-Connected TVs To Triple In 2010 (http://www.homemediamagazine.com/electronic-delivery/parks-associates-network-connected-tvs-triple-2010-16875)

The number of Internet-connected TVs used as networked devices in American homes will nearly triple in 2010, from 2.4 million in 2009 to more than 7 million, according to research presented Aug. 27 by Parks Associates. Consumers will use those connected TVs to access VOD, rent movies and access content on their home PCs.

However, next-generation gaming systems such as the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 will remain the No. 1 Internet-connected networked devices in households with 27.6 million. “Cloud” media devices — devices such as Vudu that bring content from off-site servers — will number 10.5 million in 2010, while connected Blu-ray Disc players used as networked devices will weigh in at only 1.1 million. A majority of owners using Blu-ray players as network devices do so to access VOD content, such as Netflix via LG Blu-ray players or Blockbuster via Samsung Blu-ray players.

Still, while most people will use these devices to connect to shared files from PCs and view online videos, widespread acceptance of networked consumer electronics will take time, as content owners still mull copy protection and consumers learn what their broadband connections can handle, the firm said.

“The online video services are not compelling enough to convince consumers to cancel their pay TV services,” said Kurt Scherf, VP and principal analyst for Parks Associates. “There hasn’t been a compelling reason to connect more devices to home networks.”

He added that premium Web video from companies such as CinemaNow, Netflix, Blockbuster and Amazon VOD is “significantly” on the rise, as those companies allow their content to be distributed on more devices.

“One of the challenges facing online video efforts … is windowing,” Scherf said. “It still gives the edge to traditional media.”

TV facing 'iTunes moment' warns Microsoft's Ashley Highfield (http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/aug/29/ashley-highfield-edinburgh-tv-festival)

Television industry must act soon or face losing control of its online presence to brand such as Apple, says Highfield

The TV industry has as little as two years to create viable digital businesses or face a version of the "iTunes moment" that saw the music business cede the online future to Apple, according to Ashley Highfield.

Highfield, the the managing director of consumer and online at Microsoft UK, said he believed the reluctance advertisers feel to advertise on sites such as Facebook will soon be a "non-issue", putting more pressure on broadcasters' advertising revenues.

"Once this happens the shift of spending from TV to web will accelerate even more," he said, giving the Futureview address at the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival today.

"So realistically I think the industry has about two to three years to adapt or face its iTunes moment. And it will take at least that long for media brands to build credible, truly digital brands. But, importantly, I do believe TV does have a small two to three year window in which to respond."

Highfield also said he believed that despite the growing popularity of online TV viewing it will be at least three years until it reaches a scale to win over media agency advertising buyers and generate significant revenues.

"The traditional television business has to aggressively move its content online, build a critical mass of content that the traditional buyers of airtime will understand and buy into," he added. "They want to see TV-like reach and impact".

Highfield argued that there are still barriers preventing online TV from generating revenue. "On current projections, we are three years away from the reach and the volume of online video being un-ignorably attractive to TV advertising buyers," he said. "We are two to three years away from having the ad sales systems and Barb-like measurement systems to enable really easy purchase across TV and web."

To drive revenues from web video, media companies need to embrace controversial targeted advertising techniques, such as behavioural targeting based on users' web viewing habits, with the ad inventory going into an auction-style model similar to the system Google operates, according to Highfield.

He also suggested a possible solution to the thorny issue of getting broadband into rural areas in the UK after Lord Carter's plan of a £6-a-year tax on landlines to raise the funds fell out of favour with new business minister Stephen Timms.

Highfield said a solution, which in the US market has been called the "white space initiative", would be to use the leftover unused transmission spectrum between, for instance, BBC1 and BBC2 to provide broadband capacity to rural communities.

LG HDTVs Offer Vudu HD (http://www.homemediamagazine.com/hdtv/lg-hdtvs-offer-vudu-hd-16898)

LG Electronics broadband-connected HDTV owners now have access to Vudu HD content, with a limited time offer to get their first high-def rental from the content service for free.

The LG LH50 LCD and PS80 plasma series with NetCast Entertainment Access, currently available at retail, will automatically have the Vudu Service option, while LG broadband-connected HDTV owners prior to Sept. 1 can access the content via a software update.

“For the first time, customers can get Vudu’s revolutionary video service directly through their HDTVs without the need for a separate device,” said Vudu CEO Alain Rossmann. “We offer users the combination of an unmatched HD catalog, superior A/V quality and a compelling user interface. There has never been a better way to find and watch HD movies in your living room.”

TV facing 'iTunes moment' warns Microsoft's Ashley Highfield (http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/aug/29/ashley-highfield-edinburgh-tv-festival)

Is the guy talking about the UK market or US?

Digital media company DivX has acquired AnySource Media, creator of the Internet Video Navigation platform for connected TVs, in a deal worth as much as $15 million.

AnySource’s software allows for rapid Internet navigation and VOD playback on HDTVs, Blu-ray Disc players and mobile phones.

“Internet TV will transform the landscape for media distribution and advertising as we know it,” said DivX CEO Kevin Hell. “The AnySource streaming platform combined with our high-quality device certification program and our deep relationships with both consumer electronics companies and Hollywood studios puts us in an enviable position in this rapidly emerging market.”

The acquisition is another recent profile-raising move by DivX, which had four studios agree in late August to make their films available to download-to-own and burn on any device that is DivX compatible, via online movie site Film Fresh.

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/electronic-delivery/divx-acquires-internet-tv-software-company-16916

Is the guy talking about the UK market or US?He is based in the UK, but I believe he is talking about both.

Wall St. Journal

YouTube in Talks to Stream Rental Movies (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125192241524880801.html)

Google Inc.'s YouTube is in discussions with major movie studios about allowing users to stream movies on a rental basis, according to people familiar with the company's plans, marking one of the video giant's first moves towards charging for content instead of making it available for free with advertising.

While some studios already make full-length movies available on YouTube, they tend to be older, lesser-known titles. Now YouTube is talking to Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., Sony Corp. and Warner Bros. about integrating newer titles into the existing YouTube site, most of which it would carry a rental charge. In some cases, these titles might be available on the site on the same day that they come out on DVD. It is unclear to what extent older movies or television shows will be part of the new agreements.

In a statement, a YouTube spokesman said the company is always working to expand on "its great relationships with movie studios and on the selection and types of videos we offer our community."

While details vary from studio to studio, generally speaking the agreements would allow consumers to stream movies on a rental basis for a fee. However, in some cases, the movies would be available in way that they have been previously—free, with advertising.

Negotiations are continuing and there are no guarantees a deal will be struck. Many details remain in flux, including whether users will also eventually be able to download movies. People familiar with the matter say that new movie rentals are likely to be around $3.99, the price Apple Inc.'s iTunes charges for new movie rentals. The companies hope to keep pricing on par with what consumers pay for video-on-demand for new titles, these people say.

YouTube generally gives studios about 70% of revenue for ad-supported content they already offer on the site, people familiar with the matter say. They would likely get a similar percentage for new movies. But they would also likely be guaranteed a minimum fee of just under $3 per title viewed. That ensures the studio the dollar amount, even if YouTube decides to run a special where they charge consumers less.

Under current plans, 10,000 Google employees will test the service for a period of three months, these people said. The trial was supposed to start at the beginning of September, but was pushed back as studio negotiations dragged on.

Both YouTube and the movie studios are being forced to become more flexible in their business models. YouTube, which isn't yet profitable, is looking for new ways to draw premium content and ad campaigns from big brands.

Studios, on the other hand, are also eager to bolster any area that might help compensate for declining DVD sales. Adams Media Research says studio revenue from DVD sales should fall by about $850 million this year to $12.9 billion.

If the YouTube deals come to fruition, the site would join Apple, Amazon.com Inc. and Netflix Inc. in offering services that allow users to stream or download newer movies online. Sony's Crackle and Hulu LLC allow users to watch full-length movies for free, but don't generally include new releases.

Blockbuster is bundling a download server into all their kiosks.

Blockbuster Earnings Report Transcript (http://seekingalpha.com/article/156034-blockbuster-q2-2009-earnings-call-transcript?page=-1)

Third, we are more proactively developing the vending channel through our alliance with NCR. We will have approximately 500 machines in the market by the end of August and NCR is rolling out about 50 machines per week, well on their way to deploying more than 2,500 Blockbuster branded kiosks by year-end and another 7,000 planned by August of 2010.

Vending provided a new level of convenience that could expand the market presence for Blockbuster customers. We selected NCR as the vending partner not only for their expertise as the world’s leading manufacturer of self-service devices but also because we intended to future-proof the vending channel by incorporating a server into each device to allow for digital download capabilities.

Analyst for Emily Shanks - Barclays Capital

I understand. That’s great color. Appreciate it -- with regard to the kiosks, as far as digital download goes, is that something available currently or what’s the timeline on rolling that out for the kiosks?

James W. Keyes

As you know, we are testing digital download capabilities in a few stores today. We are very early. We are way ahead of both the consumer and the studios on this. The good news is that the technology is perfectly available today. It works. You can actually download a movie, a TV show to a thumb drive, to an SD card. And if you have that movie captured in a server on site, you can download that movie in a matter of minutes versus the hour or two hours it could take, depending on the bandwidth, to download that movie at home. So there’s a real advantage in digital downloads that we believe is part of the future.

The reason for our selection as I referenced with NCR is that when we deploy kiosks, the good news is we don’t have 18,000 kiosks in the market today so we can actually with NCR deploy kiosks with the server capability to house those movies on site and to be able to build in the download capability to load a thumb drive or an SD card. Now the only remaining obstacle, the technology as I referenced, works fine. The remaining obstacle is getting the studios to all agree on the consistent standards necessary for security and protection of their intellectual property. That process is underway. There are a couple of studio groups today. It’s very similar, if you will, to the challenge that we had with HD versus Blu-Ray and the studios having to agree on a format, a consistent set of standards in a format. Naturally it’s going to take some time for them to do that. We think that could take as much as a year, perhaps two years. But our hope is that the deployment of our vending machines will be built with an eye to that digital download capability so that as we deploy our own infrastructure, they will have their own, as I referenced, almost a future proof capability. They won’t just be vending machines for DVDs -- they will also be servers able to download content direct from Blockbuster on demand capabilities.

Online video platform Brightcove Inc. has inked a deal with Boxee, maker of a social media center that streams Internet video through the AppleTV and computers.

The deal will bring videos from Brightcove and its video partners, Conde Nast Digital, Quvo and others, to the living room through the Boxee platform.

Brightcove customers can set up their own branded channel within Boxee. Featured content can be integrated into Boxee’s content catalog, which already includes films, TV shows and videos from Netflix, CNN and CBS.

http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6694860.html

Netgear has rolled out an Internet-connected set-top box designed to play video from YouTube, Hulu, Netflix, CBS.com, CinemaNow and other services directly on a big-screen TV.

The company's Digital Entertainer Live EVA2000, with a list price of $150, also provides menus to let users access personal movies, music and photos stored on a USB hard drive. The EVA2000 includes HDMI and composite cable interfaces, as well as RCA jacks for connecting to older analog TVs. The box includes an Ethernet port; Negear is selling a wireless USB adapter separately for $39.99.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/339735-Netgear_Goes_Over_The_Top_With_Internet_TV_Box.php

Hulu.com has begun adding links to Amazon VOD for its users that want to buy digital downloads of shows they watch on the site, NewTeeVee reports. Hulu has links under videos saying "Buy this season today" that take users directly to Amazon to buy the same show as a download.

It seems that more and more ad-supported TV sites are linking to digital sales sites or DVD sales sites. Warner, in its recent partnering with YouTube, flat out said the goal is to drive sales of its shows on other formats.

http://www.videobusiness.com/blog/1730000173/post/990048699.html

Tesco and Microsoft Bring Next-Generation Movie Experience to U.K. Consumers
(http://thedigitallifestyle.com/cs/blogs/ian/archive/2009/09/09/tesco-and-microsoft-bring-next-generation-movie-experience-to-u-k-consumers.aspx)
New virtual DVD provides ability to download entertainment including movies with rich video quality, interactivity and bonus content previously available only on a disk.

LONDON — Sept. 9, 2009 — Tesco, one of the world’s leading retailers, and Microsoft Corp., worldwide leader in software, today announced a collaboration to launch the next generation of home video viewing. The new service, built on Microsoft Silverlight technology, will deliver a similar level of quality as consumers have come to expect from DVD and Blu-ray, but with advanced Web-based interactivity and a viewing experience that goes beyond other digital playback products in the marketplace.

Starting in the autumn, Tesco will allow customers in the U.K. who purchase certain home video titles from Tesco to download “digital copy” versions of movies to their Windows-based or Apple Macintosh computers in a “virtual DVD” experience. The digital copy versions will include a similar level of video quality, interactivity and bonus content available on the physical products. In addition, the digital copy versions will provide consumers with extra network-connected features such as auto-updated trailers, exclusive bonus content, movie viewing parties with online chat, related music offerings such as MP3s and ring tones, and networked games.

“Tesco is excited to be the first retailer to partner with a broad range of major movie studios to offer this next-generation movie experience,” said Rob Salter, category director for Entertainment at Tesco. “For the first time, consumers will be able to enjoy a DVD equivalent experience with digital movies, which paves the way for more advanced viewing experiences enabled through Silverlight.

“This is just the beginning. In the future we expect to offer our customers innovative digital solutions that far exceed the DVD experience and deliver exclusive content, Web events and services wherever and whenever they want them,” Salter said.

The underlying technology that enables these experiences is the Microsoft Silverlight browser plug-in, which powers rich, interactive experiences on Windows-based PCs and Apple Macintosh computers across all popular Web browsers. Silverlight provides a powerful engine for premium media experiences and sophisticated network-connected applications. It also enables developers and designers to build and deliver the same application anywhere Silverlight is running.

“Microsoft is committed to enhancing digital entertainment to deliver richer quality video and, ultimately, more enjoyable and interactive experiences for the viewer through technologies like Microsoft Silverlight,” said Gabriele Di Piazza, senior director for the Media & Entertainment business in the Communications Sector at Microsoft. “We believe this alliance will offer consumers in the U.K., and eventually additional markets, the opportunity to download a digital copy that is truly the equivalent of a physical disk — with the same package of navigation, bonus features and director commentaries.”

LG Electronics and Sony Electronics made the first home entertainment splashes at the annual Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association (CEDIA) Expo, opening the show Sept. 9, introducing new Blu-ray Disc players and HDTVs.

Sony Electronics introduced its BDP-N460, a networked, wireless Blu-ray Disc player that will retail for $250 in October, and will include both free and premium on-demand content, from services such as Netflix, YouTube, Slacker and more.

Chris Fawcett, VP of home audio and video for Sony Electronics, said that despite the economic downturn, consumers are still spending money on home entertainment.

“Holiday 2009 is starting to look very promising,” he said.

Meanwhile, LG Electronics announced it is expanding its partnership with high-definition streaming movie service Vudu to its wireless network Blu-ray Disc player, the BD390 ($399). At the end of September, owners of the player will be able to upgrade for access to Vudu for free. LG’s “NetCast Entertainment Access” set of features also includes Netflix, Roxio CinemaNow and YouTube.

Tim Alessi, director of new product development for LG Electronics’ home entertainment division, said consumers could expect more LG products to include NetCast features in the future. He specifically highlighted the 2,200-plus high-def movies that Vudu offers.

“That’s more high-def movies than are currently available on physical disc for Blu-ray,” he said. “Our intention, as the market continues to grow, is to release more products with connectivity.”

Alain Rossmann, CEO of Vudu, added, “Following the recent launch of Vudu on LG HDTVs with NetCast Entertainment Access, LG’s BD390 Network Blu-ray player provides the perfect opportunity for anyone in the market for a Blu-ray player to enjoy VUDU’s extensive HD movie library in superior 1080p video quality and Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 surround sound.”

LG also unveiled a new network attached storage model (N2R1) for consumers to back up their multimedia entertainment files. Available with 1TB ($299) or 2TB ($399) of storage, the wireless N2R1 automatically backs up and restores files in the event of a hardware failure.

“Consumers continue to create digital memories, from photos to family videos, and it’s important that these irreplaceable moments are saved in a secure place,” said Peter Reiner, SVP of marketing for LG Electronics. “With LG’s network attached storage, consumers now have a virtual library on command that allows them unlimited access to their favorite memories, whether at home or on the road.”

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/blu-ray-disc/blu-ray-players-get-connected-cedia-16989

Apple rivals DVD with new iTunes Extras for movies and albums (http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/09/09/apple_rivals_dvd_with_new_itunes_extras_for_movies_and_album s.html)

The new iTunes 9 offers special "iTunes Extras" as free downloads with the purchase of "iTunes LP" albums or movies. The new free bonus content is delivered as a self-contained website of bonus materials, making it easy to author.

Apple's new move into bonus materials helps to enrich its media downloads, making iTunes digital albums more attractive to purchase as a complete set and positioning its movies better against the bonus features available on DVDs. Apple has offered simple PDF digital booklets with certain albums in the past, a step the new Extras builds upon. The DVD Forum has attempted to deliver DVD-A its own specification for value-added music albums, and Blu-Ray has similarly floated an audio version of the format, but along with SA-CD and other attempts to improve upon the CD, these efforts have all fizzled.

Previously referred to under the Cocktail codename, Apple's new initiative delivers a single .ite file along with standard purchased album tracks or the movie file. The iTunes Extra file is actually a bundle, which is directory of files masquerading as a single file. Inside the bundle are navigation pages built using web-standards including HTML pages, Javascript code and CSS presentation, along with content folders containing regular PNG graphics, AAC audio and H.264 video files. The package is essentially a self-contained website, although its FairPlay content requires iTunes 9 to view.

The ease of building this Extras content should help popularize the new bonus materials, and a quick review of the iTunes Store shows a variety of artists' albums and movie titles sporting the new bonus materials. Unlike earlier attempts to create a super CD format, iTunes doesn't require anything more than a software update to the free version 9 in order to play the new Extras content.

http://images.appleinsider.com/ITE.png


The newly unveiled Cocktail initiative may help explain why Apple hasn't thrown much effort behind developing its DVD authoring tools recently, and why it has pointedly ignored the Blu-Ray authoring market. DVD authoring requires participating in a licensing program that includes a book of authoring specifications.

Apple Shuns DVD and Blu-Ray Authoring

Apple entered the DVD authoring business when it bought Astarte in 2000, resulting in DVD Studio Pro and the consumer-oriented iDVD title. It then bought Spruce Technologies and released that company's authoring tools as DVD Studio Pro 2.0. Since the 4.x release in early 2006, Apple has done little to update the program, which still ships as part of Final Cut Studio. The iDVD portion of iLife has similarly only received the barest of attention over the last few years.

While Apple updated its DVD authoring tools to support changes required to create HD-DVD discs, it never threw its support being the format, which has since collapsed after a protracted battle against the rival Blu-Ray specification. Similarly, despite being a member of the Blu-Ray Disk Association, Apple hasn't released authoring tools for that format either. Apple recently added raw Blu-Ray disc burning support to Final Cut Studio, but this lacks any capacity to actually author navigation; the resulting Blu-Ray disc just contains plain video. This is commonly used to distribute edited work for review. Third party tools are required to author a fancy user interface for finished Blu-Ray discs targeted at consumers.

The Blu-Ray specification uses navigation and content presentation tools based upon Sun's Java, called BD-J, to both frame the video and any interactive bonus content on the disc. It is also designed to enable accessing the Internet to find additional content published after the disc was shipped. Different Blu-ray players support different minimal versions of the BD-J, and the BD-J runtime results in significant hardware requirements (similar to a low end PC) which have priced Blu-Ray players out of the mainstream of the market.

Apple's Competitive Cocktail

By offering easy to create, standards-based bonus content that does not require complex and convoluted authoring tools, Apple appears to be hoping to convert more users from DVD disc buyers to iTunes download customers. While downloaded videos can't match the quality of Blu-Ray movies, the mass market has still not embraced the Blu-ray format, leaving Apple with a large market to address.

Presenting iTunes Extras on Apple TV, and potentially on mobile devices such as the iPhone and iPod touch, may also follow as Apple builds out its efforts to popularize albums and movies with the bonus materials.

For both movies and albums, iTunes Extras also differentiate Apple's own offerings in iTunes from identical content sold by other content distributors, such as Amazon.

Variety

The video-on-demand business, which barely registered as a revenue stream three years ago, has almost overnight changed the indie distribution business.

Viewed as a whole, VOD revenues can be underwhelming and deceiving, expected to near $2 billion across digital services such as iTunes, cable and other outlets this year -- that's just a sliver of the $22.5 billion expected from DVD and Blu-ray, projects Adams Media Research.

Yet for a growing number of indie films, VOD has become a crucial revenue source, accounting for as much as 60% of revs for some movies and returning seven-figure checks for the highest-profile indies.

"VOD does make up for some of the DVD sell-through decline for smaller indie movies," says Oscilloscope's David Fenkel, who sent "Wendy and Lucy" out on VOD in May via the company's deal with Warner Bros. Digital. But he's also quick to note that sell-through for some indie titles was never brisk previously.

One of the breakout stars is Magnolia Pictures' "Two Lovers," which debuted in theaters and on VOD simultaneously. The film is on track to gross well into seven figures, says Magnolia president Eamonn Bowles.

Unlike the theatrical and DVD business, where revenue estimates are touted in a matter of hours after a film's release, VOD sales figures are still guarded like state secrets. Often, even the distrib doesn't know the numbers until several months after releases, when the payments start rolling in.

Debuting a film on VOD can potentially put it in more than 50 million living rooms where viewers can watch not just through Comcast and other cable and satellite outlets, but through iPods and Xbox 360 game consoles.

VOD has become a new source of income for virtually no additional cost. There are no theatrical prints to deliver or discs to press. And it comes with free advertising, thanks to the trailers cable operators run to promo available VOD titles.

VOD providers, eager to lure customers with content they can't get in many other places, heavily promote VOD debuts through TV ads and callouts on the main VOD channel.

"The cable operators run a ton of free promotion and actual TV advertising that we would never be able to afford for films of this scale," Bowles says.

IFC, another indie distrib regularly releasing films in the theatrical window and also on VOD, is seeing the same healthy returns.

"I Hate Valentine's Day" is on track to be the company's top VOD performer, having already generated an estimated $1.5 million in overall revenues, just surpassing biopic "Che," says IFC topper Jonathan Sehring.

Those are the standouts, but even for other films, VOD revenues can be just as significant, though smaller. Gravitas Ventures, which distributes 250 indie pics a year on VOD, tells its partners that high-five and low-six figures is a more realistic expectation if they get picked up by the biggest VOD providers, such as cabler Comcast.

Key to broad VOD distribution, and bigger revenues, is timing the VOD rollout with or before the DVD release.

Films released day and date with DVD tend to sell 50% better on VOD than films released afterward, says David Asch, executive VP of VOD distributor In Demand.

They also generate higher profits because companies can charge more -- Magnolia charges $9.99 and up, IFC $7.99 -- both premiums over the typical $3.99 for VOD films released in the DVD window.

"It's a significant source of revenue. Probably more significant are the economics of it," says Sehring.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118008350.html?categoryid=18&cs=1

Move Networks Inc. may finally see some traction as an IPTV technology provider, with the news that Cable and Wireless plc (NYSE: CWP) has chosen its adaptive bit-rate technology to power a global rollout of online video services.

CWI, Cable and Wireless's international telecom business, will use Move Networks technology to deliver online video services in 38 countries worldwide. The deal will enable CWI to offer multichannel video services to customers through their existing ADSL broadband connections without the need for building out local IPTV infrastructure.

The new IPTV service will be offered to more than 7 million customers to whom CWI already provides fixed-line, broadband, and mobile services, and will be available through existing broadband connections. The service will include linear programming, a network digital video recorder (DVR) function, as well as the ability to pause and rewind live and on-demand video streams.

Move Networks will handle the middleware, content management, conditional access, and backend systems for the CWI IPTV rollout. But most importantly, it will provide adaptive bit-rate technology that will enable CWI to provide a high-quality video experience regardless of the local network conditions.

Move's technology works by adapting to changing network conditions, seamlessly increasing or decreasing the bit rate of a video stream to ensure the highest quality experience to the end user. Because different markets that CWI serves will have different levels of broadband connectivity, using Move will allow the company to offer an optimized experience in all countries that it rolls the service out in.

The customer announcement comes nearly six months after Move closed on its acquisition of Inuk Networks Ltd., a virtual set-top box provider based in the U.K. That purchase signaled a shift in the company's strategy, from providing high-quality video distribution to media companies such as ABC Inc. and Fox Broadcasting Co. to selling technology to Internet service providers looking to offer their own online video services.

http://www.contentinople.com/author.asp?section_id=450&doc_id=181554

http://www.pcworld.com/article/171911/apple_tv_40gb_disappears_160gb_model_discounted.html


Apple's move to slash the price of one its Apple TV models and discontinue another lower capacity model have many scratching their heads. Monday morning the 40GB model of the Apple TV disappeared from U.S. retail locations and online. At the same time, the price of the 160GB version was slashed by one hundred dollars to $229 from $329.........

Zune Offers HD, Rentals and Purchases Through Zune Marketplace (http://www.homemediamagazine.com/zune/zune-offers-hd-rentals-and-purchases-through-zune-marketplace-17049)

Microsoft has updated its answer to the iPod, the Zune, with an HD touchscreen media player, an update to the Zune PC software, and the ability to buy or rent movies through the Zune Marketplace online store.

The Zune HD, priced at $219.99 for the black 16GB version, $289.99 for the platinum 32GB version, allows for storage and playback in 720p HD video and can connect to an HDTV using the Zune HD AV dock accessory.

The Zune 4.0 software allows users to rent movies for approximately $6 (480 Microsoft Points) for new-release high-definition movies, $4 (320 Microsoft Points) for new-release standard-definition movies, $4.50 (360 Microsoft Points) for library HD movies and $3 (240 Microsoft Points) for library SD movies. Movie downloads cost $19.99 (1,600 Microsoft Points) for new-release HD titles, $14.99 (1,200 Microsoft Points) for new-release SD titles, $17.99 (1,440 Microsoft Points) for library HD titles and $17.99 (1,440 Microsoft Points) for library HD titles.

TV episodes will cost $2.99 (240 Microsoft Points) for HD and $1.99 (160 Microsoft Points) for SD. Meanwhile, a new streaming music service for $14.99 a month allows users to stream songs and albums from Zune.net.

“With today’s announcement, the Zune business is growing into a comprehensive entertainment service that’s no longer tied to any one screen or device,” said Enrique Rodriguez, corporate VP of the TV, video and music business at Microsoft. “Zune lets consumers connect to their music, TV shows and movie content and enjoy it on the three screens they use every day.”

Zune video also will be available to Xbox Live users later this fall.

Netflix expands digital inventory by about 40% (http://www.videobusiness.com/index.asp?layout=talkbackCommentsFull&talk_back_header_id=6625480&articleid=CA6696754)

SEPT. 14 | DIGITAL: Netflix has finally confirmed what industry observers have been saying all along—that the company has more than 12,000 titles available for video-streaming.

The largest U.S. movie-rental service via mail last week started posting on its Web site that more than 17,000 of its titles can be delivered digitally. Blog HackingNetflix.com reported the update last week.

Netflix, which is set to release third-quarter earnings next month, has been augmenting its DVD-by-mail service by expanding both the number of its digital titles and the number of electronic components that can play them on TVs. About a third of Netflix’s new subscribers are previous customers who had canceled their subscriptions but were lured back largely by the expanded digital offering, Netflix chief financial officer Barry McCarthy said at a conference in New York last week.

Although Netflix has long pegged its digital inventory at about 12,000, HackingNetflix.com said as far back as April that the total was closer to 15,000. The company is able to maintain its profit margins while boosting investment in its streaming service because Netflix’s widening customer base allows sales growth to keep pace with its increasing digital-content investment, McCarthy said.

Netflix in July forecast third-quarter earnings of about $25 million on sales of about $419 million, both representing a 23% increase from year-earlier results.

Genesys to mass produce USB 3.0 controllers in 1Q10 (http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20090917PD215.html)

Genesys Logic is scheduled to start mass production of controller chips for USB 3.0 card readers, thumb drives and SATA2 bridge devices in the first quarter of 2010, according to company spokesperson Chin-Te Wang. The USB controller designer will be mainly outsourcing its USB 3.0 solutions to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).

Genesys' next-generation USB controllers will be mass produced on a 0.13-micron process at TSMC, said Wang. The design house uses a 0.18-micron node to manufacture its USB 2.0 controller chips.

Genesys expects revenues generated from the new chips to become solid in 2010, when the USB 3.0 controller market starts taking off, Wang indicated. As for USB 2.0 solutions, the company estimated shipments for card readers used in PCs to grow significantly on quarter in the third quarter. Gross margins for the third and fourth quarter are likely to remain at 35-38%, Wang added.

Genesys saw a 37.71% gross margin in the second quarter, compared to 37.62% in the prior quarter and 34.27% a year ago.

In other news, a recent research by In-Stat suggests that SuperSpeed USB, known as USB 3.0, will see broad adoption across a range of PC and PC peripherals over the next several years.

The technology will be targeted initially at devices requiring high data transfer rates and large data stores such as external hard disk drives (HDDs) and flash drives, and other likely applications including portable media players (PMPs), LCD PC monitors and digital still cameras (DSCs). In-Stat projects SuperSpeed USB will represent over 25% of the USB market by 2013, with initial adoption to emerge in 2010.

USB 'SuperSpeed' 3.0 logos to appear on certified devices (http://blogs.zdnet.com/gadgetreviews/?p=7082)

http://i.zdnet.com/blogs/superspeed-usb-logo.jpg

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/USB-External-RAID-HDD-SSD,8535.html

USB 3.0 is actually designed to handle transfers of up to 5 Gbit/sec, a huge increase in throughput when compared to the 480 Mbit/sec limit seen with USB 2.0. As an example, a 25 GB HD movie would take 13.9 minutes to transport over a USB 2.0 connection, just 70 seconds over a USB 3.0 connection.

I don't know when this went live, but the The Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) has a web site. Nothing on it yet, but I am hoping there will be something of substance sooner rather than later (or never).

http://www.decellc.com/

There’s an exciting new way to buy, access, and play digital entertainment. Developed by DECE, a consortium of some of the world’s top media companies, this system will provide a revolutionary new way to enjoy your favorite movies and TV shows.

In the coming months on this evolving website, we’ll provide an exclusive look at how this new approach works. Come back soon to learn how this groundbreaking technology will dramatically change how we experience digital entertainment.

----------------------------------
DECE founding members include: Alcatel Lucent, Best Buy, Cisco, Comcast Corporation, Deluxe Digital, Fox Entertainment Group, HP, Intel, Lionsgate, Microsoft Corporation, NBC Universal, Panasonic, Paramount Pictures, Royal Philips Electronics, Samsung, Sony Corporation, Toshiba, VeriSign Inc., and Warner Bros. Entertainment.Disney and Apple are noticably absent. :rolleyes:

Remember USB 3.0 from 2 posts back? Looks like USB/Firewire II is breaking out.

Intel's Light Peak: One PC cable to rule them all (http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-10360047-264.html?tag=mncol;txt)

SAN FRANCISCO--Intel unveiled technology called Light Peak that it hopes ultimately will replace the profusion of different cables sprouting from today's PCs with a single type of fiber-optic link.

Dadi Perlmutter, the newly promoted co-general manager of Intel's Architecture Group, demonstrated Light Peak at the Intel Developer Forum here and said components for the technology, though not Light Peak-enabled PCs, will be ready in 2010.

"We hope to see one single cable," Perlmutter said, adding that one thing getting in the way of smaller laptops is the profusion of cable ports around the systems' edges.

This prototype PC has the Light Peak controller and optical connector that sends signals down a single white optical cable.

In a demonstration, Perlmutter showed a PC connected to a monitor across the stage showing high-definition video sent over a Light Peak optical cable. The cable can be as long as 100 meters and can carry data at 10 gigabits per second in both directions simultaneously, though Intel expects it will reach 100 gigabits per second in the next decade, said Jason Ziller, Intel's director of optical input-ouput program office, in an interview.

The company envisions Light Peak as a replacement for the cables that currently lead to monitors, external drives, scanners, and just about anything else that plugs in to a computer. A PC could have a number of Light Peak ports for different devices, or a connection could lead to a hub--perhaps an external monitor--with multiple connections of its own, Ziller said.

It's not clear how much the technology will cost or how many years it will take to become mainstream. And wireless communication technology--Intel itself has promoted Ultra-Wideband (UWB) for years--offers the attraction of getting rid of some cables altogether.

More on Light Peak HERE: (http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-10362246-264.html)

Intel's aspirations and allies

Intel's hope for Light Peak is to create a single connection for video, storage devices, the network, printers, Webcams, and anything else that plugs into a PC. Light Peak uses circuitry that can juggle multiple communication protocols at the same time, and the Light Peak promise is for a universal connector to replace today's incompatible sockets for USB, FireWire, DVI, DisplayPort, and HDMI. It's a hot-plug technology, meaning that devices can be linked when they're up and running.

Intel has pre-production chips and said the technology will be ready to ship in 2010. In its current form, Light Peak can transfer data at 10Gbps each direction along the fiber optic line, but Intel said Light Peak will reach much higher speeds--100Gbps in the next decade, according to Jason Ziller, director of Intel's optical input-output program office.

The Sony endorsement is important, because the company sells PCs, music players, cameras, video cameras, and Blu-ray players. But another company at least as significant had a quieter Light Peak appearance at the Intel show: Apple.

More on Light Peak Alliance:

Exclusive: Apple dictated Light Peak creation to Intel, could begin migration from other standards as early as 2010 (http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/26/exclusive-apple-dictated-light-peak-creation-to-intel-could-be/)

Remember how Intel showed off its new, advanced optical standard -- Light Peak -- this past week on a Hackintosh? Well it turns out there's more to that story than you probably know, and it all leads back to some revealing facts about the connection... literally and figuratively. Engadget has learned -- thanks to an extremely reliable source -- that not only is Apple complicit in the development of Light Peak, but the company actually brought the concept to Intel and asked them to create it. More to the point, the new standard will play a hugely important role in upcoming products from Cupertino.So we have a 100% backward compatible but not quite as capable, copper based, USB 3.0 backed by a broad industry base vs. a more capable, 0% backward compatible, optical based solution backed by Apple, Intel, and Sony. Have I got that right?

Google Web sites, including YouTube, extended their online video popularity as companies such as Viacom, Microsoft and Fox Interactive saw their Web video market share fall over the past couple months.

About 40% of August’s online videos were streamed from Google sites, up from 39% in June, ComScore said in a report today. With YouTube representing all but 1% of its online videos, Google streamed its 10 billionth video last month, while its 25.4 million videos streamed marked a 30% jump from June, according to ComScore.

YouTube has been steadily gaining viewers since April, when the company said it would start offering free full-length movies and TV shows on its site after it reached deals with content providers such as Sony, Lionsgate and Starz.

Meanwhile, Microsoft, Fox Interactive and Hulu, the long-form video site launched last year by News Corp. and NBC Universal, each accounted for about 2% of online videos shown last month, ComScore said. While Hulu’s market share remained steady, Viacom’s and Fox Interactive’s both fell from about 4% in June, according to ComScore.

Overall, U.S. online video sites attracted 161.1 million unique viewers last month, up 2.5% from June, while the duration of the typical online video, at 3.7 minutes, was the same as June.

http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6699169.html

Big Ten Network, the cable sports joint venture between Fox Cable Networks and the Big Ten Conference, has selected Comcast subsidiary thePlatform to manage and publish its online video assets.

Seattle-based thePlatform will use its "media publishing system" to provide centralized back-end management support to Big Ten Network for two major Web video initiatives: the "Big Ten Ticket," an international streaming package that will offer live and on-demand game coverage; and regular webcasts aimed at North American audiences.

"We are expanding our online video efforts to serve the fans of the Big Ten Network worldwide," said Michael Calderon, director of new media for Big Ten Network, in a statement. "thePlatform has a proven history of managing large and complex video offerings for many leading content companies, and we believe their system gives us the flexibility, scalability, and ability to monetize video in the way that we need."

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/355674-Big_Ten_taps_thePlatform_for_Web_video.php

SD Association Offers Exclusive Glimpse into Technology Behind SDXC Memory Card Standard at CEATEC 2009 (http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2009/09/29/4397071.htm)

SAN RAMON, Calif. --(Business Wire)-- The SD Association (News - Alert) will lead the first public technical discussion of its next-generation SDXC memory card specification at CEATEC 2009 on Oct. 7. The SDXC memory card specification, released in April to members, dramatically improves consumers' digital lifestyles by providing massive portable storage and incredible speed in the same familiar family of card shapes, sizes and interfaces used by millions of people around the world. SD memory cards are the world's most popular storage card and this presentation offers CEATEC attendees a rare glimpse into SD standards normally only available to members of the SD Association.

Hiroyuki Sakamoto, SD Association Technical Committee co-chairman, will present "Next Generation SD Memory Card" at 3:30 p.m. Oct. 7 in the Conference Room in Hall 5. The new SDXC specification provides up to 2 terabytes storage capacity and accelerates SD interface read/write speeds up to 104 megabytes per second for the first phase. The SD Association will have a road map for data transfer bus interface speed up to 300 megabytes per second in the coming months.

"The SDXC memory card specification creates innovative content and media opportunities for manufacturers and service providers and transcends removable memory's traditional role in consumer electronics strategies," said James Taylor, president of the Alliance. "At CEATEC, we'll reveal the SDXC memory card specification from the perspectives of memory card and device manufacturers and users. We'll also look at the many benefits and opportunities manufacturers and service providers win by implementing this new technology." To register for CEATEC and attend the "Next Generation SD Memory Card" session, visit http://www.ceatec.com/2009/en/visitor/admission.html.

The SDXC memory card specification provides the portable storage and speed needed to store weeks of high-definition video, years of photo collections and months of music. It can be used in mobile phones, cameras, camcorders and other consumer electronic devices. The SDXC specification will also be used in business-to-business applications such as industrial, automotive, healthcare and more. Conventional SDHC, Embedded SD and SDIO specifications will also benefit from the new SD interface speeds.

SDXC is an interoperable standard available only to SD Association members. Additionally, a members-only Developers Conference on the SDXC memory card specification, including Supplementary Notes for SD 3.00, Mechanical 3.00, SDIO 3.00, and SD Host Controller 3.00, will be held at the SD Association 2009 Fall General Assembly Meeting in Shanghai on Oct. 15-16. Any organizations interested in an insider's look and access to the SDXC specification should join the Association. Visit http://www.sdcard.org/developers/join/ to apply.

SD Association The SD Association is a global ecosystem of more than 1,100 technology companies charged with setting interoperable SD standards. The Association encourages the development of consumer electronic, wireless communication, digital imaging and networking products that utilize market-leading SD technology. The SD standard is the number one choice for consumers and has earned nearly 80 percent of the memory card market with its reliable interoperability and its easy-to-use format. Today, mobile phones, Blu-ray players, HDTVs, audio players, automotive multimedia systems, handheld PCs, cameras and camcorders feature SD interoperability. For more information about the Association or to join, please visit www.sdcard.org.

Nokia, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba team up on mobile HDMI (http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/27549/mobile-high-definition-interface-working-group-announced)

Top consumer electronics companies have revealed they are teaming up to effectively create a mobile, or mini, version of the HDMI port for portable devices and phones.

Nokia, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba have all announced they are working with Silicon Image to form the Mobile High-Definition Interface Working Group.

The group will go on to create an industry standard for an audio/video interface to connect mobile phones or other portable devices directly to high-definition televisions and displays.

The new standard will be based on Silicon Image's "Mobile High-Definition Link" tech and will be offered as an industry standard open to all companies. The aim is for the standard to be easy and cost effective for manufacturers and simple and reliable for consumers.

Silicon Image says "a single-cable with a low pin count interface will be able to support up to 1080p high-definition digital video and HD audio in addition to delivering power to a portable device".

You can be sure it will be a while before anything is finalised, but we will keep you posted.

DIGITAL: Star Trek, Half-Blood Prince in holiday SD card tests (http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6700076.html)

OCT. 2 | DIGITAL: Digital movie kiosk company MOD Systems will begin rolling out kiosks with films from Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures and Anchor Bay through a national retailer in the next month as part of a pilot test, CEO Anthony Bay told Video Business.

Bay said test kiosks should be in stores by Nov. 15, though he wouldn’t give many other details. Consumers will be able to visit the kiosks, search and download films to an SD card, the same cards used to store digital photos on digital cameras. The cards can be placed in SD card slots found on some TVs, PCs, DVD players, mobile phones and other devices for movie playback.

Consumers will be able to download some of the biggest fourth-quarter releases, including Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Star Trek, on the same day those films are available for download on iTunes. Major films typically are available as a download-to-own purchase on the same day as their DVD release, though digital rentals are available during a film’s video-on-demand window, which usually falls after DVD.

Shoppers will be able to select films on the touch-screen kiosks on their own, but a store employee will be nearby to answer any questions, Bay said.

MOD Systems has tested kiosks in stores before, offering music downloads through pilot locations in Best Buy and Circuit City stores.

MOD, Polar Frog and other companies have been trying to launch digital movie kiosks for the last few years, mostly unsuccessfully. Until last year, most companies were focused on kiosks that would offer downloads burned to DVD. But no studios signed up.

Last year, MOD partnered with Toshiba and NCR, both of which invested $35 million in MOD, and reconfigured its kiosks to download to SD cards rather than DVD. SD card slots are already found in a number of devices, and Toshiba has said it plans to include SD card slots in TVs, DVD players and other devices.

Bay said MOD expects to offer movies from additional studios and indies by the end of the year.

Studios adjust to digital distribution (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118010062.html?categoryId=3766&cs=1)

A movie used to enjoy a second life on DVD. Now that has exploded into third, fourth, fifth and more lives on digital platforms as studios adjust to the new ways people watch movies outside of theaters.

In addition to slotting discs into traditional DVD players, average Joes and Janes are now downloading or streaming entertainment to PCs, gaming consoles, iPods and other portable devices. To capture that emerging business, studios must distribute movies to dozens of new digital retailers that were virtually unheard of just a few years back, including Xbox Live, PlayStation Store and Amazon Video on Demand.

A single movie can be offered in as many as 250 digital formats worldwide to accommodate the various video resolutions and encoding guidelines of these digital retailers.

Faced with such new responsibilities, studios are changing business models to better cater to digital. Today, many titles launch on cable/satellite video-on-demand, Web-based download sell-through/rental services and physical DVD simultaneously. Historically, studios would give DVD a head start on store shelves, thinking that's where consumers go most.

"We know that consumers are changing their patterns from one platform to another. And we don't want to lose that consumer," says Steve Nickerson, president of Summit Home Entertainment. "If you don't offer it at the same time, you risk losing the sale."

Since its launch two years ago, Summit has rolled out its titles to nearly all available digital services day-and-date with their DVD bow.

Many other studios do continue to impose about a weeks-long window between DVD street and cable/satellite VOD, in the hopes of promoting the more valuable sale over rental transaction. But even that is disappearing as studios are chasing the increasingly digital consumer.

In fact, Warner Home Video decided to street "Observe and Report" and "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" to certain cable/satellite providers several days before their September DVD releases.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment began launching select titles day-and-date with VOD this year, starting with August release "Obsessed."

"It's much more beneficial if the consumer buys content (instead of) renting content," says Sean Carey, SPHE exec VP digital distribution. "That being said, we do feel that, for some titles, moving the VOD date to the same day as sell-through can grow (the business)."

Download sales are also rising in prominence at Sony, where more than 3% of home entertainment revenues for "Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist" came from iTunes transactions.

"This is still a small portion of the home entertainment pie, but digital is becoming an increasingly significant portion," Carey adds.

With the help of the Entertainment Technology Center, studios are engineering an interoperable digital master format (IMF) to further boost their digital businesses. Studios would seriously simplify -- and save money on -- the distribution process with one movie file, instead of 250, that could be delivered to fit most digital retailers.

Based at the U. of Southern California, the ETC has been overseeing regular studio meetings toward this IMF goal. The ETC expects to create a master specification by early 2010, having already completed more than half the work by September.

"We have an outline for all the necessary components required to make the IMF work," says David Wertheimer, ETC executive director. "We are all pleased with the progress. Everyone wants more efficiency in the system. This will definitely take what is now a highly people-intensive, manual process into something that is automatic, predictable and reliable. Studios want to make it easier to get content out as broadly as possible to as many companies that provide digital entertainment."250 different digital formats? :confused:

Nice planning. :rolleyes:

Mobile digital TV nears (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118010098.html?categoryid=1009&cs=1)

Mobile digital television is a step closer to reality, boosting the hopes of TV stations that they'll soon be able to generate new revenue by beaming their signals directly to cell phones, laptops and other mobile devices.

On Friday, mobile TV cleared a key technical hurdle when the Advanced Television Systems Committee approved a single mobile telecasting standard that stations can use. The ATSC's decision eliminates the possibility of a format war breaking out a la Betamax vs. VHS or HD DVD vs. Blu-ray.

Obstacles still remain, however, before a business can emerge. Broadcasters have yet to persuade content providers, handset makers and mobile carriers to make products and services available for the new technology.

National Assn. of Broadcasters exec veep Dennis Wharton said public demand will make this happen. "Say you're a sports fan at a college football game, and another game that's really important to you is on at same time," he said. "While I'm watching my team live in the stadium, I'll want to be watching the other team on a handheld portable device."

With the technical issues largely settled, broadcasters said they're now focused on figuring out how to make a business out of mobile TV.

"It's good to have this milestone behind us so we can now turn our attention to working with the content community and put the technology to work from a business-model perspective," said Brandon Burgess, CEO of station group Ion Media Networks, who's also prexy of the Open Mobile Video Coalition, the 800-station group advocating mobile DTV.

According to Burgess, two key manufacturers of mobile devices -- LG and Samsung -- are already onboard to produce mobile TV-ready equipment. The next big challenge for stations is to work with mobile service providers.

"It will take some time to get agreements with the Verizons and AT&Ts of this world," Wharton agreed, "but we'll be moving aggressively."

The cost of setting up mobile services is not an obstacle -- it ranges in the low six figures per station -- because broadcasters can use existing tower and transmission infrastructure. Most believe that the content will be largely local and ad-supported, contributing much-needed coin to the beleaguered TV station community.

Disney Touts a Way to Ditch the DVD (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703816204574485650026945222.html)

Walt Disney Co. is close to unveiling technology that it says will enable entertainment companies to adapt their business models to a new reality in which consumers increasingly rely on computers and cell phones in place of DVD players and TVs.

The technology, code-named Keychest, could contribute to a shift in what it means for a consumer to own a movie or a TV show, by redefining ownership as access rights, not physical possession.

The technology would allow consumers to pay a single price for permanent access to a movie or TV show across multiple digital platforms and devices—from the Web, to mobile gadgets like iPhones and cable services that allow on-demand viewing. It could also facilitate other services such as online movie subscriptions.

The company has been quietly demonstrating Keychest for other movie studios and technology companies in a bid to get them to sign on. It plans to unveil the technology next month.

Keychest aims to address two of the biggest hurdles blocking widespread consumer adoption of movie downloads: the difficulty of playing a movie back on devices other than a PC or laptop, and limited storage space on those computers' hard drives.

As such, Keychest could put Disney on a collision course with an initiative, known as the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem, or DECE, that has similar goals.

Keychest uses the same "cloud computing" logic that underlies Web-based applications, such as Google Docs, permitting users to store files and photographs on remote Internet servers and access them from anywhere, rather than keeping them on their own computers.

With Keychest, when a consumer buys a movie from a participating store, his accounts with other participating services—such as a mobile-phone provider or a video-on-demand cable service—would be updated to show the title as available for viewing. The movies wouldn't be downloaded; rather, they would reside with each particular delivery company, such as the Internet service provider, cable company or phone company.

The rollout of the new technology comes at a critical juncture for the movie industry. DVD sales, once a financial mainstay for Hollywood, have fallen as much as 25% at some studios. Blu-ray discs and digital downloads from sites like Apple Inc.'s iTunes Store, haven't grown quickly enough to offset the losses. Blu-ray and downloads combined currently make up just 11% of home-video sales, according to industry estimates, with DVDs representing the other 89%. That proportion could grow to 20% next year.

The decline in DVD revenue has undermined the business model Hollywood has relied on for more than a decade. In Disney's most recent quarterly earnings report, its movie studio recorded an operating loss for the first time since 2005.

Bob Chapek, president of home entertainment at Disney Studios, says the company doesn't expect Keychest to deliver tangible financial results for five years. But he predicts that in combination with Blu-ray, digital distribution "should bring our category back up to a healthy state where we can expect growth in the future."

The company declined to name other companies that may have agreed to participate. Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs is Disney's largest shareholder, and people in the entertainment industry say it would be reasonable to infer that Apple would cooperate with such an initiative.

To be sure, other movie studios may be hesitant to put a competitor in charge of access to their content. And Keychest would allow movie studios to dictate how many devices, connected to which distribution networks, a given title can be played on. That could limit consumer choice and make the system confusing.

The competing DECE effort is being assembled by a consortium headed by Mitch Singer, the chief technology officer of Sony Corp.'s Sony Pictures Entertainment. DECE, announced just over a year ago, includes five major Hollywood studios, plus tech companies like Comcast Corp. and Intel Corp.

Disney and Apple have been notably absent from that group.

Disney executives concede that the Keychest and DECE have similar goals. But they argue their effort represents a more streamlined approach. Instead of designing a new set of standards and formats, as DECE is trying to do, and having participants sign on, Keychest works using a combination of digital file formats that are already common, and recognized by a wide range of existing devices.

Disney executives insist that movie studios, cable companies and Internet service providers who participate in DECE could also use the new Keychest platform. Neither DECE nor Keychest has set a date for when the service would be available.

With Keychest, when a consumer buys a movie from a participating digital-download store, his accounts with other participating services – such as a mobile-phone provider and a video-on-demand cable service—would be instantly updated to show the title as available for viewing.

The Keychest process is enabled by a system that generates a unique "key" when the movie is purchased, then stores that key in a repository. Other distribution services that are Keychest participants automatically query that repository and learn what movies the consumer has paid for.

Movies bought on discs, whether DVD or Blu-ray, could also generate an access key. In the case of a DVD, the user would need to manually type in a code; Blu-ray players are designed to connect to the Internet, and could send codes automatically.

The idea is that if numerous content and hardware companies sign on to Keychest, users could have easy access to a library of movies without toting around discs or data files.

In theory, even if an online entertainment company went out of business, taking down a user's entire movie library in the process, that user would still have access to the same titles via other services.

"Our vision for the future is that consumers won't have to think about where they bought [a movie], how they bought it, or when they bought it," says Mr. Chapek.

NCR Launches Most Secure, Highest Capacity Outdoor DVD-Rental Kiosk in Industry (http://www.melodika.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11477&Itemid=50)

The SelfServ Entertainment 2381 features the latest self-service technology from NCR, including a 19” touchscreen display that is specially designed for viewing in sunlight. An optional 26” LCD screen at the top of the unit can be used as digital signage for inventory promotion or brand advertising, and all units are fitted with ATM-grade anti-skimming magnetic stripe reader (MSR) to help prevent fraud. Beyond these standard features, the SelfServ Entertainment 2381 is built with the future in mind, as its flexible architecture enables NCR to easily upgrade units with new technologies when they are ready to be deployed – such as the digital download of video files and a barcode scanner for age verification using drivers licenses.

“Each day, consumers around the world conduct more than 60 million transactions on NCR devices, making us the global leader in self-service technology. We’ve used our knowledge of consumer self-service technology to make the SelfServ Entertainment 2381 the most secure and the highest-capacity outdoor kiosk on the market,” said Alex Camara, vice president and general manager, NCR Entertainment. “This new technology will enable us to work with even more partners as we roll out our BLOCKBUSTER Express-branded DVD-rental kiosks to new locations, including convenience stores and gas stations. Consumers will benefit from easier access to their favorite new release and classic DVDs in accessible, 24-hour locations.”

NCR expects to invest as much as $60 million in 2009 to build out its DVD-rental kiosk operations. The company expects to deploy more than 2,500 kiosks in 2009 for a total of 10,000 kiosks by mid-year 2010.

Microsoft wows Windows 7 crowd with Internet TV (http://www.betanews.com/article/Microsoft-wows-Windows-7-crowd-with-Internet-TV/1256247440)

http://images.betanews.com/media/3977.jpg


While most of the Windows 7 features demo'd at today's New York City launch were already known about far and wide, Microsoft surprised a lot of the crowd with Internet TV, a streaming media capability that just might some day spur consumers to ditch pricey cable TV services like Time Warner and Cablevision.

Internet TV lets you stream video and audio programming directly into Windows 7 Media Center, without the hassles of going to myriad Web sites and downloading multiple players, said Microsoft rep Brian Yee, in an interview with Betanews at the Microsoft bash.

Actually, Internet TV has been under development at Microsoft since way back in September of 2007. Netflix started showing up as a Media Center partner in January of this year, and was soon streaming some of movies into the Vista version. In May, Internet TV for Media Center officially entered beta 2. With today's release of Windows 7, though, the feature finally leaves beta testing behind.

In demos today after company CEO Steve Ballmer's keynote, Microsoft showed Internet TV working together with Play To, a new function in Windows 7 that uses the DLNA 1.5 protocol to send streaming content from a PC to other home-networked devices.

http://images.betanews.com/media/3978.jpg

Microsoft representative Brian Yee demonstrates Internet TV for Windows Media Center in Windows 7, during the big rollout event in New York City, October 22, 2009. [Photo credit: Jacqueline Emigh, Betanews]

Sitting on a couch set up in a mock "living room," Yee clicked on icons in a Windows 7-enabled Acer laptop to beam videos from services like Netflix, MSN, and sundry CBS Audience Network properties to an HDTV from LG and two D-Link digital photo frames. He also sent tunes streamed in from Microsoft's Full Zune Podcast Library to a remote audio system a few feet further away.

As for Netflix, Internet TV only works with those movies marked as streaming-enabled.

The CBS Audience Network videos -- consisting of current TV shows, CBS Classics, short clips, and "Web originals" -- are available in the US only, whereas Sky Network content is available in the UK only, said Yee.

"But we're also really interested in Internet TV partnerships with other entertainment content providers," noted the Microsoft rep.

Comcast prepares to launch online video player (http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20091021_Comcast_prepares_to_launch_online_video_player.html )

Comcast Corp. says it has developed an online video player that gives viewers a TV experience on the Internet, and the cable giant intends to put shows and movies from 24 cable networks online by the end of 2009.

But it won't be free, which is what most people have come to expect of content on the Internet.

Comcast cable customers - about 24 million in the United States - will have sole access to the cable TV fare through an online password and authentification process that references Comcast customers' billing records.

About 5,000 Comcast cable customers tested On Demand Online this summer. Comcast says it will expand the service, which customers will use through the Fancast.com and Comcast.net Web sites, to all its subscribers by Jan. 1. The company will e-mail customers to tell them when the service goes live.

Comcast chief executive officer Brian L. Roberts yesterday updated the media and industry officials on the new service at the Web Summit 2.0 gathering of technology executives in San Francisco.

In Philadelphia, Comcast executives discussed the project, which was initially announced in June with Time Warner Inc. and was called at that time TV Everywhere. "All the metrics are good, and we are just getting started," said Madison Bond, Comcast's executive vice president of content acquisition.

Comcast has negotiated deals with content providers to make the entertainment available on the Internet. Those participating include Time Warner, Starz, CBS, and the Discovery Channel. Bond said that Comcast was still securing programming rights for additional cable TV and movie content for the Internet.

Comcast views On Demand Online as an extension of a cable package for customers and allows entertainment companies new sources of online advertising. Bond declined to discuss programming deals.

Alix Cottrell, vice president at Fancast.com, said Comcast developed the online video player with an outside firm.

Through a special bit-streaming technology, the player smooths out the jerky movements of other online players by slightly altering the brightness of the TV picture when there are problems with Internet speeds.

Executives in the cable industry fear that if they do not move quickly to put more entertainment and news online, hackers could begin posting pirated entertainment and news on the Internet and undercut the cable TV business model - which is what happened to the music industry.

Comcast executives also are vehement about not putting entertainment and news online for free.

With On Demand Online, Comcast customers view only those cable TV networks in their individual cable TV packages. Thus, customers who purchase HBO or Cinemax on their cable TV can view HBO and Cinemax on their computer. But if they do not purchase HBO or Cinemax in their Comcast cable package, they cannot get it online.

Comcast's project to exploit the Internet comes as Wall Street analysts are speculating how cable companies will deal with Internet video. The big threat is that customers will cancel their cable TV service, although cable executives and others say they believe online video can be complementary to cable TV services and boost revenue through new advertising.

Industry experts have said that online video may be one reason that Comcast is negotiating to purchase NBC Universal Inc., one of the nation's largest movie and TV studios.

Comcast is in advanced talks with General Electric Co. to acquire a 51 percent stake in NBC Universal. The deal includes provisions for Comcast's eventually buying all of NBC Universal.

By owning the Hollywood entertainment, Comcast can control the flow of entertainment to the Internet, some contend.

Comcast says TV-over-the-Net getting high marks in testing (http://philadelphia.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/blogs/technology/2009/10/comcast_says_tv-over-the-net_getting_high_marks_in_testing.html)

Comcast Corp. has increased to 7,000 from 5,000 the number of customers testing the TV-over-the-Net service it plans to roll out by the start of next year.

The company’s head honcho, Brian Roberts, showed off the service, which Comcast calls On Demand Online, at the Web 2.0 technology conference in San Francisco earlier this week.

The service allows customers to use computers to view on-demand programming from channels to which they subscribe.

That means Comcast customers who get HBO can use it to watch all the movies, shows and other programs available on demand from HBO on their computers as well as their TV sets.

Comcast said 90 percent of the people testing the service say they really like it and that the average time they spend viewing a video available through the service is 21 minutes.

Channels available through the service include HBO, Cinemax, Starz, Encore, CBS, TNT, TBS, E!, the Style Network, G4 and Fearnet.

Sony PS3 Will Get Netflix Streaming Next Month (http://www.businessinsider.com/sony-ps3-will-get-netflix-streaming-next-month-2009-10)

Netflix's movie and TV streaming service will become available for Sony's PS3
videogame console, the companies announced. The PS3 is now the only videogame console that plays Blu-ray discs and Netflix streams.

But there's a twist: PS3 users will initially need to run a (free) Blu-ray disc to play online movies. From Netflix:

Initially, watching movies instantly streamed from Netflix via the PS3 system will be enabled by a free, instant streaming Blu-ray disc that is being made available to all Netflix members. The free instant streaming disc leverages Blu-ray’s BD-Live™ technology to access the Internet and activate the Netflix user interface on the PS3 system, which must be online via Wi-Fi or Ethernet.

Netflix members simply slide the disc into their PS3 systems to reveal movies and TV episodes that can be watched instantly. ... Netflix members and PS3 system owners can now reserve a free instant streaming disc for PS3 systems by going to www.netflix.com/ps3. Upon availability, the instant streaming disc will be delivered for free by first-class mail, generally one business day after members request it.

Great news for both companies: The PS3 is finally selling, and could provide new subscribers (and lower churn) for Netflix. (Sony has sold about 9 million PS3s; Netflix has about 11 million subs.) In September, the PS3 outsold the Xbox and Wii in the U.S., according to NPD Group. And now it gets another great feature.

This ends Microsoft's exclusive with Netflix: While Netflix's streaming service is now available for a handful of devices, the Xbox 360 had previously been the exclusive videogame gadget.

And unlike the Xbox-Netflix tie-up, which requires an Xbox Live subscription, the Netflix add-on will be free for PS3 owners.

This was expected since people speculated that Xbox Live had a 1 year exclsuive agreement for gaming systems. And Sony had started putting NEtflix on their other devices.

Netflix will be in almost everything now. Well not everything, but enough that the other makers will be wanting to add NEtflix in their devices since it will be considered the norm now.

Roku introduces two new set-tops, teases additional content channels coming next month (http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10383063-1.html)

Roku is prepping its set-top box line for the holiday season by adding two new models and new content "channels" due within the coming weeks.

The step-up Roku HD XR Player ($130) adds faster 802.11n. Wi-Fi and a USB port "for future use." The step-down model, known simply as "the Roku Player," loses the HD outputs of its siblings; it'll retail for $80. The two new boxes will have the same look and feel of the existing Roku box, which is being redubbed as the Roku HD Player. That model (802.11g Wi-Fi, no USB port) will continue to be available at the same $100 price point.

Currently, the Roku boxes have three content channels: Netflix (unlimited streaming of thousands of TV shows and movies for Netflix subscribers); Amazon Video-on-Demand (thousands of movies and TV shows available on a pay-per-title basis), and MLB TV (out-of-area Major League Baseball games, available as a seasonal subscription). However, the imminent (November) launch of the "Roku Channel Store" will add an expanded roster of programming options, including some free content. That should include the already announced Blip.tv and Mediafly channels, and may include some others as well.

We'll have a full review of the Roku HD XR Player once the new programming options appear next month via a firmware update. (Right now, the HD XR's USB port is disabled, so there's not a lot to test.) Wonder what that USB port on the HD XR is for? ;)

DIGITAL: Analyst: Service will attract core fans, not everybody

Disney's Keychest expected before competitors (http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6704047.html)

OCT. 27 | DIGITAL: Walt Disney Co. is likely to launch its Keychest service, to enable consumers to access digital content on a number of different devices, before competing services offer their own versions of a digital content cloud, market research firm In-Stat said in a research note Monday.

Last week, Disney announced Keychest, technology developed by the studio that would allow consumers to buy digital or packaged content and access it later through different digital platforms, such as mobile phones or videogame consoles. Content would be stored on a “digital cloud” so consumers never have to download it but can always access it.

In-Stat principle analyst Gerry Kaufhold predicts Disney will be able to make some money from Keychest fairly quickly, but he noted it’ll take some time for digital content to catch on with consumers. And even then, some consumers will stick with packaged media.

“Not everybody wants to do this,” Kaufhold said. “Disney has a dedicated group of fans; they’ll be able to get some percent of the Disney fan base to use it because it provides portability of their content and permanence of their content. For Disney, it’ll work, and if it works for Disney, there’ll be others trying it out too.”

He said it’s possible Disney will get its Keychest technology off the ground before the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem — a consortium that includes every major studio except Disney, and such major companies as Sony Computer, Microsoft, Intel, Comcast and Best Buy — introduces its own open system to allow digital access to content across platforms.

Kaufhold said Keychest is part of a larger trend by content holders to keep their content under their direct control. He expects Disney will eventually create a content exchange for distributing digital content securely to various service providers under rules the studio establishes.

Take with grain of salt...

Confirmed: Netflix Streaming Coming To The Wii Very Shortly (http://blog.streamingmedia.com/the_business_of_online_vi/2009/10/confirmed-netflix-streaming-coming-to-the-wii-very-soon.html)

Last week I received some images that showed Netflix streaming on a Wii console. I didn't run with the story at the time as I didn't know if the images were legit and it's taken me until today to confirm they are in fact real. I'm not disclosing who confirmed it for me but someone involved in the project has confirmed that Nintendo is currently in testing stages with Netflix to bring their streaming service to the Wii very soon.

What I'm hearing is that Nintendo originally planned to bring the Netflix service to the Wii before the end of this year, which still might take place, but that Nintendo is also considering holding off on the Netflix service until they release their next generation Wii HD unit in early 2010.

Note: I am not sharing any of the images I received as I don't want to burn the person who sent them to me.

Hands On with Apple TV 3.0 (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2354996,00.asp)

Apple on Thursday introduced version 3.0 of its Apple TV software, an upgrade that includes a revamped user interface, as well as access to iTunes LP, iTunes extras, Genius mixes, and Internet radio.

The new software is available now at no charge for existing Apple TV owners.

"The new software for Apple TV features a simpler and faster interface that gives you instant access to your favorite content," Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of Internet Services, said in a statement. "HD movies and HD TV shows from iTunes have been a huge hit with Apple TV customers, and with Apple TV 3.0 they get great new features including iTunes Extras, Genius Mixes and Internet radio."

Apple introduced iTunes LP and iTunes extras during a September launch event for iTunes 9, the iPod nano with video camera and FM tuner, and lower iPod prices.

With iTunes LP, users get a host of additional music information, like lyrics, photos, writing, memorabilia, liner notes, chronology, credits, videos, and more, while iTunes extras function much like DVD extras, with a few more interactive features. With the software upgrade, users can access this content for full-screen viewing.

The home screen provides access to movies, TV shows, music, podcasts, photos, Internet, and settings. Hover over a selection like movies and a drop-down menu will present options like my movies, top movies, genres, all HD, search, and trailers.

On the music front, users can access Genius Mixes currently available on iTunes. Like you would on your iPod, select a song, press play, and then hold down the play button until the Genius option pops up. Apple will then configure a playlist of songs similar to the selected song. Version 3.0 can support up to 12 endless mixes, Apple said.

The Internet radio option provides access to thousands of Internet radio stations, Apple said.

Free Online Movie Weekend, Thanks to Epix (http://www.videobusiness.com/blog/1730000173/post/200050220.html)

New pay movie service Epix is rolling out a free three-day online preview of its service starting today.

People can access the available content, including blockbuster film Iron Man, concert title Madonna “Sticky & Sweet: Live from Buenos Aires and comedy special, Eddie Izzard: Live From Wembley, at Web site EpixHD.com

Other films slated for the free preview include The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Madea Goes to Jail, Pink Panther 2 and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Epix president Mark Greenberg, said of the promotion, “A free online preview of this kind that is truly available to anyone with Internet access has never been done before. We want people to experience entertainment this way -- giving them a taste of what it is like to have anywhere, anytime access to the movies, concerts and comedy specials from the incredible studio partners that have established Epix.”

Following the preview,Epix will revert back to its premium format spanning video-on-demand and online platforms. The channel is a joint venture between Viacom, Paramount Pictures, MGM and Lionsgate. It launches with over 150 films and additional programming.

How do you get signed up for the free weekend?

Free Online Movie Weekend, Thanks to Epix (http://www.videobusiness.com/blog/1730000173/post/200050220.html)

being free is the only time Epix would be worth it. It is not even close to being worth $10 a month for only one HD channel.
there is nothing special about the programming EPIX offers.

....This is a news thread. If you would like to start your own thread, you can.

More on Epix:

Epix Launches One-Two Punch With TV-Web Movie Channel (http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Epix-Launches-One-Two-Punch-With-TV-Web-Movie-Channel-68524.html)

The movie channel Epix launches Friday, and it will only be available on one broadcast provider: Verizon FiOS. However, that's not the only way subscribers will be able to see it -- it'll also offer an online channel with HD content. For a debut promo effort, Epix is inviting some potential customers to free weekends of online services throughout November.

It's enough of a challenge to launch a new subscription movie channel in an industry segment dominated by the likes of HBO and Showtime. However, Epix, which begins life Friday, starts its adventure with a double feature of sorts: It will also offer a Web streaming version of its channel.

That means Epix's Chief Digital Officer Emil Rensing will have a busy Halloween, making sure the user experience for those potential paying customers will be more treat than trick as they seek other alternate forms of entertainment on their PCs.

"Our goal is to acknowledge the audience trends and habits and desires are changing," Rensing told TechNewsWorld. "We didn't want big, heavy, complicated pieces of software to download, that consume resources and overly complicate things. If you get the channel at home on your TV, then you can go online, authenticate with data that the TV gives you, and you're free and clear to watch the movies."

Thanks to the crowd of channels already available on your TV set-top box, Epix -- a joint venture between Paramount Pictures, MGM and Lions Gate -- launches on only one broadcast provider: Verizon FiOS for a US$10 monthly fee. However, online movie lovers can go to epixhd.com/invite and see if they will be one of the lucky few to experience standard- and high-definition movies on their computers for free for three-day weekends throughout November.

An Epix Experience

There are only about 150 movies to sample online if you get the invite this weekend from Epix. However, they're not cult classics or public domain freebies; we're talking "Iron Man," "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "Madea Goes to Jail" and other relatively recent visitors to your neighborhood multiplex. Epix is also throwing in what it says are broadcast and online premieres of a Madonna live concert and a performance by Eddie Izzard at London's Wembley Stadium.

Eventually, 15,000 movies in the Epix library will end up also online, addressing what Rensing said is a need for quality, high-definition, DVD-like entertainment on a PC. "I get both HBO and Showtime in my house, and it drives me nutty that the only option to watch them is in front of my TV. It's awesome to go online and watch the movies," he said.

Some HBO and Showtime programs like "Entourage" and "Weeds" have been available on Apple's iTunes for some time, but Apple makes its own deals with the same studios providing movies to the pay channels, and it charges its own download purchase/rental fees as well.

"Apple has a great philosophy of how they built their technology. They focus on keeping honest people honest. That's the approach we're taking. You authenticate, click twice and you're watching movies," Rensing said.

Epix will also be offering behind-the-scenes programs related to their movies, much like the special features you would find on a DVD. Like Disney's (NYSE: DIS) BD-Live service that allows Blu-ray disc owners to watch movies with friends online and chat with them, Epix willl offer a virtual "private screening."

The Technical Consideration

The Epix streaming technology sits on Akamai's FMF35 hosting service, Rensing said, and buffering chances are minimized by encoding the feature films six times. "The player will automatically and dynamically adjust the quality level" to match up with download speeds into a broadband connection. His company will have done everything it can, he believes, to maximize the online viewing experience. "We didn't want people to download software, so we went with Flash. We're trying to avoid the pitfalls of making things too complicated, of creating too high a barrier of success on the technology front," he said.

It's the things Epix can't control that may provide the annoyances to users, said Ben Bajarin of Creative Strategies. "Your PC hardware really matters in this case," Bajarin told TechNewsworld. "You can't have a pleasurable Hulu experience on a netbook or even on a midstream PC. You need something with horsepower."

Epix does has an advantage over the traditional media outlets exploring online alternatives by offering its Web streaming service as a benefit to the $10 monthly subscription fee, Bajarin said. "If you get the channel, you get this premium online experience also," he explained. "You're balancing the weight of those two, which is really valuable. My biggest frustration with the major networks is they're really balancing their priorities between broadcast and broadband, and obviously broadcast is their singular priority, and what they do online really suffers because they don't want to truncate the value of broadcast. On this one, you sign up for this TV service, and as an added benefit, you get it online."

I received a code for the free weekend from Epix. But apparently you must have Fios Internet and TV. The link is below.

http://www.epixhd.com/#me_tab

FIOS is currently the only provider carrying EPIX.

Apple’s iTunes Pitch: TV for $30 a Month (http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/20091102/apples-itunes-pitch-tv-for-30-a-month/)

Would you pay $30 a month to watch TV via iTunes?

That’s the pitch Apple has been making to TV networks in recent weeks. The company is trying to round up support for a monthly subscription service that would deliver TV programs via its multimedia software, multiple sources tell me.

Apple isn’t tying the proposed service to a specific piece of hardware, like its underwhelming Apple TV box or its long-rumored tablet/slate device. Instead, the company is presenting the offer as an extension of its iTunes software and store, which already has 100 million customers.

A so-called “over the top” service could theoretically rival the ones most consumers already buy from cable TV operators–if Apple is able to get enough buy-in from broadcast and cable TV programmers.

That’s a big if: Apple has told industry executives it wants to launch the service early next year, but I have yet to hear of a single programmer that has made a firm commitment to the company, which has tasked iTunes boss Eddy Cue with promoting the idea.

Industry executives believe that if anyone jumps first, it will be Disney, since CEO Bob Iger has shown a willingness to experiment with Apple and iTunes in the past: In 2005, Disney was the first player to sell its programming on iTunes, via a-la-carte downloads. And Apple CEO Steve Jobs is Disney’s largest single shareholder, a result of Disney’s 2006 acquisition of Jobs’s Pixar animation studio. Apple didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Network executives I’ve talked to are intrigued by the idea–they are eager to find new revenue streams–but are also wary, for several reasons.

Cable networks, for instance, don’t want to threaten existing relationships and subscription fees from cable providers like Comcast. And programmers are also worried about the effect a subscription service would have on advertising revenue: Even if the service didn’t distribute TV programs until after their initial air date, that could cut into ratings, which now measure viewership over the course of several days.

But the move to deliver TV and movies over the Web is already well under way. Netflix , for instance, already bundles free streaming movie and television along with its disc-by-mail subscription service. iTunes and Amazon (AMZN) rent movies on a one-off basis, and Google’s YouTube is trying out the same thing. Meanwhile, Hulu, the joint venture between GE’s NBC, News Corp.’s Fox, and ABC, is figuring out how to launch a paid service that may include rentals, paid downloads or subscriptions.

So Apple’s proposed subscription service, which the company has floated in the past, is no longer a huge stretch. Says one executive briefed on the company’s plans: “I think they might get it right this time.”

Best Buy plans movie download service with Sonic (http://www.reuters.com/article/americasMergersNews/idUSN0348308120091103)

NEW YORK, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Best Buy Co Inc (BBY.N) plans to start an online service that allows consumers to buy, rent and download movies and television shows, the electronics retailer said on Tuesday.

The system, based on Sonic Solutions' Roxio CinemaNow service, would be built into devices sold at its stores, including television sets, portable media players, computers, mobile phones and other devices from a variety of manufacturers.

Sonic Solutions shares jumped 16.6 percent on Tuesday after the announcement of the deal, which could accelerate the usage of the CinemaNow system for distributing video and media to electronic devices.

Under the terms of a multiyear agreement, Best Buy will license Roxio CinemaNow technology and acquired warrants enabling it to purchase shares of Sonic Solutions common stock.

Best Buy expects to provide access to thousands of new movies, independent films, and older catalog movies, with some new titles available on the same day as the comparable DVD goes on sale. The company did not give the name of the service, or when it would launch.

CinemaNow, an online movie pioneer, has provided similar services to others, such as computer maker Dell Inc and movie rental company Blockbuster Inc.

The service could strengthen Best Buy's ability to compete with a established online media destinations, including Amazon.com Inc and Apple Inc's iTunes store.

"Our relationship with Sonic Solutions allows Best Buy to quickly establish a strong position in the digital delivery of video entertainment," Brian Dunn, chief executive of Best Buy, said in a statement.

Best Buy bought digital music service Napster Inc about a year ago in an effort to compete with Apple's dominant iTunes service.

The shares of Sonic Solutions, which acquired CinemaNow late in 2008, jumped 91 cents to $6.15 on Tuesday afternoon on Nasdaq. Best Buy shares made narrow gains, rising 27 cents, to $39.16 on the New York Stock Exchange.

On the Call-Comcast CEO Brian Roberts (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ge3fcPfuP5gB-jVmCnnsPJKYLebQD9BOSGEO0)

Comcast Corp.'s answer to the growing popularity of watching video over the Internet is to launch its own online video service in December that would let subscribers view cable TV shows and movies on their PCs at no additional charge.

While the cable TV industry has been a bit wary of online video because viewers could then bypass their cable systems, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts has decided to go head-to-head with the trend.

By the end of the year, Comcast will be the first cable TV operator to unlock cable content en masse for its customers. At present, most cable shows typically would be available over the Internet only by buying it from other services, such as Apple Inc.'s iTunes, or if downloaded illegally.

The nation's largest cable TV operator, now also the biggest Internet service provider, has joined forces with two dozen cable networks and broadcasters to launch the service. Initially dubbing it "On Demand Online," Comcast said it will be changing the brand name.

Time Warner Cable Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. and DirecTV Group Inc. are planning to offer a similar service.

Now, Apple is reportedly gunning for the pay-TV industry by selling a TV service through iTunes that costs $30 a month.

QUESTION: Do you see this as a long-term threat to Comcast?

ANSWER: "I've been saying for a long time that I think video over the Internet is more friend than foe. ... Specifically to the Apple reports, let's wait and see what does materialize. I read the reports myself. I think there are many folks who want to deliver parts of the experience.

"I think a little bit goes back to (the) question, which is, why can't we have the most robust experience right to the TV set, right from Comcast Cable? And I think we very much take all these possibilities and use it as a galvanizing mechanism inside the company to come up with better and more innovative products."