Seems to me, anyway, that this forum needs a central place to gather all the developments around this rapidly evolving and expanding technology. The Master thread doesn't really serve this purpose...

I see it being similar to the HiDef DVD News thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=752933).

Since this is new, we can gather some of the older (really important) stuff initially that might be news to those who haven't read any of this. Standard def as well as high def can be included, but I think we all understand that HD will be much more interesting. IPTV news is OK, as it relates to this topic as well.

It'll be a good resource to have the facts in one place.

Please, stick to News only . Highlight the parts of the news article you think are important - include minimum of chatter.

I expect really exciting times in the months and years ahead! :)

Looks like Time Warner may be climbing aboard the DOCSIS 3.0 train...

Comcast Preps For Wideband In Miami (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6538148.html)

DOCSIS 3.0 deployments are seen by industry experts as the best way for cablecos with hybrid fiber/coax (HFC) networks to keep pace with large, deep-pocketed, FTTH and FTTN network operators such as Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc., respectively. (For more, read “Cast Aside?: Why Comcast and Other Cablecos Are Struggling”)

In a separate but related development, Time Warner Cable is expected to begin deploying DOCSIS 3.0 later this month, according to a report released today by New Paradigm Resources Group.This contrasts with earlier reports saying Time Warner was taking a wait and see attitude toward DOCSIS 3.0 deployment.

Vudu begins shipping 1TB box, updates system software (http://www.betanews.com/article/Vudu_begins_shipping_1TB_box_updates_system_software/1204841741)

Vudu pushed an update to its platform this week which would allow for users to free up hard drive space by "storing" purchased movies on the company's own servers.

Known as the "Vault," it appears to merely allow for the customer to delete the movie from the set-top box's hard drive by flagging the movie as having been previously purchased from the Vudu servers.

The function would be available for select movies and TV shows offered through Vudu, and re-downloads would incur no additional charges. If the consumer wishes to not archive the movie, they would be able to delete it -- in which case, additional charges might apply.

However, in some cases, content providers may only allow for deletion and not archiving. Both functions would be available through the My Movies menu screen.

Other enhancements would be provided with version 1.3 of the set-top box' OS, including revised sort functionality, updated TV show search functionality, a revised advance settings menu, and a new Most Watched list, ranked by popularity among Vudu users.

Vudu said it would also make available an IR receiver kit for $39 which would make the device usable with selected programmable universal remotes.

The company has also confirmed to BetaNews late this afternoon that its Vudu XL, a version of the set-top box with a 1 TB internal driver has begun shipping as of Tuesday. That option would be available for $999, over two-and-a-half times the cost of the standard $295 box.

Verizon: FiOS Facts (http://policyblog.verizon.com/policyblog/blogs/policyblog/czblogger1/420/fios-facts-wrapping-up-2007.aspx)

Feb. 05, 2008

Now the new numbers; these are highlights, with the full fact sheet below:

· At the end of December 2007, Verizon had passed about 9.3 million homes and businesses in parts of 17 states.

· Verizon expects to continue passing some 3 million premises annually through 2010, when the company expects to have passed about 18 million homes, or over half the homes it serves.

· As of December 31, 2007, Verizon has more than 1.5 million FiOS Internet customers, an increase of 245,000 during the fourth quarter of 2007 – or about 3,900 new FiOS Internet customers every business day at an average penetration rate of 21 percent.

· Verizon expects to attract 6 to 7 million FiOS Internet customers by year-end 2010 – a penetration rate of 35 percent to 40 percent.

· During just the fourth quarter of 2007, Verizon added a net of 226,000 new FiOS TV customers -- or about 3,600 new customers every business day.

· In January 2008 we signed up our one-millionth FiOS TV customer, just 28 months after launching the service, making Verizon the 10th largest subscription television provider in the country.

Key shift from disc to download will happen in next "12-18 months", predicts Lewis (http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/microsoft-dismisses-blu-ray-as-historic-phenomenon)

As speculation continues on whether Microsoft will now move to support Blu-ray as the industry standard, however, Europe boss Chris Lewis has re-emphasised the US giant's commitment to digital downloads, dismissing the significance of Sony's format victory.

"Going forwards, digital downloads is really where it's at," Lewis told GamesIndustry.biz. "More and more people's ongoing and ever-increasing downloading of music and movies is becoming the de facto. I think that's going to happen in very short order; people want to consume that way. Before very long we will look back wistfully at shiny discs as something that was somewhat a historic phenomenon in a way that we kind of think about vinyl or VCRs today."

While Microsoft's belief in the long term potential of downloadable content over physical storage media is well documented, Lewis claimed that, despite Blu-ray's victory, the shift away from discs will happen "sooner than any of us think".

"That's the future direction, and I think that's going to be the case in the next 12-18 months," he predicted. "I think we're going to be talking much more about that than anything else. Do I think that this Christmas will somehow be defined by DVD playback? I genuinely don't think that will be the case. I do not think that [the demise of HD DVD] will have any material impact on our console velocity. And I think other factors, specifically our architecture around downloads, is far more advantageous and important for the future."

He added: "We are best placed to offer that, we already offer that, our online pedigree is such that we will offer the best and most seamless experience."

From Lions Gate FISCAL 2008 THIRD QUARTER ANALYST CONFERENCE CALL TRANSCRIPT (http://investors.lionsgate.com/Presentation.asp) , Feb 12, 2008...

Our library business continues to perform strongly as well. We are again on track for at least $250 million in library revenues and $90 million in free cash flow generated by our library this year, showing our margins are holding pretty well. This is the year in which we should start to see meaningful revenues from digital delivery as well. With Apple’s recent announcement of their entry into the VOD business and their introduction of a new version of the Apple TV, along with a number of other similar VOD enabled set-top boxes on the market, from Sony, XBox, TiVo, Vudu and ARCOS, broadband delivery of VOD is getting close to bridging the gap to the consumer’s living room, which is the Holy Grail in driving the broadband digital delivery business.

This is the final element that we have always needed to make digital delivery an important and financially meaningful market. It is why, as we indicated on the last call, we see our digital revenues growing from less than one percent of all home entertainment revenue in fiscal ’07 to between 10% and 15% or more by 2010.

We have always believed that digital revenue would primarily be incremental. And as we see the continued vibrancy of our traditional packaged media business going forward, it is becoming increasingly certain to us that these digital revenue streams will be accretive to our overall business and will be instrumental in adding excitement to the home entertainment market.

Netflix sees online movie service on many platforms (http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN2631579120080327)

SAN FRANCISCO, March 26 (Reuters) - Netflix Inc (NFLX.O: Quote, Profile, Research) expects to lead the market for movies delivered over the Web despite growing competition from Web giants like Apple and Amazon, Chief Financial Officer Barry McCarthy said on Wednesday.

One major reason, he said, is that watching movies over the Internet is not yet easy, so Netflix can keep customers happy with the simple DVDs-by-mail technology while Web delivery improves.

"Download services right now have limited value. As long as it's a marginal product because of limited content or because you're limited to PC to watch it, it's difficult for stand-alone services to compete with Netflix," he said.

In addition to its core mail-order DVD business, Netflix, with 7.5 million subscribers, lets subscribers watch movies via the Web on PCs and also plans to roll out a set-top box with LG Electronics Inc (066570.KS: Quote, Profile, Research) this year to let subscribers watch films streamed from the Web to TVs.

The promise of increased Web video viewing has lured companies like Apple Inc (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O: Quote, Profile, Research) into the sector, but analysts expect it will be five to 10 years before that market really takes off.

McCarthy said Netflix will announce more alliances like its LG partnership, but declined to provide details.

"We'd like to be on as many platforms as possible. If you buy an electronic platform and you're able to access Netflix content on your TV because it's on that set-top box, that's great," he said.

...

Blockbuster turns to the web for new growth (http://www.internetretailer.com/article.asp?id=25861)

As Blockbuster Inc. continues to slug it out with rival Netflix Inc., it’s staking its claims to differentiation and its future on a bid to be a multi-channel retailer and not just a DVD rental company. And in repositioning to a multi-platform strategy, the Internet and e-commerce figure to play a big role.

A recent overhaul to Blockbuster.com sets the stage for multi-channel offerings, CEO Jim Keyes is telling analysts this spring. For example, Keyes says that customers will be able to purchase movie downloads from Blockbuster.com by the end of the second quarter. The company also plans to experiment with digital downloads at kiosks in stores.

Blockbuster’s $6.6 million acquisition last year of Movielink LLC, which has an inventory of thousands of movies and TV shows, will facilitate the company’s ability to provide digital content to a variety of formats, including personal computers, portable devices, and, eventually, home TV screens.

Blockbuster also is using a marketing deal with Yahoo to generate more sales online and in stores, and it has announced plans to partner with Paramount Pictures and MTV Networks to offer exclusive digital content.

The company expects to spend some $130 million this year on capital projects including $40 million on information technology and web infrastructure upgrades.

“As new entertainment technologies emerge, consumer options multiply,” Keyes notes. “All of these initiatives underscore our determination to position Blockbuster as the only provider of media content across all platforms—in-store, by mail and by digital download.”

National Treasure's Jon Turteltaub: Blu-ray Great, But Temporary (http://www.videobusiness.com/blog/830000483/post/1050023905.html)

Oops - Disney's plan to enlist National Treasure 2 director Jon Turteltaub to help promote the film's May 20 DVD/Blu-ray release may have backfired a bit. In a Tuesday online roundtable discussion with reporters, Turteltaub was asked how he personally felt about the BD format. He totally likes it, but he indicated it may soon get replaced by a newer technology.

"No question Blu-ray is the way to go. It's superb," said Turteltaub, who has directed both National Treasure installments. "And as great as it is, it's probably going to be gone in a few years. Things are moving quickly and something better will come along soon, which is great in some ways. But it also makes things very confusing and very expensive for distributors. Knowing when to change is tricky."
...

Apple patent filing shows TiVo-like Apple TV (http://www.news.com/8301-13579_3-9893207-37.html?tag=newsmap)

Reuters surveys the current download landscape.

Movie download services bypass discs (http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSN0326356720080403?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0)

Xbox 360 HD Movie Downloads To Take 15 Mins (http://www.dbtechno.com/gaming/2008/03/21/xbox-360-hd-movie-downloads-to-take-15-mins/)

Boston (dbTechno) - According to Virgin Media and Microsoft, high-definition movie downloads over Xbox Live should only take around 15 minutes to download. This means that by the end of 2008, HD movies may seem like a much more desirable asset for the Xbox 360.

Virgin Media stated that with the speeds of broadband services improving, it is likely that HD movie downloads will have shorter and shorter times in the future.

Virgin Media’s 50MB broadband service will be ready for over nine million homes by the end of 2008, and that is expanding to other broadband services as well.

Microsoft has been trying to push HD movie downloads over the Xbox 360 via the Xbox Live Marketplace, and has been pretty successful thus far.

Things are only going to improve though if they do manage to get the download times this small.

An Xbox spokesman stated that the downloads should be between 15-minutes and a half-hour.

Teeing Up Docsis 3.0 (http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=148909&site=cdn&f_src=lightreading_gnews)

DENVER -- Docsis 3.0 Strategies -- MSOs of all sizes are planning to test or trial Docsis 3.0 as early as this year, but most aren't yet willing to say where they will take a whack at it first.

Among MSOs, Comcast Corp. has been among the most aggressive, stating that it expects to wire up as much as 20 percent of its footprint for the speedier, higher-capacity Docsis 3.0 platform by year's end. Others, including Rogers Communications Inc., Cox Communications Inc. , and Buckeye CableSystem , shed some light on their plans Wednesday, here at the latest Light Reading Live event, Docsis 3.0 Strategies: From Product Development to Deployment.

...

Cox to start with the downstream
Cox also has Docsis 3.0 on its agenda, and it appears that its channel bonding strategy will synch up with its decision to expand system bandwidth across the board. (See Cox Makes 1 GHz Moves .)

Cox is looking to move Docsis 3.0 traffic into spectrum that will be gained from its eventual move to 1 GHz, according to John Coppola, Cox's director of access technology and engineering.

The MSO plans to do some limited deployments of Docsis 3.0 in the second half of 2008, giving it the ability to add capacity at costs lower than what's afforded by earlier versions of the platform. Those deployments will likely focus on downstream channel bonding initially, and in pockets where Cox is experiencing the most heated competition. Coppola did not identify which markets might come online first, but a possible candidate is Northern Virginia, where Cox is battling with Verizon Communications Inc.'s FiOS platform.

Looking further ahead, Cox expects to fully roll out downstream channel bonding on a fuller basis in 2009, the same year it will start to test Docsis 3.0's upstream capabilities. A broad deployment of the full Docsis 3.0 platform could happen in 2010, Coppola said.

Japan is speed crazy

Liberty Global Inc. , an MSO that has 16 million cable customers in 15 countries, is facing some 100 Mbit/s competition in Japan, and has already deployed some pre-3.0 technologies to meet it.

Jupiter Telecommunications Co. Ltd., Liberty Global's affiliate there, launched the technology in the Kansai area last April, advertising "best effort" speeds of 160 Mbit/s. (See Japanese MSO Moves 160 Mbit/s.)

Phil Colby, Liberty Global's VP of technology, said tests have demonstrated average cable modem speeds of 108 Mbit/s to 110 Mbit/s, while DSL competitors have averaged 25 Mbit/s to 30 Mbit/s, despite advertising much more. "There's no correlation on what's being marketed to what's being offered. It's all best-effort," he said. "A lot of it is about marketing. There isn't a great understanding on what they [customers] are actually getting."

The operator plans to migrate to a full Docsis 3.0 platform when the technology matures, but, in the meantime, it has already seen a decent uptake (up to 30 percent) for its pre-3.0-based service. And that has as much to do with the price as it has with the speed. J:COM's 160 Mbit/s is priced just $6 to $8 more than the MSO's next, lower-service tier of 30 Mbit/s. "It's a fairly attractive option for customers in that market," Colby said.

...

Buckeye expects to launch a 12 Mbit/s service next month, with anticipation of a 15 Mbit/s service sometime next year using its legacy Docsis system. "We want to make sure we can continue that curve," Jensen said. "As we launch 3.0, we want to maintain that in the eyes of our customers."

While Buckeye has not identified when it will deploy Docsis 3.0, the MSO does plan to begin testing the platform on a couple of hubs next month.

Microsoft Preps 'Milwaukee' IPTV Upgrade (http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=148429&f_src=lightreading_gnews)

MARCH 14, 2008

LONDON -- IPTV World Forum -- Microsoft Corp. plans to launch an extension to its Mediaroom IPTV system as early as August this year, and has dubbed the upcoming enhancement "Milwaukee."

Access to the Microsoft Mediaroom Milwaukee Alpha 2 Program Website is still restricted, but, according to Shari Barnett, director of Media Services at Microsoft's TV Division, the software giant plans to make the beta version of the application developers' kit available in May, so that third-party firms can start developing services to run on the software.

Barnett expects to see new applications coming to market in 2009.

The key enhancements the Milwaukee update will add to the current version of Microsoft's Mediaroom system are: the ability to pull in existing data feeds, including real-time updates, from Websites to run concurrently on-screen with video streams; and the ability to build sophisticated recommendation and personalization tools.

A demonstration of the streamed TV/Website data fusion was on display here at Microsoft's stand, using feeds and relevant background data from Nascar's Website, alongside and/or overlaid with video footage of a Nascar race.

The capabilities are certainly exciting Mediaroom user BT Group plc. In a presentation here at the London event, Marc Watson, commercial director of BT Vision -- the carrier's hybrid TV/video-over-broadband service that had 150,000 customers at the end of February -- said Milwaukee would underpin BT's next video services push. (See BT Adds to Its IPTV Options and Soccer Kickstarts BT's IPTV Growth.)

"Microsoft's Milwaukee will give us enormous flexibility in providing recommendation tools and enhanced presentation formats... [including] dedicated advertising and information such as sports scores in the same screen as the content you're watching," stated Watson.

He says BT has already added an HTML-based browser tool to its BT Vision set-top boxes, which allows customers to customize and create their own channels of content based on what's available. The Milwaukee upgrade will enable BT to deliver enhanced functionality that will make on-demand video more "engaging... It can be a cold experience."

Watson said BT Vision's subscriber base growth is accelerating and the carrier has a target of "hundreds of thousands" of TV/video customers by the beginning of April, which would mean adding 50,000 new customers, or one third of its current customer base, in just one month.

Back from CES 2008:

LG Electronics and Netflix Announce Plan to Stream Movies From the Internet to the TV (http://netflix.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=258)

Netflix Inc., the world's largest online movie rental service, and LG Electronics, a global consumer electronics leader, today announced they are joining forces to develop a set-top box for consumers to stream movies and other programming from the Internet to HDTVs -- bypassing the need to use a personal computer.

The collaboration is expected to deliver a compelling new online home entertainment service via technology embedded in an LG networked player planned for the second half of 2008. Today's announcement sets the stage for next week's 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES®), which will emphasize digital content as well as hardware solutions.

"Consumers crave compelling and immediate content, and the Netflix online streaming movie feature can provide instant gratification. This alliance underscores LG's goal of developing smart technologies that deliver flexibility, convenience and control to consumers," said KI Kwon, President of the Consumer Electronics Division of LG Electronics USA, Inc.

The technology collaboration supports the Netflix core strategy of offering a multi-dimensional, or "hybrid," service that gives its more than 7 million members a variety of ways to receive movies and TV series for one, low monthly fee.

With the availability of the networked LG product planned for later this year, Netflix subscribers can watch movies streamed from the Netflix Web site on their large-screen home theater HDTVs, in addition to the current capability to watch movies instantly on their PCs.

On top of its rich catalog of more than 90,000 titles on DVD delivered fast through the mail, a growing selection of more than 6,000 familiar movies and TV episodes delivered instantly over the Internet to Netflix members' personal computers or TVs will even more strongly position Netflix in online movie rentals, which it pioneered in 1997.

"Internet to the TV is a huge opportunity," said Netflix Founder, Chairman and CEO Reed Hastings. "Netflix explored also offering its own Netflix-branded set-top boxes but we concluded that familiar consumer electronics devices from industry leaders like LG Electronics are a better consumer solution for getting the Internet to the TV."

In all, today's announcement enhances LG Electronics' position as a top-tier player in the U.S. digital television marketplace and advances the Netflix goal of making electronic delivery -- including future high definition content -- a meaningful addition to its existing DVD delivery platform and a valued enhancement to the Netflix subscriber experience. Netflix took its first step in that direction in 2007 when it enabled members to instantly watch movies and TV series on their personal computers.

Sony: MS "punched themselves out of the fight" (http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=186265)

Sony marketing VP talks up PS3s chances of current-gen victory

On another note, he also teased about the likelihood of music and movie downloads on PS3 soon. "We have entertainment leverage and that means music and movies. No other company has that ability or those assets. The PS3 is the hub....you can probably connect the dots. Stay tuned!"

Amazon Accelerates Its Move to Digital (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/07/technology/07amazon.html?em&ex=1207627200&en=c6f0d94e50d45f7a&ei=5087%0A)

The Amazon Unbox video service may be in for the most striking overhaul of all the company’s digital services. There are more than 30,000 movies and TV show titles on the site available for rent or download. But the videos play only in Microsoft’s Windows Media format and are not accessible from many non-Windows devices, like Apple computers.

When asked how much business Amazon is doing with Unbox, Mr. Rosenblatt of GiantSteps said: “Probably very little. But is anyone doing a lot of business with downloadable movies? I think the answer is, not even Apple is.”

Mr. Kessel carefully describes Unbox as in its “very early days” and says customers should expect “a lot of innovation from us in this business.”

The executives declined to be more specific. But Amazon recently ran an online poll asking users what new features they would like to see in Unbox. Likely possibilities from that list include a high-definition video offering and the addition of streaming video to the service, so customers could watch video almost instantly. (Netflix has a similar “watch it now” streaming video feature available for subscribers.)

The Amazon executives also suggested that their deal with TiVo to bring Unbox videos directly to television sets is only the first of many such arrangements.

“The TiVo relationship is not exclusive in any way, shape or form,” Mr. Carr said. “We have other relationships and we are perfectly capable of delivering video to other hardware devices.”

sticky

Thanks Mike

More than most want to know...

DOCSIS 3.0 - Drivers and Speed Bumps (http://www.cable360.net/ct/sections/features/28858.html)

Adobe launches Media Player (http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/36859/140)

Web site: http://www.adobe.com/products/mediaplayer/

San Jose (CA) – Adobe is making its entry into what is widely called a “next-generation” TV era on the Internet. Built on the company’s AIR platform, the Media Player 1.0 launched late yesterday with an initial set of episodes and episode snippets from shows airing on major TV networks. Strangely enough, while the software is advertised as a cross-platform media player, Adobe prohibits the use of the software on any device other than desktop and notebook PCs.

Adobe’s Media Player (AMP) should not be confused with other “Media Players”, such as Microsoft’s Windows Player (WMP). While the WMP is a playback platform for most of popular media files available offline and online, the AMP is a pure online play that competes with applications such as Joost. Adobe describes its AMP as a “cross-platform media player [that] provides exciting new ways for viewers to discover and interact with their favorite content, while offering revenue and brand-building opportunities for content publishers.”

...

But despite the fact that Adobe calls AMP a cross-platform solution, that, by the way, enables users to download Internet video outside the browser in the Adobe Flash format and view it in 1080p, 720p or 480i video display resolutions, the cross-platform claim is somewhat limited at this time. The software’s end-user license agreement states that users “may not use the software on any non-PC device or with any embedded or device version of any operating system.”

Adobe explicitly mentions that the AMP must not be installed on any mobile devices, set-top-boxes, handhelds, phones, web pads, tablets and Tablet PCs (that are not running Windows XP Tablet PC Edition), game consoles, TVs, DVD players, electronic billboards or other digital signage, internet appliances or other internet-connected devices, PDAs, medical devices, ATMs, telematic devices, gaming machines, home automation systems, kiosks, remote control devices, or any other consumer electronics device, operator-based mobile, cable, satellite, or television systems or other closed system devices – and even Media Center PCs as long as they are not running Windows XP Media Center Edition and its successors.

Long story (3 pages) on internet and the television from Hollywood Reporter...

Devices piling up in race to bring Web video to TV (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3id8f6ba18fbd96966ee8910249fe63261)

Confirmation of earlier story on Blockbuster, plus added info that it is a set top device...

Blockbuster eyes streaming to TVs (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i4ea1e9f8de457016f0cbcda398f62a1b)

From January...

Dead aim at the cable industry (http://www.building-b.com/news/fortune.php)

When it comes to outsize ambition, you gotta admire the guys at Building B. This until-now secretive startup is making a flat-out assault on the cable TV industry. The company talked a little bit at CES on Monday. Its service, launching later this year, aims to merge full-blown conventional digital television with full-blown Internet video, from YouTube to Comedy Central's online archive of "The Daily Show" - all on ordinary televisions.

CES is awash in evidence of innovation in online video. Given that most people far prefer to watch video on the TV, not the PC, it's just a matter of time before all forms of video get merged. The TV is the place to do it.

This company may have a way. Building B's product consists of software and a box that aim to turn your TV into one digital home for all the video you would ever want to watch, from whatever source.

The company's co-founders, Buno Pati and Phil Wiser, say they will offer a complete alternative to digital television, with the added bonus of full integration with Internet video content. "You won't need cable and satellite when you have this service," says Pati.

Not only that, but Pati says it will cost less than basic analog cable does today. He said that 55 million American homes get their TV today in analog form, either over the air or via cable. Those ordinary American TV-watchers are the initial target customers for Building B's digital service.

Building B plans to give consumers what Om Malik on Newteevee.com last summer called a "God Box" - one that tries to do everything (more or less). This digital video receiver will attach to a conventional broadband Internet connection. It will also connect to an over-the-air wireless digital television receiver that will offer the same TV channels that consumers usually get via cable. It may take a while to add all the more esoteric and low-viewership cable channels, Pati and Wiser say. And of course, their box has to work.

I met the two for breakfast and a demo at one of the casino-hotel monstrosities that line the Las Vegas strip. Though the company's launch has been delayed before, they plan to formally announce it, along with its real name, in February. (Building B is just a placeholder the company adopted temporarily, presumably to increase peoples' curiosity about its up-to-now hyper-secret machinations.) They intend to begin serving customers in the second half of 2008.

Wiser is a longtime media technologist who co-founded Net music pioneer Liquid Audio and later served as CTO for Sony Corp. of America. Pati is a former Harvard professor of computer science who subsequently helped launch eight companies, most of them involving wireless or semiconductor technology.

Instead of trying to sell its product at retail, Pati and Wiser aim to get telephone companies and Internet service providers to distribute the service to their customers. It will enable them to add television to their offerings - to give them, in effect, an instant so-called "triple play," so they can compete directly with cable companies. "We have architected this to be a turnkey solution for broadband service providers," says Pati. The co-founders claim they are getting a remarkable reception from such companies, even some of the biggest ones. They plan to announce some of these deals in February. They flashed a map of the United States that seemed to show that they had such partnerships in almost every region of the country.

...http://www.building-b.com/index.php

From January:

Signs Point to Thaw in Impasse Between Cable and CE Makers (http://www.screenplaysmag.com/Editor/Article/tabid/96/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/838/Default.aspx)

High-tech media finding new traction (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i68da3335ae1b71281936046263afacef?imw=Y)

April 9, 2008

CANNES -- Mark the date. MIPTV 2008. It may very well be remembered as the global market at which the treasure chest from all forms of high-tech media entities began to pay real monetary dividends for content suppliers.

That was the prediction from some major players and a scattering of indies as the sales bazaar wound down Wednesday under grey and rainy skies on the French Riviera.

But the gloomy weather couldn't put a damper on the upbeat mood among top U.S. studio executives. "Our business will evolve more in the next five years than at any time in the history of television," declared Mark Kaner, president of worldwide television at 20th Century Fox Television Distribution.

He was echoing a point that was reinforced by other senior U.S. execs: That mobile content buyers, VOD customers, IPTV streaming and digital content players were writing real checks at MIP for programming deals.

Though details of actual deals were sparse, the chatter at the market's sunset was of the number of new-media players who were on the Riviera. Keith Le Goy, exec vp distribution at Sony Pictures Television International, said that the large presence of such customers as Nokia, Orange and Telefonica is now transforming the ballyhooed potential revenues from the new media sector into "real deals."

Both Kaner and Le Goy said that meetings at MIP with traditional broadcast customers and with many new buyers had been "wall to wall" throughout the market.

"People always ask me 'is the market busy?' and my response is that, for us, the markets are always busy because we set up our appointments well in advance," Le Goy said.

But unlike meetings of just a few years ago when traditional TV networks worldwide were shelling out major money for programming, many of the meetings now are with the on-demand sector. "We are moving into the on-demand universe. That does not mean that the traditional broadcast sector is going away. There will always be a demand for that," Kaner said, adding that content suppliers are seeing a very significant shift to the new media world.

Gary Marenzi, co-president of worldwide television distribution at MGM, added that he and his team had been busy signing content deals for mobile suppliers and VOD entities at MIP. Though the ink has yet to dry on the paper, Marenzi noted, "you have people coming here and taking the time and effort to outline their business plans and aims and we worked to accommodate them with deals that we did here at the market."

A significant representation at the market from the major ad agencies looking to spend money and explore opportunities in the new media appeared to have driven a lot of cash into the dealmaking, suggested indie producer-distributor Gavin Reardon, president of IM Global. "I would definitely say that this MIP will be remembered as the market when revenue started to flow in real terms from these new customers," he added.

"VOD is part of every deal we do now," added Dirk Schweitzer, head of program acquisition and sales at Germany's RTL. "It is becoming a real business, even if it is still small compared to our traditional free-to-air model."

While much of the chatter at the Palais was of the new-media presence and the advertiser-driven deals, many traditional buyers also were trying to pin down exactly what they could expect to see from the studios when they set out next month for the L.A. Screenings.

But the real buzz was definitely the new media presence.

"I genuinely believe that television is in its most exciting phase for years," said Mike Morley, senior executive director of commercial and creative affairs at Dutch format giant Endemol. "Whether you are in content production or distribution you have never had golden years like this. There is more technology, more platforms and more channels clambering for content than ever before. The next three years will give us a definition of the next decade and then there will be much more certainty for all."

Sigma Designs and Microsoft Collaborate on Advanced IPTV System-on-a-Chip for Microsoft Mediaroom (http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080414005415&newsLang=en)

High-def VOD could add $5 billion to home entertainment pie (http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6551439.html)

The movie-download business also would benefit from a closed window and higher pricing for high-definition rentals, researchers say. The study predicts that spending for Internet-downloaded rentals and sales will grow to $2.5 billion by 2009.

Consumers surveyed prefer renting a movie online to buying a digital download because they don’t believe owning a digital copy is the same as owning a DVD. However, if digital downloads worked on more devices and consumers could burn a copy to DVD and have a backup copy kept in an online storage locker, consumers said they’d be willing to pay $5 more to buy a digital download.

Microsoft Announces New Support for Silverlight by Content Companies Worldwide (http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/industries/technology/article/2fc-o-r-r-e-c-t-o-n-microsoft-corp2f_561590_12.html)

A number of content owners, aggregators and service providers including BUYDRM, Daum Communications Corp., iMBC Co. Ltd., Limelight Networks, M-Net Media, Netflix Inc., Paramount Pictures, SK Communications, SBSI, a subsidiary of SBS Media Group, and Technicolor have announced their support for the content protection solution to be provided in Silverlight, due to the technology's proven foundation and support.

"As the dynamics of content distribution continue to accelerate toward the Internet, we need a flexible technology platform that allows us to explore a broad scope of business models and rich user experiences for digital distribution of Paramount Pictures' wide array of content," said Dr. Alan Bell, executive vice president and chief technology officer of Paramount Pictures. "With Silverlight DRM, Powered by PlayReady, Microsoft is bringing nearly a decade of heritage in DRM and content access to the table to deliver a solution with a strong technology foundation - allowing us to provide legal alternatives to our audiences enabling them to consume our content in whatever browser or platform they prefer."

CinemaNow, Technicolor open download business to all retailers (http://www.videobusiness.com/index.asp?layout=article&articleid=CA6551525)

April 15 | Movie downloader CinemaNow and Technicolor are partnering to provide content and technology solutions to enable other retailers to get into the business of digital delivery.

CinemaNow will make its content available to online retailers, and Technicolor will provide the “supply chain” to handle encoding, digital rights management, formatting for multiple devices and screens, and other services according to the retailers’ specifications. The partnership aims to let retailers get into the business of electronic delivery with content provided by CinemaNow and without having to invest their own capital in encoding and storage.

CinemaNow currently has international rights to a large amount of independent and catalog product and is “in the process of clearing those rights” with the major studios, the company said.

“Today, if a retailer wants to sell movies online, they have to get those movies encoded themselves,” said Scott Dougall, general manager of Technicolor Electronic Delivery Services. “They have to get the rights, they have to license the DRM. They have to store the content. There are huge costs associated with that that make it very difficult for the retailer to make money. We want to be that supply chain, so we can offer retailers a pure variable cost model.”

“We don’t charge retailers upfront for encoding or storage,” the Technicolor executive said. "So there’s no upfront cost to them to get into the digital business. We charge them by the download, so it’s a pure variable cost on their P&L.”

At the same time, Technicolor will provide the backend support for CinemaNow’s deals with device makers wherein CinemaNow is the “embedded” movie storefront.

CinemaNow has deals to “embed” its service in Samsung’s P2 portable media player, Archos, Dish Network and Hewlett-Packard and is working on others. It also has a deal with Sonic Solutions to be the embedded movie storefront for DVD burners using Sonic’s CSS-enabled download and burn system.

CinemaNow is “very bullish” on the comes-with-content model for consumer devices, company president and chief operating officer David Cook said. He wants CinemaNow to be the embedded storefront in as many devices as possible.

“Device makers are very keen to have a single embedded solution that will work across multiple SKUs and in multiple markets,” he said.

...

Under the partnership, CinemaNow and Technicolor also will work on adding high-definition movies to CinemaNow’s library. CinemaNow also plans to expand internationally, leveraging Technicolor’s digital supply chain services, including preparing and hosting movies with subtitles and foreign-language audio tracks.

“Basically, we’re leveraging their digital supply chain to make it possible for us to add [high-def], to support multiple codecs, multiple DRMs, multiple language tracks and to have a single, embedded storefront for international markets as well as the U.S.,” Cook said. “That was very important to a lot of the device makers we’re talking to. They wanted a single storefront that they could take into international markets, and working with Technicolor really gives us the ability to have a global supply chain to support that.”

For Technicolor, “the goal is to build a nice, subtle transition from DVDs to digital delivery,” Dougall said. “We’re one of the largest DVD replicators in the world, but ultimately, that business is going to sunset. We want to be in a position to provide the next generation of supply chains when that happens.”

Fox puts 'Juno' on iTunes (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117984096.html?categoryid=13&cs=1)

At least two more majors have joined Disney in allowing their new releases to be sold via Apple's iTunes Store.

Fox decided to go all the way on "Juno," offering it for purchase on Tuesday, the same day that the DVD and Blu-ray versions hit shelves. Paramount has begun testing download sales of new releases as well: It offered "Beowulf" for purchase shortly after the pic hit shelves Feb. 26, and "Jackass 2.5" was made available on the Web on Dec. 19, one week before the pic's DVD release.

A Fox rep said it's likely the studio will offer more new releases for sale in the future but indicated that decisions would be made on a title-by-title basis.

A Par spokesman said the studio has started experimenting with selling films on iTunes on a download-to-own basis during their new-release DVD window.

That more majors are even dipping their toes into the iTunes sales waters on new releases reps a notable breakthrough for Apple topper Steve Jobs, who has been trying to lure other studios to do so even since Disney entered the fray a year and a half ago. The Mouse House, which has a relationship with Apple since Jobs is its biggest individual shareholder and sits on its board, ran into static from Wal-Mart when it offered the made-for "High School Musical."

Other studios have hesitated to follow suit due to concerns about Apple's pricing and fears that Jobs could become too powerful. Par, for example, allowed certain older movies to be purchased on iTunes but barred new releases from the service until now.

However, there have been signs that resistance is thawing. In January, the majors all joined iTunes' movie rental service under the respective studios' video-on-demand window. At the time, several home entertainment toppers told Daily Variety that it was just a matter of time before their movies would be available for purchase on iTunes as well.

Studios, all of which are already offering movies for sale through other Netcos, are grappling with ways to grow their electronic sell-through and VOD businesses without further weakening DVD sales. Amazon.com, for example, has a variety of new releases available for purchase and rental on its Unbox service. Fox and Paramount are on board there, as is Warners, Universal and Sony.

...

Hewlett-Packard connects TV to Internet (http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6552430.html)

APRIL 17 | Hewlett-Packard became the latest company to connect the TV to the Internet, announcing today that its MediaSmart TVs now have Microsoft’s Media Center Extender capability to allow consumers to download movies directly to their TV.

All new and second-generation MediaSmart TVs will include Extender, which will allow users to access and watch Internet video on their set and transfer digital home videos stored on their PC to the TV.

Users can rent or purchase movies through CinemaNow, Starz Vongo and Movielink through their TV. Through the Windows Media Center, viewers also have access to on-demand video from MSN, which features programming from A&E, CNBC, Fox Sports, National Geographic and other providers.

Extender for Windows Media Center also will be included in H-P’s upcoming digital media receiver, the MediaSmart Connect, which will be released this year and connect any HDTV set to the Internet.

H-P is among a growing number of companies that plan to introduce devices this year to allow consumers to easily watch Internet movie downloads on their TV and give a boost to the video download business.

Competitors include such big names as Apple, which introduced the AppleTV last year and allows users to view iTunes movie and TV downloads on the TV.

Info on the HP Media Smart Connect (http://h71036.www7.hp.com/hho/cache/572547-0-0-225-121.html)Receiver.

Very promising indeed.

Carrefour to offer movie downloads (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/international/news/e3ifb1f58b28b88257cb4b84490ed7f0081)

PARIS -- Carrefour Group, the world's No. 2 retailer behind Wal-Mart, is to enter the movie download business, launching a new service in its four key European territories of France, Spain, Belgium and Italy.

Announcing the initiative at the PEVE Digital Entertainment conference in Paris on Friday, Carrefour's international non-food chief Christophe Geoffroy said the site would offer both Download To Own and Download To Rent movies and television programs.

Geoffroy, whose company currently has a 13.3% market share of the 2 billion-euro DVD market in those territories, said the decision to launch into digital distribution was an extension of Carrefour's focus on entertainment.

"It's very important for Carrefour to have more than one point of sale," he said. "We have to be in contact with the consumer in their homes as well as in-store. We know full well that the market forecast for VOD is low at the moment but we are convinced that it will develop over the coming years and we want to provide a legal solution for customers to see the best possible content."

While he declined to offer prices for the download, saying they varied across the countries, he said they would be competitive with the market and that the process would be as simple and fast as possible.

Panasonic to Bolster Tie-up With Samsung in Blu-ray (http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/04/123_22828.html)

MAJORCA, Spain ― Japan's Panasonic, a leading player in the next-generation Blu-ray format business, plans to expand the global storage devices market by boosting strategic partnership with Samsung Electronics.

``Now, the discussion is over. We will maintain a healthy relationship with Samsung Electronics for the next-generation computer storage market,'' Peter Weber, manager of Panasonic Corporate Communication Europe, said in an interview with The Korea Times, Sunday, on the sidelines of the IFA 2008 International Press Conference here.

"Panasonic doesn't care about the introducing timing of Blu-ray players. Time is very crucial to step up the marketing for better prospect of such devices,'' he said, adding his company is all set to inject money only for promotion.

The next-generation Blu-ray players will have disk drives and will be able to connect to the Internet, allowing users to download movie trailers or interact with other Blu-ray owners. Samsung Electronics is expected to release a new Blu-ray product to back up the potential business.Disc drives...Sounds like the new movie download boxes are coming...;)

Sony to launch online video service for PlayStation 3 (http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-sony21apr21,1,152898.story)

The company is attempting to stage a comeback in digital entertainment distribution.

Will the third time be the charm for Sony Corp.?

The entertainment and electronics giant is preparing to launch an online video service through its game console PlayStation 3 as early as this summer, studio executives familiar with the plan say.

The company has been in licensing talks with studios in recent weeks, according to these executives, who asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of continuing negotiations.

The initial version of the service would include movies and television shows flowing from the Internet to the PlayStation 3.

It would follow two other disappointing online ventures backed by Sony in recent years: Movielink, which attempted to become the online equivalent of the video store for mainstream Hollywood movies before being sold last year to Blockbuster Inc.; and Sony Connect, the company's response to Apple Inc.'s iTunes download service. It shut down in March.

The latest service, provided through the online PlayStation Network, is Sony's attempt to stage a comeback in digital entertainment distribution. The maker of the once-dominant Walkman portable music player is still smarting from its defeat by Apple in the online music revolution.

"They've got to get a win in the digital, and I'd say on the electronic delivery side of the business," said Kurt Scherf, an analyst with Parks Associates who studies technology in the home. "That's where the future is. They've got to establish a toehold in that space."

The latest initiative seeks to harness Sony's strengths as a maker of high-definition televisions and consumer products as well as a creator of films and TV shows.

Sony is trying to capitalize on its Trojan horse in the living room, the PlayStation 3. The console is already connected to the TV and the Internet, and has sold more than 4 million units in the U.S. and 9 million worldwide, according to Wedbush Morgan Securities in Los Angeles. The console gave Sony the decisive edge in the battle to establish its Blu-ray discs as the standard for high-definition video in the home, trumping the HD DVD format backed by Toshiba Corp., Microsoft Corp. and others.

The new service would position Sony to compete with the growing number of Internet-connected devices and services that deliver video to the TV, including AppleTV, Vudu and Microsoft's Xbox 360 console.

Its biggest competitor would be Microsoft's Xbox Live service, which boasts 10 million subscribers who can sample online more than 4,800 hours of video, a quarter of them in high-definition. That includes 350 movies and more than 5,000 episodes of TV shows such as "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost," most of which go on sale on Xbox Live the day after their initial broadcast airing. Unlike closed networks such as Apple's, Sony plans to embrace open standards that would make its offering compatible with a range of computers and hand-held devices, including its PlayStation Portable.

Patrick Seybold, a spokesman for the PlayStation unit, declined to comment.

However, a PlayStation marketing chief acknowledged the initiative and promised more details soon in a post Tuesday on the Inside PlayStation Network blog.

"Many of you have been hearing rumblings about a video service that will allow you to download full-length TV shows and movies via PlayStation Network for North America," wrote Peter Dille, senior vice president of marketing for Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. "While I don't have any new announcements . . . it's already been confirmed that we'll be offering a video service for PS3 in a way that separates the service from others you've seen or used."

One of the service's greatest obstacles may be Sony's own culture. Sony Chairman and Chief Executive Howard Stringer has been battling a corporate silo mentality in which divisions within his company work in isolation, undermining new initiatives. The PlayStation group in Foster City, Calif., has been notoriously aloof. Once, a former executive said, it scuttled plans for a movie subscription service for the PlayStation Portable even though Sony Pictures had supported the initiative.

What is more, the company, looking to safeguard its film, television and music holdings, has been an aggressive champion of copyright protection, often, critics suggest, at the cost of technological innovation.

"Sony has this blessing and curse of [having] some of the world's smartest intellectual property lawyers, who've never built or marketed a product in their life, who are good at saying, 'no,' " said Richard Doherty, senior analyst at consultancy Envisioneering Group in Seaford, N.Y. "The sun never sets on the Sony lawyers, they're around the world, in Tokyo, London, New York."

Sony insiders say attitudes are evolving under Tim Schaaff, a former Apple executive who is spearheading the company's latest plunge into online video. Schaaff joined Sony in December 2005 in the newly created position of senior vice president of software development and is helping the company, whose heritage dates to the transistor radio, appreciate the importance of deft software design in the digital era.

Online movie sales are still a tiny business and will remain small over the next year as DVDs continue to be the dominant home video format, according to Convergence Consulting Group. U.S. consumers spent $95 million for movies online last year, compared with $23.4 billion to rent and buy DVDs.

Nonetheless, market researcher Parks Associates projects that Internet video will grow more lucrative, reaping about $6.4 billion in revenue by 2010 from advertising, as well as paid downloads or rentals.

In the market, however, Microsoft has a head start.

"It isn't easy to do this," said Ross Honey, senior director of Microsoft's media and entertainment group.

"There is a lot of work to be done in just making this work and getting that movie up in high quality. We've had over a year's experience on how to do this, so we can focus on innovating as opposed to working out the kinks."

10 Billion Videos Viewed Online in February (http://www.cable360.net/ct/news/thewire/29216.html)

Notes taken during Netflix Earnings Conference Call this Evening (http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/4/live_netflix_q1_solid_stock_tanks_on_q2_guidance_nflx_)

5:06 More than 9,000 movies and TV episodes available. Instant-watch only on Windows PCs. Fine for laptops, technophiles. More attractive to consumer electronics partners. Want integrated into Blu-ray players, game consoles, TVs, standalone devices. In January, we talked about LG. We have LG plus three additional partners actively working on integrating our technology. Three of four partners are major companies which each sell millions of devices this year, which will hit in Q4. Fourth is a small company which will launch sooner than Q4.

Vudu Takes Top Honors at RetailVision Event (http://www.homemediamagazine.com/index.cfm?sec_id=2)

Digital movie service operator Vudu won “Best Product: Digital Home” honors at the 2008 RetailVision spring event recently held in Orlando.

“We believe it is a testament to the innovative product and entertainment experience we have developed and exemplifies the close relationships we are building with the retail channel,” Vudu VP of marketing Patrick Cosson said of the award, which was judged by top-level merchants.

“The Digital Home Award represents the best of the consumer tech products currently on the market and are chosen by the retailers themselves, the ones who shape the market,” said Ray Robidoux of the consulting firm Sightline Group. “I believe companies such as Vudu, who were so well received by the retail community at this year's show, have a promising future.”

CDSA and EMA Establish Strategic Alliance For The Development Of Digital Delivery Metadata Standards (http://www.emedialive.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=13657)

The Content Delivery & Storage Association (CDSA) has announced that it has joined the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) in the establishment of industry metadata standards for the digital delivery of home entertainment content via the Internet. In doing so, CDSA actively joins EMA's Digital Delivery Council, which has gained the participation of leading studio and retailers for this vital step in the industry's technical development.

CDSA joins current members of the EMA Digital Delivery Council including: Lionsgate, Warner Home Video, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Universal Home Entertainment, Cinema Now, and Netflix.

"Our members were encouraging us to begin our own metadata standardization initiative but, once we became aware of EMA's efforts, it only made sense to work together since the most effective plan involves bringing all concerned parties around a single table at one time," Van Horn explains. "We encourage all our members and all our partnering associations to work together to help build these standards as quickly as possible."

From Forbes:

Internet TV To Ditch PCs (http://www.forbes.com/2008/04/22/netflix-digital-movies-tech-personal-cx_mji_0422netflix.html)

Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter points out that Netflix has ready access to a much wider range of licenses than the game makers have--and so should complement what the console makers themselves provide. The service is expected to be free to Netflix subscribers, at least initially.

Warners enhances global VOD (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3ie2601463a91c2168fc3abcb1b63430cf)

Warner Bros. International Television Distribution took a big step into the new-media landscape with the formation Tuesday of a branded services division that will operate Warner TV channels around the world on an array of platforms.

Announcing the move, WBITD president Jeffrey Schlesinger said the unit will use the latest technological developments including digital cable, IPTV, PC and mobile delivery.

The move is an expansion of WBITD's previously announced plan to launch Warner Bros.-branded VOD channels around the world.
...

A somewhat related event:

Time Warner to Split Off Cable Unit; Profit Declines (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a5gJs8fVX3sU&refer=home)

April 30 (Bloomberg) -- Time Warner Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Bewkes said he will separate the cable-systems unit from the film and television businesses, bringing him a step closer to breaking up the world's biggest media company.

The announcement came as Time Warner reported first-quarter net income fell 36 percent to $771 million, or 21 cents a share, from $1.2 billion, or 31 cents, a year earlier. Sales rose 2.1 percent to $11.4 billion, the New York-based company said in a statement.

CinemaNow Offers Movie Orders through Cell Phones (http://www.efluxmedia.com/news_CinemaNow_Offers_Movie_Orders_through_Cell_Phones_16966 .html)

More on Warner VoD.

Warner Brothers To Rent Movies Online Sooner (http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/30/warner-brothers-to-rent-movies-online-sooner/index.html?ref=technology)

I spoke briefly this afternoon to Kevin Tsujihara, the president of Warner’s home video unit. He said that we are moving to an era when there will be thousands of titles available to rent on systems like Apple TV. (The cable systems don’t currently have the capacity to offer that many movies.)

He said that, of the movies in Warner’s library, only 40 or 50 are now not available for pay-per-view or online rental because of its contract with its corporate cousin, HBO. That won’t disappoint the vast majority of movie watchers, he said because “after six months, most titles have played themselves out.”

For consumers, this moves Hollywood closer to what most people want: The ability to get any movie, on any device, at any time.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter, via Yahoo News.

Studio films going day-and-date at iTunes Store (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080501/media_nm/apple_dc)

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Apple is expected to announce Thursday that it has struck a deal with a wide array of movie studios to sell new releases at its iTunes Store.

The move would allow a broad slate of top-shelf films to be offered day-and-date with home video releases, which risks cannibalizing DVD sales.

Such a move would also put significant pressure on iTunes competitors ranging from Amazon's Unbox to Microsoft XBox Live Marketplace.

The new arrangement is expected to involve Fox, Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal, Sony Pictures, Lionsgate and New Line. The deal does not include new titles from MGM, but does extend to boutique firms such as Magnolia and Image Entertainment.

The deal comes on the heels of Apple's announcement in January that it had signed all of the studios to movie rentals, with each title costing just $3-$4 for consumers to access for a 30-day period. Movie purchases, however, could cost as much as $15.

Apple hasn't moved as aggressively to date on film as it has in TV, with most download-to-own devoted to older titles in studio libraries. But Apple's success with those deals, which included MGM, Disney and Paramount, likely encouraged studios to take the next step.

In March, Disney CEO Bob Iger publicly estimated that his company had sold 4 million movies via iTunes since it became the first studio to try download-to-own in 2006. A few major new releases already have been made available day-and-date in recent weeks on iTunes, including Fox's "Juno."

Thursday's announcement is expected to contain new data on the success of Apple's movie revenue to date.

The news follows Wednesday's disclosure by Time Warner CEO Jeffrey Bewkes that Warner Bros. will experiment with video-on-demand releases day-and-date with DVD.

The announcement originally was expected to be released earlier in the week, perhaps timed to the fifth anniversary of iTunes, which was Monday.

Apple did not respond to a request for comment.

Building B/Sezmi One True Set Top Box Aims to Kill TV as You Know It (http://gizmodo.com/385968/building-bsezmi-one-true-set-top-box-aims-to-kill-tv-as-you-know-it)

Ideally, you won't know (or care) about where the content is coming from. One of the big things they're pushing, which I don't know people will be able to swallow is the idea of personal portals over channels. Basically, it'll learn your viewing habits and create what are essentially smart playlists of content, drawn from broadcast, cable stored content and internet video, all meshed together—kind of like TiVo on Web 2.0 crack, since it has a TV Guide menu with a list and times of shows and whatnot as well, but decentralized from the channel metaphor. Each person in the house has their own button on the top of the remote and it'll switch to customized programming for them.Edit: More links to reviews here...

New Sezmi Set-top Blows Away the TV (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2289653,00.asp)

Sezmi presents TV 2.0 (http://opinion.latimes.com/bitplayer/2008/04/sezmi-presents.html)

Sezmi Blends Broadcast TV With Broadband Video (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6556503.html?desc=topstory)

Widevine Announces Commercial Availability of DRM for Windows Media Player & Silverlight (http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/marketwire/0393248.htm)

Widevine Technologies, the only provider of multiformat, multiplatform DRM and digital copy protection solutions, today announced immediate availability of Widevine Cypher to protect content delivered to Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Windows Media Player versions 9, 10, 11 and Silverlight versions 1 and 2. This milestone represents the first time content can be securely delivered in Windows Media, Silverlight and Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE) Flash environments using a single content protection solution.

Widevine Cypher now enables content owners, service providers and video operators to provide comprehensive DRM to secure the platforms and formats that best suit their consumer media requirements. The new release builds upon Widevine's original Flash media support and the preview of Widevine DRM for Silverlight performed in conjunction with Microsoft at the NAB show earlier in April.

"Consumers want flexibility and choice when it comes to consuming content on a myriad of platforms while content providers have asked for a robust alternative to Windows Media DRM for several years," said Brian Baker, Widevine CEO. "Widevine benefits both parties with a single DRM and digital copy protection solution that secures the business models for premium content delivered to consumers who can enjoy it on their preferred device."

Widevine's Cypher DRM client secures delivery and storage of content on Macs, PCs and Linux platforms and post-decryption where most piracy typically occurs. The client includes digital copy protection technology which further monitors, detects and responds to the hundreds of screen scraping and recording utilities available on the Internet. Many of these utilities can record content from a consumer device and store it as a downloadable file on the Internet. Increasingly, content owners are demanding this level of protection to prevent widespread piracy which costs the industry upwards of $6.1 billion* a year. Widevine first deployed the PC client to secure content delivered on a wide range of PC devices in 2000.

Widevine's latest release is the first time a content owner approved alternative to Windows Media DRM has been available in order to meet widespread demand.

Lycos Unveils New Cinema Video Community, Adding Online VOD Rentals to Its Ad-Supported Service, Bringing Enhanced Social Viewing Experience to Premium Paid Content (http://sev.prnewswire.com/film-motion-picture/20080505/NEM00805052008-1.html)

WALTHAM, Mass., May 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Lycos, Inc. (http://www.lycos.com ), a leading provider of social publishing, media and search services, today introduced the new Lycos Cinema ( http://cinema.lycos.com ) adding video on demand (VOD) rentals to its existing ad-supported Lycos Cinema community, greatly expanding the interactive social video viewing experience. With the new Lycos Cinema, users now have the option of watching and interacting around premium rentals and free VOD ad-supported film and episodic television titles. Lycos's patent-pending synchronous Watch & Interact technology now enables multiple users to view the same video at the same time with anyone, anywhere, at anytime--all while chatting and socializing.

Lycos Cinema is the only online social viewing experience to offer synchronous SimulStream community viewing, allowing users to come together to view film and other video content in public or private screening rooms, in four different screening modes, including both full and mini-screen modes. With the addition of VOD rentals, Lycos introduces a new StoreFront business model to compliment its free, advertising-supported content, providing a customized, studio boutique solution for the promotion of upcoming DVD and theatrical releases.
...

Tech giants coalesce for a powerline home networking standard (http://www.betanews.com/article/Tech_giants_coalesce_for_a_powerline_home_networking_standar d/1209579163)

Intel, Panasonic, Infineon, and TI are among the charter members of a group dedicated to creating a new worldwide standard for transferring digital media over power, phone, and coaxial cables.

...

CopperGate Communications ships five million HomePNA chipsets (http://www.connected-home-news.com/content/view/686/47/)

Network-equipment makers speed up development of IP STBs (http://www.digitimes.com/systems/a20080509PD213.html)

Irene Chen, Taipei; Steve Shen, DIGITIMES [Friday 9 May 2008]

More Taiwan-based network-equipment makers, including Gemtek Technology, Alpha Networks and Cameo Communications, have sped up their development of IP STBs (set-top boxes) in line with the growth of IPTV business at carriers, according to sources at network-equipment makers.

Gemtek has predicted shipments of IP STBs will be a growth driver for revenues starting the second quarter of this year, although the company did not provide current shipments figures.

In addition, Gemtek has been shipping IP STBs with its 802.11n-enabled devices to meet requirements of wireless broadband operators, the company said.

Alpha Networks said that it plans to deliver its STB to the US National Telecommunication & Information Administrative (NTIA) for certification soon.

Six Taiwan-based makers, including Zinwell Communications, Skardin Industrial, Tatung, Ultima Electronics and Mustek, have already secured certification for their STBs under the NTIA-initiated coupon eligible converter box (CECB) program.OEMs - check out their web sites if you get a chance...

Modems, CMTSs Break Docsis 3.0 Barrier (http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=153444&site=cdn)

The revolution comes to your living room (http://www.telecommagazine.com/newsglobe/article.asp?HH_ID=AR_4187)

ITU has long been a star of the small screen, developing the initial global standards that launched High Definition TV (HDTV) and digital terrestrial broadcasting back in the 1990s.

Now, the world of broadcasting is about to be turned upside down yet again with IPTV — television delivered over IP-based networks, instead of over the airwaves.

IPTV trumps conventional broadcasting paradigms by allowing viewers to determine their own viewing schedules, downloading the programs they want directly from their service provider at anytime — and potentially from anywhere in the world. What’s more, those programs are accessible over a whole host of fixed and mobile devices, from an ordinary TV set to a computer, PDA — even a GPRS or 3G mobile phone.

ITU-T’s Focus Group on IPTV, set up in 2006 to harmonize and integrate standards into a unified approach to maximize interoperability across networks and markets worldwide, concluded its work in January this year with the announcement of the first set of global standards for this revolutionary new technology.

The first round of IPTV standards cover the high-level architecture and frameworks service providers will need to put in place to roll out IPTV services. As a next step, 21 documents covering IPTV technical requirements, architecture, quality of service (QoS), security, digital rights management (DRM), unicast and multicast, protocols, metadata, middleware and home networks will now be submitted to ITU-T Study Group 13 for further development work.

Operators in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK have already launched local IPTV offerings; now, many are beginning to look outside their national territories, making international standards crucial.

The power to deliver TV services over IP networks is now paving the way for telcos to set themselves up as TV content providers — often in partnership with traditional broadcasters — delivering voice, Internet and video services over a single broadband link.

"In a market that once threatened to fragment into different regional approaches as telcos and equipment vendors clamoured for first-mover advantage, effective standardization through ITU is a vital step towards high quality products with value-additions, such as video-on-demand services that are widely expected to serve as a key market driver," notes ITU-T Director Malcolm Johnson.

^

ITU-T: IPTV Focus Group Proceedings (http://www.itu.int/dms_pub/itu-t/opb/proc/T-PROC-IPTVFG-2008-PDF-E.pdf)

PDF document, 715 pages.

NBC Direct, Take Two, Out for Testing (http://newteevee.com/2008/05/14/nbc-direct-take-two-out-for-testing/)

NBC is opening a trial of the new version of its web VOD software NBC Direct, which now incorporates the download-speeding assistance of peer-to-peer startup Pando.

Sigma Designs to Showcase DOCSIS 3.0 Multi Channel and tru2way™ Set-Top Box at NCTA Cable Show 2008 (http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080515005393&newsLang=en)

MILPITAS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sigma Designs (Nasdaq:SIGM), a leader in digital media processing system-on-a-chip (SoC) solutions for consumer electronics, leveraging Texas Instruments field proven cable TV technology and VividLogic’s comprehensive tru2way™ software for set-top boxes (STBs) and cable TV ready HDTVs, announces demonstrations of its DOCSIS 3.0 multi channel and tru2way™ set-top box at the NCTA Cable Show 2008, May 18-20 in New Orleans. The demonstrations will take place at Sigma Designs’ stand in the CableNET zone and in VividLogic booth #3929.

“The cable TV industry is upgrading its infrastructure to enable higher speed downstream and upstream communication. The switched digital system in a Cable TV plant provides an unlimited number of high definition channels and video-on-demand functionality to the consumer,” said Ken Lowe, Sigma’s VP of strategic marketing. “Sigma Designs will leverage its expertise in the Telco IPTV set-top box market to support IP-Cable STBs and HDTV manufacturers. We are proud to offer consumers more competitive choices in their home entertainment experience.”

Sigma’s Cable-IP Set-Top Box Demonstrations

Sigma Designs will be showcasing the DOCSIS 3.0 (1.X and 2.0) based STB powered by Sigma’s SMP8634 Secure Media Processors, capable of:

Fast upstream and downstream communication

High speed cable modem for Internet connectivity

Web browsing

Tru2way™ middleware for downloadable EPG and interactive Java applications

Decoding of multiple video streams for simultaneous viewing and recording

Multi standard decoding (MPEG-2, H.264, VC-1)

Unlimited Cable TV channel lineup on “IPTV like” switched digital video & VoD cable plant

Support IPv6 128 bits addresses

More about Sigma’s DOCSIS 3.0 (1.X and 2.0)-based Set-Top Box

Texas Instruments developed the Puma-5 DOCSIS 3.0 based chipset used in the Sigma Designs set-top box. VividLogic developed the Open Cable Host (OCHD 2.0) based tru2way™ middleware that includes OCAP, MCARD, DSG, IEEE-1394, DVR and other OCHD 2.0 components, being ported to run on the Sigma Designs’ SMP8634 media processor.

Optimized for triple play and next generation IP services, TI's Puma 5 family has been developed to support DOCSIS 3.0 enhanced performance and features. New DOCSIS 3.0 features such as channel bonding enable ultra high downstream bandwidth rates of at least 160 Mbps in the residential data and voice services configuration. In addition, the solution offers 320 Mbps in video and business services configuration.

“TI is excited to deliver the Puma 5 to this video segment,” said Irvind Ghai, Director Connectivity and Cable Business at TI. “As the market leader in DOCSIS 3.0 based technology, Texas Instruments is happy to bring the differentiating capabilities of this technology to next generation Cable set-top boxes.”

“We are delighted to work with Sigma Designs and TI in porting our Open Cable Host (OCHD 2.0) based tru2way™ software to Sigma Designs’ set-top box reference platform,” said Shiva Patibanda, CEO VividLogic Inc. “Our comprehensive tru2way™ software solution will accelerate time-to-market for Sigma Designs and TI customers.”

Industry estimates show that Sigma's SMP8634 chip is in approximately 80% of the IPTV set-top boxes worldwide, more than any other semiconductor offered to the industry, making Sigma a leader in global IPTV services.

About Sigma's SMP8634 Media Processor

Sigma’s SMP8634 media processor integrates a complete complement of next-generation capabilities for a single-chip system-on-chip (SoC) solution with powerful multimedia processing, robust content security system, and a full complement of peripherals. Its advanced decoder engines support video decoding of H.264 (MPEG-4 part 10), Windows Media® Video 9, VC-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 (part 2) with multiple streams, up to the equivalent of two high-definition video streams. High-performance graphics acceleration, multi-standard audio decoding, advanced display processing capabilities, and HDMI/HDCP output round out its multimedia core. Powerful content security is ensured through a dedicated secure processor, flash memory, and a range of digital rights management (DRM) engines for high-speed payload decryption. The SMP8634’s 300- MHz host CPU, 3.2 GB/second unified memory controller, Ethernet 10/100 controller, dual USB 2.0 controller, and IDE controller provide for a single-chip solution for most consumer products.

Verizon Bites CableCard Bullet (http://www.multichannel.com/index.asp?layout=article&articleid=CA6561487)

Verizon Communications will join the CableCard set-top club on July 1.

That’s when the telco will be required by the Federal Communications Commission to deploy advanced set-top boxes for FiOS TV—those with high-definition and digital video recording features—with separable security components.

“We have a separable CableCard-based solution and we’re on track to meet the FCC requirement,” Verizon media relations director Bobbi Henson said.

...

Jaman Streaming 100 HD Movies (http://www.homemediamagazine.com/news/html/breaking_article.cfm?article_id=12764)

Online movie purveyor Jaman.com announced May 15 that it has launched a free streaming option for 100 ad-supported, high-def movies.

The company has recently inked deals with Arts Alliance America, BBC Worldwide America and Fortissimo Films.

“This development changes the marketplace for long-form content,” said Jaman founder and CEO Gaurav Dhillon. “By offering a free streaming media service along with our current rental and ownership download options, we are anticipating the future of digital cinema. With streaming, we provide our community with a quality viewing experience that is free, and for our advertisers, we deliver a unique audience and premium and targeted placement opportunities.”

http://www.jaman.com/a/home/

TV boxes let Netflix users bypass mail delivery (http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iLOKxx93p5mynVFAWQcX51BWqGGwD90PBGBG0)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Preparing for the eventual extinction of its DVD-by-mail rental service, Netflix Inc. on Tuesday is introducing its first solution for subscribers who want entertainment delivered directly to their television sets with just a few clicks on a remote control.

The breakthrough comes in the form of 5-inch-by-5-inch device tailored for a year-old service that uses high-speed Internet connections to stream more than 10,000 movies and TV shows from Netflix's library.

Although it's provided at no additional cost to most of Netflix's 8.2 million subscribers, the streaming service has had limited appeal so far because it doesn't include the latest movies and couldn't easily be watched on anything but a personal computer.

At $99.99, the Netflix set-top box is priced like a DVD player and is just as simple to hook up to a television. A high-speed Internet connection can either be plugged into the box or the device can pick up a wireless signal.

Similar Internet-to-TV devices made by Apple Inc. and Vudu Inc. cost $229 to $295.

"We think this is something that offers a big value at a low cost," said Reed Hastings, Netflix's chief executive officer.

The Netflix box, made by Silicon Valley startup Roku Inc., is the first of several devices that will pipe Netflix's streaming service to TV sets.

LG Electronics is expected to include the streaming capability in a Blu-ray DVD player that it plans to debut during the second half of this year.

Without providing further details, Netflix has said two other major consumer electronics companies are working on set-top boxes for its streaming service.

Hastings is confident that the demand for DVD rentals will remain strong for at least several more years, partly because movie studios aren't ready to fully embrace digital distribution.

But as technology makes it easier to rent and buy movies within a few minutes instead of waiting for them to be delivered through the mail, Hastings realizes his Los Gatos-based company won't survive unless it evolves.

That's why Netflix has poured more than $40 million into its streaming service, called "Watch Instantly," and is now trying to encourage its subscribers to use it more frequently even though it doesn't generate more revenue.

If anything, the streaming service is eroding Netflix's profits because the company's licensing fees are based on how frequently subscribers use it. And any customer who pays at least $8.99 per month for a DVD rental plan gets unlimited access to the streaming service.

Because the new set-top box figures to spur more usage, Netflix expects its profit margins to be squeezed later this year. Even so, the company is still projecting a profit of as much as $83 million this year, up about 20 percent from last year. The bright outlook has helped lift Netflix's market value 16 percent so far this year.

Hastings eventually hopes to recoup some of the added expense by having to spend less money to attract and retain customers as more people enjoy the convenience of the streaming service. Netflix has no plans to start charging an additional fee for the streaming service this year.

Cowen and Co. analyst James Friedland believes the number of Netflix subscribers interested in purchasing the new set-top box will be relatively small.

Part of the problem is that few recent movies are available on Netflix's streaming service. That's a major shortcoming because nearly one-third of the rental requests on Netflix's DVD service are for new movie releases, Friedland said.

"You can't really drive consumers to do anything before they're ready," Friedland said. "You can only give them options. And Netflix seems to be trying to deliver as much as it can (with the streaming service), given the current limitations of the studios and technology."

Netflix offers more than 100,000 movies and TV shows on DVD, about 10 times the streaming service's selection.

Although the streaming device bears the Netflix brand, it's the brainchild of Roku's founder and CEO, Anthony Wood.

After temporarily leaving his startup to work on the streaming device as a Netflix employee, Wood returned to Roku earlier this year. At that point, Netflix paid $6 million for an undisclosed stake in Saratoga-based Roku. Several other former Netflix employees also work at Roku.

New York Times on Roku Netflix Player:

Why the Roku Netflix Player is the First Shot of the Revolution (http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/20/why-the-roku-netflix-player-is-the-first-shot-of-the-revolution/?ref=technology)

In the small, generic plastic box that is the new Netflix Player made by Roku, I think you can see the future of video.

I’m not saying that this product itself is going to take the world by storm, even though I think it is better than any other set-top box I’ve ever seen. Netflix and Roku expect the $99 device to sell in the hundreds of thousands, not millions, this year.

Still, the Netflix player contains most of the interface ideas and technology needed to revolutionize how we get television in our house. Here’s my thinking:
...

Roku Netflix Player User Guide Here

http://www.roku.com/netflixplayer/documents/NetflixPlayerUG.pdf

CinemaNow Available Via Windows Media Center (http://www.homemediamagazine.com/news/html/breaking_article.cfm?article_id=12807)

CinemaNow’s library of films is now available through the Online Media channel in Windows Media Center, adding to the ease of viewing Internet content on the TV.

Consumers with Windows Media Center Extenders can download more than 3,400 feature-length films, 3,000 TV episodes and 2,900 music videos to their home computer and view them on their TV. Content is available on both a pay-per-view and download-to-own basis

WSJ: Sundance East (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121158536989718983.html?mod=googlenews_wsj)

The event comes at a time of uncertainty for the art-house movie market. In the midst of this, Sundance is trying to build its brand, both at BAM and with digital ventures, such as streaming short films from the festival on Netflix and selling them through iTunes and Xbox videogame systems. About three dozen shorts will screen at BAM, including "Force 1 TD," an 11-minute story about a trio of friends who go on a quest to outfit a miniature horse with a set of sneakers. Though there's not much of a theatrical market for shorts, they're critical for tracking new filmmakers, says Sundance's director of programming, John Cooper. "You really see the root of creativity for the filmmaker."

Cable Prices Keep Rising; Customers Keep Paying (http://www.theledger.com/article/20080524/ZNYT01/805240503/1001/BUSINESS)

This week Roku, a Silicon Valley start-up, began selling a $99 box that streams movies from Netflix straight to the TV. And this summer Hewlett-Packard is expected to introduce a device called the MediaSmart Connect, a sleek box connecting computer and TV that lets users watch Internet videos as well as rent or buy some 6,000 movies through CinemaNow, an H.P. partner.

Cable Cuts Cord with WiMax

While improved video-on-demand services, targeted advertising applications and super-high-speed DOCSIS 3.0 broadband systems were headline items at the NCTA convention in New Orleans last week, perhaps the most exciting new technology on the show floor didn’t rely on cable pipes.

That was a demonstration in the Motorola booth of WiMax, the wireless broadband technology that three of the country’s largest cable operators, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks, plan to use to provide voice and data services to subscribers on the go.

The WiMax services from Comcast and Time Warner will be delivered through Clearwire, a company formed by combining the fourth-generation wireless assets of Sprint Nextel and Clearwire Corp., and which counts those major cable operators and technology giants Intel and Google as investors. The new Clearwire is targeting a network deployment that will cover between 120 million and 140 million people in the U.S. by the end of 2010.
...

The speed and quality of all the Clearwire services was impressive, reflecting WiMax’s potential data speeds of 7 megabits per second downstream and 3 megabits per second upstream. What’s more, since WiMax can act as a backhaul for conventional Wi-Fi broadband service, Motorola had also installed a Wi-Fi router inside the vehicle to allow laptop users with conventional Wi-Fi radios to surf the Web using the WiMax connection.

Verizon Downloads 'Starz Play' Deal (http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=154837&site=cdn)

A telco, not a cable operator, has become the first to pull the trigger on Starz Entertainment LLC 's new premium IP video service -- and it's a doozy: Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ - message board).

Under a deal that ties into a larger, multi-year carriage arrangement, Verizon will market the subscription-based Starz Play service to its 8.5 million broadband customers.

According to a Website dedicated to the offer, Verizon is selling Starz Play for $5.99 per month, providing unlimited access to a library of about 2,500 movies and other video titles, including Ratatouille, Spider-Man 3, and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Later this year, Starz Play will offer titles such as Superbad, Enchanted, and National Treasure: Book of Secrets. The Starz Play subscription also includes access to a live stream of the linear Starz channel and allows users to share downloaded titles on up to three authorized devices.

Consumers can sign up for Starz Play through Verizon but access it from anywhere in the United States, presumably via high-speed broadband lines run by cable operators and other broadband service providers that compete with Verizon.

"You don't have to reside within Verizon service territory to sign up for this," a Verizon spokeswoman says. All customers need is a credit card. However, existing customers will be able to bundle the Starz Play service on their Verizon bill.

Verizon is selling Starz Play as an add-on initially, though it's possible it could subsidize it and tie it in with high-speed service bundles. Verizon and Starz did not detail how they are dividing the monthly $5.99 subscription fee. The telco was not immediately available for further comment mid-day Tuesday.

Starz Play is a subset of Starz Entertainment's direct-to-consumer Vongo video service, which officially got off the ground in January 2006 and today sells for $9.99 per month. Although Starz Play does offer subscription movie downloads and access to the Starz channel, it does not offer the 200 pay-per-view titles that Vongo offers. Starz has not released any subscriber numbers for the Vongo service.

Among premium video services, Home Box Office Inc. and Showtime Networks Inc. also have Internet-based products in the works that are designed to tie in with their cable and telco affiliates.

Earlier this year, Starz officials detailed some plans for the "Play" offering, noting that it was finalizing contracts with several large operators. Robert Greene, the EVP of advanced services for Starz, suggested that his company could have multiple deals to announce this year. (See Starz Shops IPTV Service.)

As part of the broader deal announced Monday, Verizon's FiOS TV platform has secured carriage of 16 linear networks (including hi-def feeds) from the Starz, Encore, and MoviePlex trio, for the telco's FiOS TV service. The deal also covers associated subscription-VOD fare, including HD-VOD titles. Edit: It does not appear that you need to be a Verizon broadband subscriber (or even an existing Verizon customer) to sign up for Starz Play.

Starz Play uses Windows Media Player for title viewing.

Vusion Exits Stealth-Mode to Reach Massive Audiences with HD Quality Video Over the Internet (http://www.vusion.com/news/2008/pr_08_05_05_Vusion_Exits_Stealth_Mode.pdf)

SAN JOSE, Calif., - May 5, 2008 – Vusion, Inc., providers of instant-on, full-screen, HD quality streaming video, today announced its formal company launch, leaving behind its stealth-mode name of ‘Jittr Networks’. Vusion will deliver the industry’s first end-to-end online video distribution service capable of providing the scalability and reach to serve true HD and DVD quality video to 95 percent of all broadband consumers.

The high bandwidth fees and limited reach of current content delivery technologies has made streaming video a loss leader for even the most highly trafficked web properties. Vusion's technology has been designed to answer the great demand among media companies and content providers for an end-to-end service to efficiently monetize assets through the delivery of high-quality video over the standard Internet.

“Recent industry research shows that the digital media market is the fastest growing sector of the Internet, and video, in particular, will soon represent 90 percent of all Internet traffic,” said Elie Habib, Vusion President and CEO. “Media companies positioned to provide the highest quality viewing experience with their video content will inevitability generate more page views and deliver better value for their advertisers. Vusion is the first in the market to deliver true 720p HD quality video in the scale, clarity and reliability that the Internet user population demands.”

“Radical changes in the way that end users access and consume video content are driving both viewers and advertising revenues to rapidly shift from television to the Internet,” said Aaron Crayford, Founder and CTO. “Our technology is ideally suited for media companies looking to move from delivering short format, low quality video to longer-play, high-definition video in order to better monetize their assets, differentiate their online presence and generate increased Web traffic.”

Vusion’s Founder and CTO invested four years of research and development to create the next generation core network infrastructure and proprietary WARP technology, which is based on intelligent distributed computing algorithms, in order to deliver truly next generation Quality of Service.

Vusion’s advanced WARP technology is a significant departure from traditional content delivery networks. Utilizing a dense architecture with ten times the throughput of standard data centers, WARP enables Vusion’s service to scale to tens of millions of concurrent users. By providing the scalability and reach to serve 95 percent of the broadband population, Vusion ensures that the maximal part of the monetizable market will be able to access and stream HD content from its customer’s web properties.

TiVo to Offer Movie Rentals From the Walt Disney Studios on Demand (http://www.examiner.com/p-172709~TiVo_to_Offer_Movie_Rentals_From_the_Walt_Disney_Stud ios_on_Demand.html)

TiVo Inc. (Nasdaq: TIVO), the creator of and a leader in television services for digital video recorders (DVRs), today announced that TiVo subscribers will soon be able to download movies from The Walt Disney Studios to their broadband connected TiVo(R) DVRs directly from the TV.

Titles will be available to rent through an agreement with Disney-ABC and CinemaNow, a digital entertainment provider of high-quality Hollywood movies and TV shows across multiple platforms, and the latest partner to join TiVo's broadband efforts. The companies will offer the movies for a 24-hour rental period in standard definition, with many also available in high definition.

"We are very excited to be working with Disney and CinemaNow. Adding Disney movies really delivers on TiVo's promise to offer the best television entertainment experience with unlimited content choices that are easy to navigate across broadcast, cable, and broadband using one device, one remote, and one user interface," said Tara Maitra, Vice President and GM of Content Services at TiVo Inc.

"TiVo has always delivered a superior experience," said Dan Cohen, executive vice president of pay television and interactive media, Disney-ABC Domestic Television. "We're pleased that their subscribers will be able to enjoy our extensive catalog of new releases and classic library titles."

The service is available to all broadband-connected TiVo Series2(TM) and Series3(TM) subscribers later this year. TiVo offers more than 30,000 titles through Amazon Unbox, Music Choice and more than 50 other content providers. The company recently announced that TiVo subscribers will be able to access YouTube videos directly on the TV via the TiVo DVR this summer.

Amazon To Launch Paid Video Streaming (http://seekingalpha.com/article/79186-amazon-to-launch-paid-video-streaming)

Next topic: music and video downloads. Bezos says he is “very serious” about the business; he says it is in some ways harder because there are so many participants. It has a glamor element, that attracts people; he says they are working on for-pay streaming service that will be unveiled in a few weeks; will start instantly, a la carte for pay. (Hey, actual news!)

Iger: Nets Should Embrace VOD (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6564558.html?desc=topstory)

The Walt Disney Co. CEO Robert Iger told an audience at an industry conference Wednesday that programming networks need to embrace video on demand to survive in the changing media landscape.

Iger, speaking at the Sanford Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference in New York, said that many programmers have been reluctant to provide compelling content to the VOD platform “until the opportunity becomes really obvious.”

But he said the viewing habits of younger viewers will force content providers to allow more of their content to appear on the platform.

“Everybody will get there. I can’t tell you when,” Iger said. “I actually believe that consumers, particularly young consumers, are going to be much less tolerant of accessing or getting programming in a linear form on a traditional network and much more demanding of the product they get in a video-on-demand form, meaning individually.”

“If you’re not in that space, you’re going to get marginalized,” he added.

But there are still issues with the VOD platform, he said.

“There are still navigational issues; we also have to make sure that the product that we give them is compelling,” Iger said. “I think it has to be day and date with the DVD business and the home video business and we’ve done that in some markets as a test. I think you have to have a rich library, not only the newest stuff but you have to have a lot of older stuff. I think we’ll get there.”

Netflix CEO: Streaming will double subscriptions (http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6564758.html)

MAY 28 | Netflix expects to more than double its subscriber base within a decade, with video-streaming services fueling growth after DVD rentals peak, the company’s chief executive said at an investors’ conference in San Francisco today.

The U.S. movie-rental leader via mail will surpass 20 million subscribers and ultimately phase out DVD mailings, whose volume will peak between 2013 and 2018, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said. The company said last month that its first-quarter subscriber base grew 21% from a year earlier, to 8.24 million.

“The market that can be reached through streaming is much larger than DVD,” said Hastings, who didn’t give a specific timeframe on the subscription surge. “We should be able to get well beyond 20 million subscribers.”

Netflix last week started selling a set-top box that allows subscribers to stream movies directly to their TV sets from Netflix’s Web site, marking its first foray into streaming media directly to customers’ TVs. Netflix Player by Roku, which was co-developed by digital-media technology company Roku Inc. and can be connected to the Internet via a wireless home network, sells for $99.99.

Netflix said in January that it would develop set-top streaming boxes with LG Electronics and others as it competes with a growing number of movie-streaming or download services, including Apple TV and Amazon.com’s Unbox.

Netflix's streaming service for personal computers launched last year and has since boosted its content inventory to 10,000 titles from 2,000.

Hastings said today that he hoped that partnerships with various consumer-electronics companies such as Roku would help enable as many as 10 million customers to have TVs that could connect to Netflix via the Internet by the end of next year.

“We named our company ‘Netflix’ and not ‘DVD By Mail’ for a reason,” Hastings said.

Apple to Announce Hollywood Deal for Film Downloads, Times Says (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=aTjlY0TRjqcc&refer=uk)

May 29 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. is set to announce it will start selling films from four major Hollywood studios for download from its online iTunes store in the U.K. at about the same price as DVDs, the London-based Times reported.

Apple plans to unveil agreements with Walt Disney Co. and Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures, the Times said. News Corp.'s Twentieth Century Fox and Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. are also set to sign up to the agreement, according to the newspaper.

Unidentified studio people said Apple would not want to undercut DVD prices, suggesting the prices will be between about 6 pounds ($11.89) and 25 pounds, the Times said.

Canada is also expected to be included in the deal, according to the newspaper.

Time Warner Cable to offer web to TV link (http://www.reuters.com/article/televisionNews/idUSN3030690720080531)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Time Warner Cable Inc plans to offer subscribers an easier way to bring Internet video to their television screens as part of an overall home networking system, Chief Executive Glenn Britt said on Friday.

"Right now it's pretty hard to get Internet stuff on your TV," Britt said at the Sanford C. Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference in New York.

"We're actually going to have equipment we make available to subscribers," he said. "It's actually going to be a new wireless cable modem that will allow you to network everything in your house."

Britt gave few specific details on how the service would work or when it would be available.

"Within a relatively short time ... it's going to be very easy to get Internet TV on your big screen TV," he said, estimating it would take between one to two years to popularize such technology already sold by the likes of Apple Inc.

Apple TV lets users take a movie downloaded to their personal computer and watch it on their television screen.

TiVo Inc lets many of its subscribers select Web video from providers such as The Onion, the New York Times and CNET Networks. The video is downloaded from the Internet to a TiVo set-top box for viewing later.

But web-to-TV technology is still in its early days, due in part to the complexity of making web video look good on higher resolution TVs.

Consumers may also be hesitant to navigate the thousands of web sites that offer unique video, and to buy more equipment in addition to paying monthly cable or satellite fees.

Major cable operators have had success spreading such technologies among their large pool of subscribers, including the digital video recording technology that originally made TiVo famous.

Warner begins online on-demand service (http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/warner-begins-online-on-demand-service-379455)

Warner Bros has unveiled an online site that delivers an archive of on-demand shows from its television back catalogue.

Launched as a private Beta, TheWB.com allows users to watch shows such as Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Friends and Smallville as and when they want. That is if you’re based in the US.

This comes after Warner Bros started adding on-demand movie content to various download services such as: Amazon Unibox, iTunes, Cinemanow, Vudu, Xbox 360 and on a variety of cable channels.

The films currently available on demand include: Michael Clayton, Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix and The Assassination Of Jesse James.

Web-only

As well as offering famous shows for perusal, the site will also host web-only content. This will include a new web show created by Charlie’s Angels director McG, the online mystery drama Sorority Forever.

Aiming at the 18-34 audience, the site also offers a variety of new features such as an editing app, WBlender, that allows you to create your own TV mashups. There’s no word however if you can upload your ‘viral’ work to YouTube and the like as that, in theory, would still be piracy.

Speaking to the Guardian, a spokesperson for Warner Bros UK said that the company has no plans to launch the site in the UK, leaving another on-demand shaped hole for Brits everywhere.

Japan's top film rental chain offers high-definition downloads (http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gK-qS3DG9z8hUVqImCElVAxod46g)

TOKYO (AFP) — Japan's top film rental chain Tsutaya on Thursday unveiled a download-on-demand broadband service, letting customers rent titles from home without going to the store.

The service by Tsutaya, which counts 27.2 million members at its 1,330 branches across Japan, is the latest sign of the growing market for high-definition television in Japan.

Tsutaya, part of the Culture Convenience Club (CCC) Group, will start the service Friday by allowing downloads of the first season of hit US television series such as "Heroes," "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives."

A customer can download a title and watch it over a 48-hour period using Actvila, a portal set for interactive services launched by Japan's major television makers.

Tsutaya plans to raise its catalogue of downloadable titles to 2,000 by the end of the year via agreements with four major Hollywood studios -- Paramount, Warner Brothers, Walt Disney and NBC Universal.

Renting a full-length movie through the service will cost 735 yen (seven dollars), with a lesser price for shorter films.

Use of the service requires high-speed fibre-optic connections, which are gradually replacing ADSL lines. Nearly 12 million of Japan's 48 million households have a fibre-optic Internet service.

Tsutaya hopes that the new service will pull in more customers with higher disposable incomes in the 40-50 age range.

Actvila was developed by Japan's major television makers -- Sharp, Sony, Matsushita, Toshiba and Hitachi -- and is compatible with several dozen models of plasma or liquid crystal display sets.

Prices of such high-definition televisions have been on the decline, creating a larger market of viewers.

Japan has been a leader in digital television broadcasts, which require advanced sets, and plans to end analogue broadcasts entirely in 2011.

Disney streams catalog movies online
Finding Nemo, others, air a week after ABC broadcast (http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6568864.html)

JUNE 10 | Disney.com will begin streaming full-length movies at its site for the first time, which is intended to boost the Wonderful World of Disney summer TV series.

The Web site will make such films as Finding Nemo, Monster’s Inc. and Peter Pan available one week after their broadcast on ABC.

The network will air the films, also including Haunted Mansion, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, Princess Diaries 2 and Freaky Friday, as part of ABC’s Saturday night Wonderful World programmingblock.

Finding Nemo will be Disney.com’s debut feature, with streams available now through June 13. The online schedule is rounded out by Monsters Inc., June 16-20; Haunted Mansion, June 30-July 4; Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, July 7-11; Princess Diaries 2, July 14-18; Freaky Friday, July 21-25; and Peter Pan, Aug. 4-8. The movie offering is featured prominently on the site's home page.

The Web site also will stream Camp Rock, featuring Disney Channel favoritesthe Jonas Brothers on June 23, following its TV premiere on the network on June 20.

“Streaming full-length films on Disney.com takes our commitment to delivering world-class online entertainment to the next level,” said Paul Yanover, executive VP and managing director at Disney Online. “This is a wonderful partnership with ABC, and just another example of how Disney’s unmatched, high-quality content can be leveraged on multiple platforms.”

Silverlight 2 Beta2 Released (http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2008/06/06/silverlight-2-beta2-released.aspx)

Among the new features:

Adaptive Streaming

Beta2 adds support for "adaptive streaming" - which enables you to encode media at multiple bit-rates and then have a Silverlight application dynamically switch between them depending on the network and CPU conditions.

This enables much richer end-user media experiences - since it makes it possible for content providers to provide both lower-end and higher-end bit rate versions of a video, and then have Silverlight choose the optimal one to use based on an end-user's machine hardware and network capacity. If while watching the video the machine or network conditions change, Silverlight can automatically switch to a more appropriate bit-rate without any buffering or interruption glitch.

Silverlight's support for adaptive streaming is extensible - which enables anyone to plug-in their own logic to control where the media content comes from, and what bit-rate should be used. This means that any CDN or media delivery provider can easily integrate their systems with Silverlight and deliver super high quality video delivery.

Execs Talk Future of VOD, Online, Set-top Boxes at iHollywood Forum (http://www.homemediamagazine.com/news/html/breaking_article.cfm?article_id=12903)

Cisco Sees a Zettaflood of IP Traffic – Driven by Video (http://www.contentinople.com/author.asp?section_id=450&doc_id=156555)

Driven primarily by an explosion in online video, total IP traffic is expected to reach half a zettabyte by 2012, according to new research by Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO).

With traffic nearly doubling every two years, the Cisco Visual Networking Index forecasts IP traffic to increase by a factor of six from 6.6 million exabytes per month in 2007 to 44 exabytes per month -- or an annual run rate of 522 exabytes per year -- in 2012. (A zettabyte is 1,000 exabytes. Or, it's a 1 with 21 zeros behind it, for you non-math geeks.)

Now, not everybody agrees on the exact numbers. Research company IDC recently predicted that by 2011, there will be 1.8 zettabytes of traffic in existence -- anywhere.

Cisco says that much of the growth of data traffic has come in the past few years. Traffic grew 55 percent in 2007, and is expected to grow 63 percent in 2008.

http://img.lightreading.com/contentinople/2008/06/156555/3400.jpg

HP MediaSmart Connect Makes It Easy to Enjoy Digital Media from Any HDTV (http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080616006667&newsLang=en)

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--HP (NYSE:HPQ) today announced that HP MediaSmart Connect, a digital receiver that brings digital media from around the home or the Internet(1) to any HDTV, is now available for pre-order.

Whether digital videos, music and photos are stored on a notebook across the room or a desktop in a home office,(2) HP MediaSmart Connect can find and display them all in a single list on any HDTV.(3)

Additionally, the digital media receiver can connect people to a wealth of online content from wherever they watch TV. Consumers can, for example, rent or purchase thousands of day-and-date release movies from CinemaNow, share and purchase photos from Snapfish (http://www.snapfish.com) and discover new Internet(1) radio stations from Live365.

First announced as part of the HP product launch at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show, HP MediaSmart Connect features a sleek design with a piano-black finish as well as HP’s exclusive “Zen” Imprint design and ambient blue lighting.

“HP MediaSmart Connect is an ideal complement to any HDTV,” said Carlos Montalvo, vice president of marketing and services, Connected Entertainment Business, HP. “Consumers can use it to enjoy videos, music and photos – once trapped on PCs – on their big-screen HDTVs. Show and tell has never been more fun.”

Extender for Windows® Media Center offers extended world of entertainment

HP MediaSmart takes advantage of Extender for Windows Media Center technology, giving owners an additional set of features using PCs with Windows Vista® Home Premium or Windows Vista Ultimate operating systems.(4)

Consumers can enjoy a world of content from online services such as Vongo, MovieLink and FOX Sports. Windows Media Center also features the Internet TV Beta, which offers more than 100 hours of video from MSN, including new shows from providers such as A&E, Bio, CNBC, DIY, Fine Living, Food Network, FOX Sports, HGTV, History Channel, iFilm, MSNBC, National Geographic, NBC News and StupidVideos. Consumers with a PC that has a TV tuner(5) can record and watch broadcast TV through the MediaSmart Connect on their HDTVs, too.

“With HP MediaSmart Connect, HP is bringing to market a compelling Media Center Extender device,” said Ron Pessner, general manager, Connected TV division, Microsoft. “Connected CE products like these are delivering engaging consumer experiences for today’s digital lifestyle. The new MediaSmart Connect will enable people to extend their entertainment to their HDTV from a Windows Vista Home Premium or Windows Vista Ultimate-based PC – delivering innovation as a result of our relationship with HP.”

“HP’s new MediaSmart Connect delivers the finest Media Center Extender consumer experience,” said Richard Doherty, research director, Envisioneering Group. “HP has heeded consumers and engineered in everything from DivX support to Windows XP compatibility, all propelled by HD-quality 802.11n wireless connectivity.”

Streaming digital media to HDTV made easier

HP MediaSmart Connect can connect to other UPnP- and DLNA-compliant devices, and as part of the HP MediaSmart family of products, it also can access personal content from the HP MediaSmart Server or HP Media Vault. HP MediaSmart Connect can stream digital media over wired and wireless(6) (802.11a, b and g, and dual-band draft 802.11n)(7) networks and features two USB ports as well as an HP Pocket Media Drive bay (drive sold separately) for easy transition of digital media from HP PCs.

HP MediaSmart Connect makes it easy for the whole family to enjoy photos, music and videos together in front of a big-screen TV by supporting a wide range of video, audio and image formats, including MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DiVX, XVID, DVR-MS, WMV and WMV-HD; MP3, WMA, WMA Pro and AAC (unprotected); JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF and PNG.

HP MediaSmart Connect owners can choose to connect to their HDTV through an HDMI port or component video with optical audio out.

Connected entertainment industry experts discuss the HP MediaSmart Connect

HP, in conjunction with Microsoft and retailers Amazon.com, Best Buy, Circuit City and Newegg.com, will conduct a series of webinars to discuss and demonstrate the capabilities of HP MediaSmart Connect. In addition, these experts will spark conversation and shed light on the future of connected entertainment. Consumers can sign up to attend a webinar at www.microsoft.com/hpmediasmartconnect.

Date Time Guest expert

Tuesday, June 24 10 a.m. PT Ed Bott - Independent blogger for ZDNet.com
Thursday, June 26 1 p.m. PT Ian Dixon - TheDigitalLifestyle.com
Tuesday, July 8 10 a.m. PT Patrick Norton - Tekzilla.com
Thursday, July 10 1 p.m. PT Mike Garcen - MissingRemote.com

Pricing and availability

HP MediaSmart Connect can be pre-ordered beginning today from Amazon.com, BestBuy.com, CircuitCity.com and Newegg.com. HP MediaSmart Connect includes an HDMI cable, a learning remote control that can control four additional devices, and a $20 CinemaNow movie certificate. Manufacturer’s suggested retail price is $349.(8) More information is available at www.hp.com/mediasmartconnect. If that last link doesn't work - try this: http://www.hp.com/united-states/campaigns/mediasmart-connect/index.html#/Main/

From newegg.com (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882511024&Tpk=mediasmart%2bconnect)

Brand HP
Model x280n
Features
Features Play your music, photos, and video from any Windows-based PC in your house on your HDTV

Direct access to OnLine Media Services

Integrated Windows Media Center Extender functionality

HP Pocket Media Drive bay

Built-in wired and wireless networking - IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n

HDMI, Component video, and digital audio outputs

Media playback from USB-based portable storage media
Spec
Specifications Video Output: 720p (60 Hz) 1080i

Video Formats: MPEG-1, MPEG-2 MP@ML, MPEG-2 MP@HL, MPEG-4 ASP, DivX, WMV, WMV-HD, DVR-MS, H.264 (MP4)

Photo Formats: JPEG, BMP, GIF, PNG

Music Formats: MP2, MP3, WMA, WMA-Pro, AAC (m4a)

Online Services: Snapfish, CinemaNow, Live365, and others

Media Servers: WMP11 or UPnP and DLNA-compliant servers such as HP's Media Vault and MediaSmart servers

Digital Rights Management: Windows Media, DivX

Windows Media Center Extender

Automatic Content Aggregation

Mass-Storage Media (Read only)

Color: Piano Black

Finish: Gloss with "Zen" pattern
Connectors HDMI Out: 1

Component Out: 1

Stereo Analog Audio Out: 1

Digital Audio Out: 1 (Optical)

USB Ports: 1 rear, 1 front

HP Pocket Media Drive Bay: 1

Wireless: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n

Ethernet Adapter: 1 (10/100-Base T)
Power Requirement Power Supply: 100-240V AC 50/60Hz

Power Consumption: 22 Watts
Dimensions 8.5" x 8.5" x 1.8"
Weight 3.5 lbs.

Apple Renting & Selling Over 50,000 Movies Per Day (http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2008/06/19itunes.html)

CUPERTINO, California—June 19, 2008—Apple® today announced that music fans have purchased and downloaded over five billion songs from the iTunes® Store (www.itunes.com). iTunes is the number one music retailer in the US* and features the largest music catalog with over eight million songs. Also, iTunes customers are now renting and purchasing over 50,000 movies every day, making iTunes the world’s most popular online movie store.

http://venturebeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/hancockmov.jpg

Sony to start digitally distributing movies before they come out on DVD (http://www.thestandard.com/news/2008/06/26/sony-start-digitally-distributing-movies-they-come-out-dvd)

As you may know, Sony owns a movie studio. That studio is releasing a big budget Will Smith superhero movie this Summer called Hancock. When Hancock is available to buy in a few months, guess where you will first be able to buy it? Not iTunes, not even DVD, but Sony’s own digital distribution service to be launched this Fall, Sony chief executive Howard Stringer told an audience in Tokyo this morning.

This is part of Sony’s plan to make its television and video game divisions profitable once again. Its new Bravia line of televisions will be able to receive downloads via the Internet without hooking up to cable or satellite. The same will likely be true for its Playstation 3 video game console, which will roll out its digital movie download service this summer.

If it can get access to Sony movies before they are released anywhere else, that could certainly help the company move more units — as well as give it a foothold in an arena it’s already late to: Digital distribution in the living room.

Both Microsoft and Apple have a big head start on Sony in that realm with their Xbox 360 and Apple TV devices respectively. Neither of those companies owns a movie studio however.

The move is somewhat interesting though by Sony. After all, it is the key proponent of the Blu-ray high definition disc format, which only recently beat its HD DVD rival (which Microsoft had backed). Blu-ray is also a key component of the PS3, and Sony appears to be undercutting it if it starts sending movies digitally before they come to that format.

This is a big step towards legitimizing digital distribution as the wave of the future for video. The Hollywood studios are still terrified of the digital piracy that has crippled the music industry, but the shift is inevitable. It’s good to see Sony taking the lead in innovation and forward thinking once again.

well this is a great source of video downloads and softwares

Netflix's Online Movie Dreams (http://www.forbes.com/technology/2008/07/02/netflix-roku-box-tech-intel-cx_mji_0702netflix.html)

Saratoga, Calif.-based Roku, best known for its networked music player SoundBridge, in May rolled out a set-top box that streams Netflix (nasdaq: NFLX - news - people ) movies. The company, in which Los Gatos, Calif.-based Netflix owns a minority stake, says it sold out its first shipment in three weeks. To keep up with demand, Roku has ramped up production in its factory in Asia and is air-freighting units to the U.S., says Tim Twerdahl, Roku's vice president of consumer products.

Twerdahl wouldn't disclose sales figures, but he says Roku calculated initial shipments based on sales of competing digital delivery products such as Apple (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ) TV and Vudu. Twerdahl also says the Roku player won't be limited to Netflix. Later this year, a simple software update will allow the box to stream content from other "big name" providers.

In addition to Roku, Netflix has also partnered with LG Electronics and two other suppliers of set-top boxes. Microsoft's (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) Xbox is said to be a potential partner.

Netflix to Distribute Films on Microsoft Xbox 360 (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aKJRizBCzT74&refer=home)

July 14 (Bloomberg) -- Netflix Inc. will deliver movies over the Internet to owners of Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 video- game console under an agreement the companies will announce today, according to a person with knowledge of the plans.

The accord, set to be unveiled at the E3 video-game conference in Los Angeles, will give Netflix, the largest U.S. mail-order movie service, a way to offer film rentals to 12 million Xbox users, said the person, who declined to be identified since the announcement isn't yet public.

Netflix, with 8.2 million customers, already offers movies on computers. In May, the Los Gatos, California-based company began streaming films to TVs equipped with a $99 converter box from Roku Inc. Netflix hopes that delivering movies to TVs on demand will help it grow to 20 million users, Chief Executive Officer Reed Hastings told analysts on May 27.

"It's a totally different proposition, so it's quite important, said Paul Jackson, a Forrester Research Inc. analyst in London. "In the future, everything is going to downloads. It's ludicrously inefficient to ship all those silver disks.''

...

Less Inventory

Netflix spokesman Ken Ross declined to comment on the agreement, as did Katie Abrahamson, an outside spokeswoman for Microsoft. In a June 9 interview, Hastings said Netflix was working on deals to embed its movie-streaming software in devices from three major consumer-electronics companies.

Fewer movies are available online or on demand through viewers' televisions. Netflix has Internet rights to 10,000 movies, compared with more than 100,000 available on DVD, according to the company's Web site. On-demand TV service is included in Netflix plans costing $8.99 to $23.99 a month.

The gap will close as studios negotiate online rights deals for old movies, Hastings, 47, said in May. The lure to studios is that they will capture nearly all of the money Netflix now spends on postage, about a third of its revenue, Hastings said.

"If you were the studios, you would want this to happen,'' said Hastings, who is a member of Microsoft's board.

Digital distribution will help Netflix expand internationally, Piper Jaffray & Co. analyst Michael Olson wrote in a May 29 report.

The more flexible service should also help reduce customer cancellations, Forrester's Jackson said.

^

XBox 360 to stream Netflix movies (http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gAeLpFUmF7uINATNoiOHlH9SR_cwD91TRVSG1)

Hastings hopes to add about 8,000 more titles to the streaming service during the next 18 months.

Sony Begins Offering Video Downloads On Playstation 3 (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121615991134456129.html?mod=googlenews_wsj)

Sony Corp. began offering a video-downloading service Tuesday for its PlayStation 3 videogame console, part of its aim to broaden its audience and grab a piece of the growing content-downloading market.

The launch also reflects the fruits of a three-year push by Sony Chief Executive Howard Stringer to revitalize the company by getting its business units to work more closely with one another.

Sony said its video service will let users rent or buy movies and television shows produced by major studios and production companies -- including Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures -- and watch them on TV sets through its PlayStation Network in the U.S.

Sony's video-downloading service will face stiff competition from rivals like Microsoft Corp. and Apple Inc., which are already a step ahead in such services. Microsoft on Monday announced a deal with Netflix Inc. to stream movies over the Internet to the Xbox 360 game console.

Park Associates, a market-research and consulting firm, estimates that annual revenue from Internet video, including ad-based and user-paid services, could reach $5.3 billion by 2010 and $12.4 billion by the end of 2012 in the U.S. alone.

Sony hopes to gain an edge in that market by letting users take programming they have purchased and view it on their handheld PlayStation Portable devices as well as on TV sets. The company previously said it plans by March 2011 to make the service available through other key products, such as its Vaio computers, Walkman music players and Sony Ericsson mobile phones.

Announcing the service at E3, the game industry's big annual conference in Los Angeles, Sony said its TV-show rentals will cost $1.99 per episode and that movie rentals will cost $2.99 to $5.99. Movie purchases will start at $9.99. Some of the programming will be viewable in high definition.

Sony's new service will be a test of how well the company has been able to change its traditional hardware-oriented mindset and move toward integrating software, services and content in a way appealing to consumers. Mr. Stringer has been laying the groundwork for that transition by promoting executives with strengths in software and content.
...

Netflix: We'll Try Silverlight (http://www.contentinople.com/author.asp?section_id=450&doc_id=159072)

In its attempt to open up streaming video functionality to non-PC users, Netflix Inc. could begin using Microsoft Silverlight as its video platform of choice, according to a company representative.

In a phone interview with Contentinople, Netflix director of corporate communications Steve Swasey says the video rental company could look to Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT)'s new OS- and browser-agnostic video platform.

The main issue is that, currently, the Windows-based DRM solution that Netflix employs only works on Windows. Microsoft's PlayReady DRM is designed to work with Silverlight across platforms, but, according to Microsoft, the Silverlight 2 plug-in won't be available until later this fall.

"We're looking at Silverlight and we've actually said some very complimentary things about Silverlight against other platforms," Swasey says.

That could be a boon to non-PC users that are also Netflix subscribers. Despite being available for a year and a half, Netflix has yet to make the streaming functionality available on Mac OS or other, non-Microsoft operating systems.

...

Amazon Bows VOD Service (http://www.homemediamagazine.com/news/html/breaking_article.cfm?article_id=13143)

Amazon.com July 17 reportedly began beta testing a proprietary video-on-demand service that gives consumers access to about 40,000 movies and TV shows for streaming and download.

Titles and pricing were not immediately available.

The service, which includes most major studio fare with the exception of The Walt Disney Co., whose programming is earmarked for Apple’s iTunes, underscored a heady week for digital distribution of entertainment.

Netflix and Microsoft July 14 confirmed long anticipated scuttlebutt the online DVD rental pioneer would begin streaming movie and TV content via the Xbox 360, and Sony Corp. announced a digital movie and TV service through the Playstation 3. Separately, Lionsgate July 16 said it would increase availability of free clips of its feature films to third parties on YouTube.

Amazon also inked a deal with Sony Electronics that would connect the VOD service to Sony’s line of Bravia high-definition televisions via a proprietary $300 wireless Internet video link.

The VOD deal appears to circumvent Amazon’s Unbox download service, which reportedly has generated minor traction among consumers due to its special software requirements and limited availability beyond the PC.

Wireless connectivity between the TV and the Internet was a consistent forward-looking theme in January at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Many experts say consumer electronics manufacturers are on the verge of bridging the formidable gap between the TV and Web.

“Creating this on-demand available-everywhere access to premium content is going to be very attractive to consumers,” said Robert Jacobs, senior manager at Sony Electronics, as reported by the New York Times.

Analysts say the news may put pressure on Blockbuster Inc. to ready previously announced plans to re-launch download movie service Movielink. The Dallas-based rental company has said it intended to incorporate the service into a revamped Web site, among other venues.

Edward Woo, media analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities in Los Angeles, said he had expected Blockbuster to make an announcement during the second quarter. The recent developments, he said, could expedite matters.

“It’s now past the second quarter, so maybe soon,” Woo said.

A Blockbuster representative was not immediately available for comment.

CBS goes high-def online, gets more TV viewers (http://www.videobusiness.com/blog/1730000173/post/160030616.html)

CBS is embracing online video even more. This week is launched the CBS HD Gallery (http://www.cbs.com/hd/), offering high-def clips and full episodes of shows including CSI, Survivor, How I Met Your Mother, Big Brother, The Amazing Race and The Big Bang Theory.

Netflix Partners With LG to Bring Movies Straight to TV (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/03/technology/03netflix.html)

SAN FRANCISCO — Netflix, the DVD-by-mail company with more than seven million customers, has a new strategy that may one day make those red envelopes obsolete.

The company wants to strike deals with electronics companies that will let it send movies straight to TV screens over the Internet. Its first partnership, announced Wednesday night, is with the South Korean manufacturer LG Electronics to stream movies and other programming to LG’s high-definition televisions.

The partnership will extend a novel feature from Netflix, announced a year ago, that allows paying subscribers to watch any of 6,000 movies and television shows on its Web site free. But that service can be accessed only with a personal computer.

Reed Hastings, chief executive of Netflix, said he hoped to strike other such deals and that Netflix would soon be viewed as a movie channel that might appear on myriad devices.

“We want to be integrated on every Internet-connected device, game system, high-definition DVD player and dedicated Internet set-top box,” he said. “Eventually, as TVs have wireless connectivity built into them, we’ll integrate right into the television.”

The move could help transform Netflix from a successful company with a cumbersome dependence on physical media and the Postal Service into an important player in a rapidly emerging digital media landscape.

That landscape has recently been characterized by a frenzy of experimentation, as technology and media companies try to figure out how to bring the unlimited media choices of the Internet to the traditionally restricted confines of the television.

The players include cable, satellite and telephone companies. Newer entrants include Amazon.com, which lets customers buy movies over its Unbox service and download them to their TiVo boxes. Wal-Mart, which experimented with movie downloads on its Web site, pulled the plug on the service last month when Hewlett-Packard, its partner in the project, stopped supporting the technology.

Then there is the digital media heavyweight Apple. At the annual Macworld expo opening on Jan. 15, the company plans to announce a deal to allow users of its iTunes service to rent films from some Hollywood studios and watch them on their computers and iPods.

Richard Doherty, research director of the Envisioneering Group, a market research firm, said Netflix’s model had the virtue of being free to existing subscribers and relatively easy for consumers to understand. “You’re already a subscriber and you don’t pay anything extra. That’s called a slam dunk in most businesses we follow,” Mr. Doherty said.

The companies said LG products with Netflix’s movie service would begin shipping in the second half of this year. They did not say which devices would have it.

Mr. Doherty, who was briefed on the Netflix announcement and LG’s other plans to be unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week, said LG could integrate the Netflix service into a future version of its dual-mode HD DVD/Blu-ray DVD player, which now sells for $799, and a new line of high-definition TVs with wireless connections to the Internet, among other products.

...

Blockbuster’s New Download (Beta) Service Explained (http://www.ehomeupgrade.com/2008/08/11/blockbusters-new-download-beta-service-explained/)

http://www.ehomeupgrade.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/blockbuster_download_beta_new_releases_screenshot.jpg

It appears that Blockbuster has rolled out their new “Download” Rent/Buy movie service to all subscribers now (based on Movielink’s IP). In fact, one can download movies without having a recurring rental package subscription in place – you just need to create a Blockbuster account. Basically you pay for what you want to watch. New movies on average cost $3.99 for rentals and $17.99 to own/buy. The official Blockbuster Download price range for “Rent Downloads” is $0–$3.00+ and “Buy Downloads” is $9.99–$20.00+. Unfortunately, for Mac and Linux users, the service only works with Windows 2003/XP/Vista computers with Windows Media Player 10 installed. On the bright side, if you do have a compatible Windows PC, the movies you rent or purchase can be viewed through Windows Media Center, the Xbox 360, or select Netgear and D-Link media adapters (most likely the ones who currently support Movielink). What’s more, it appears that Blockbuster has maintained its partnership with AT&T HomeZone to allow users to download movies directly to their set-top.

RENTAL TERMS
Storage Period: Up to 30 Days
You’re allowed to store a rental for up to 30 days after checkout. Once you start playback, you can watch it as many times as you want during a 24-hour viewing period.

Viewing Period: 24 HOURS
Your 24-hour viewing period begins when you click “Ready to Play.” Watch the movie as many times as you want within this period. You must use the 24-hour viewing period within the movie’s storage period.

PURCHASE TERMS
Storage Period: Unlimited

Viewing Period: Unlimited

Multi-PC Playback: 1 PC
Some content providers allow you to play your purchased movie on up to three PCs. However, Blockbuster does not currently support multi-PC playback (may be added at a later date).

Movies Offered Online For 99 Cents

14 August 2008 10:24 AM, PDT | From Studio Briefing | See recent Studio Briefing news

In another sign that the online video business is struggling to remain viable, the rental service Vudu announced Wednesday that it is temporarily slashing the price of many of its popular movies to 99 cents, half its regular price. During a promotional period, Vudu said it will introduce 25 new titles each week. The announcement comes just one day after two competitors, Vongo and ClickStar, announced that they were shutting down. Vudu, however, gave no hint that it had cut prices out of desperation. In a statement, Vudu marketing chief Patrick Cosson called the company's decision "groundbreaking," and added, "In this age of $4 a gallon gas and 'staycations,' we felt that Vudu viewers deserved a break and should be able to watch great films for just 99 cents." However, a settop box costing $295 is required to watch those films. NetFlix's similar video streaming service requires a box, the Roku NetFlix Player, costing $99. A NetFlix subscription is also required.

http://us.imdb.com/news/ni0550986/

Blockbuster’s New Download (Beta) Service Explained (http://www.ehomeupgrade.com/2008/08/11/blockbusters-new-download-beta-service-explained/)

http://www.ehomeupgrade.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/blockbuster_download_beta_new_releases_screenshot.jpg
What megabits per second are they using? Do these download services offer equivalent viewing quality as SD-DVD, 720x480 anamorphic? Or is the typical bandwidth (1.5 megabits/second) insufficient?

http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/12/vongo-dies-very-few-notice/

With apologies to Shakespeare, something is brewing at VUDU. With CEDIA just around the corner, the company has laid off some of its staff, most notably some of its marketing higher-ups. Additionally, rumors are swirling regarding just about every aspect of the upstart company's future. CEPro got some talk-time with the VUDU's national dealer channel manager, and a theme of decreased emphasis on the retail channel seems to run throughout the conversation, punctuated by a end-of-life status on the VUDU X100. Meanwhile, the company is making some CEDIA promises for its custom-install-targeted VUDU XL: more HD content (1,000 titles), more connectivity (HD over component) and lifetime warranties on purchased titles. It's all rumor, but we wouldn't be surprised to see VUDU move exclusively into the custom-install market where it seems to have a toe-hold. So what say ye -- is something rotten in VUDU, or should we hang up the codpiece and get back to work?http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/08/24/double-toil-and-trouble-vudu-rumor-pot-bubbles-over/

Amazon Bows VOD, TV Link (http://www.homemediamagazine.com/news/html/breaking_article.cfm?article_id=13446)

Amazon.com Sept. 3 expanded the periphery of its Unbox download service by launching Amazon Video on Demand.

The updated service allows users to watch ad-supported movies and television programs beyond the PC and to the television.

Users can now instantly stream content on a PC or Mac computer, portable media player via a Web browser or on a Sony Bravia HDTV equipped with a Bravia Internet link device.

Amazon VOD offers rentals from $3 to $4 and electronic sellthrough of movies from $10 to $15. TV episodes cost $1.99 each, with season passes also available.

Bravia customers can visit amazon.com/videoondemand/bravia and link their HDTV to their Amazon account. After a purchase is made, the title can be watched immediately. A backup version is automatically sent to the user’s online account and accessible from the Internet video link user interface or on Amazon.

Amazon VOD is currently offering key episodes from select NBC prime time TV shows last season, including “Secrets and Lies” from “30 Rock,” “Four Months Later …” from “Heroes,” and the pilot of “Lipstick Jungle.”

Roy Price, director of Amazon VOD, said the ability to watch content instantly without downloading first was among the most requested features by Unbox users.

"We're continuing to create new, convenient ways for our customers to watch digital movies and TV shows,” Price said.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/08/24/double-toil-and-trouble-vudu-rumor-pot-bubbles-over/

The rumors of Vudu's death has been actively discussed by their senior marketing team in/on many forums and even on follow-up Engadget comment/posts. Here is just one of the many articles:

http://www.cepro.com/article/vudu_debunks_rumors_of_demise/D1/

Of course those familiar with technology startups know the difficulties involved :eek: and know how rumors go around and around. Some of the rumors eventually prove to be true, but sometimes not. So far with Vudu, it appears to be "not".

The rumors of Vudu's death has been actively discussed by their senior marketing team in/on many forums and even on follow-up Engadget comment/posts. Here is just one of the many articles:

<snip>

Of course those familiar with technology startups know the difficulties involved :eek: and know how rumors go around and around. Some of the rumors eventually prove to be true, but sometimes not. So far with Vudu, it appears to be "not".

Tom,

I can confirm that the rumors of our demise have been greatly exaggerated. In fact, we just got back from a very successful CEDIA and our retail presence for the VBX100 box is growing rapidly. I'm happy to answer questions or squash inaccurate rumors.

Patrick Ellis
Sr Product Manager, VUDU

Microsoft's Silverlight to support streaming HD Flash video (http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=security&articleId=9114374&taxonomyId=17&intsrc=kc_top)

Silverlight 3 will be able to play high-definition Flash video and music in iTunes' AAC format

September 9, 2008 (Computerworld) Microsoft Corp. said today that the next version of its Silverlight media player, due early next year, will be able to play live high-definition video encoded for rival Adobe Systems Inc.'s Flash player.

Users of Silverlight 3 will also be able to listen to streaming music encoded in the same format used by Apple Inc.'s iTunes player.

Adding support for the H.264 video compression formats based on the increasingly popular MPEG-4 standard won't necessarily make Silverlight-viewed video look better.

Nor will supporting the Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) codec allow Silverlight to play music stored locally by iTunes, partly because of Apple Inc.'s restrictions, said Steven Sklepowich, group product manager for Silverlight Media.

But it will prepare Silverlight 3, which will ship in the first quarter of next year, to play a much wider variety of the streamed HD video and high-fidelity music that broadcasters are expected to bring online.

"We are becoming more of an open runtime environment," Sklepowich said.

Silverlight is a Web browser plug-in that allows users to watch or listen to streaming multimedia. It differs from Microsoft's Windows Media Player, which is mostly used to play back media already downloaded off the Internet.

When Microsoft first released Silverlight last fall, to compete with Flash, it required broadcasters to encode video in the VC-1 codec, a now-open standard for HD DVDs and Blu-ray Discs based on Windows Media formats.

VC-1 enabled true DVD-quality streaming video that is much higher quality than the Flash video on sites such as YouTube, where most of the videos are still encoded in the H.263 codec. Such files are streamed to Web browsers, which cache them as .flv files.

Adobe has since updated its Flash 9 player to play HD H.264 video files, which are stored temporarily as .f4v files. Both .f4v and .flv are different than .swf files, which can be downloaded and played by Flash offline. (Silverlight today plays streamed video in the .asf file container format.)

Silverlight 3 won't be able to play .flv or .swf content, said Sklepowich. But it will be able to play H.264-based .f4v content.

Related StoryNBC scored Olympic gold with Silverlight but online ads failed to placeMicrosoft had long resisted calls to make its Silverlight player more compatible with Adobe's. Adobe says that last year 70% of Web video was streamed via Flash's .flv format.

Microsoft was motivated to support H.264 because it is becoming "the next-generation standard," said Sklepowich, with HD digital broadcasters such as DirecTV and Dish Network using H.264.

Adding H.264 support will cut work for broadcasters who previously would have had to do the time-consuming work of re-encoding their video in VC-1 to support Silverlight, he said.

And that should encourage more of them to stream video using Silverlight, as well as build special Silverlight-based players such as the ones specially created for NBCOlympics.com and the Democratic National Convention. The players, in addition to showing HD video, also offer features such as picture-in-picture, multiple views, and ticking data, Sklepowich said.

Microsoft plans to show off an early preview of Silverlight 3 at the International Broadcasting Conference (IBC) 2008 in Amsterdam later this week, according to Scott Guthrie, corporate vice president of Microsoft's Developer Division.

A beta of Silverlight 3 is expected soon after Silverlight 2 ships this fall, Sklepowich said.

The other caveat on video is that Silverlight will only be able to view .f4v streamed video if it is delivered from Web servers using the standard HTTP protocol, Sklepowich said. Video delivered from Adobe's Flash Media Server software using its proprietary RTMP protocol won't play, he said.

...

Speaking of VUDU,

According to an Engadget report, the popular Internet-based movie and TV show rental store VUDU may begin offering HD downloads "equal in quality to Blu-ray movies" soon and is already currently in private beta testing for the new content format, which is dubbed HDX.

If the report is true, the downloads will be over 6GB large and the company would need to address the added lead-in time that is necessary for such a long download. The downloads would take over 2 hours in most cable cases, and over 4 for most DSL users.

The company currently offers SD as well as HD downloads but it appears it is aiming for the high-end home theater owner with this new HDX codec. The custom Vudu XL product offers one terabyte of capacity so this new move does not seem so far fetched.

There was no word from VUDU about the report so there is no details on when HDX will be publicly available, if it becomes available at all. There was no word on pricing however it will certainly be more expensive than the current $5.99 USD VUDU charges for HD rentals.

Sony Brings On-Demand Movies and TV Content to BRAVIA Internet Video Link With Amazon Video On Demand (http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/sony-brings-on-demand-movies-and,536716.shtml)

Service Also Now Offers Free High-Definition Content From Dailymotion And Others SAN DIEGO, Sept. 11

SAN DIEGO, Sept. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony today announced that Amazon Video On Demand is now available live through the Sony(R) BRAVIA(R) Internet Video Link, offering tens of thousands of premium movies and TV shows.

Amazon Video On Demand offers immediate access to premium, commercial-free movies and television shows purchased or rented by users who stream them directly to compatible Sony BRAVIA televisions equipped with the optional BRAVIA Internet Video Link through an in-home broadband service.

Sony also announced that streaming high-definition content is now available on the service from Dailymotion and other providers at no additional cost.

"Consumers want immediate access to premium on-demand movies and top TV shows in their living room and the BRAVIA Internet Video Link service now offers one of the largest on-demand streaming libraries available," said Randy Waynick, senior vice president of Sony Electronics' Home Products Division in the U.S. "From high-quality, full HD movies on Blu-ray Disc(TM) players, to the immediate satisfaction of streaming feature-length videos directly to BRAVIA TVs over the Internet, we are in a position to deliver entertainment
for any consumer taste."

Amazon Video On Demand and Dailymotion channels add to existing BRAVIA Internet Video Link lineup, which already includes YouTube; CBS, Yahoo!; Sports Illustrated; blip.tv; CondeNet's Style.com, Men.Style.com, Epicurious, Wired.com and Concierge.com channels; Sony Pictures' Crackle, The Minisode Network, Timeless TV and Inside Sony Pictures channels; FEARnet; Ford Models; SingingFool; and VideoDetective.

Once a BRAVIA Internet Video Link is registered with an Amazon.com account, customers can purchase or rent programming directly from their TV or online at Amazon's web site and begin watching the streaming content immediately on their BRAVIA television.

When a title is ordered, it is automatically added to consumers' Amazon Video On Demand "Your Video Library," providing easy access to purchased and rented content. A backup version can also be found in the library, which is accessible from the Sony BRAVIA Internet Video Link device user interface or
on Amazon.com.

New to the BRAVIA Internet Link lineup, Dailymotion offers HD and standard definition content including videos from across Dailymotion's most popular channels and categories such as comedy, extreme sports, news, music and independent film.

BRAVIA Internet Video Link users now also have access to select high-definition content from various existing channels including FEARnet, VideoDetective, Blip.tv and Sony Pictures Entertainment. High-definition content found on these channels, as well as Dailymotion, is free of additional
charge.

Sony's BRAVIA Internet Video Link module is currently available for about $300. It can be purchased online at sonystyle.com and Amazon.com, as well as at Sony Style stores and authorized retailers across the country. The module, used with a consumer's existing broadband Internet connection, is compatible with the majority of Sony's line of 2007 and 2008 BRAVIA televisions.

Note: Broadband Internet connection speed of at least 2.5 Mbps recommended.

Sony Brings On-Demand Movies and TV Content to BRAVIA Internet Video Link With Amazon Video On Demand (http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/sony-brings-on-demand-movies-and,536716.shtml)
Will Amazon Video On Demand also be offered for the PS3?

Does anyone know the resolution of the Blockbuster Video service??

I've tried the Amazon unbox on my Tivo and found that the quality level was below DVD quality to the degree where I wouldn't use them.

Media group to create new digital video "ecosystem" (http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSN1234778920080912?sp=true)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A group of media industry companies said it is planning to build a digital world where video devices and content websites play together in perfect harmony, and consumers can safely store their digital content and access it anywhere in the world.

The consortium of Hollywood studios, retailers, service providers, and consumer electronics and information technology companies, called the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem, or DECE, is working on a "uniform digital media experience" but won't announce details until the Consumer Electronics Show in January.

The consortium said it will call for interoperability of devices and websites, and usage rules that allow consumers to copy content onto household playback devices and to burn their content to physical media, DECE President Mitch Singer said.

The plan also would provide customers a "rights locker" or virtual library where consumers' digital video purchases would be stored for retrieval in a manner similar to accessing an email account, Singer said.

The consortium plans to design a logo that will be placed on products and websites to let consumers know that those products and services are compatible with DECE standards.

"We will be developing a ... specification that services and device makers can license. They can use the logo to associate their device, knowing that when the consumer goes to buy the content, they know it will play," Singer said.

The new digital framework would turn Apple Inc's "closed" iTunes model on its head, Singer said.

"This is very different from the Apple ecosystem," he said. "We encourage Apple to join the consortium. We don't ever anticipate Apple going away or this consortium replacing it."

The consortium aims to recapture in the digital universe the sense of comfort and simplicity of use that consumers found with DVDs, said Mark Coblitz, senior vice president of strategic planning for Comcast Corp.

"They knew that when they brought (a DVD) home, they could play it on the device of their choice," Coblitz said. "We see this vision of 'buy once, play anywhere.'"

The consortium includes Alcatel-Lucent, Best Buy Co Inc, Cisco Systems Inc, Comcast, News Corp's Fox Entertainment Group, Hewlett-Packard Co, Intel, Lions Gate Entertainment Corp, Microsoft Corp, General Electric Co's NBC Universal, Viacom Inc's Paramount Pictures, Philips, Sony Corp, Toshiba, VeriSign, and Time Warner Inc's Warner Bros Entertainment.

NBC Sets Multiplatform Fall Premiere (http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6597253.html)

Full episodes in HD of new, returning fall 2008-09 series to be available prior to air dates via VOD, online, mobile platforms.

NBC will preview its new and returning fall 2008-09 series via a variety of platforms, including full episodes in HD.

The video-on-demand services of Comcast, Cox Communications, Charter Communications, Dish Network and Verizon Communications’ FiOS TV will present full episodes of the series’ season premieres or debut episodes, in HD, for one week prior to their network airings.

Along with NBC.com, Hulu, the online-video joint venture between NBC Universal and News Corp., will provide on-demand streaming of several fall shows, and Hulu distribution partners including Yahoo, MSN, AOL, MySpace and Fancast.com will offer access to full episodes.

The shows will also be made available for instant viewing and download via Amazon.com’s online retail store.

Xbox Live Marketplace on Xbox 360 and Zune Marketplace will also offer the NBC series.

The NBC Primetime Preview Show, hosted by Chuck star Zach Levi, will be available on the platforms listed above, as well as mobile platforms MediaFLO USA’s FLO TV service, AT&T and MobiTV.

NBC series involved and their network premieres are: Knight Rider (Sept. 24), Kath & Kim (Oct. 9), Lipstick Jungle (Sept. 24), Chuck (Sept. 29), Life (Oct. 30) and 30 Rock (Oct. 30).

"This campaign represents our most comprehensive plan ever to gain widespread attention on multiple platforms for our new and returning fall series," NBC Universal Television Group chief marketing officer and president of The NBC Agency John Miller said in a statement. "In addition to providing sampling of our shows, each partner is providing promotional exposure that will help these series to succeed on both new and traditional platforms."

NBC Universal Digital Entertainment president Vivi Zigler added, “NBC.com continues to be the premiere destination for fans of our shows, and to provide our viewers with a sneak preview of the new fall season is a great opportunity to showcase the entire online experience around both our new and returning programs. We are also excited to for the first time take advantage of the enormous reach of Hulu and its partners’ sites as both a distribution and promotional network.”

Wall St. Journal:

Netflix Signs Deals With CBS and Disney (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122213209024665825.html?mod=googlenews_wsj)

Netflix Inc. has cut deals with CBS Corp. and Walt Disney Co. that will give a boost to the library of television shows available to Netflix subscribers for viewing over the Internet.

The agreements, covering television shows ranging from the crime series "CSI" to "Hannah Montana," will let Netflix subscribers watch the shows over the Internet a day after their original air dates on television.

The pacts are part of a wave of deal-making by Netflix that is intended to ease the Los Gatos, Calif., company's transition to an era where online delivery of movies and television shows eclipses its current main business of mailing DVD rentals to customers.

The transition could eventually reshape the television landscape and has already created a race by Internet companies like Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. to become gatekeepers for digital movies and other video. Netflix appears to be effectively fending off rival attacks on its primary business while establishing itself as a credible participant in the still unprofitable online video market.

Since last year, the company has allowed subscribers on monthly DVD rental plans of $8.99 and above to "stream" television shows and movies at no additional fee to their personal computers, a method that doesn't leave permanent copies of the videos on users' computers. Netflix has also reached deals with hardware makers to let users play Netflix Internet videos on their screens, such as through a $99 set-top device from Roku Inc. Later this fall, users of Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 will be able to play videos over the Internet from Netflix.

Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Morgan Securities, estimates that between 10% and 20% of Netflix's subscribers are using the service regularly.

For now though, a thicket of licensing restrictions from television and movie producers designed to protect cash-cow businesses like DVD sales and pay television are limiting the amount of content Netflix can offer online.

Netflix currently offers only about 12,000 videos for watching online, compared with a library of more than 100,000 DVDs. Ted Sarandos, Netflix's chief content officer, says the company expects to have dozens of major new television shows available over the next couple of months with existing and new partners.

"With deals like CBS and Disney, we're giving subscribers additional reasons to try it," says Mr. Sarandos.

The shows CBS and the Disney Channel will be making available through Netflix were previously available free with advertising through the CBS and Disney Web sites and for $1.99 an episode through sites like Apple's iTunes Store. The shows -- which also include "Numb3rs" and "NCIS" from CBS and "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody" and "Wizards of Waverly Place" from Disney -- will be commercial-free on Netflix. The deal with Netflix will eventually add about 500 older television episodes from the Disney Channel and 350 episodes from CBS.

Analysts predict television watchers will begin gravitating to online video from traditional television watching as technologies improve for getting Web video to the television set.

...

http://i441.photobucket.com/albums/qq134/avpallino/HMMWarner.jpg

Looks like Sony and others are finally paying attention to the fact that "winning" the battle does not mean winning the war.

Sony has been insistent on not lowering prices on Blu-ray. New reports on Slashdot show that marketing of Blu-ray is not going as well as thought and consideration of a $200 or less players is on the horizon sooner than most thought.

Details:

http://hardware.slashdot.org/hardware/08/09/23/0051212.shtml

Roku Opening Up to Non-Netflix Video (http://www.contentinople.com/author.asp?section_id=450&doc_id=164559)

Roku Inc. founder and CEO Anthony Wood told audience members in his keynote today that the company's advanced set-top box will soon become more than just a way to stream Netflix Inc. movies to your TV.

The Netflix Player by Roku was launched in May as the first Internet-connected device that to get the video-rental company's streaming videos off the PC and into the living room. Since then, Netflix has announced deals to offer streaming through Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT)'s Xbox gaming console and an Internet-connected Blu-ray player by LG Electronics Inc. (London: LGLD; Korea: 6657.KS) .

Up until now, Roku's set-top box has only streamed Netflix content. But the box will soon by opened up to other content owners that want to use IP video to get to the television, according to Wood.

"We're going to open up the Netflix player for anyone who wants to put video on our platform," Wood says.

While there's no timeline yet, Wood says the company will release a software development kit "for any person that wants to publish, and allow any piece of video on the Web to stream on your TV."

Outside his keynote, Wood said that initial reaction from content owners to using the Roku set-top box as an online delivery platform to send IP video to the TV was positive. But there are some things that will need to be worked out.

For instance, for now Roku's box delivers content in standard-definition (SD) formats, but content owners are increasingly asking for HD capabilities, with bit rates in the range of 3 Mbit/s to 4 Mbit/s. There are also questions from content owners about the business models surrounding IP video.

"Everyone's looking to get this on the TV," Wood says. "But they want to know, what's the interactive ad model look like?"

Looks like Sony and others are finally paying attention to the fact that "winning" the battle does not mean winning the war.

Sony has been insistent on not lowering prices on Blu-ray. New reports on Slashdot show that marketing of Blu-ray is not going as well as thought and consideration of a $200 or less players is on the horizon sooner than most thought.

Details:

http://hardware.slashdot.org/hardware/08/09/23/0051212.shtml
I believe you posted this in the wrong forum, lazytom.

Big news...

Toshiba and partners plan movie downloads to SD cards (http://www.videobusiness.com/index.asp?layout=article&articleid=CA6599175)

SEPT. 25| In a move that could give brick-and-mortar retailers a major role in digital downloads, Toshiba Corp. is partnering with DVD kiosk companies NCR Corp. and MOD Systems on a new delivery method that could make it easier for consumers to download and watch digital movies. .

The three companies will announce today plans to make SD flash memory cards, the same used in digital cameras to store photos, the standard format for storing digital movie and TV show downloads.

Toshiba is expected to roll out a line of set-top boxes early next year with SD card slots for playing back digital video downloads saved to the memory cards. ATM maker NCR, which swiftly moved into the DVD kiosk business this summer, will pact with digital kiosk company MOD Systems to offer movie and TV show downloads onto SD cards at digital kiosks it plans to roll out to stores in the first quarter of 2009.

If all goes as planned, consumers will be able to go into a stores participating in a pilot launch next year, download a movie from a kiosk to their SD card, and play it back on their mobile phone, portable video player, TV or other SD-compatible device.

MOD also announced today it has raised $35 million in a first round of venture funding led by Toshiba and NCR, which will take minority stakes in the start-up.

“The premise of this is really simple,” said MOD Systems executive chair and co-founder Anthony Bay. “Right now we have incompatible devices and no standard storage formats (for downloads). SD is the logical standard. It’s an open standard, tens of millions of products are already made with SD card slots. The premise of all of this is there needs to be a standard. We can’t afford another proprietary thing.”

SD (secure digital) cards are already widely used in digital cameras, PDAs, laptops, mobile phones, videogame consoles and other digital devices. Earlier this week, SanDisk and the major music labels announced a plan to make microSD the new standard format for music, replacing the CD.

SD cards can support Windows Media digital rights management, which is already used on video downloads from Amazon, CinemaNow, Movielink and other download companies, with the exception of Apple iTunes, which uses Apple’s proprietary DRM. The cards will also support whatever open standard comes out of the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) LLC, a consortium of studios, retailers and consumer electronics companies formed earlier this month to ensure universal playback of digital downloads, Bay said. Toshiba is a member of the group.

Key to the SD kiosk rollout will be securing major studio content, which digital kiosk companies have so far been unable to do.

MOD and NCR wouldn’t say whether they yet have any studio licensing deals, but they said they expect to offer 4,000 films from studios at launch. Downloads will initially be in standard definition.

In a statement on the partnership, Toshiba corporate VP and president/CEO of Digital Media Network Company Yoshihide Fujii said SD cards will offer consumers more flexibility and portability.

“MOD Systems holds a level of technical expertise unmatched in this space, and its highly innovative digital content distribution platform is a key component of our new media strategy for migrating consumers to digital,” he said.

The expanded partnership between MOD and Toshiba comes as MOD faces a lawsuit from Warren Lieberfarb over consultancy fees he claims he is owed for introducing the two. (See Related Story link)

NCR’s stake in MOD follows its move into the DVD kiosk space this summer. The company acquired minority stakes in kiosk maker E-Play and in No. 2 DVD kiosk company The New Release/Moviecube, for which it plans to make as many as 1,400 new kiosks by 2010. NCR also has a deal with Blockbuster to make as many as 10,000 Blockbuster-branded kiosks that will rent DVDs and likely offer downloads.

NCR will use MOD System’s Retail Enterprise System to manage content for its digital download kiosks as part of a non-exclusive deal. The self-service digital kiosks will offer download to SD cards and portable devices.

“Our initiative with MOD Systems is designed to offer consumers one of the fastest, most convenient ways to access high-quality digital entertainment,” NCR chair and CEO Bill Nuti said in a statement announcing the deal.

NCR will be MOD’s primary method of deployment, getting the company’s system into more retailers and locations than it has been able to get access to thus far. MOD has offered music downloads in a handful of Best Buy and Circuit City stores on a trial basis.

The company has been working for studio licensing deals to burn movie downloads to DVDs through its kiosks. MOD still wants to offer DVD burning, Bay said, but he believes it may be easier to get deals for downloads that can be transferred to SD cards. He said he believes studios will license the same content that is available online for download to MOD and NCR for download to SD card.

All three companies said they plan to offer more details on their digital plans over the next few months and at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.

http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE48O42020080925

Gartner defines IPTV as a managed broadband network which delivers high picture-quality television and video content to a user's TV set via a set-top box. Content delivered over the Internet or only to a computer is not included

Hole in Adobe software allows free movie downloads (http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE48P86U20080926?sp=true)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A security hole in Adobe Systems Inc (ADBE.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) software, used to distribute movies and TV shows over the Internet, is giving users free access to record and copy from Amazon.com Inc's (AMZN.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) video streaming service.

The problem exposes online video content to the rampant piracy that plagued the music industry during the Napster era and is undermining efforts by retailers, movie studios and television networks to cash in on a huge Web audience.

"It's a fundamental flaw in the Adobe design. This was designed stupidly," said Bruce Schneier, a security expert who is also the chief security technology officer at British Telecom.

The flaw rests in Adobe's Flash video servers that are connected to the company's players installed in nearly all of the world's Web-connected computers.

The software doesn't encrypt online content, but only orders sent to a video player such as start and stop play. To boost download speeds, Adobe dropped a stringent security feature that protects the connection between the Adobe software and its players.

"Adobe is committed to the security of all of our products, from our players to our server software. Adobe invests a considerable amount of ongoing effort to help protect users from potential vulnerabilities," it said in a statement.

Adobe said it issued a security bulletin earlier this month about how best to protect online content and called on its customers to couple its software security with a feature that verifies the validity of its video player.

An Amazon spokesman said content on the company's Video On Demand service, which offers as many as 40,000 movies and TV shows on its Web site, cannot be pirated using video stream catching software.

However, in tests by Reuters, at least one program to record online video, the Replay Media Catcher from Applian Technologies, recorded movies from Amazon and other sites that use Adobe's encryption technology together with its video player verification.

"Adobe's (stream) is not really encrypted," said Applian CEO Bill Dettering. "One of the downfalls with how they have architected the software is that people can capture the streams. I fully expect them to do something more robust in the near future."

...

Netflix adds 2,500 streaming movies from Starz (http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10055367-93.html)

A major complaint with Netflix's current selection of streaming movies and shows available through its "Watch Now" service is that it doesn't contain enough recent titles. Now, according to several reports online, it looks as though Netflix is looking to change that.

On Wednesday, the company plans to announce a new partnership with Starz to offer subscribers 2,500 additional movies from Starz Play. Starz Play's selection includes current hits such as No Country for Old Men, Superbad, and Ratatouille, as well as indie films, concerts, and classic movies. The first 1,000 of those movies, added to Netflix's current offering of 12,000, should, supposedly, be available immediately, but they are not available on Netflix's site yet. Expect the update to come sometime on Wednesday.

This is big news for Netflix, which has been struggling to sign studios up to make their new releases available for instant watching. In terms of new releases, this deal gets Netflix one step closer to being on the same level as the on-demand offerings from Comcast and Verizon. Netflix's overall library, however, goes deeper than Comcast's or Verizon's because it offers many classics on top of these newly added new releases. Additionally, this deal allows subscribers to stream the Starz TV network on their PCs.

The best part of this news, for Netflix subscribers, is that all of this extra content isn't going to cost them a dime. All Netflix subscribers with unlimited subscriptions (those $8.99 and up) will have access to the Starz Play selections. When you pair this news with this summer's release of Roku's killer set-top box for Netflix and this fall's Xbox 360 dashboard update, which will enable Netflix streaming, Netflix's service is looking more attractive every day.

http://a330.g.akamai.net/7/330/2540/20081001214051/www.multichannel.com/articles/images/MCN/20081001/HDX.jpg

Vudu offers new high-def option for online films (http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6601301.html)

OCT. 1 | Vudu is launching its online films in a new format, HDX, which the company touts as the best high-definition technology yet for content delivered by Web, TV and cable/satellite on-demand.

Starting today, Vudu will roll out 50 films in the HDX format, which plays back content in 1080p resolution. Featured films include such recent releases as The Spiderwick Chronicles, In Bruges, Speed Racer and such classics as Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Chinatown and Saturday Night Fever.

Vudu users watch content via a set-top box that beams programming to TV sets without the need of a computer.

Although Blu-ray Disc will offer a superior high-def picture, Vudu promises that HDX will trump all current digital high-def services, spanning iTunes, Xbox Live and PlayStation Store. In general, online and broadcast high-def is delivered in 780p resolution.

Because of its relatively large file size, HDX delivery time is a relatively long three to four hours per film. However, Vudu will charge the same $3.99 to $5.99 movie pricing whether users choose HDX or straight high-def, which can be watched immediately upon purchase.

Vudu’s standard-definition films are priced between $2.99 and $4.99.

“We don’t make the claim that this is as good as Blu-ray, but consumers will not think the quality is lacking,” said Prasanna Ganesan, Vudu chief technology officer. “This is better than any other on-demand high-def experience out there.”

Going forward, all new Vudu releases that are available in straight high-def also will be offered in the HDX format.

HDX promises to enhance details within dark images, preserve film grain and tune the picture for optimal display on current LCD and plasma TVs.

Coinciding with the HDX bow, Best Buy has agreed to carry Vudu in its stores nationwide, according to Vudu management. By July, Vudu boxes were being sold in about 75 Best Buy outlets.

Additionally, Best Buy is handing out a $200 Vudu film credit for those who purchase boxes at the chain.

“Vudu HDX truly raises the bar on picture quality for [high-def] movies delivered on demand, over the air, satellite or Internet and across the entire video landscape,” added Mark Jung, Vudu CEO. “Accelerating consumer adoption of large-screen HDTVs has fueled strong demand for the kind of viewing experience and picture quality that only HDX can deliver.”

I wonder how many 1080p Vudu movies I could safely watch per month without going over Comcast's 250 gigabite per month download limit? Maybe 4 or 5?

Roughly 40 HDX or 100 instant HD in a titles in a month would put you near the 250GB cap.

Patrick
Sr Product Manager, VUDU

Patrick,

Are there any plans or talks of offering some kindof buffet pricing service? i.e. so many movies a month for a flat fee?

I currently get about 15 movies/month from Netflix from $17 (slightly over $1/movie). For me to get that number of movies from Vudu would cost me around $75 (figuring $5/movie for 15 movies).

I'd gladly pay a set amount per month for the convenience of Vudu, but $75 a month is just way too much. I'd gladly pay something like $40 a month for up-to-15 movies, which would be more than twice as much as Netflix, but I'd be willing to pay more for the convenience that Vudu would offer.

Has something like that been tossed around, or would the studios prevent this from being offered?

Thanks, Patrick. There is no way we would watch as many as 40 movies per month! That suggests to me that it is practical to use Vudu with the Comcast 250 gigabyte limit.

Some sort of subscription plan has been suggested by various people at various times. Unfortunately, it's not something we're in a position to offer right now. When and if we can and do, you'll be sure to hear about it. Sorry I can be more forthcoming on the topic than that, but our policy is not discuss features, real or imagined, before they are ready to go.

We would agree with you. 250GB per month seems pretty generous for the average household with typical usage.

VuduPatrick,

Would you see a quality improvement in watching a movie in the new HDX format over your HD offering if the TV owned is a 720P-native format, like my Panasonic plasma?

VuduPatrick,

Would you see a quality improvement in watching a movie in the new HDX format over your HD offering if the TV owned is a 720P-native format, like my Panasonic plasma?

In my experience (with a TH50PX50U of my own), yes, there is a considerable improvement. The additional bit rate makes a pretty big difference in detail, particularly in dark scenes and action scenes. Also, don't discount the audio improvement thanks to us maxing out the DD 5.1 bit rate to 640kbps, which we can't do with the instant HD version of the same film (since the audio would take up a considerable portion of the 4mbit total stream and video quality would suffer).

I haven't watched all of the titles, but of the titles I've watched, Rambo and Chronicles of Riddick are excellent examples of what HDX is capable.

Patrick

Thanks, Patrick!

Looks like I should expect that as well, since we have the EXACT same TV!!!

I watched most of the Speed Racer HDX title last night and I must say the picture quality was superb. The quality was easily better than any HD VOD title I've watched before. And on a regular basis I use VUDU, Xbox Live, PSN, and FIOS VOD for HD digital downloads.

My only complaint is the VUDU box still only has around a 4mbs max download rate. I have a 50mbs connection(50/20 tier) with FIOS. It would be nice if I could use a larger portion of the pipe for VUDU downloads.

Update: Hollywood crafts online video standards (http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=210800200)

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The Web lacks a standard way of organizing and playing media files, let alone gearing the playback for the growing variety of TV, computer and mobile screens. That's the problem the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers hopes to address in a new standards effort it will kick off this month.

The move could be the first of several steps addressing issues in Internet video and music for users, content producers, distributors and consumer electronics companies. The news marks the second major gambit from entertainment and technology companies in recent weeks to make it easier to access premium online content across a broad range of systems.

A new SMPTE committee dubbed Broadband 23B will meet for the first time on October 27 in conjunction with the SMPTE's annual technology conference in Hollywood. The group aims to address formats that would cover movies, television programming, online programming and music regardless of the broadband distribution platform.

When someone plays a DVD, a master file indicates where to find and start related video, audio and image files and how to synchronize them. A similar process happens when media is played from a Web site today, but each site tends to handle the problem in its own way, said Wendy Aylsworth, engineering vice president of SMPTE in an interview with EE Times.

The new effort aims to create a standard for the process. It also hopes to define a standard for tailoring the content to the resolution and size of the display requesting the content.

Although the effort began with one SMPTE member requesting a standard, "there are now content, distribution and consumer electronics companies saying they agree there is a need here and supporting this work," Aylsworth said. "Content aggregators and distributors are already feeling the pain of different services handling this problem in their own way," she added.

"It's not yet clear whether this effort will be confined to one or two standards on file packages and formats or whether it will extend to areas such as compression" and perhaps digital rights management, said Aylsworth, a senior vice president of technical operations at Warner Brothers who helped spearhead work on the digital cinema standard.

Anyone interested in the Broadband 23B effort is welcome to join the first meeting without registration at 5:15 PM, at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel. However, the meeting's proceedings will remain private to SMPTE, and membership in the SMPTE standards community is required for ongoing participation.

The success of Apple's iTunes as a source of movies and TV shows has prompted studios to back their own outlets such as Hulu. Last year Cable TV giant Comcast launched its own Internet video site, Fancast. Observers say content owners and service providers are increasingly concerned about Apple's dominance in online distribution.

"More media than ever is flowing to consumers outside traditional TV and cinema channels, and currently, it can only be accessed on a limited subset of services and devices because there are no interoperability standards," said Aylsworth in a prepared statement.

In September, reports emerged that a broad group of studios and tech companies had formed the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem. DECE aims to ensure content from multiple sources can play on any device.

The group is not expected to announce details of its plans until the Consumer Electronics Show in January. However, observers said it could embrace a wide range of issues regarding interoperable formats, codecs and digital rights management schemes.

The group includes Warner Bros. Entertainment, Fox Entertainment Group, NBC Universal, Sony, Paramount Pictures and Comcast Corp, retailer Best Buy as well as tech companies Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Cisco, Philips, Intel, Toshiba and Verisign.

"They are creating a business model for themselves, not a standard," said Aylsworth. "Hopefully they will contribute some ideas to the SMPTE process and use whatever standards we come up with," she said.

The standard would likely be implemented as software or firmware that would run on client devices such as cellphones, TVs and computers, she said. SMPTE standards typically take about a year to reach publication.

New Technology Committee: 23B Broadband Inaugural Meeting
(http://www.smpte.org/standards/meeting_schedule/23b_inaugural/)

Pioneer Ships First "DVD Download" Burner (http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/News/Details.aspx?NewsId=24173)

Pioneer today introduced two DVD/CD computer writers featuring Qflix DVD Download & Burn technology, enabling users to download their favorite movies directly from the Internet to DVD.

Jointly developed by Pioneer and Sonic Solutions, Qflix is a new DVD technology that gives consumers the opportunity to purchase licensed Hollywood films, and eventually TV shows, from CinemaNow, some of which have previously been unavailable at retail.

The Qflix-enabled drives allows burning of content on Qfix-certified DVD media using CSS (Content Scramble System), which is the same content protection found on commercially released DVD movies.

"Consumer adoption of digitally distributed entertainment will happen at a far greater rate than the extinction of the DVD player," said Mark Ely, executive vice president of Strategy, Sonic Solutions. "Qflix is an important and necessary bridging technology that allows content owners to deliver a more flexible product that combines the convenience of digital distribution with the permanency and portability of the DVD."

For home audiences who were previously relegated to viewing downloaded content on a small computer screen, Pioneer?s new writers with Qflix technology enables users to preserve digital content for playback on standard DVD players and then watch it on a big screen television.

"Our commitment to enhancing the digital entertainment experience has driven us to expand offerings in new ways, far beyond the traditional computer screen. Now we can provide a packaged media option that can be enjoyed on multiple disc drives or players located throughout a home," said David Cook, president and COO of CinemaNow. "Being able to offer a selection of feature films that are compatible with Qflix technology, unlocks a dynamic collection of content for consumers who are searching for movies or shows that do not even exist on DVD."

Both Pioneer drives incorporate Roxio's Venue software that provides simplified management and writing of downloaded digital content. Also included in the software bundle are applications that allow users to back-up and play their disc media on a PC via the Roxio CinePlayer and Easy CD & DVD Burning software.

Besides featuring 20x write speed to DVD-R and +R, the internal DVR-2920Q and external DVR-X162Q writers boast a variety of other features:

- Optimal Write Support - Recognizes the disc media and adjusts the drive?s write speed to ensure the highest quality

- Quiet Drive - Unique interlocking design ensures low acoustic noise by "trapping" the airflow noise generated by the spinning disc

- Improved Durability - Improved chassis insulation helps protect the drive's internal components from dust and small particles that can hinder the product's operability and lifespan Available at retail stores nationwide and at www.pioneerelectronics.com, the Pioneer internal DVR-2920Q and the external DVR-X162Q DVD/CD writers will begin shipping in October 2008 for a suggested price of $69.99 and November 2008 for a suggested price of $114.99, respectively.

Philips & Lite-On Digital Solutions Corp (PLDS) has also licenced Qflix technology and plans to integrate Qflix into a range of optical disc drives planned for release this year.

iTunes sells 200 million TV shows, adds new HD TV lineup (http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/10/16/itunes_sells_200_million_tv_shows_adds_new_hd_tv_lineup.html )

Apple announced Thursday that all four of the major US television networks are offering primetime programs in high definition on the iTunes Store, which has become the world's most popular online TV service with over 200 million episodes sold, including more than one million HD episodes purchased since last month.

"We've got an incredible Fall 2008 TV lineup with over 70 primetime comedies and dramas, including many of the most popular shows on TV in stunning HD," said Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of Internet Services. "With over 200 million episodes sold, iTunes customers have proven they love watching television on their computer, iPod, iPhone and TV with Apple TV."

The iTunes Store features the world's largest online catalog of TV programs with over 70 primetime comedies and dramas from the major networks and television programs from over 70 cable networks including Bravo, Comedy Central, Disney Channel, ESPN, FX, HBO, MTV, Nickelodeon, Sci Fi, Showtime and USA.

Apple said the list of HD programs now available on the iTunes Store includes ABC's "Brothers & Sisters," "Desperate Housewives," "Dirty Sexy Money," "Eli Stone," "Grey's Anatomy," "Life on Mars," "Lost," "Private Practice," "Samantha Who?" and "Ugly Betty." CBS programming includes "CSI," "CSI: Miami," "CSI: New York," "NCIS" and "Numb3rs." FOX shows include "Bones," "House," "Prison Break" and "Sons of Anarchy," which airs on FX. NBC shows include "30 Rock," "Heroes," "Kath & Kim," "Knight Rider," "Law & Order: SVU," "Life," "Lipstick Jungle," "My Own Worst Enemy" and "The Office," and SCI FI Channel's "Battlestar Galactica" and "Eureka," and USA Network's "In Plain Sight," "Monk," "Psych" and "The Starter Wife."

Standard definition television shows on the iTunes Store are $1.99 per episode, while HD programs from ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX are $2.99 per episode. Many series offer a season pass option which allows customers to purchase entire seasons at a discounted price.

The iTunes Store digital media catalog now spans over eight million songs, over 30,000 TV episodes and over 2,500 films including 600 in high definition.

Playboy stops DVD production (http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6606449.html)

Moves content to online sales

OCT. 17 | Playboy Enterprises is shuttering its DVD production business as part of a larger restructuring to reduce costs.

The company wants to shave expenses by $10 million in order to return to profitability in 2009, Playboy chair and CEO Christie Hefner said in an Oct. 15 note to staff. In addition to exiting the disc business, Playboy will eliminate 80 employee positions as well as consolidating office space in Los Angeles.

Playboy hopes to transition its DVD activities into exploiting online programming, which is considered a profitable operation for the company. Next year, the company will re-launch its Web site, Playboy.com, which will better integrate its publishing and online businesses.

“We will continue to deliver more of our content digitally, using our assets across multiple distribution platforms and adding more a la carte offerings,” said Hefner. “Given the declines in the DVD market, we will exit that business in phases over a few months to concentrate on selling that content online.”

Comcast doubles speed of Net service (http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2008/10/23/comcast_doubles_speed_of_net_service/)

Bay State users of Comcast Corp.'s broadband Internet service will soon be able to download files a lot quicker. Comcast has introduced a new technology that could make the service run twice as fast for most customers, while offering even faster speeds for those willing to pay extra.

"Comcast is really changing the experience of our users and revolutionizing what people can do on the Internet," said Mitch Bowling, general manager of the company's online services business.

But a spokesman for Verizon Communications Inc., a rival, said that Comcast is just catching up with Verizon's FIOS service, which delivers data at much higher speeds than Comcast's previous broadband offerings.

Most users of Comcast's broadband service get download speeds of either 6 or 8 megabits per second, compared to Verizon's basic FIOS service, which delivers 10 megabits per second. But thanks to Comcast's new technology, called Docsis 3.0, customers will see their top speeds doubled to 12 or 16 megabits, respectively, at no additional cost.

In addition, Comcast will offer two premium broadband services: 22 megabits for $62.95 a month and 50 megabits for $139.95 a month. Verizon already offers similar FIOS services at about the same prices.

Bowling said the new Comcast services are available in about 100 Massachusetts and New Hampshire communities, including Foxborough, Framingham, Natick, New Bedford, and Manchester, N.H.

Docsis 3.0 service has also been launched in Philadelphia, Minneapolis, and St. Paul, and in parts of New Jersey.

Though 14.4 million US households subscribe to Comcast Internet service, about 50 million households have access to the network. The company said it will be able to deliver the service to 20 percent of those homes by year's end, and to gradually upgrade the rest over the next couple of years.

The speed boost won't affect Comcast's plan to limit its customers' Internet use. Starting this month, users who download more than 250 gigabytes of data per month could be disconnected. A Comcast spokesman, Jim Hughes, said Docsis 3.0 doesn't eliminate the need to set limits on bandwidth usage. He said that only about 1 percent of users ever exceed the limit, and he doubted that higher download speeds would cause customers to sharply increase their downloading.

The Comcast upgrade comes at a time when fewer Americans are signing up for new broadband Internet accounts. According to Strategy Analytics Inc. of Newton, Comcast added 278,000 subscribers nationwide in the second quarter of the year, down 18 percent from the same period in 2007. But demand for DSL, a slower broadband service offered by Verizon and other telephone companies, has fallen much faster. Orders for Verizon DSL dropped 81 percent in the second quarter of 2008.

"DSL can no longer compete with what cable has to offer," said Ben Piper, broadband analyst at Strategy Analytics.

Verizon is fighting back with FIOS, a $23 billion effort to run fiber-optic data lines directly to millions of homes. A fiber connection can carry far more data than Verizon's old-fashioned copper telephone wires. FIOS allows Verizon to compete with Comcast and other cable companies in delivering television services as well as faster Internet connections. Verizon has signed up 2 million FIOS customers in 14 states; the service is available in 84 Massachusetts communities.

Verizon spokesman Phil Santoro said Comcast is rushing to deploy Docsis 3.0 because its standard services can't measure up to FIOS. "I think they have to do something," he said, "and this is their best attempt at that."

Dell enters movie download market (http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6608263.html)

OCT. 23 | No. 2 computer company Dell today launched an online movie download store with CinemaNow and said it plans to offer more digital films preloaded on its PCs, starting with Warner Bros.’ Matrix trilogy and Sony Pictures’ Spider-Man trilogy.

The move follows Dell’s inclusion of a digital copy of Paramount Digital Entertainment’s Iron Man on select laptop and desktop computers as a free add-on last month.

The latest pre-loaded movies will be offered in bundles starting at $25 to consumers when they buy select Dell laptop and desktop PCs. In addition to the offerings from Warner and Sony, Universal Studios’ Fast and Furious collection will be available, and Paramount Pictures will offer a romantic comedy and comedy bundle.

Dell will regularly add new movie bundles, with films chosen by the studios.

Users can watch the movies on their PC or make copies for viewing on up to four other PCs or Windows Media-compatible handheld devices. Some of the films also will be able to be transferred to other select devices, such as the Xbox 360 for TV viewing as part of Dell’s deal with CinemaNow.

It’s unclear whether users will be able to use Dell’s recently launched Qflix DVD drive, which burns films with CSS copy protection, to burn the pre-loaded films to disc.

Dell customers also will be able to download additional films through Dell’s movie store, powered by CinemaNow. CinemaNow began offering downloads to Dell subscribers last month for the Qflix DVD drives.

Some had expected Dell to launch a new open-standard download format to compete with Apple iTunes this fall. BusinessWeek reported in August that former Apple executive Tim Bucher was leading an initiative at Dell to break Apple’s hold on the digital music and movie market.

Can anyone that owns a BRAVIA® Internet Video Link Module tell me if it can be used with an Ethernet wireless-G network adapter that integrates with a secured wireless network? If so, what brand do you use and what type of performance do you have with this network configuration? Thanks.

Netflix Begins Rollout of 2nd-Generation Media Player for Instant streaming on Windows PCs and Intel Macs (http://www.streamingmedia.com/press/view.asp?id=10449)

Los Gatos, CA (October 27, 2008) - Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX), the world's largest online movie rental service, today announced it has begun the deployment of Microsoft Silverlight to enhance the instant watching component of the Netflix service and to allow subscribers for the first time to watch movies and TV episodes instantly on their Intel-based Apple Macintosh computers. The deployment, which will initially touch a small percentage of new Netflix subscribers, is the first step in an anticipated roll-out of the new platform to all Netflix subscribers by the end of the year.

Silverlight is designed for delivery of cross-platform, cross-browser media experiences inside a Web browser. It is expected that Netflix members who watch movies and TV episodes instantly on their computers will enjoy a faster, easier connection and a more robust viewing experience with Silverlight, due to the quality built directly into the player. Among the viewing enhancements with the new player is a breakthrough in timeline navigation that vastly improves the use of fast-forwarding and rewinding. The new Netflix player takes advantage of Play Ready DRM, which is built into Silverlight, for the playback of protected content on both Windows-based PCs and on Macs. That had not been possible with previous generation technologies.

“Silverlight with Play Ready offers a powerful and secure toolkit for delivery of dynamic streaming, which offers faster start-up, and higher quality video, adapted in real time to users’ connection speeds,” said Netflix Chief Product Officer Neil Hunt. “Members who enjoy watching movies and TV episodes from the growing library of choices that can be instantly streamed at Netflix will be thrilled with this next generation improvement of access and quality, on a broader range of platforms, including Intel Macs and Firefox.

Netflix streaming comes to TiVo (http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10078711-1.html?tag=mncol;txt)

Netflix streaming will be coming to TiVo DVRs by the end of 2008.

The ability to stream Netflix movies and TV shows will begin beta testing for select TiVo owners immediately, with an official roll-out scheduled for early December. It will be available on TiVo HD, HD XL, and Series3 DVRs (not Series2 or DirecTV models).

The service will effectively be identical to the Netflix feature available on the LG BD300, Samsung BD-P2500, and BD-P2550, Roku Player, and--as of mid-November--the Xbox 360. That means that existing Netflix subscribers can stream more than 12,000 movies and TV shows directly to their TV over a broadband Internet connection on an "all you can eat" basis, with no additional charges beyond the existing Netflix and TiVo service fees.

Interestingly, the TiVo/Netflix tie-up makes good on a deal originally announced in September 2004. At that time, the then-novel idea of streaming Netflix movies directly to TiVo set-tops generated a lot of industry buzz and consumer excitement, but nothing became of it. Both companies seemed to go their separate ways, with TiVo adding on-demand content from Amazon and (just last week) CinemaNow and Jaman, while Netflix's service rolled out on the above-mentioned devices from Roku, LG, Samsung, and Microsoft. More than four years later, however, TiVo owners will finally be getting their Netflix streaming.

Separately, CNET has confirmed that Netflix's nascent HD streaming capability will soon be coming to all Netflix-compatible devices, not just the Xbox 360. However, the Netflix HD library will be starting with a very small selection (just 300 titles), and will require significantly higher bandwidth than the standard-def streaming that's currently available.

Vudu adds high-def titles to online library (http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6612742.html)

NOV. 10 | Vudu has added hundreds of high-definition titles, including Iron Man, Journey to the Center of the Earth and Mongol, to its online library.

In total, Vudu has amassed 1,000 titles in its proprietary HDX format within its library, which the company touts as the largest collection of available high-def digital content. Other newly featured films include classics Cool Hand Luke and Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

Vudu first launched HDX titles in early October and has since been adding 150 titles in the format a week. The company’s overall high-def and standard-def library stands at more than 10,000 titles, which users view on TVs via broadband-enabled set-top boxes.

“We’re certainly proud to offer the largest HD library on the planet, but the motivation to accomplish this really sprang from our customers, retail partners and home theater installation professionals, all of whom were asking for more HD content,” said Edward Lichty, executive VP of content at Vudu. “And this is only the beginning of our effort. Our goal is to maintain a leadership position in offering the best picture quality.”

Blockbuster to Launch Set-Top Box for the Holidays (http://homemediamagazine.com/news/blockbuster-launch-set-top-box-holidays-13836)

Blockbuster is planning to bow for the holidays a set-top box that would deliver movies on demand from its Movielink download service. The Dallas-based DVD rental chain next year also will bow a Blockbuster-branded widget on Intel-manufactured chips imbedded in IPTV monitors.

Chairman and CEO Jim Keyes, who made the announcement Nov. 6 during a call with investors, offered no additional information on the set-top box, including manufacturer, price and availability.

Analyst Edward Woo with Wedbush Morgan Securities in Los Angeles said the set-top box device sounded ambitious, but wondered how consumers under pressure from the current economic downturn would receive it.

“Until I hear more concrete information, I'm not sure how receptive consumers will be and whether it will be different or better than other boxes out there or planned be out there,” Woo said.

Blockbuster downplayed posting a third-quarter (ended Oct. 5) net loss of $17.8 million and 2.7% decline ($33.6 million) in total revenue to $1.2 billion, citing a limited slate of movie titles and competition from Olympic telecasts.

The Dallas-based DVD rental giant said the loss was 48% less than the net loss of $34.4 million during the previous year period.

Domestic same-store revenue increased 5.1% due to a 0.8% growth in same-store rental revenue and a 30.7% increase in same-store merchandise sales, driven largely by increases in sales of games software and hardware.

Blockbuster chairman and CEO Jim Keyes said in a call with analysts that the chain’s ability to overcome a 53% drop in August theatrical box office comps and the public’s growing interest in the presidential campaign underscored the resilience of DVD.

He said Blu-ray rentals now account for 2% of the chain’s domestic revenue. Keyes said Blockbuster stores will increase availability of player selections at prices competitive with other CE chains.

...

Economy grinch may pinch Blu-ray format (http://www.reuters.com/article/industryNews/idUSTRE4AB0XM20081113?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=10339&sp=true)

Still, despite panelists bullishness on Blu-ray, execs said season sales will be carefully scrutinized after Jan 1. Depending on how things go with HD discs and other packaged goods sales, it's possible that the industry's go-slow approach on digital downloads could accelerate.

Comcast Rolls Wideband in the Pacific Northwest (http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=168129&site=cdn)

Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) is set to introduce speedier Internet services based on Docsis 3.0 technology next month to systems serving a total of 1.8 million basic video subs in Washington and Oregon.

In Washington, where Comcast serves about 1.2 million video subs, the MSO will wire up its systems for Docsis 3.0 in areas such as Seattle, Bellingham, Bremerton, and Spokane. The deployments in Oregon and the southwestern portion of Washington include Longview and Eugene. (See Comcast Rolls Wideband in OR and Comcast Rolls Wideband in WA.)

In those areas, Comcast will cross swords primarily with Qwest Communications International Inc. (NYSE: Q - message board), with spottier run-ins with Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ - message board) (in Seattle, for example).

Following an initial launch in Minnesota's Twin Cities, Comcast unleashed Docsis 3.0 in the MSO's New England region (including Boston metro and Southern New Hampshire), and parts of New Jersey and Philadelphia. (See Comcast Enters the Wideband Era and Comcast Takes 'Wideband' Wider .)

Comcast has committed to wire about 20 percent of its markets, or roughly 10 "major" markets serving a total of 10 million homes and businesses within its footprint by year's end. The MSO has previously said it expects to have all of its systems Docsis 3.0-ready by mid-2010.

Comcast spokesman Charlie Douglas said "it's still our goal" to have one fifth of the MSO's network upgraded to Docsis 3.0 by the end of 2008. "We'll have more announcements in the next several weeks that will get us there."
...

Sonic Solutions Acquires VOD Firm CinemaNow (http://www.dmwmedia.com/news/2008/11/19/sonic-solutions-acquires-vod-firm-cinemanow)

It looks like Blockbuster has released their first, free, full-length movie for download. Up until now, all of the free material consisted of short features, but right now they are offering The Color of Freedom for free.

Could this be the start of many?

Scott

Blockbuster and 2Wire Introduce New Digital Media Player (http://www.2wire.com/?p=423&pid=182)

MediaPoint™ digital media player provides instant entertainment from BLOCKBUSTER® ONDEMAND straight to television

Thousands of titles offered including new releases like Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Smart, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, The Strangers, The Love Guru

DALLAS, TX and SAN JOSE, CA - November 24, 2008 - Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE: BBI, BBI.B), a leading global provider of media entertainment, and 2Wire, a provider of integrated broadband solutions, today introduced the 2Wire MediaPoint™ digital media player, an easy-to-use, on-demand video solution that offers movie fans instant access through their television sets to BLOCKBUSTER® ONDEMAND content, including thousands of titles from the latest movie releases to classic favorites.

Beginning today, for a limited time, the MediaPoint digital media player is available free with the advance rental of 25 BLOCKBUSTER ONDEMAND movies for $99 at www.blockbuster.com. Unlike subscription-based services, which typically offer movies years after their release, BLOCKBUSTER ONDEMAND includes hot new releases, many available within weeks of leaving theaters. After the initial 25 rentals, movies are available for as little as $1.99 each. The players will begin shipping in time for the holiday season.

"The MediaPoint digital player, featuring BLOCKBUSTER ONDEMAND, is entertainment made easy. We are bringing Blockbuster, and the thousands of movies in our digital library, straight to customers' televisions," said Jim Keyes, Blockbuster Chairman and CEO. "The player is simple to use, delivers DVD quality video, and there's no monthly subscription commitment. We are delighted to team with 2Wire to give consumers this great entertainment product."

Easy to install, the MediaPoint digital media player works seamlessly with any broadband connection, either wirelessly via built-in Wi-Fi or wired via Ethernet cable, to deliver the hottest new movies, classics, foreign films and television shows from the BLOCKBUSTER digital library. With full fast-forward, rewind, and pause capabilities, the viewing experience is DVD quality, no matter the speed of the broadband connection. Movies can be played right away or saved to watch later. Additionally, the player supports HD video content and can be connected to HDTVs.

"To be successful, a broadband video offering needs to deliver movies that people want to see, in the quality they expect, with minimal setup requirements," said Pat Romano, chief executive officer of 2Wire. "BLOCKBUSTER ONDEMAND and the MediaPoint digital media player give movie fans what they want. We are thrilled to help bring this service to the living room, providing immediate access to high quality movies directly on the television set."

The MediaPoint digital media player is extremely compact — about the size of two boxes of movie candy — and can be integrated seamlessly into home entertainment systems through composite cable, HDMI, component cable, or Toslink.

Technical Details
In the Box

2Wire MediaPoint Digital Media Player (8" x 8" x 1")
Quick Installation Guide
Power Adapter
Composite A/V cable (supports SD viewing)
Remote Control
AAA Batteries
Video and Audio Connections

Composite
Component*
HDMI*
Stereo Audio
Toslink (digital optical audio)*
Network Connections

Ethernet*
Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g)

2Wire MediaPoint Accelerates Service Provider Delivery of Entertainment Services, Bridging Television and the Internet (http://www.2wire.com/index.php?p=423&pid=180)

The MediaPoint digital media player, designed and specified by 2Wire, is the hardware component of the MediaPoint broadband entertainment solution. It includes support for SD and HD content, SD and HD TV interfaces, wired and wireless network connectivity, internal storage, and USB expansion. It supports connections to televisions via HDMI, Component, Composite, and Optical Audio. In addition, the MediaPoint digital media player can be customized by the provider with the storage and external interface options that best fit their offering, pricing, and deployment schedule.

Hulu Begins HD Programming Push (http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6617388.html)

Hulu has long had an HD gallery as part of its site, but it was largely relegated to trailers for upcoming films, rather than feature length movies and television shows.

That is changing this week, as Hulu begins adding full length 720p high definition content to its HD gallery. The move is part of Hulu's "Hulu for The Holidays" push, which features new movies, TV shows and features every day until Dec. 26.

The first programs available are NBC shows, including the latest episodes of 30 Rock, The Office and Heroes, as well as Joss Whedon's strike induced web-feature Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.

So far there are only 10 full-length shows available. Hulu is not setting a timetable or program schedule for the HD gallery, though it is expected to refresh it with new content as it sees fit. In addition, HD content is not embeddable to outside websites, unlike nearly everything else on the site.

"Ultimately, Hulu is committed to leveraging and developing innovative technologies that deliver the best possible online video viewing experience," said a Hulu spokesperson. "To that end, the Hulu HD gallery is the first step in making HD quality videos available on Hulu."

Blockbuster, Microsoft team up on mobile services (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/DN-blockbuster_01bus.ART0.State.Edition1.4a219e8.html)


Blockbuster Inc. caught up to the competition last week by introducing a set-top box that brings rentals from the Internet to the television.

Now, the Dallas-based company hopes to pass the pack by teaming with Microsoft Corp. on new mobile services that will let customers watch even more movies on more devices.

"Eventually, we'll give customers instant access to any movie on any device with an Internet connection and a screen," said Keith Morrow, Blockbuster's chief information officer.

"More immediately, we could use this technology to reach into airports. Travelers could quickly download movies from Blockbuster kiosks to their portable media players."

Blockbuster will try to build some of these services on top of the new software platform from Microsoft.

Dubbed "Live Mesh," it uses Internet connections to share data among different devices.

Folks with multiple PCs can already use Live Mesh to do some basic things, such as synchronizing their home and work calendars.

Soon, Live Mesh will work with Macs and Windows Mobile smart phones.

"We've built in the functionality that allows Microsoft programs to talk to each other, but we're also opening up Live Mesh to anyone else who has cool ideas for sharing data," said Jeff Hansen, general manager of Microsoft's Live Services group.

Blockbuster is one of the first companies to try building an application on Live Mesh, and it certainly has some cool ideas.

For example, Mr. Morrow said, once people begin connecting their televisions to the Internet, software such as Live Mesh will allow them to pause a movie on one TV and pick it up – at exactly the same place – on a TV in another building.

Mr. Morrow also envisions a system that would notify parents if their kids tried to watch a movie during homework time.

"There are so many things we can do to add value," Mr. Morrow said. "That's why we're working with Microsoft and other partners that can help us deliver."

Fox strikes VOD deal with BT Vision (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/technology/news/e3i2b831046707ffd2520fbd7321b2d6793)

LONDON -- 20th Century Fox has inked a VOD rights pact with BT, giving the U.K. telecom a range of movie titles to offer consumers via its BT Vision digital TV service.

The films, which will be offered on demand beginning Dec. 15, include "The Happening," "Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who" and "Shine a Light."

Tuesday's deal means that BT Vision now has a VOD pact in place with every major studio but Sony Pictures. "We're working on that one," a spokesman said.

Fox catalog titles including "Alien Resurrection," "The Beach" and "Die Hard" also will be among those offered.

All Fox movies on BT Vision will be available on a pay-per-view basis without the need for a mandatory subscription.

Prices start at 2 pounds ($2.98) for back catalog titles, rising to 3.99 pounds ($5.95) for the newest movies. BT Vision also offers consumers HD versions for an extra pound ($1.49).

Netflix service on TiVo Series3 goes live (http://www.betanews.com/article/Netflix_service_on_TiVo_Series3_goes_live/1228716621)

This morning, the Netflix service was officially made available to users of TiVo Series3, and TiVo HD XL users with the updated software and an existing Netflix subscription.

On Friday, the TiVo 11.0 software began to roll out, but other than a slight rearrangement on the main menu and the "11.0" insignia, there was little to speak of in the update. However, this meant that the updated boxes were primed for the Netflix On Demand service, which was announced at the end of October.

Now, through the DVR's interface, users can watch the movies and TV shows in the instant queue they have assembled through Netflix's site.

"With so much talk focusing on the economy these days," said Tara Maitra, General Manager and Vice President of Content Services at TiVo Inc, "this partnership makes more sense than ever because it brings people more movies at home."

VUDU Brings the Web to TV With Breakthrough Internet Application Platform (http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/VUDU-Brings-Web-TV-With/story.aspx?guid=%7B5C842626-EC4B-460D-993E-46E84A0DF72D%7D)

Company Launches More than 120 Channels of Web Based Content and Applications, Announces Rich Internet Application Platform Open to All Developers in 2009

Last update: 12:01 a.m. EST Dec. 16, 2008

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Dec 16, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- VUDU today took a major step forward in bringing the Web into the living room by launching the VUDU RIA (Rich Internet Application) platform, a standards-based platform that brings Web-hosted rich applications and services to consumer appliances such as the popular VUDU Internet movie player. VUDU RIA combines the openness and ease of development of Web applications, lightweight hardware requirements compatible with today's consumer Internet appliances, and a lean-back user experience optimized for television.

To demonstrate the power and flexibility of VUDU RIA, VUDU has created an initial set of applications and services in a new area of the VUDU home page, called VUDU Labs. Available today to all VUDU owners, these applications include casual games, implementations of Flickr, Picasa and the entire YouTube library, as well as a new "On Demand TV" area with more than 120 channels.

Today, VUDU customers can access a broad selection of free on-demand shows provided by major network television and on-line specialty sites spanning news, food, music, sports, and more. Programs include daily highlights from shows such as "Today," "The Rachel Maddow Show," "Anderson Cooper 360," "Fantasy Focus NFL," "MTV News," as well as full programs, some in HD, from Nova, National Geographic, PBS and others. VUDU plans to add more applications and services throughout 2009.

"VUDU RIA enables us to quickly open up huge libraries of web based content to TVs in living rooms around America," said Edward Lichty, Executive Vice President of Strategy and Content. "We are excited to deliver both high quality TV shows as well as Web applications which enable our customers to share their photos and watch the tens of millions of YouTube videos on their HDTV's."

VUDU RIA Brings Web Application Development to CE devices

VUDU RIA allows developers to take advantage of the most advanced RIA techniques such as asynchronous Web queries, local scripting, and persistent client-side storage, along with unique TV-centered technologies such as VUDU's acclaimed user interface, one-wheel remote control navigation, and VUDU's TruFilm-powered video rendering for maximum visual quality.

VUDU RIA enables the development of responsive, rich applications optimized for display and use on high definition televisions that bring the wealth of data and content of the Internet to the living room without needing to deploy new software on the consumer appliance, a first in the consumer electronics world.

VUDU RIA is targeted at today's low power set-top boxes and Internet appliances and delivers a lightning fast user experience on a 300 MHz embedded processor with 128MB of RAM. Applications developed on the VUDU RIA platform are as responsive as native applications but have the added advantage of being able to pull from the vast and growing reservoir of Internet content and services. They can also be updated anytime without modifying any software in the consumer's appliance, creating a dynamic experience heretofore unavailable in the living room. VUDU RIA will be opened up to third party developers in the first half of 2009.

"Our goal in creating VUDU RIA was to allow anyone with Web development skills to easily author Web-driven applications for the TV," said Prasanna Ganesan, VUDU's Chief Technical Officer. "We are very pleased with the results and look forward to opening up VUDU RIA to the developer community."

Roku's Netflix Player gets HD upgrade--and the promise of additional channels in 2009 (http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10127946-1.html)

The Netflix Player by Roku is the latest Netflix-compatible device to offer HD video support. The free firmware upgrade (version 1.5) adds the ability to access the approximately 300 or so titles in Netflix's streaming library that are currently available in high-definition. The upgrade brings the Roku box up to speed with the Xbox 360, TiVo HD DVRs, and Samsung BD-P2500 and BD-P2550 Blu-ray players, all of which have been upgraded to support Netflix HD streams over the past few weeks. (The remaining device, the LG BD300 Blu-ray player, should be getting its own HD firmware upgrade soon.)

In addition to the HD upgrade, the Roku box is also teasing the eventual availability of new non-Netflix programming. Clicking the "what's new" button on the updated home screen reveals a message that says:

This screen will become your launching pad for a number of great new channels that will begin to appear on your player in early 2009. In addition to the hugely popular Netflix channel, you'll see new movie channels, TV channels, web video channels and more.

We've been hearing that the Roku box wanted to broaden its horizons since at least September, so the imminent arrival of new content options isn't exactly a surprise. And with more people looking to dump expensive cable and satellite subscriptions, a $99 set-top box with on-demand video options is certainly an attractive idea. It also probably means that the hardware--currently called "The Netflix Player by Roku"--may need to get a new name when the company eventually flips the switch on those new channels.

http://newteevee.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/dscf1765.jpg?w=514&h=385

“By now you’ve discovered our new home screen. This screen will become your launching pad for a number of great new channels that will begin to appear on your player in early 2009. In addition to the hugely popular Netflix channel, you’ll see movie channels, TV channels, web video and more! We’ve also upgraded your player to support an advanced video format that will deliver better video quality, especially over Internet connections. Finally, your player is now fully HD compatible. If you have an HDTV, select ‘update display type’ below to get the full HD experience. (Tip: visit www.netflix.com/InstantHD for HD movies from Netflix.)”

http://newteevee.com/2008/12/21/roku-adds-hd-updates-for-expansion/

Comcast Rolls Wideband in the Pacific Northwest (http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=168129&site=cdn)
FYI we are enjoying this new service now. It is remarkable to do a speed check and see better than 22 Mbit/sec down, and 10 mbit/sec up! All without paying anything extra. We were just about to switch to Fios but now we are holding tight. They also offer the 30 and 50 mbit tiers but the sweet spot is where we are now. Stated rate by the way, is supposed to be 16 mbit/sec. But I guess they are letting it fly past that for now...

amirn,

Nice, what competition does. Enjoy it.

LG further diversifies its Blu-ray players with online content (http://www.betanews.com/article/LG_further_diversifies_its_Bluray_players_with_online_conten t/1230649986)

During the summer, South Korean CE maker LG debuted the first streaming Netflix-enabled Blu-ray player. Today, the company announced its Blu-ray players will receive content from more streaming partners.

LG's network-connected Blu-ray players will be receiving an upgrade in early 2009, endowing them with features similar to the latest broadband TiVo DVRs: Users will be able to access CinemaNow and YouTube content.

By letting its connected Blu-ray players access these streaming services, LG instantly adds a library of nearly 30,000 cinematic and television releases and a countless number of user-generated videos to the approximately 1,220 Blu-ray titles available in the United States.

While the company's only network Blu-ray player is its $350 BD300, LG will be premiering a new line of products at CES 2009, which will immediately enjoy the fruits of LG's partnerships with Netflix, CinemaNow, and YouTube. The company expects more streaming service providers to join in 2009 and beyond.

Mike, thank you for the continuous updates on DDs. I think things are about to get interesting. :)

Mike, thank you for the continuous updates on DDs. I think things are about to get interesting. :)Please return your seatbacks and tray tables to their upright and locked positions...We could be in for a bumpy ride. :)

SD cards to be one focus at CES
Toshiba expected to showcase new line of products (http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6625907.html)

DEC. 31 | Forget DVD burning. At CES next week, consumer electronics companies are expected to turn instead to SD cards, the same as those used to store photos on digital cameras, as a way for consumers to easily download and save digital movies and music for playback on everything from portable video players to TVs.

The idea is that consumers could download movies or music to the cards at home or through retail kiosks and then play the content on any device with an SD card slot.

Toshiba is expected to show off a prototype line of devices with SD slots, while other consumer electronics manufacturers are expected to include the slots in more of their set-top and portable players.

Already a feature on some TVs and set-top players, SD slots are an inexpensive add-on for manufacturers and a cheap storage device for consumers, MOD Systems CEO Mark Phillips said.

In September, MOD announced a partnership with Toshiba and ATM-company NCR to launch new kiosks that offer digital downloads to SD cards.

Phillips expects to see more SD slots in HDTVs, Blu-ray Disc players, digital video recorder boxes, cell phones and portable devices at this year’s show. He notes that even Blockbuster’s new 2wire set-top box includes an SD slot.

Competitor Polar Frog Digital reinvented its kiosks in the fall to offer download to SD and micro SD cards and to USB devices. Polar Frog has plans to roll out kiosks to 200 universities, where they will target a consumer base that regularly uses iPods and mobile phones to watch digital video.

Nonetheless, Polar Frog president Todd Rosenbaum isn’t as bullish about the future of SD cards as a home entertainment format, believing DVD burning will be more popular because most people already have a player.

“I don’t see people taking a card out of their Blackberry to download a movie,” he said.

Both companies are hopeful that virtual movie inventories stored in kiosks will be more appealing to retailers looking to save money and space in a down economy, finally kick-starting their businesses.

“A vast virtual inventory, that’s the Holy Grail for retailers,” Phillips saidSD Cards vs. DVD burning... Why not both? :)

LG Electronics First to Unveil 'Broadband HDTVs' That Instantly Stream Movies
From Netflix (http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS92308+05-Jan-2009+PRN20090105)

Netflix Members Can Instantly Watch Movies Directly On New LG Plasma and LCD HDTVs

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J. and LOS GATOS, Calif., Jan. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- LG Electronics today extended its groundbreaking partnership with Netflix, Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX), as the two companies announced the first broadband- enabled HDTVs with Netflix streaming software embedded directly in the TV, requiring no external device. LG's new LCD and plasma "Broadband HDTVs" will display the growing library of movies, TV episodes and high-definition (HD) content that Netflix members can watch instantly directly on the TV with Ethernet connectivity.

Available this spring, the new LCD and plasma HDTVs will join the LG BD300 Network Blu-ray Disc Player, the first Blu-ray disc player to stream movies instantly from Netflix. These products - and five new models of Blu-ray Disc players and home theater systems planned for 2009 - will offer consumers a variety of ways to enjoy more than 12,000 choices of movies and TV episodes instantly from Netflix. Netflix members owning one or more of the devices pay as little as $8.99 per month for unlimited instant streaming and unlimited DVDs from a catalog of more than 100,000 DVD titles in more than 200 genres.

LG Electronics and Netflix will demonstrate these broadband HDTVs this week at the 2009 CES(R), Booth #8214, Central Hall, Las Vegas Convention Center.

"Embedding the Netflix streaming software in the television is a natural progression of our partnership with Netflix and our innovative product line," said LG Electronics USA President Teddy Hwang. "This is an LG industry-first, which provides another flexible option for consumers seeking to access exciting content directly through their HDTV."

"LG Electronics was first to embrace Netflix as a streaming partner a year ago, and was first in 2008 to introduce a Blu-ray disc player that streams movies from Netflix," said Netflix CEO Reed Hastings. "So it's fitting that LG is the first to introduce Netflix instant streaming directly to the TV with these next-generation HDTVs."

Netflix began offering its instant streaming functionality on the PC in January 2007 and made the leap to the TV last year via Netflix ready devices such as the LG BD300 Blu-ray disc player. With today's announcement, Netflix will be streaming, for the first time, directly to the TV with no external device required.

Instantly streaming content from Netflix to the LG HDTVs will rely on a broadband connection and Queue-based user interface. Netflix members will use the Netflix Web site to add movies and TV episodes to their individual instant Queues. Those choices will automatically be displayed on members' TVs and available to watch instantly through the HDTV. Once selected, movies will begin playing in as little as 30 seconds. With the accompanying remote control, Netflix members will be able to browse and make selections right on the TV screen and also have the ability to read synopses and rate movies. In addition, they will have the option of fast-forwarding and rewinding the video stream.

"The partnership between Netflix and LG Electronics continues to give consumers more and better options for home entertainment," said Hastings.

Amazon to stream content through Roku box (http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6626487.html)

Amazon.com will make its digital movie and TV titles available for streaming directly to TV sets after reaching an agreement with set-top box maker Roku.

Amazon's 40,000 video-on-demand titles will be available to be streamed on the $99 Roku Digital Video Player, the same box that already streams Netflix content, in "early 2009," the companies said in a statement today. Amazon's sell-through streaming titles will be available the same day they're released on DVD.

Along with companies such as Netflix and Blockbuster, Amazon has been aggressive at trying to attract their customers to its digital delivery service. Last July, Amazon replaced its Unbox video-download service with a video-on-demand service that allows customers to stream TV and movie content in an effort to continue to build media revenue.

Amazon doesn't disclose sales from its digital titles.

The company also has an agreement with Sony in which owners of the TV maker's Bravia HDTV sets can buy a component allowing direct-to-TV downloads, and offers downloads through TiVo digital video recorders.

"Customers can now choose and watch their favorite new-release movie instantly and access all of their titles from their video library," said Roy Price, director of Amazon Video On Demand. "Amazon Video On Demand's large selection makes the Roku Player the perfect choice for hassle-free on demand movie and TV entertainment."

It would be nice if Amazon had some HD content, but everything from Amazon is only SD.

Broadcom To Pack Adobe's Flash Into TV Chips (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6626790.html)

“Consumers with broadband Internet access increasingly enjoy viewing the wide array of video content available to them and it is clear that they want to watch their favorite online video content on their televisions for the best viewing experience,” said Dan Marotta, senior vice president and general manager of Broadcom’s Broadband Communications Group. “By integrating Adobe Flash support in our latest portfolio of digital television and set-top box solutions, Broadcom will pave the way for an exciting new entertainment experience in the home.”

Intel, Adobe to tune up Flash for TV devices (http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10131000-92.html)

A Flash-CE 3100 combo would give consumers a better viewing experience of Web-based and other videos via digital TVs, Blu-ray Disc players, cable set-top boxes, and audiovisual devices, the companies said.

"Our effort with Adobe is poised to accelerate a rich yet relevant Internet experience on the TV that will provide consumers with access to a growing number of Flash-based applications that will ultimately be enjoyed across a number of screens seamlessly, from the laptop to a MID and now the TV," William O. Leszinske Jr., general manager of Intel's Digital Home Group, said in a statement.

2Wire® Selects Broadcom's Chipset to Power Its MediaPoint™ Digital Media Player (http://www.broadcom.com/press/release.php?id=s357664)

Broadcom® BCM7405 Enables the Delivery of On-Demand Internet Content and Personal Media to the TV

LAS VEGAS, Jan 06, 2009 -- 2009 International CES -- Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, today announced that its BCM7405 digital set-top box (STB) system-on-a-chip (SoC) solution has been selected by 2Wire, a provider of integrated broadband solutions, to power its new MediaPoint™ digital media player. The MediaPoint player enables service providers to quickly provide their customers with entertainment offerings delivered directly to their TVs, including movies, video, music and other on-demand Web-based media content, as well as personal music and video content.

In November 2008, 2Wire and Blockbuster Inc. announced that the 2Wire® MediaPoint player would be utilized to provide movie fans with instant access to BLOCKBUSTER® ONDEMAND content, including thousands of titles from the latest movie releases to classic favorites.

"The MediaPoint digital player, featuring BLOCKBUSTER ONDEMAND, is entertainment made easy. We are bringing Blockbuster, and the thousands of movies in our digital library, straight to customers' televisions," said Jim Keyes, Blockbuster chairman and CEO. "The player is simple to use, delivers DVD quality video, and there's no monthly subscription commitment. We are delighted to bring consumers this great entertainment product."

2Wire is leveraging the capabilities of the BCM7405 STB SoC to further enhance the performance of the MediaPoint broadband entertainment solution to meet next generation service provider requirements and provide a cost effective means to deliver on-demand Internet content and personal media directly to the TV. At this week's International Consumer Electronics Show, Broadcom is demonstrating the capabilities of its BCM7405 on the 2Wire MediaPoint digital media player, accelerating the delivery of entertainment services that bridge the television and Internet together.

"MediaPoint services, enabled by the Broadcom BCM7405, create a new way to access multimedia entertainment content on the television, using any broadband connection," said Jonathan Symonds, Vice President of Product Marketing at 2Wire. "The MediaPoint player lets users seamlessly browse, download and view high quality video and movies, easily discover music stored anywhere on the network and listen to it through the home entertainment system, upload, view and share photos, and access personal networked media content on their TVs."

"The 2Wire MediaPoint player underscores our commitment to enhancing the consumer entertainment experience in the home," said Dan Marotta, Senior Vice President & General Manager of Broadcom's Broadband Communications Group. "Powered by the BCM7405, the MediaPoint solution gives users the ability to watch movies, video and other on-demand Web-based media content directly on the TV, while allowing service providers to enable customized Web-based services, from online radio to legal music downloading and even photo sharing services."

Panasonic Blu-ray players add Amazon VOD (http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6627159.html)

JAN. 7 | Panasonic is adding several twists to its 2009 slate of Blu-ray Disc set-top players, including Amazon Video On Demand streaming, portability and—in one of the stranger announcements from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week—VHS playback capabilities.

Panasonic's four new BD Live-enabled players will all come equipped with the manufacturer's branded Viera Cast Web connectivity technology, which will offer streaming content from Amazon’s VOD service for the first time. Other available Web programming will come from YouTube, Google’s Picasa Web Album, Bloomberg and a weather channel, which have been featured within certain Panasonic Viera Cast TV models launched last year.

Sony builds Web connection in TVs (http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6627154.html)

CES: Video streaming will no longer require additional accessory

By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 1/7/2009
JAN. 7 | Sony Electronics has added built-in Web connectivity for the first time with its new XBR9 and Z-series TV models, matching other manufacturers’ drive to enhance products with easier Internet accessibility.

These TVs will offer automatic streaming programming from Amazon Video on Demand, YouTube and Yahoo, among other Web services through an integrated Bravia Internet Video Link. Previously, Sony offered the Bravia Link for its TVs as a separate accessory, which was sold for a few hundred dollars.

Amazon VOD represents one of the latest content services Sony has added to its Bravia Link stable in September 2008.
...
CES: Video streaming will no longer require additional accessory
By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 1/7/2009
JAN. 7 | Sony Electronics has added built-in Web connectivity for the first time with its new XBR9 and Z-series TV models, matching other manufacturers’ drive to enhance products with easier Internet accessibility.

These TVs will offer automatic streaming programming from Amazon Video on Demand, YouTube and Yahoo, among other Web services through an integrated Bravia Internet Video Link. Previously, Sony offered the Bravia Link for its TVs as a separate accessory, which was sold for a few hundred dollars.

Amazon VOD represents one of the latest content services Sony has added to its Bravia Link stable in September 2008.

Other companies announcing Web enhancements at CES are Samsung with its first wireless Blu-ray players and Panasonic with the addition of Amazon VOD to its Viera Cast line of TVs and Blu-ray players.

“Internet-based content is driving the evolution of home entertainment,” said Randy Waynick, senior VP of Sony Electronics’ Home Products Division. “Our new networked Bravia models deliver streaming videos, access to digital files and real-time information that transforms the TV into a true multi-media hub.”

Netgear Unveils Verismo-Based TV Set-Top Box (http://newteevee.com/2009/01/07/netgear-unveils-verismo-based-tv-set-top-box/)

Netgear announced its new Internet TV Player, the ITV2000, set-top box at CES today. Based on Verismo’s VuNow, the compact box lets users watch live Internet television programming from around the world, check out web video and access premium content. From the press release:

“[F]or the Internet families who enjoy online video, and for those who are geographically displaced from their preferred television content, such as international sporting events and Bollywood productions. It streams content from popular sites such as BBC.com, CNN.com, ESPN.com, EuroSport.com, NBC.com, PGATour and TMZ.com, as well as video powerhouses YouTube, Google Videos, Yahoo Videos and MetaCafe. NETGEAR’s Internet TV Player supports streaming of live TV broadcasts from Internet sites around the world, and premium, paid movies on demand such as CinemaNow.com, in addition to downloaded videos from sites such as **********.”

The ITV2000 plugs into your TV and does not require a PC to work. To give you a sense of the functionality, here’s a video demo Liz did of the Verismo box in action last year.

The box can connect to your home network wirelessly or via Ethernet, and you can access your own media like music and video by connecting a USB device into the ITV2000 or by accessing media stored on Netgear ReadyNAS storage products.

The ITV2000 will be available this summer, priced at $199.

SDXC Signals New Generation of Removable Memory With up to 2 Terabytes of Storage (http://sev.prnewswire.com/computer-electronics/20090107/AQW04107012009-1.html)

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- CES Booth South 3 #31277 -- The next-generation SDXC (eXtended Capacity) memory card specification, announced today at the 2009 International CES, dramatically improves consumers' digital lifestyles by providing the portable storage and speed needed to store weeks of high-definition video, years of photo collections and months of music to mobile phones, cameras and camcorders, and other consumer electronic devices. The new SDXC specification provides up to 2 terabytes storage capacity and accelerates SD interface read/write speeds to 104 megabytes per second this year, with a road map to 300 megabytes per second.

The SDXC specification, developed by the SD Association, leapfrogs memory card interface speeds while retaining the world-leading SD interface. Specifications for the open standard will be released in the first quarter of 2009. SDHC, Embedded SD and SDIO specifications will also benefit from the new SD interface speeds.

"SDXC combines a higher capacity roadmap with faster transfer speeds as a means to exploit NAND flash memory technology as a compelling choice for portable memory storage and interoperability," said Joseph Unsworth, research director, NAND Flash Semiconductors, at Gartner. "With industry support, SDXC presents manufacturers with the opportunity to kindle consumer demand for more advanced handset features and functionality in consumer electronics behind the ubiquitous SD interface."

Turning mobile phones into media centers

SDXC allows users to enjoy more from their mobile phones. Larger capacity and faster transfer speeds allow for expanded entertainment and data storage. A 2TB SDXC memory card can store 100 HD movies, 60 hours of HD recording or 17,000 fine-grade photos.

"With SDXC, consumers can quickly download higher quality content to their phones, including games, video and music -- giving consumers a richer media and content experience," said James Taylor, president of the SD Association. "The SD interface already has proven itself valuable in mobile phones. Now, SDXC memory card capabilities will spur further handset sophistication and boost consumer content demand."

Shooting pictures at the speed of life

SDXC is also the first memory card specification to provide 2TB storage without hindering the high-speed performance necessary for high-end photography. It will provide maximum speeds even when the SDXC specification achieves its maximum 2TB storage capacity.

"SDXC is a large-capacity card that can store more than 4,000 RAW images, which is the uncompressed mode professionals use, and 17,000 of the fine-mode most consumers use. That capacity, combined with the exFAT file system, increases movie recording time and reduces starting time to improve photo-capturing opportunities," said Shigeto Kanda, general manager at Canon. "Improvements in interface speed allow further increases in continuous shooting speed and higher resolution movie recordings. As a memory card well suited to small-sized user-friendly digital cameras, the SDXC specification will help consumers realize the full potential of our cameras."

SDXC will enable camcorders to provide longer, professional level HD video recording with a small form factor.

The SDXC specification uses Microsoft's exFAT file system to support its large capacity and interoperability in a broad range of PCs, consumer electronics and mobile phones. The exFAT system was designed for increased compatibility with flash media, from portability of data to interoperability with multiple platforms and devices on removable media.

"The SD Association is committed to answering and anticipating consumer demand for easy-to-use memory card storage that is interoperable in any device with a matching SD slot," Taylor said. "The SDXC card gives consumers a new, yet familiar, high-performance card that will be used in hundreds of manufacturers' device offerings."

Netflix, Vizio to stream films to high-def TVs (http://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited/feeds/afx/2009/01/07/afx5891541.html)

LOS ANGELES, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Online DVD rental company Netflix Inc said on Wednesday it reached a deal for viewers to watch movies from Netflix on Vizio high definition televisions through Vizio's 'Connected HDTV' Platform.

This follows an announcement earlier this week that new LG Electronics Inc TV sets will soon screen Netflix (nasdaq: NFLX - news - people ) movies directly from the Web without an external device.

MOD Systems Signs Warner Brothers and Paramount Digital Entertainment (http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090108005478&newsLang=en)

2009 International CES

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MOD Systems, an industry-leading provider of digital media delivery systems for retailers, today announced it has signed the first major U.S. studio agreements to distribute digital video from Warner Brothers and Paramount Digital Entertainment via downloads to SD cards in retail stores. The agreements enable MOD Systems to offer physical retailers a vast digital inventory of standard definition titles, including new releases, and make titles available to consumers in conjunction with availability from leading online providers.

“MOD Systems offers a new avenue for consumers looking to access Paramount Pictures movies on-the-go, with a solution that is quick, convenient and compatible across a wide range of devices,” said Alex Carloss, executive vice president, digital distribution, Paramount Digital Entertainment.

MOD Systems’ growing digital entertainment catalog for retailers includes nearly 4,000 titles from major studios as well as independents such as Anchor Bay Entertainment, First Look Studios, and Image Entertainment. The catalog also includes nearly 4 million music tracks.

The catalog is part of the MOD Retail Enterprise System, which handles all aspects of securing, ingesting, and fulfilling digital content in retail stores. With digital distribution, retailers are empowered to fill customer needs at the point of sale through download to a device or SD card. This approach eliminates the need to order, stock, or return traditional pre-packaged media.

“We’re excited to work with Warner Brothers and Paramount Pictures to provide retailers with a digital video solution,” said Mark E. Phillips, CEO of MOD Systems. “These agreements validate our commitment to be at the forefront of developing solutions that offer rights management, interoperability, and content protection. Digital downloads to SD cards via interactive kiosks from our partner NCR give retailers a new way to increase content and device sales and ultimately better compete.”

Panasonic plans 64GB SD card (http://www.techradar.com/news/portable-devices/portable-media/panasonic-plans-64gb-sd-card-499548)

SD memory cards are due for a serious capacity boost this year with the arrival of a new format dubbed SDXC (SD eXtended Capacity).

This next-generation of SD technology will be capable of storing up to 2 Terabytes of data.

According to the SD Card Association, the SDXC standard will be released in the next few months, increasing the storage capacity of SD cards from 32GB up to 2TB.

Massive storage, incredible speeds

SD read/write speeds will also get a turbocharge, soaring from SDHC's 6MB per second to 104MB per second at launch. The SDXC roadmap ultimately calls for 300MB per second transfer speeds.

Panasonic certainly believes in the specification. "Panasonic supports the announcement and development of the SDXC standard," said a spokesperson, "and plans to launch a 64GB massive capacity SDXC Memory Card, which will have more capacity than the currently available 50GB dual layer Blu-ray Disc."

To put things in perspective, a 2TB SDXC memory card could store 100 HD movies, 60 hours of HD recordings or 17,000 high-quality photos. An early nail in the Blu-ray coffin, perhaps?

Pricing and availability for Panasonic's SDXC Memory Cards are currently under wraps. Expect more information later this year.

Warner Brothers and Paramount Digital Entertainment sign up for movie delivery to SD cards

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090108005478&newsLang=en

Blockbuster ramping up in VOD space (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3i8bd9b0da7b2e5cc5e77e3fdc8137168b)

Taking a page from Netflix, Blockbuster is set to announce today a partnership with Sonic Solutions for building VOD capabilities into a variety of consumer electronics devices.

Without naming names, Blockbuster said that it expects the partnership's VOD technology to be built into DVRs, Blu-ray Disc players, set-top boxes, mobile phones, Internet-connected television sets and other devices.

Blockbuster already has deals in place for a digital movie service with 2Wire and Vizio TV, while Sonic has done likewise with LG, Archos, Samsung and others. Blockbuster also owns Movielink, and that Internet-based VOD service has been integrated into Blockbuster.com.

Sonic, parent company of CinemaNow, will power the content-delivery system, while Blockbuster supplies the branded consumer interfaces.

Blockbuster has been playing catch-up to Netflix in this arena, with the latter having struck deals for putting VOD capabilities into TiVo boxes, Xbox game consoles, Blu-ray players and other devices.

Unlike Netflix, which has no brick-and-mortar retail presence, Blockbuster intends on selling the electronic gadgets that are built to play the VOD content provided through the Blockbuster-Sonic partnership at many of its 7,500 stores.

Similar to Netflix, Blockbuster has 90,000 DVD titles available through its DVD-by-mail service, though only 10,000 are available for digital delivery.

Netflix Survey: Would You Pay an Additional $9.99 Per Month for HBO Shows? (http://www.hackingnetflix.com/2009/01/netflix-survey-would-you-pay-an-additional-999-per-month-for-hbo-shows.html)

Netflix sent out a survey to customers asking if they would be willing to pay an additional $9.99 per month for HBO shows. Netflix already has more than 700,000 customers paying an extra $1 per month for Blu-ray titles, so they're already setup to collect the fee. Could HBO use another million or two subscribers via Netflix?

Here's a screen capture of the survey:

http://mike.blogs.com/.a/6a00d83451c1bb69e2010536fc913c970b-pi

Would you pay an additional $9.99 for HBO shows such as The Sopranos, The Wire, Entourage, Big Love, and movies such as Jumper, Gladiator, and I am Legend?

Epix Eyes May Launch As Broadband Portal (http://www.multichannel.com/article/162831-Epix_Eyes_May_Launch_As_Broadband_Portal.php)

Las Vegas — The Paramount Pictures/MGM/Lionsgate cable and broadband venture now has a name, Epix, and launch dates: May for the broadband portal and October for the linear cable channel.But will it be a pay service, as originally touted?

Mark Greenberg, president of the joint venture, Studio 3 Networks, said operators will be given wide latitude to perhaps launch Epix on the digital tier to give access to HD content to a wider viewing pool. One won't see the channel on lifeline basic, he clarified, as that won't fit the business model. But operators will have broad flexibility in placing the channel in a way to boost satisfaction on high-definition content. And he explained the name, ending with x, is meant to signify cross-platform.

Greenberg had no affiliations to announce to reporters at the NATPE conference. He compared the difficulty of launching the new service to that of the regional sports cabler, Big 10 Network. Critics said there was no room for another sports network, adding there was already too much football on TV, but four weeks before launch, the channel had many affiliation agreements in place. He said epix should have agreements to announce about a month before launch.

Viewers will be able to view content from the theatrical vaults of the partner studios on a pay-per-view basis before the channel launch, but that is not the long-term business plan. The studios want cable subscribers to view, after they are authenticated as cable subscribers, content online with DVD-like extras, such as script notes or audition tapes, he said.

The studios will also give their channel an advantageous release window: content from those studios will appear nine months after their theatrical window. Competing pay channels, for instance, offer theatricals 10 to 11 months after their theatrical windows.

At launch, viewers will have immediate access to films including 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. The channel will 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.

The studios have expiring content deals with Showtime Networks, but they and the pay service were unable to reach a future licensing agreement, leading to the creation of Epix. CBS-owned Showtime reportedly wanted to pay less than it has in the past for theatrical releases.

Greenberg was also excited with nuggets from the archives of the participating studios. For instance, epix will offer a 1960s CBS series Ian Fleming series, in which "Jimmy Bond" was a CIA agent. Other Bond-like programming includes Woody Allen's Bond spoof of Casino Royale.

Just as other channels are creating original programming to solidify their brands, Epix will also feature original content. Greenberg predicted the channel will introduce one or two new originals in the channel's first years. Originals could be comedy or events, too, he said. But the sports veteran said sports are not likely on the channel.

Broadband Reports has learned that Charter will be updating their acceptable use policy (AUP) next week, setting the stage for clear usage caps and potential overage fees. A source familiar with the plans tells us Charter will be imposing a 100GB cap upon any Charter connection of 15Mbps or less, and a 250GB usage cap for broadband tiers "over 15 Mbps up to 25 Mbps." Documents shared with Broadband Reports make no mention of Charter's new 60Mbps DOCSIS 3.0 tier, which was launched last week in one market.

It's an idea being toyed with by several carriers; AT&T and Time Warner Cable are both currently conducting trials that charge users up to $1.00 per gigabyte. The idea appeals to investors who like the additional revenue, but it also allows carriers to monetize and/or control alternative video delivery.

etc.
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Exclusive-Charter-Implementing-New-Caps-100637

http://www.contentagenda.com/article/CA6590009.html

Wall Street Journal:

Internet Killed the Video Star (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123377977256648981.html)

It may be an entertainment company CEO's worst nightmare: waking up, looking in the mirror and seeing a music-company CEO.

That day may be here sooner than anyone in Hollywood would want to believe. Straws in the wind in recent weeks suggest that the recession may be accelerating a structural change toward free or low-cost Web video -- either television or movies -- and away from traditional delivery methods, such as cable TV or DVDs.

Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt on Wednesday warned that with more TV content being put on the Web, "we are starting to see the beginnings of cord cutting where people, particularly young people, are saying, 'All I need is broadband. I don't need video.'" Such a shift would endanger cable-network revenue, he said. But it would also eventually hurt the studios that supply the programming.

Meanwhile, Walt Disney CEO Robert Iger on Tuesday night had to explain a 64% drop in studio operating income in the December quarter caused by lower DVD sales. He said the DVD business may be suffering more than just a cyclical downturn. Increasing consumer choices, including videos available in many different outlets, may have a long-term impact on the DVD business, he said.

Indeed, Netflix last week said its "instant-watch" online service, which lets mail-order subscribers stream TV shows or movies, is being used in "ever greater numbers."

Major studios generate about 75% of their nearly $19 billion in annual U.S. feature-film revenue, post-theater, from sources like DVDs and TV sales, estimates Adams Media Research. Cable networks often generate more than half of their revenue from fees paid by cable and satellite operators. Both these pots of money are at risk.

http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-DB686_MEDHEA_NS_20090204213524.gif

Admittedly, the media companies control the content and can choose to pull it back from the Web or to raise the price they charge online services for their content. But they also need to respond to consumers' demands, by putting more content online. After all, the music industry tried to hold back the online flood and was almost drowned in the process.

So how should the industry respond? By continuing to embrace the Web, rather than retreating. Some executives at Time Warner Cable have floated the idea of limiting access to online TV-network video only to those who subscribe to cable-TV video packages. So far, the idea hasn't gained momentum, which is fortunate. Given the amount of content already on the Web, it isn't likely to work.

Instead, the media companies need to rethink how they operate. Mr. Iger seems to have the right idea. He outlined plans to cut costs in Disney's home-video business and to be choosier about movies that get made.

What they can't do is ignore reality. To misquote Stephen Stills, there's something happening here and what it is, is increasingly clear.

From Reuters:

Netflix says 1 million Xbox members use movie service (http://uk.reuters.com/article/filmNews/idUKTRE5145SF20090205)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Online DVD company Netflix said on Thursday that one million Microsoft Xbox 360 video game console users have activated Netflix's movie streaming service in the past three months since the two companies formed a partnership.

Netflix said the Xbox LIVE community has watched 1.5 billion minutes of movies and TV episodes through its Watch Instantly video service, but did not say how many subscribers it has actually gained from the partnership.

Netflix, best known for renting DVDs by mail, is the only company offering a subscription-based streaming video service as other rivals like Amazon.com, Apple, and Blockbuster compete with a la carte, pay-per-view rentals.

Analysts have been watching for data on the alliance as an important gauge of the emerging market for movies delivered over the Web, particularly as traditional media companies like Walt Disney this week have reported declining DVD sales and said the traditional business for delivering home video needs to be revised.

Netflix last month said its stronger-than-expected quarterly results were propelled by growth in its Web video streaming service and that streaming was "energizing" its growth.

Netflix has offered the Watch Instantly streaming service for over two years, but it was originally only available on PCs. It has since offered streaming Netflix video from the Internet through various devices, including the Roku settop boxes, the Xbox, LG Electronics products and others.

The Netflix application offers Xbox LIVE Gold members, who pay $50 a year to Microsoft for various different applications, the ability to instantly view content from Netflix on a TV via the Xbox 360 system if they are also members of Netflix service, priced at around $9 per month to include Watch Instantly unlimited streaming.

Netflix's library of about 12,000 titles for instant viewing includes mostly older Hollywood titles as major movie studios have resisted making new releases available digitally for subscription services.

Netflix offers newer titles on DVD or high-definition Blu-ray Disc through its mail-order service, through a library of more than 100,000 titles.

Count me as one who came back to Netflix strictly because of the video streaming and also being available on my Xboxes and my TiVos.
If I needed to buy a box specifically for access to the streaming content I would have never come back to Netflix.

Universal, Fox, Summit shut VOD-DVD window

http://www.contentagenda.com/article/CA6635448.html?industryid=45175

jvillain,

What are they talking about with the references to "window"????

Apparantly, you have to know their industry jargon.

jvillain,

What are they talking about with the references to "window"????

Apparantly, you have to know their industry jargon.
The timing of when a movie becomes available for viewing. The first window for example is theaterical. The last one is on free TV. All others in between.

Traditionally, digital downloads were in a window (release time) after DVD which didn't leave a whole lot of people who were interested in the movie as they would have had ample opportunity to view it other ways. This is what is changing.

Release windows have been key to movie industries' profits. The sell the same property multiple times based on when it is available for viewing (windows).

The studio brain trust seems to be focused on eventually renting movies at the same time they are in the theater. Currently they are begging the FCC for permission to force people to buy new TV's to make this work. Currently they are just focused on cable and Satellite delivery but it would definitely expand to downloads as well.

Sony takes up HD-blocking Selectable Output Control fight
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/02/sony-not-giving-up-on-selectable-output-control.ars

CNN: More US Consumers Drop Cable, DVDs As Content Moves Online (http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200902090815DOWJONESDJONLINE000231_FORTUNE5.htm)

SAN FRANCISCO -(Dow Jones)- For an idea of what's vexing U.S. entertainment industry executives these days, take a look at how Todd Mundt in Louisville, Ky., watches television and movies.

Eager to save money, the public radio station employee canceled his cable- television subscription, opting instead to get his favorite shows from a host of free streaming video sites, including Hulu.com, a joint venture of General Electric Co.'s (GE) NBC Universal and News Corp. (NWS). Rather than rent DVDs from Blockbuster Inc. (BBI), Mundt streams movies from Netflix Inc. (NFLX), a cheap and convenient substitute.

Mundt estimates he's saving at least $50 a month by getting his entertainment over the broadband connection he would pay for anyway just to have access to the Web. His prowess at finding entertainment online has also made him the envy of friends and colleagues.

"A lot of my friends take a look at my setup and say, 'Cool, how do I do that? '" Mundt said.

Mundt is one of a growing tide of consumers that over the last year or so have begun cutting their cable television subscriptions and shunning DVDs as more content becomes available online and faster broadband connections reach more parts of the country. Now, with the economy in a tailspin and consumers pinching budgets, the trend is picking up speed even though high-definition offerings and live events are still hard to come by.

No one knows how many people have cut their cable subscriptions, though some estimates have put the figure at about 1.1 million, or 1% of U.S. households with televisions. But already the trend is being blamed for shrinking performances at entertainment giants like Walt Disney Co. (DIS) and Time Warner Cable (TWC). Both companies blamed slipping revenue in part on the trend at earnings conferences last week.

DVD sales have also been hit. The Los Angeles-based Digital Entertainment Group estimates DVD sales in 2008 fell 8% to $21.6 billion from a year earlier, while DVD rentals were flat.

Cable and satellite television operators, who rely on subscription-based TV for about half of their revenue, are likely to be the biggest losers from the trend.

"People, particularly young people, are saying all I need is broadband," Time Warner Cable Chief Executive Glenn Britt said recently. "The danger here is...people will choose not to buy subscription video."

Internet delivered movies also threatens to undermine the $14 billion in revenue that movie studios generate by distributing their titles on DVDs. That's because many consumers are asking themselves why they should buy a disc when the same movies are available over the Internet, often at a big discount or for free.

Walt Disney Co. (DIS) is among the major U.S. studios to take notice. Disney said its studio revenues were down 26% last quarter and earnings before items were off 62% because of a soft DVD market driven in part by people accessing entertainment online. Already the shift has prompted Disney to shrink its home- video business.

"Consumer choice grows, we all know this to be true," Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger said recently. "This clearly has had an impact on broadcast television and may have a long-term potential impact on the DVD business."

Not all companies will suffer and already potential winners are starting to emerge.

Netflix, the online DVD rental and movie streaming company is a favorite among converts to online entertainment. The Los Gatos, Calif.-based company offers unlimited movie streaming from its 12,000 title catalogue for just $9 a month.

Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), both of which operate successful online streaming services, are also already benefitting, as is software giant Microsoft Corp. (MSFT). In the past three months, owners of Microsoft Xbox 360 game consoles have bought packages that let them stream Netflix titles over their game machines and have watched 1.5 billion minutes of programming over that period.

Makers of hardware that connect Internet connections to television sets are also expected to see a booming business. While it doesn't disclose numbers, sales of Netflix's Roku device are thought to be soaring. Meanwhile, sales of Apple's Apple TV unit sales tripled in its last complete fiscal quarter.

Free video Web sites are also winners, though their payoff is muted because most rely on advertising revenues, which have fallen with the recession. Hulu is among the upstarts offering free, higher quality videos like NBC's "Office".

Meanwhile, Google Inc.'s (GOOG) YouTube, and Yahoo Inc.'s (YHOO) video Web site have seen increased use as well, according to a January report by comScore.

I see VUDU has permanently cut their prices in half for their boxes.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/09/vudu-permanently-cuts-retail-price-of-movie-set-top-box-in-half/

More indepth article about Universal, Fox and Summit releasing titles day/date on VOD.

http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6635301.html?nid=2705

Great news

In a separate report this week, Consumer Reports also said there was little difference between the picture quality of video streams in high-definition versus standard definition.

"Given that immediate access to HD content will be a key selling point for many prospective customers, we wanted to know if the quality of these streaming HD shows was equivalent to what we're used to seeing from high-def TV services and Blu-ray discs," the publication wrote Feb. 9. "In a word, the answer is no."

http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6636914.html

In a separate report this week, Consumer Reports also said there was little difference between the picture quality of video streams in high-definition versus standard definition.

"Given that immediate access to HD content will be a key selling point for many prospective customers, we wanted to know if the quality of these streaming HD shows was equivalent to what we're used to seeing from high-def TV services and Blu-ray discs," the publication wrote Feb. 9. "In a word, the answer is no."

http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6636914.html

I'm assuming the people surveyed didn't perceive a difference between them since we know there actually is a difference.

http://homemediamagazine.com/netflix/netflix-passes-10-million-subscribers-14568

CEO Reed Hastings attributed the surge of new subscribers to the company’s value-add Instant Watch streaming service that delivers 12,000 titles free to broadband-enabled TiVo set-top boxes, Microsoft Xbox 360, select LG and Samsung Blu-ray players, PCs and Intel-based Macs, and the Roku digital video player.

Here is growth data for Hulu and Joost

http://siteanalytics.compete.com/hulu.com+joost.com/?metric=uv


hulu.com 12 month growth - 1809.4%

joost.com 12 month growth - 587.0%

Monthly visitors for these VoD sites are close to 5M now.

In a separate report this week, Consumer Reports also said there was little difference between the picture quality of video streams in high-definition versus standard definition.

"Given that immediate access to HD content will be a key selling point for many prospective customers, we wanted to know if the quality of these streaming HD shows was equivalent to what we're used to seeing from high-def TV services and Blu-ray discs," the publication wrote Feb. 9. "In a word, the answer is no."

http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6636914.html

As someone who has used Apple TV, Vudu and Hulu I can say the difference between HD and SD is quite easy to see. If these folks can't see the difference I don't see how they'll ditch cheaper DVD for Blu Ray! Perhaps they won't.

As someone who has used Apple TV, Vudu and Hulu I can say the difference between HD and SD is quite easy to see. If these folks can't see the difference I don't see how they'll ditch cheaper DVD for Blu Ray! Perhaps they won't.

This is just bad news for HD as a whole. There seems to be a large number of the population who either don't see a significant difference, or do not see that difference as being worth a premium.

Okay, so we hate to be blunt, but if there was one cable carrier out there just waiting to crash, it was Charter. The company famous for engaging in less-than-forthright contest practices and perpetually finding ways to perturb subscribers has just announced that a Chapter 11 filing isn't too far away.
As expected, the company has assured subscribers that its services will continue to operate throughout the debt restructuring process, but we wouldn't expect service to get any better in the coming months.
etc.


http://www.engadgethd.com/2009/02/12/charter-communications-to-file-for-bankruptcy/

I see VUDU has permanently cut their prices in half for their boxes.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/09/vudu-permanently-cuts-retail-price-of-movie-set-top-box-in-half/
This seems like a good deal, but is there any way to get one of these to work with a URC without paying $190 to get the unit with and iR adapter?

The picture makes it look like a mini=stereo connector that maybe I can connect to my URC RF-260 base station.

This seems like a good deal, but is there any way to get one of these to work with a URC without paying $190 to get the unit with and iR adapter?

The picture makes it look like a mini=stereo connector that maybe I can connect to my URC RF-260 base station.

NIB Vudu IR Adapters often pop up on eBay for under $20. Vudu's on eBay should also be selling at bargain prices with the new box price points.

Sony Ericsson Unveils Two Phones, Video Service (http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/News/Details.aspx?NewsId=24845)

Sony Ericsson on Sunday unveiled an 8 megapixel camera phone, announced the upcoming 12 megapixel camera phone model codenamed "Idou" and an unlimited movie download service for mobile phones.

The company anounced its new strategy focused on services and entertainment. Called "Entertainment Unlimited," the strategy fuses "communication and entertainment." Although the company did not provide many details, this strategy is expected to bring together cell phones with PCs and the TV to share entertainment content.

As part of this strategy, the company announced Media Go, which is an extension of its PlayNow Music service. Media Go adds a service that lets users download movies onto their PC and then transfer them over to a Sony Ericsson device. The service will also allow the transfer of other media, such as music, photos, and podcasts. The service will also allow users to sync their phone's music library automatically, subscribe to podcasts, and auto-convert files for the best quality playback. Media Go will also allow users to burn their CDs and bring their music and audio books with them.

"Entertainment Unlimited lets us reinforce our position as THE communication entertainment brand," said Lennard Hoornik Head of Global Marketing and Vice President at Sony Ericsson. "Everything that we have done to date has brought us to this point - we created the music phone category in 2005 selling over 100 million Walkman phones and we are now ready to unveil the next chapter in the evolution of the company - Entertainment Unlimited - giving consumers unlimited opportunities to share their entertainment experiences."

This is just bad news for HD as a whole. There seems to be a large number of the population who either don't see a significant difference, or do not see that difference as being worth a premium.

I'd say it is bad news for streaming HD. Paragraph 1 seems to say it's not that much better than SD, while the 2nd paragraph seems to indicate that there is a big difference between streaming HD and OTA/Blu-Ray PQ. Or else they contradict each other.:confused:

I'd say it is bad news for streaming HD. Paragraph 1 seems to say it's not that much better than SD, while the 2nd paragraph seems to indicate that there is a big difference between streaming HD and OTA/Blu-Ray PQ. Or else they contradict each other.:confused:
In this report, yes... but there seems to be a larger consumer trend that indicates that not everyone values and/or understands HD as much as the AVS community.

It would be ideal if people were more able to see the difference between streaming SD and HD as it could help spur HD growth overall. I would hate to think that the large number of people using Netflix on Demand are not seeing the benefit of HD. Or that top tier services like HDX (from Vudu) go to the wayside because of consumer apathy.

We already know that Blu-ray hardware will peak in 4 years, and streaming/VOD will start to gain more and more marketshare. I would like for that market to have a healthy supply of HD content.


Combined, 38% of HD owners say that replacing an old/broken set or wanting to buy a new TV set was the most important reason for getting their HDTV – compared to 22% citing picture quality, and 7% the quality of HD programming or the number of HD channels

LRG estimates that about 58% of all HD households are now watching HD programming from a multi-channel video provider – up from 53% last year. However, about 18% of individuals with an HDTV continue think that they are watching HD programming, but are not.


http://www.leichtmanresearch.com/press/111208release.html

NIB Vudu IR Adapters often pop up on eBay for under $20. Vudu's on eBay should also be selling at bargain prices with the new box price points.

I picked up one off Ebay for one of my VUDUs last month for $17.50 plus shipping. The first IR adapter I got last year through VUDU for the retail price.

Netflix Chief Sees Streaming-Only Pricing by 2010 (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=afOZgc1sX_g0&refer=muse)

Feb. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Netflix Inc. may allow customers to pay solely for online-video streaming by late this year or 2010 as more viewers watch content directly from the Internet, Chief Executive Officer Reed Hastings said.

The largest U.S. mail-order movie service has “millions” of its more than 10 million subscribers watching video online, and is investing more this year to expand its library available on the Internet. Netflix has more than 12,000 titles for immediate viewing, compared with 100,000 for DVD-by-mail.

Currently, customers pay a fixed amount to have access to both DVDs and “streaming” movies, which begin when the customer presses play on the movie’s image on the Netflix Web site.

The company’s success hinges on its ability to transition to online video from DVDs, Hastings said yesterday in an interview in San Francisco. Netflix faces a challenge similar to the one AOL had as it lost subscribers who shifted from Internet service via a telephone connection to high-speed access, he said.

“Most companies that are in our shoes fail,” Hastings said. “Most companies that have a sort of generational evolution forward, like AOL from dial-up to broadband, fail. And it’s catastrophic for investors.”

Shareholders may be pricing doubts about Los Gatos, California-based Netflix’s ability to bridge the gap from DVDs to online video into the stock, Hastings said.

“A reasonable discount for that is not inappropriate at all,” he said. “In the last year, we picked up some momentum on, ‘Hey, maybe Netflix is going to make it.’”
...
Netflix is aiming to broaden its online-video streaming to televisions from computers through media including Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360 video-game console and a service from TiVo Inc. One million Xbox 360 users have downloaded Netflix software, Hastings said yesterday in an interview with Bloomberg Television.

The company has added more than 600,000 subscribers since the beginning of the year, as cash-strapped U.S. consumers sought inexpensive entertainment. Subscriptions start at $4.99 a month for a plan allowing customers to rent one disc at a time, while the average price for a movie ticket in the U.S. was $7.20 last year, up 4.7 percent from 2007, according to researcher Media By Numbers LLC.

Hastings declined to specify how much the streaming-only plan would cost.

‘The Best of Both’

“Right now, the power of the service is that hybrid message, the best of both,” he said, referring to customers’ ability both to watch online video and to order DVDs under a single plan. “So we’re putting most of our wood behind that. But we recognize at some point in the long term, the streaming will be good enough that an appreciable number of people will find streaming is all they need.”

Netflix needs to increase subscribers so it can spend more to expand its library of titles for online streaming, Hastings said. That involves drawing in more customers renting DVDs by mail, improving the online-streaming technology for computers and getting its software embedded in consumer devices, he said.

Netflix is seeking to make licensing deals with channels like Time Warner Inc.’s HBO and CBS Corp.’s Showtime, Hastings said. Last year, the company began distributing content from Liberty Media Corp.’s Starz Play subscription movie service.

“We’re distributing Starz Play essentially like cable does, except it’s through our user interface and it’s all on demand,” he said. Netflix also streams TV content.

The company will add a record number of subscribers this quarter after doing so last period, Hastings said. Netflix gained 718,000 customers in the fourth quarter.

“We’ve got one singular objective, which is ‘Be successful in streaming,’” he said. “If we do that, that’s a homerun.”

Sounds good to me. Especially if the streaming only price could be lower than the $8.99 I pay now which I only use for streaming since I don't rent discs of any kind any more.

Verizon Wireless Getting 50-60 Megabits in 4G Download Trials (http://seekingalpha.com/article/121247-verizon-wireless-getting-50-60-megabits-in-4g-download-trials)

Verizon Wireless (VZ) said Wednesday that it is testing 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) service with the aim of launching commercial service in 2010. Verizon Wireless said the 4G LTE network in field trials has demonstrated download rates of 50 to 60 megabits per second, but the final speeds are to be determined.

Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE deployment uses the company’s recently acquired 700 MHz spectrum. 4G LTE is a rival technology to WiMax, which is backed by Sprint (S), Clearwire (CLWR) and tech industry heavyweights such as Intel (INTC). The 700 MHz spectrum had been used for television signals, but was acquired by Verizon, AT&T (T) and others in an FCC auction.

Speaking at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Verizon CTO Dick Lynch outlined some of the details behind its next generation network. Among the key points:

•Verizon has named Ericsson (ERIC) and Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) as primary vendors for initial LTE deployments. Starent Networks is the packet core vendor.
•4G LTE trials are underway in the U.S. in Europe with Vodfone’s (VOD) help (Verizon Wireless is a Vodafone-Verizon joint venture).
•Nokia Siemens Networks and Alcatel-Lucent will supply an “IP Multi-Media Subsystem (IMS) network. The IMS will allow for converged applications on wireless and broadband networks.
•While Verizon is building out LTE service it expects to continue with 3G service “well into the next decade.”

As for the trials, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone are testing 4G LTE networks in the following areas in Minneapolis, Columbus, Ohio, and Northern New Jersey and in Budapest, Dusseldorf, and Madrid in Europe. Once those trials are complete, Verizon Wireless said it will ramp up deployment through its coverage area.

Netflix Chief Sees Streaming-Only Pricing by 2010 (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=afOZgc1sX_g0&refer=muse)

Wow!! They are going to boast back to back record quarterly growth on the back of their streaming service. Glad to see they are staying ahead of the curve. I hope the rest of the content industry jumps in sooner so we can get more content ASAP. I am on the 1-disc at a time offering with Netflix and have not even bothered with sending a disc back yet. Enjoying what is out there, but would be really jazzed to see more HD content.

Report: 38% of Connected Home Subscribe to Premium Delivery Services
http://homemediamagazine.com/electronic-delivery/report-38-connected-home-subscribe-premium-delivery-services-14610

Wow!! They are going to boast back to back record quarterly growth on the back of their streaming service. Glad to see they are staying ahead of the curve. I hope the rest of the content industry jumps in sooner so we can get more content ASAP. I am on the 1-disc at a time offering with Netflix and have not even bothered with sending a disc back yet. Enjoying what is out there, but would be really jazzed to see more HD content.

I tried watchinga streaming :eek:SD movie last night(In Like Flint and Our Man Flint) The video quality was terrible compared to a few TV shows I streamed from them in SD. I'll mainly stick to the Netflix streaming for HD and try to leave any SD watching to VUDU. Plus since I've been watching HD content for so long, I have a difficult time watching SD content anyway.

The cable empire strikes back

http://www.contentagenda.com/blog/1500000150/post/1000040900.html




I don't have access to the original WSJ story but if true it would really suck.

Cable companies scheme to limit online content to pay-TV subscribers

http://www.engadgethd.com/2009/02/20/cable-companies-scheme-to-limit-online-content-to-pay-tv-subscri/

Comcast Counters Subscriber Slump With Speed (http://gigaom.com/2009/02/19/comcast-counters-subscriber-slump-with-speed/)

Comcast said this morning it plans to roll out its super-fast DOCSIS 3.0 network to 65 percent of its footprint by the end of 2009, and upgrade subscribers in those markets to a minimum speed of 12 Mbps down and 2 Mbps up at no charge wherever possible. Those subscribing to higher tiers will be upgraded to the Comcast’s Blast tier, which will offer download speeds to up to 16 Mbps and provide up to 2 Mbps of upload speed.

New tiers offered with the fatter pipes will include 50 Mbps of downstream speed and up to 10 Mbps of upstream speed for $139.95 a month, as well as 22 Mbps of downstream speed and up to 5 Mbps of upstream speed for $62.95 a month. Higher speeds will certainly help Comcast keep up with Verizon’s FiOS deployments and will make downloading video a lot faster.

On its earnings call yesterday, Comcast CFO Mike Angelakis said the nation’s largest cable company expects to invest between $400 million and $500 million of capital for the DOCSIS 3.0 deployment and all-digital projects. He declined to break down the details of that spending, however. Comcast had upgraded 20 percent of its footprint to DOCSIS 3.0 at the end of 2008, and said on the call yesterday that it has installed DOCSIS 3.0 in 30 percent of its market.

Comcast Counters Subscriber Slump With Speed (http://gigaom.com/2009/02/19/comcast-counters-subscriber-slump-with-speed/)

Hopefully this pushes FIOS to increase their speeds without an increase in price. I would love to increase my 50/20 tier to something like 70/30 without increasing my $90 a month cost.

VUDU First to Sell On-Demand Movies in High Definition (http://sev.prnewswire.com/entertainment/20090224/AQTU51824022009-1.html)

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Feb. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- VUDU, Inc., a leading provider of digital on-demand entertainment products and services, today announced it has achieved another industry milestone by becoming the first on-demand service to offer high definition movies for download to own on its popular 1080p Internet Movie Player. HD movies are available for purchase today to all VUDU owners.

Until now consumers have been restricted to renting HD movies from on- demand services, including VUDU's library of over 1,400 HD movies, the largest HD library in the world. Today VUDU unveiled a collection of over 50 HD movies from top independent studios that are available for both rental and download to own. Movies offered in this collection will be available for purchase in both instant HD and VUDU's industry-leading HDX format at the same price. HDX is the highest quality on-demand format available anywhere on cable, satellite, broadcast, or the Internet.

Magnolia Picture's Man on Wire, the 2009 Academy Award winning documentary that has been showered with critical praise and global film awards, is among the first titles to be offered for purchase in HD on VUDU, along with critically acclaimed Transsiberian and War, Inc. from FirstLook Studios.

"Consumers are clamoring for the ability to own digitally-delivered titles in high definition, especially in our HDX format, and we are excited to be the first in the industry to meet this consumer need," said Edward Lichty, VUDU's EVP of Strategy and Content. "This is a watershed event for the industry as well, signaling the studios' recognition of and confidence in digital delivery as an increasingly important part of their business. We expect to see a continuing expansion of digital rights in the coming months."

FirstLook Studios, Kino, and Magnolia Pictures are among the independent studios offering films for sale on VUDU in HD. VUDU plans to offer every HD release from these studios for purchase as they are added to the service, day and date with DVD release. All current films and subsequent additions to this HD collection will be available to purchase in instant HD and VUDU's industry- leading HDX format.

"We are thrilled to work with VUDU to offer our new releases for sale in HD when they are released on DVD," said Dean Wilson, Chief Operating Officer of FirstLook Studios. "We continue to explore every channel for distribution, and the emerging digital platform that reaches consumers in their homes directly on their HDTVs via VUDU is an important new channel for us."

High definition titles purchased from VUDU can be stored on the consumer's VUDU box or in the VUDU Vault, a free online storage option for movies and TV shows that enables consumers to free up disk space while still retaining access to all their purchased titles. Movies are priced between $13.99 and $23.99.

VUDU's library of more than 14,000 movies and TV episodes, including more than 1,400 HD films, is updated weekly with new releases and library titles. VUDU is the only service to offer both instant start HD and HDX, the highest quality on-demand format available anywhere. Designed to deliver an optimized cinematic experience to owners of 40-inch and larger HDTVs and projectors, HDX with VUDU's TruFilm(TM) technology features a virtually artifact free 1080p picture and immersive, high definition sound.

Additionally, VUDU offers access to popular Internet based content, from video, music and photos from popular sites such as YouTube, Flickr, and to games and social networking applications, directly on the TV, all easily accessible using the VUDU remote control with no need for a PC.

Netflix CFO: DVD Key to ‘Compelling’ Streaming Offering

Buoyed by strong subscriber growth attributed in part to its free Watch Now streaming service, Netflix CFO Barry McCarthy Feb. 25 told an investor group that by-mail DVD rentals remain key to providing a “compelling” consumer proposition.

Speaking at Jeffries Internet & Media conference in New York, McCarthy said growth of the streaming business depends on numerous variables, including how fast consumers have access to devices in the home that enable them to stream content on their TV.

To Wall Street analysts seeking to stoke the flames of burgeoning digital distribution of movies in place of DVD, McCarthy offered little grist other than an analogy involving rival Blockbuster Inc.

“When I got into this business in 1999, everyone thought Blockbuster would be put out of business by streaming,” he said. “And they do have their challenges, but none of them relate to streaming. We are going to be in the DVD business for a long time, probably much longer than most of you in the room imagined.”

That said, McCarthy reiterated what CEO Reed Hastings mentioned in previous financial calls, namely that the Los Gatos, Calif.-based online DVD rental pioneer envisions launching a standalone streaming business someday in the future. But the executive admitted that costs associated with licensing newer content and undetermined pricing models and revenue growth margins hampered a quicker rollout.

McCarthy said the adoption rate for streaming would be paced by the growth in the number of platforms that enable users to consume the content on the TV. He said devices such as Web-enabled video game systems, Blu-ray Disc players and Web-enabled TVs tend to be purchased during the Christmas shopping season.

“It is many, many, many years of Christmas selling seasons before enough of those devices populate people’s homes to matter,” he said.

He said that it took the DVD player five years to go from $300 to $35 and reach 50% household penetration.

“These [streaming] devices will not grow that quickly,” McCarthy said.

He said the Watch Now streaming option with limited content, despite the hype, is not compelling enough as a freestanding basis. But when packaged together with the 100,000 DVD titles does offer a better value proposition, according to McCarthy.

“We seek to exploit as a competitive advantage what many people for many years perceived to be a ‘buggy whip company,’ which was the DVD-by-mail business,” he said.
http://www.homemediamagazine.com/netflix/netflix-cfo-dvd-key-compelling-streaming-offering-14729

Time Warner's Bewkes Plots Industry Initiative to Eradicate Free Content

http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=134961

I don't mind the idea of having to buy my content online. But if they make me have to buy from the cable/sat provider then they have just killed any value that downloads would have had for me.

Amazon goes live with Roku box (http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6641284.html)

Set-top player streams from 40,000-title inventory to TV

MARCH 3 | Amazon.com began streaming its digital movie and television titles directly to television sets through Roku set-top boxes today.

The deal, which was announced in January, includes Amazon Video On Demand's inventory of 40,000 standard- and high-definition titles.

Netflix, the largest U.S. movie-rental service via mail, started video-streaming its content with the Roku set-top box last May.

"The success of the Roku Player reflects the increasing desire of consumers to watch what they want to, when they want to," Mark Samuel, general manager of cable and IP STB business at Netherlands-based semiconductor maker NXP, said in a statement. NXP makes decoders for Roku's $99 box. "In addition to Netflix instant watching, Amazon Video On Demand offers an immense digital library of content with instant playback, no downloading and no waiting."

...

AppleTV sales to surpass 6 million units this year?

http://www.videobusiness.com/blog/1730000173/post/520041452.html

AppleTV sales to surpass 6 million units this year?

http://www.videobusiness.com/blog/1730000173/post/520041452.html
From the article you reference:

Apple hasn’t released sales numbers for AppleTV, which lets users stream movies to their TV, but said during its last earnings call that sales tripled in the final quarter of 2008 Hmmm.

ZillionTV, the next generation of video on demand (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/03/zilliontv-the-n.html)

During a long career as a television and technology executive, Mitch Berman has tried to sell several different iterations of TV, often in their formative stages. These included premium cable networks (at HBO), original cable programming (E! Entertainment Television), satellite TV (Sky and Foxtel), interactivity (OpenTV), and video on demand (Arris). Now, Berman is onto the next new thing, delivering TV through the Internet. His company, ZillionTV, faces long odds, but has at least three advantages over the increasingly crowded field of online TV players: It brings DVD-quality programming straight to the TV set. It has a remote control that sets a new standard for ease of use. And its advertising model actually encourages people to watch commercials, rather than undermining their value to advertisers and programmers. Berman is positioning it as a service that offers unique benefits to consumers, advertisers, content companies and broadband providers. Here's hoping the Hollywood studios that own a piece of Zillion don't strangle it in its crib, which they could easily do....

Berman said he got the idea for his start-up in February 2007 from inventor Peter Redford of TV Interactive Corp., who gave him a demonstration of Internet-based TV on demand using a PC as a set-top box. Ten months later, he'd lined up his first venture funding. His backers today include two VC firms (Sierra Ventures and Concept Ventures), Visa, five studios (Warner Bros., Sony Pictures, Disney, NBC Universal and 20th Century Fox) and a chip maker (Sigma Designs), Berman said, with more money coming soon from an as-yet undisclosed Internet service provider.

ZillionTV's goal is to lure viewers away from cable and satellite by offering them movies and TV shows on demand. Its ambition is to make available everything that pay-TV services provide as well as a healthy supply of "long tail" programming, but it's not there yet (more on that later). Another important difference from pay TV services is that ZillionTV doesn't plan to charge a flat monthly fee. Instead, it will give customers three different ways to compensate programmers for what they watch: buy a program, rent it for a limited time period, or view it gratis with commercials. The service relies on a thin set-top box that connects to DSL or cable-modem service and a high-tech remote, both of which ZillionTV plans to supply for free.

I watched a bit of ZillionTV in Berman's office in Santa Monica, and the images were quite impressive. Seconds after programs were selected, they began playing in what It looked to me like DVD quality -- a welcome contrast to the delays inflicted by Hulu and Netflix's streaming services. ZillionTV's standard-definition streams require 1.5 Mbps of bandwidth, Berman said; high-definition streams will need faster connections, although the speed has yet to be determined. Just as impressive was the motion-sensitive remote control, which enabled Berman to select items simply by pointing at the right spot on the screen and clicking. Taking advantage of the remote's capabilities, the service's menus displayed programs as images (picture a tableau of DVD covers) spread across the length of the TV, rather than using the customary TV grid or PC-style folders. The ZillionTV software also enabled Berman to search for a program by selecting the first few letters from an on-screen alphabet.

The other innovation is in the way ZillionTV generates revenue for program providers. Two of the three options it gives customers aren't novel -- it rents programs the same way as other online video-on-demand services do, and it sells them much as Amazon does (by storing the customers' purchases on its own servicers, instead of having them download a copy to their set-top box or PC). The third, however, is a twist on the usual advertiser-supported offerings. ZillionTV lets customers tell advertisers what kinds of commercials they're interested in, and to encourage them to watch more ads, it gives customers points that they can redeem for merchandise. "You're rewarded for watching television," Berman said, a concept the company hopes will prove irresistible to couch potatoes.

Berman argued that the chance it offers to target ads to interested viewers, to make commercials interactive and to break out of traditional TV commercial formats will enable ZillionTV to charge higher ad rates than the networks do. Its technology also creates opportunities to sell the products shown on screen (the remote has a "buy now" button). "This is a blank canvas on which the creative community can paint its pictures," he said. Those higher rates are important because the company it trying to generate at least as much from an advertiser-supported viewing as it would collect from a rental. That kind of performance will help persuade Hollywood to make more titles available for ad-supported viewing, Berman said, as well as to abandon the rigid release windows that cause the studios to yank new programs offline just a few weeks after they appear on the Net. "I'm trying to prove to my partners that there is an alternative, and we're trying to bring down those windows," he said.

One problem for other TV-on-the-Internet services is that consumers won't accept as many ads as they're willing to sit through on TV. What that means for services such as ZillionTV that bring the Net to the TV set is anyone's guess at this point; Zillion has been conducting a national trial for about a month, and it's still trying to determine how many commercials customers will tolerate. The conventional wisdom has been that Internet-based programs can get by with fewer commercials because they can target them more effectively than broadcast TV can. But some advertisers and agencies have pooh-poohed targeting because it translates into a smaller audience.

A bigger issue for ZillionTV is its library of content. Berman said it expects to have 15,000 programs this year, which is 3,000 more than Netflix offers today. Still, some of its partners -- notably Fox and NBC Universal, which own Hulu -- are holding back new programs or making them available only on a pay-per-view basis. Premium cable networks have also been virtual no-shows online, and some other notable cable networks have spurned the Net for fear of reducing the subscription fees they receive from cable and satellite operators. Berman argues that if he proves the effectiveness of his business model, content providers will come. But it may be impossible for him to do so without a critical mass of new programming. After all, ZillionTV won't seem like a viable alternative to cable if it doesn't offer many of the most popular shows. If the studios fret about ZillionTV undermining their existing revenue streams from broadcasters, pay TV and online distributors such as Hulu, they may not provide the programming it needs to survive. Such a conflict between existing business models and potential new ones contributed to the music industry's plummeting fortunes. As ZillionTV illustrates, it's Hollywood's turn to struggle with that dilemma.

More from BusinessWeek:

Streaming Entertainment's Big Moment (http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2009/tc2009033_139376.htm)

Disney ponders online video subscription service (http://uk.reuters.com/article/governmentFilingsNews/idUKN0350871620090304?sp=true)

LOS ANGELES, March 3 (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co was considering moves like creating a subscription-based online video club to capture online consumers as well as revenue that is being lost to piracy, Chief Executive Robert Iger said on Tuesday.

Iger told analysts at a Deutsche Bank conference that media companies are under pressure to find ways to compete in a Web-based entertainment arena that is changing their business, possibly for good.

"We've also seen a pretty dramatic shift in how people consume entertainment" with computers and mobile devices becoming more important to most viewers than television, Iger said.

"The computer is a very important place to entertain people, and if we don't occupy space on those devices, others will," he said.

To that end, Disney was considering options that might include a subscription-based online rental club, in which users could access content from Disney's massive film and TV library by mail or online delivery, Iger said.

While moves to put more content online have been criticized as margin destroying, Iger said critics "aren't realizing is the business that we are used to may be over."

"When it comes to piracy, are we better off moving content faster and cheaper than if they steal it and we get nothing?" he said.

The comments come about a month after Disney reported double-digit drops in profit, and Iger warned investors of "secular changes" in DVD and advertising sales.
...

As Eric Cartman would say: “Sweet!”

Netflix reached an agreement with the creators of South Park to stream the first nine seasons of the Comedy Central cartoon series on Netflix’s Web site, giving subscribers access to the profane musings of the rotund Cartman.

Netflix, the largest U.S. movie-rental service via mail, will have exclusive rights to video-stream South Park’s first 181 episodes, Netflix spokesman Steve Swasey confirmed. The agreement, whose financial details weren’t disclosed, was reported by The New York Times earlier this week.

For the past year, Netflix has been boosting demand for its video-streaming inventory, which totals more than 12,000 titles, by reaching agreements with both hardware companies such as TiVo and Samsung and content providers including the Disney Channel and CBS to make more content available for streaming directly to televisions through components.

The company said in January that its fourth-quarter profit jumped 45% from a year earlier as it widened its customer base by 26% to 9.39 million, while cutting subscriber-acquisition costs.


http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6642016.html

San Francisco Bay Area residents will soon have access to two faster Internet packages from cable and Internet provider Comcast.

Starting March 4 in Silicon Valley, Monterey and the Tri-Valley area, the service — which enables downloads at either 22MB or 50MB per second, and is dubbed “wideband” — will be offered to Oakland, San Francisco and other Bay Area residents as the year progresses.

“Wideband utilizes our existing fiber-optic network in neighborhoods across our footprint,” said Steve White, SVP of Comcast's California region. “With this next generation of service, our customers’ online experience is dramatically enhanced.”

Comcast estimates users on the 50MB package will be able to download a high-definition movie in about 16 minutes and a standard-def movie in five minutes.

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/electronic-delivery/comcast-give-sf-area-high-speed-broadband-14854

Nearly half of broadband households are interested in Internet TV

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadgethd.com/media/2009/03/tv2-pr09.jpg

http://www.hometoys.com/news_detail.php?id=14888087

Amazon VOD in HD on TiVo - Coming Soon? (http://www.zatznotfunny.com/2009-03/amazon-vod-in-hd-on-tivo-coming-soon/)

After reading my post wondering where Amazon VOD in HD is, multiple sources have confirmed for me that TiVo’s implementation is currently in testing. While I still don’t have concrete timing details, and suspect we’re waiting on Amazon.com at this point, I’m told video quality is outstanding. Additionally, the progressive downloads include surround sound. And if we’re blessed with solid connectivity, both in and outside of the home, we may be able to pull down these titles in less than real time. I get the sense Amazon’s offering a decent amount of HD television programming, but the movie library is still a bit limited - although, it does feature the sort of new releases unavailable to Netflix’s streaming solution. Hopefully this will land sooner rather than later. On my Roku box, too.

http://www.zatznotfunny.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/amazon-vod-hd1-420x361.jpg

Sony cuts deal with NBC Universal for film/TV shows on PlayStation Network (http://venturebeat.com/2009/03/10/sony-cuts-deal-with-nbc-universal-for-filmtv-shows-on-playstation-network/)

Sony’s PlayStation Network is getting a boost today as the company announces its deal to add movies and TV shows from NBC Universal to its nascent online video store.

This development follows the addition of MTV Networks programming last month and will help keep the Sony platforms — PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable — competitive with Microsoft’s Xbox Live video marketplace.

With the new content, there are now more than 1,400 movies and 4,500 TV episodes available for download on the PSN store. The prices range from $2.99 to $5.99 for rentals and $9.99 to $14.99 for purchases. Thanks to a deal with Netflix, Microsoft has far more content: 30,000 movies and TV shows.

But the race is getting interesting. Microsoft has 17 million active members on its Xbox Live network, while Sony claims it has 20 million registered to date on both the PS 3 and PSP platforms. Microsoft likes to point out that Sony won’t divulge how many of those members were active in the last month.

Grace Chen, senior manager of the PlayStation Store, said the new NBC Universal content is available in standard or high definition video. It includes 75 movies — from Oscar-winning Milk to older comedic classics like The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Scarface and The Big Lebowski. One can also find new releases like Wanted, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Death Race, The Incredible Hulk and Burn After Reading.

TV shows are from both the Sci-Fi Channel and NBC. They include The Office, Heroes, Eureka, Battlestar Galactica and 30 Rock. Sony now has deals with all of the major film studios, Chen said.

Beyond the numbers, the timing of the releases on the PSN store are also important. New TV shows are added a day after they air, while some movies will be released on the same day they are released on DVD. There are about 200 games on the PSN store now.

US broadband growth plummeted in 2008

A new study of 2008 broadband adoption reveals that subscriber growth continued its declining trend. Between factors like excessive premiums, comparatively slow speeds, and a segment of the population that has yet to be wooed away from dial-up, the US' broadband market is more saturated than ever.

http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2009/03/us-broadband-growth-plummeted-over-13-in-2008.ars

WoW!! An additional 5.4 MILLION Broadband users in 2008 bringing the US market up to 68 MILLION households!! NICE!!

http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2009/03/us-broadband-growth-plummeted-over-13-in-2008.ars

Interim Federal Communications Commission Chair Michael Copps was clearly feeling his oats on Tuesday at the government's "kickoff" of its national broadband campaign. "The years of broadband drift and growing digital divides are coming to an end," Copps told the gathering at the Department of Commerce's main auditorium.

"Too few consumers and small businesses in this country have the high-speed broadband they need if they’re going to succeed," he added, and so "today we say: 'Enough.' We mobilize and we begin to build." Also attending this digital pep rally was Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and a small platoon of reps from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

Copps used the event to promise that the public will get its chance to weigh in on how the FCC should help contour the broadband section of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which provides billions in broadband funding for "unserved areas of the United States." The act requires the Commission to come up a national broadband plan a year after its passage. President Obama signed the bill into law on February 17.


And so at the agency's next full Commission meeting on April 8, Copps announced, "we will kick-off an open, participatory, public process," including a Notice of Inquiry, to "marshal the data and expertise we need to make sure we meet our legislatively mandated date of one year for presenting Congress and the American people a national broadband strategy worthy of the name."

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/03/fcc-promises-truly-inclusive-process-on-national-broadband-strategy.ars

While most Twilight fans will be lined up at their local video store for the midnight March 20 release of Summit Home Entertainment’s vampire hit, the couch potatoes don’t have to miss out: Comcast will debut the film on demand right when the DVD streets.

“We’ve gone day and date on demand with all of our titles, and Twilight is no different,” said Steve Nickerson, president of Summit Home Entertainment.

Available in high-def, Twilight on Comcast on demand also comes paired with three featurettes, including one exclusive: a behind-the-scenes view of the “Vampire Baseball” scene.

“Delivering this international pop culture phenomenon right into customers’ living rooms demonstrates the power of Comcast on demand,” said Derek Harrar, SVP and GM of video services for the cable operator, in a press release.

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/vod/comcast-bows-twilight-demand-day-and-date-march-20-15024

I'll watch it when it's available on VUDU HDX.

MovieFlix March 17 became the latest movie rental service to unveil a revised subscription program. Under the new plan, members have the ability to pay based on their appetite for movie consumption.

The new pricing plans offer three subscription packages:
One week of unlimited access for $9.95, a monthly subscription for $11.95, and quarterly subscription for $28.95.

No.2 DVD rental service Movie Gallery March 16 unveiled a point-based subscription program.

Analysts say the surge in subscription programs underscore the services’ desire to lock in customers and cash flow during the current recession.

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/electronic-delivery/movieflix-bows-subscriptions-15036

Streaming Web site Hulu has created a documentary section at hulu.com/documentaries, clickable from its movies section.

The NBC Universal/News Corp. site is featuring short and full-length documentary films such as Morgan Spurlock’s Super Size Me. The section also features an interview with Spurlock explaining why he put himself on the 30-day “McDiet.”

Hulu also has teamed with two new content partners: Snag Films and Cinelan. Snag has provided Hulu with documentaries such as DiG!, a Sundance winner about the rivalry between rock bands The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols. Cinelan specializes in three-minute docs.

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/streaming/hulu-launches-documentary-section-15071

Apple now offering HD movie purchases, rentals through iTunes (http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/03/19/apple_now_offering_hd_movie_purchases_rentals_through_itunes .html)

Once only available through the Apple TV, HD movies can now be purchased or rented directly through iTunes on Macs and PCs.

The company now says that customers of the US iTunes Store can buy new-release movies in 720p directly from iTunes for $19.99 and rent them for $4.99 within 30 days of their being made available for sale. Many older titles are also available for rent in the HD format for $3.99.

As with TV shows, each HD copy also comes with a standard-definition version of the movie that can be transferred to an iPhone or iPod, neither of which yet supports HD. The initial lineup of HD rentals includes pre-orders for the Bond movie Quantum of Solace as well as Twilight and is focusing on new releases.

An HD Movies page is currently highlighting those titles that are already available at the increased resolution. Using the feature requires iTunes 8.1 or higher and a Mac or Windows PC capable of smoothly playing HD movies.

The shift signals a reduced dependence on the Apple TV as a driver for Apple's HD efforts. When given its well-known Take 2 firmware upgrade in early 2008, the device was at the time the only location for any non-podcast HD content from Apple until TV shows were made available in September.

Press Release Here (http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2009/03/19itunes.html?sr=hotnews?sr=hotnews.rss)

Blockbuster unveils on-demand deal to transmit movies to TiVo users (http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/2009-03-25-blockbuster-tivo_N.htm)

NEW YORK — Blockbuster's effort to establish itself in the fast-growing Internet video-on-demand business will get a boost today when the No. 1 video rental chain unveils a deal to transmit movies and TV shows to TiVo digital video recorders.

"This relationship with TiVo (TIVO) is step one in getting to the places that consumers care about," says Kevin Lewis, Blockbuster's senior vice president for digital.

Later, he plans to offer Blockbuster OnDemand to Internet-connected Blu-ray players, televisions, mobile phones and portable entertainment products.

The deal should also help Blockbuster's effort to establish itself as a consumer electronics retailer. The chain will begin to sell TiVo DVRs beginning late this year when Blockbuster (BBI) videos become available on TiVos.

The companies declined to discuss financial details, including how many of Blockbuster's nearly 4,000 stores will sell TiVo DVRs. It's also unclear what movies might be available. "The studios and we are trying to figure it out," Lewis says.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10205892-93.html

Report: Disney in talks to join Hulu
by Greg Sandoval Font size Print E-mail Share 3 comments Yahoo! Buzz
The Walt Disney Company is discussing a deal to take an equity stake in Hulu in exchange for providing the video portal with ABC programming, according to a published report.

Citing unnamed sources, news blog PaidContent says that it's not clear how much of ABC's content but a final deal could include ESPN, the sports cable behemoth that has been a goldmine for Disney.

Representatives from Disney and Hulu were not immediately available.

The talks between the two companies are "serious" but a final deal has not been reached according to two of PaidContent's sources.

In the year since launching, Hulu has quickly risen to the top ranks of online video. The site is currently backed by News Corp., parent company of Fox and NBC Universal

WoW!! That would be huge, and pretty much cement Hulu as THE source for broadcast TV content.

A little more from today's L A Times article (http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-cotown-hulu28-2009mar28,0,7839088.story):Walt Disney Co., signaling a dramatic shift in its Internet strategy, is negotiating with longtime media rivals to take an equity stake in Hulu.com, the fast-growing website where users can watch movies and TV episodes for free.

In exchange, Disney would provide episodes of ABC shows to Hulu, significantly broadening the program offerings to include such hits as "Grey's Anatomy" and "Desperate Housewives."

The discussions, which heated up in recent weeks, represent an evolution of ABC's Web strategy, which had focused on drawing viewers to the network's own site. Disney appears to have decided that the power of the ABC and Disney names is not strong enough for the company to compete and that it needs broader distribution for its shows.

Disney's willingness to join Hulu also validates the success of the joint venture created two years ago by rivals News Corp. and NBC Universal. The website, along with its quirky name, was initially greeted with skepticism as observers questioned whether the two media giants, longtime competitors, could create an online destination for professional content.

"This is an acknowledgment of Hulu's rapid growth and its ability to sustain a very large audience," said Michael McGuire, media analyst with Gartner Inc. . . .

Disney made a bet three years ago that the strength of its ABC and Disney brands would be enough to attract online viewers, and so it chose not to participate in Hulu during its launch. ABC shows, including "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives," have generated plenty of viewers on ABC.com, but it now trails other network sites, including Hulu and CBS, according to ComScore.

People within the company say the change in direction was mandated by Chief Executive Bob Iger, who has championed Disney's push into the digital media future with a deal to offer downloads of TV shows through Apple Inc.'s iTunes. Executives said Iger had been calling for another big move.

Disney would receive a stake in the joint venture on par with Fox and NBC -- likely 30% for each network. That would preserve Providence Equity Partners' 10% holding, which it received in exchange for an early $100-million investment. It's probable that the venture will need additional funding before it turns a profit, but the addition of Disney's content may well help it achieve a tipping point.

Another network also has been courting Disney: CBS, which owns TV.com, a Hulu rival. This underscores the popularity of ABC's shows online, which Nielsen VideoCensus reports included nine of the top 10 most viewed in February."This would be nice for those of us streaming Hulu content through the PS3, since the ABC website isn't compatible with it.

Scott

If Hulu gets Disney/ABC on board, then it should effectively cement itself as THE ad-based site for broadcast television content. It would be rather amazing to see that happen so early in the game, and would absolutely rocket video streaming of broadcast television content.

I do hope that Hulu follows TV.com's lead and provides 1080p streams!!

I have a PS3 (40GB) and would like to know how to stream video through Hulu. I downloaded Play On for Netflix and Hulu. When I go to play something it says the " data is corrupted." Please help.Thanks.

According to c21media.net, Hulu has brought on board Johannes Larcher from the search engine company Overture as its senior VP of international, charged with leading the video portal's expansion efforts outside the US.

http://www.contentagenda.com/blog/1970000597.html

http://www.c21media.net/news/detail.asp?area=89&article=48427

MLB.com just went live with their new 2009 MLB.TV media player and is showcasing for free their newly improved HD video stream and improved player controls. The streaming is being done using H.264 and the HD feed is a true 720p at 1280x720. They are using adaptive bitrate encoding ranging from as low as 164K to 3MB for the HD feed.


http://blog.streamingmedia.com/the_business_of_online_vi/2009/03/mlbs-hd-video-using-3mb-stream-h264-full-720p-at-1280x720.html

Good story in the NY Times about downloads and profitability.

Broadcasters “went out and did deals to put content on broadband without a whole lot of thought about the long-term financial model,” said Jeffrey L. Bewkes, chief executive of Time Warner and a principal supporter of the new subscriber-only Web video plan. “If people aren’t subscribing to the programming, you probably shouldn’t put it online, because then half of the financial support goes away. That isn’t good. It hasn’t been good for the newspaper industry.”

Some content owners, harboring their own new doubts about the profitability of online video, seem open to the subscription idea. Jeff Gaspin, the president of the Universal Television Group, which oversees NBC Universal’s cable channels like USA and CNBC, said the company wanted to figure out a model that “gets our content out there when and where people want it, but that also preserves that dual revenue stream and that relationship we have with our distributors.” ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/30/business/media/30cable.html?_r=1&8dpc

Americans spend just 2 minutes a day watching TV online

Almost no time was spent watching mobile video – just .1 minutes for the average adult.

http://www.contentagenda.com/blog/1680000368/post/580042658.html

The Walt Disney Co. is reportedly in negotiations to acquire a stake in Hulu, the digital streaming site co-owned by News Corp. and NBC Universal.

Initially posted March 27 by PaidContent.com, the move would be consistent with CEO Bob Iger’s stated desire to expand digital distribution of Disney content, including ABC TV programming such as Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, Lost and Private Practice, among others.

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/disney/reports-disney-content-headed-hulu-15167

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118001815.html?categoryid=1009&cs=1

Upcoming ad-supported video-on-demand system ZillionTV has signed on The Weinstein Company as new content partner.

TWC joins dozens of studios, including Walt Disney Studios, 20th Century Fox Television, NBC Universal, Sony Pictures and Warner Bros. Digital Distribution, already linked to the ZillionTV service. ZillionTV plans to offer on VOD films and TV shows from these studios when the service launches later this year.

ZillionTV will offer the content in a variety of ways, including free with required view of a 30-second commercial or as a paid rental or permanent download. Customers will be able to order the programming a la carte, with no attached subscription fee

http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6647675.html

Digital revenue may be small, but it is beautiful and growing and the era of free giveaways is over, execs at MIPTV said Monday.

"I have a pretty strong point of view that new-media rights should be viewed as a separate window, not just a throw-in," said Ben Pyne, president of global distribution at Disney-ABC Worldwide Television and Disney Media Networks. "It should be monetized. I think you are making a mistake if you just give things away."

Pyne said that Disney has established a strategy of monetizing on-demand and catch-up television through VOD, subscription VOD licenses and the launch of its own ad-supported video player. It's a strategy that's paying off -- somewhat.

"It is not a lot of money but it is an amount of money, and it sets the right principle, which is that even if its free to consumers, it is still part of a relationship that is monetized through a distributor," he said. "The bottom line is that there is value to the content."

"At Google, we think of online revenue as something that could eventually exceed search. There's a lot of experimentation in the types of different advertising formats being used, and there's been an enormous shift in the amount of money being spent around online video," he said, pointing out that online video revenue globally was forecast to grow from about $200 million in 2008 to $2.5 billion in 2012.

From an admittedly low base, online video advertising grew 81% last year compared with a net 1% decline in the U.S. television advertising market, Walker added.

"A year ago, Jeff Zucker referred to the 'digital pennies' as far as revenue; just recently he referred to 'digital dimes.' That's a business that's 10 times bigger in just a year," Starz senior vp digital media Marc DeBevoise told a packed room of delegates.

"Most industries don't grow that fast. And that's why we think there's real growth to come in digital media, but companies need to be patient and let them develop," he said.

It remains to be seen, however, whether the slowdown in global advertising as a whole also means that the nascent market for online content would also take a hit, said Joe Michaels, senior director of MSN Entertainment.

"We're past the crawl phase, and are in the walk phase," he said. "All the key areas are now in place -- so now the question is do we have the stomach to live through the growing pains we are going through with the economy today."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/technology/news/e3i4038dadfc3527ca528d40ca19dc4ed53

http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6647675.html
Danger...danger...danger...Will Robinson!

The content I purchase and think is mine "...which will reside within Zillion’s server universe, for $9.95 to $14.95" won't give me a warm and fuzzy feeling anytime soon.

Online TV fuels revenue dilemma

Audiences may want to watch more television online, but there is little financial incentive for broadcasters to increase the flow of TV shows to the Internet, a new North American industry report suggests.

Much of the problem lies in the advertising opportunities online compared with traditional television, according to the study by Toronto-based Convergence Consulting Group Ltd., which tracks the Canadian and U.S. industry.

Online audiences have proven less willing to sit through ads than traditional TV viewers. Thus, there are about 75 per cent fewer advertising minutes in an online program than in a traditional television broadcast. And because those online ads draw smaller audiences, they also command less of a premium.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090331.wgtrtv31/BNStory/Technology/home


The report summary he is working off of is here. One nice thing is it breaks Canada and the US out separately. I would love to see the full report.

http://www.convergenceonline.com/downloads/NANewContent09.pdf

Time Warner Inc. intends to spend some of the $9.25 billion dividend from the April 3 split from Time Warner Cable on a variety of online video projects, including the previously announced “TV Everywhere” initiative, according to a March 30 company-wide memo from CEO Jeff Bewkes.

The executive said “TV Everywhere,” which offers hit cable series such as HBO’s “The Wire,” “Entourage” and “True Blood,” and TNT’s “The Closer” and “Saving Grace,” among others, online as value-adds is currently being tested via Time Warner Cable in Milwaukee.

The ad-supported content is disseminated similarly to repurposed network programming on Hulu.com, TV.com, MySpace, Yahoo TV and YouTube, among others.

Bewkes said he intends to produce a trial run of “TV Everywhere” later this year.

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/electronic-delivery/online-video-benefit-9b-time-warner-cable-split-15175

Personalized TV platform ZillionTV has announced an advertising partnership with beer brand MillerCoors.

ZillionTV allows viewers to watch targeted, ad-supported content from the Web for free on their TV as well as rent and buy content for a fee. MillerCoors will leverage ZillionTV’s advertising video on demand (AVOD) model, which allow viewers to pick advertising categories based on their interests.

“MillerCoors is widely-recognized for creative advertising and its commitment to innovative and emerging advertising models,” said Bonnie Stone, SVP of advertising, ZillionTV. “We are thrilled that such a prominent brand has identified ZillionTV’s AVOD platform as a valuable medium to deliver addressable and interactive television advertising.

http://www.homemediamagazine.com/electronic-delivery/zilliontv-announces-partnership-with-millercoors-15206

AT&T and Microsoft to Enable Shared Content Across TV, PC and Mobile Devices (http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2009/mar09/03-31MSPlayReadyATTPR.mspx?rss_fdn=Press%20Releases)

DALLAS and REDMOND, Wash. — March 31, 2009 — Microsoft Corp. and AT&T* announced today a collaborative effort to use Microsoft PlayReady content access and protection technology to enable shared content and converged entertainment experiences across AT&T’s TV, broadband and wireless services.

As part of this collaboration, Microsoft intends to add support for PlayReady into its Microsoft Mediaroom IPTV software platform, enabling access to PlayReady-based content through AT&T U-verse TV set-top boxes.
...

Disney CEO Says "TV Everywhere" Subscription Model "Difficult to Embrace"
http://www.multichannel.com/article/191166-Cable_Show_2009_Iger_To_Cable_Show_Me_The_Online_Model.php

Disney CEO Says "TV Everywhere" Subscription Model "Difficult to Embrace"
http://www.multichannel.com/article/191166-Cable_Show_2009_Iger_To_Cable_Show_Me_The_Online_Model.php

Great article!! Iger is saying that denying people access to content online is a bad idea. He wants to embrace adding more content online.

Disney has some great content, and could be a major driver of this business.

Come on Iger.... Hurry up and put Disney/ABC content on Hulu!!


In his keynote speech at Cable Show '09 open general session here Thursday, Iger praised the cable industry, but also warned that nitpicking on the issue of online video could be devastating for the industry.

"Let me state the obvious: Cable television is vitally important to our company," Iger said. "It provides us with a crucial connection with consumers. And it is a critical creative engine that drives value across a number of our businesses and across markets and territories around the world."

But he added that the prevalence of online video cannot be ignored.


But in his keynote speech, Iger seemed to set the tone for the online debate, and it doesn't appear to be the Bewkes model (which the Time Warner chief is expected to discuss further at an afternoon session here today).

"...preventing people from watching any shows online, unless they subscribe to some multi-channel service could be viewed as both anti-consumer, and anti-technology, and would be something we would find difficult to embrace," Iger said.

Disney, the first major programmer to make its content available on iTunes and the first to stream its content on the Internet, views online video in two ways, he said: as brand extension and as a way to expand its audience. At the same time, the media giant also wanted to challenge the status quo.

"Businesses not willing to challenge the status quo often find themselves marginalized or passed by when new competitors enter the market, or new business models emerge," Iger said. "At Disney, we must always challenge the status quo."

Getting closer!

A deal to bring Disney’s TV shows and movies to Hulu has supposedly been imminent for weeks. But people familiar with the negotiations between Disney and the video site insist that discussions are now very, very advanced and that a deal could be struck any day.

At this point, I’m told, Disney (DIS) and Hulu, the joint venture between GE’s (GE) NBC and News Corp.’s (NWS) Fox, are haggling over the finer points in the tie-up: Details like which Disney shows and channels will be included in the pact and how many seats Disney will get on the company’s board. (News Corp. is the owner of Dow Jones, which owns this Web site.)

For instance, I’m told that Disney’s ESPN will not be a part of a deal, nor will ABC News, but big ABC shows like “Lost” will be. But it’s unclear, for instance, how much of Disney’s movie portfolio, including its hit Pixar films, will be included.

http://nobosh.com/sr/click-here-to-read-the-full-story/204999/

A recently completed survey of U.S. consumers conducted by International Data Corporation (IDC) yielded results at odds with the views of many telecom policy makers and industry observers. The survey, which was conducted in August, focused on consumer views on broadband priority, bandwidth capping, and internet privacy. Given that many broadband service providers (BSPs) are contemplating offering premium bandwidth channels as well as imposing bandwidth caps and metered billing systems, these results are of critical importance to service providers of all types.

According to Matt Davis, director of multiplay research at IDC, “While some of the results of this survey were in line with expectations, others were significantly at odds with prevailing wisdom. Specifically, consumers continue to be protective of their privacy but are adamantly opposed to bandwidth caps and keenly interested in premium bandwidth services.


81 percent do not like the idea of establishing a bandwidth cap and charging for use above the cap.

51 percent would try to change service providers if their BSP imposed bandwidth caps. Interestingly, light and moderate users are even more opposed to capping and metering than are heavy users.

83 percent either do not know what a gigabyte is or have no idea how many they use.

Only 5 percent said unequivocally that “those who use more should pay more.”


http://www.zeugmasystems.com/newsampevents/pressreleases/default.aspx?item=34&year=2008&month=9

Over the next two or three years, streaming producers will be increasingly tasked with supplying optimized video streams to devices as disparate as cell phones and set-top boxes, along with different quality versions for users accessing the content over the general internet. While there have been multiple proprietary approaches to this problem, including Microsoft’s multiple bitrate video, one very strong candidate will be an H.264 extension called Scalable Video Coding.

The Problem
In the dawn of streaming, web sites had to supply multiple streams to satisfy users connecting via different devices, and web sites with different icons for modem, ISDN and LAN connections were very common. In the case of three streams, this tripled the administrative burden of encoding and linking these files, and very much complicated distribution over content delivery networks, particularly edge networks where files were stored for local delivery.

The most prevalent streaming suppliers of the day, RealNetworks and Microsoft, both developed technologies to reduce the problem, most notably Microsoft’s multiple bitrate technology, which encapsulated multiple streams into one file. Not only did this reduce the administrative burden associated with multiple files, a Microsoft Streaming server could also dynamically adjust to changing line conditions, sending a lower bit rate stream when the player reported packet loss.

Once broadband became pervasive and modems disappeared, the problem largely went away, as one 500Kbps stream could satisfy virtually all likely classes of users. With video over cellular becoming increasingly important, and high bitrate streams to set-top boxes in the living rooms also on the roadmap for many streaming producers, efficiently delivering different quality streams to multiple devices over various connection bandwidths again becomes critical.

At least three new technologies have moved into the space, Adaptive Streaming from Move Networks, Dynamic Streaming from Adobe, and Smooth Streaming for Silverlight from Microsoft. Within the context of a relatively closed system—single server to single class of player with no delivery network—all of these technologies are very sound solutions.

However, once you involve a content delivery network, or alternative form of transport or player, things get more complicated. For example, to add a CDN to the mix for any of the three mentioned technologies, the CDN may have to change their infrastructure to support the technology, or at the very least, fine tune their platforms to ensure optimal performance of the proprietary technology, which take time and investment. For set-top boxes and cellular phones to play the streams, they would also have to support the proprietary technology, which the manufacturers of these devices are loath to do.

For the streaming market to successfully expand to the living room and cellular markets, it’s very likely that a vendor-agnostic standard for adaptive streaming would have to emerge. Fortunately, there’s one handy—the Scalable Video Codec extension to H.264 (H.264 SVC)—and it offers a very efficient and elegant solution to the problem of supplying multiple streams.

http://www.streamingmedia.com/article.asp?id=11135

A little old, but interesting...

Movie Gallery Seeks Partners for ’Alternative Channels’ in ’09 (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=aQXHORbhX4DM&refer=muse)

March 23 (Bloomberg) -- Movie Gallery Inc. is seeking to make partnerships this year to distribute films through “alternative channels” including the Internet and personal media players to compete with companies such as Netflix Inc., Chief Executive Officer Sherif Mityas said.

“We’re right now negotiating with different third-party partners that will allow us to innovate and leapfrog what consumers are getting today,” Mityas said in an interview March 19, without providing details. “We are very close to a couple deals.”

Movie-rental chains such as Blockbuster Inc. and Movie Gallery’s Hollywood Video have suffered as Netflix gained dominance with by-mail rentals and Coinstar Inc.’s Redbox Automated Retail LLC put rental kiosks in retail stores.

Closely held Movie Gallery, based in Wilsonville, Oregon, emerged from bankruptcy last year 1,200 stores smaller, while Dallas-based Blockbuster has hired a law firm for refinancing advice as it seeks to extend a credit facility until 2010. Netflix shares have gained 15 percent in the last year as it attracted new users with by-mail and online-streaming options.

Blockbuster’s sales have been little changed or declined for the last four years.

PowerPlay Service

Movie Gallery, which owns 1,900 namesake stores, 1,300 Hollywood Video locations and 560 Game Crazy video-game shops, had revenue of $2 billion in 2008, Mityas said. That compares with $5.29 billion at Blockbuster and $1.36 billion at Los Gatos, California-based Netflix.

Movie Gallery started a subscription service this month that allows customers to rent films and games based on a point system. The PowerPlay service garnered more than 250,000 subscribers in its first week, Mityas said. Plans range from $7.99 to $39.99 a month, and unused points can be saved for following months. The service also offers discounts on snacks in the stores.

“We’re very bullish on it,” Mityas said. The number of subscribers in the first week exceeded the company’s expectations, he said

With Warner Home Entertainment Group’s move to use DVD manufacturing on demand technology to offer thousands of films from its archives on disc, MOD companies are hopeful other studios will soon follow.

The technology, in which consumers can buy a made-to-order DVD, has been at studios’ fingertips for years. But the floodgates are just now opening for its wide use, as copyright protection solutions, the hurting economy and one studio's kick-off program are combining to create a powerful incentive for MOD.

Warner Archive also has quietly introduced a complementary download option on select titles through Sonic Solutions-owned CinemaNow. (Allied Vaughn uses Sonic’s Qflix copy protection on Warner MOD discs.) The $14.95 download-to-own files are playable on PCs, portable media devices and soon certain set-top boxes.

http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6650684.html

Digeo Delivers Expanded Apps To Retail HD DVR (http://www.twice.com/article/CA6650362.html)

By Greg Tarr -- TWICE, 4/9/2009 6:00:00 AM

Kirkland, Wash. – Digeo today released a firmware update for the retail version of its Moxi HD DVR for digital cable TV systems, offering six key feature enhancements, adding various levels of Internet delivered content and in-home networking capabilities, said Greg Gudorf, Moxi Digital president.

“We are making good on our promise from CES to bring a lot of new features to the Moxi HD DVR and keep pushing the user experience to show just how good of an experience we can create for Moxi consumers,” Gudorf said.

The features include:

- MediaLink, which is Digeo’s name for Digital Living Network Alliance (DNLA) 1.0 certification capabilities, enabling links through the Moxi user interface to content stored on connected PCs and other devices on the home network elsewhere in the house.

- PlayOn, which is a software application from Media Mall Technologies that installs on a PC and runs in the background to allow DLNA connected devices to stream Netflix, Hulu, YouTube and other Internet video through the Moxi user interface. The software, which sells for $40, is being made available free to Moxi HD DVR owners.

- Real Networks' Rhapsody, which will stream music from the Rhapsody music channels through the Moxi HD DVR for background music or straight listening. It will also link to a Moxi photo service to offer background music for slideshow presentations. Those with regular Rhapsody accounts will also be able to connect to those accounts through the set-top box to access play lists.

- Mosaic, which is a new add-on application for the previously announced Flickr capability on the HD DVR to present Flickr online photo albums in a full screen mosaic of photo thumb nails to help users rapidly search for and locate photos.

- MoxiNet, which is an application expansion that allows set-top box owners to keep bookmarks for their favorite Web pages in addition to the pages offered in the wall garden assortment that launched with the device.

- eControls, which is a sampling of a developing feature application that will allow control of Z-Wave-enabled electrical appliances and A/V equipment through the Moxi onscreen user interface. The first implementation offers basic commands including on, off, volume up, volume down, and mute but Gudorf said the capability will be expanded in the future to reach more devices with a greater range of command options. The system will also recognize and control IP cameras installed in the house to monitor activity where ever a camera is installed. Z-Wave lighting systems can also be controlled and dimmed using the new feature.

Gudorf said the company has had good early results since the first $799 Moxi retail HD DVRs went on sale through exclusive launch partner Amazon.com.

He said Moxi is now entertaining plans to expand retail distribution through more retail accounts.

The retail HD DVR features 500GB of hard drive capacity (75 hours of 1080p HD), a uni-directional multi-stream CableCARD for use through any digital cable service in the country, powerful user interface that integrates content selections from the cable service, Internet sites and in-home networks, dual HD tuners, no monthly equipment service fees, automatic upgrades and remote web and mobile browser scheduling.

The system will also soon be compatible with a number of Switched Digital cable systems across the country.Amazon Listing Here (http://www.amazon.com/Moxi-MR-1500T3-Digital-Video-Recorder/dp/B001GQ8MT8/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1239495829&sr=8-1)