Nary a fortnight after hearing that Verizon has dialed its FiOS TV sights in on Manassas, Virginia, along comes word that Comcast is giving its subscribers in the area four more reasons to stay put. Predictably, three of the four consist of ABC Family HD, Disney HD and Science HD, while the outcast is AMC HD. The carrier is now blasting out 38 high-definition channels in Prince William County (including HD on Demand), but that's still a couple shy of what Verizon's going to be packing when it sashays into town. Nothing like a little HD mudslinging, eh?

[Thanks, Ryan]

Comcast subscribers will soon get a taste of MGM HD's 4,100-movie deep library, as the channel just inked a deal with the cable giant for both its linear channel and VOD service. Of course, the question of how much, if at all, extra it will cost to get the channel and when it will be squeezing onto QAMs near you have yet to be answered, but for now we're inclined to give more HD "choices" a glass half-full lean.

Yep, Comcast has added in three new HD nets along the New Jersey shore, and we're giving you exactly one guess as to which three we're talking about. ABC Family HD (195), Disney HD (239) and Science HD (194) were just added in Ocean and Monmouth counties (you did get that correct, right?), and we have a sneaking suspicion they'll be reaching other systems very, very shortly. Where will they end up next? Stay tuned, it's sure to be a thriller.

[Thanks, Joe]

Right around a month after Charter saw fit to gift the greater St. Louis area with eight new HD channels comes word that little 'ole Osage Beach is next in line to get eleven of its own. Matter of fact, AMC HD, Animal Planet HD, CNN HD, TBS HD, The Movie Channel (TMC) HD, TLC HD, Smithsonian Channel HD, Science HD, Discovery HD, Versus / Golf HD and The Weather Channel HD should all be live in the area as we speak. The rather impressive list of additions brings the total in the region to 30. According to Steve Trippe, vice president and general manager for Charter Communications in Missouri, the carrier will "continue to increase its HD offerings," though no specifics beyond that were released.

Moving beyond day-and-date releases via internet and HD video-on-demand, movie studios may be ready to move towards regularly putting movies online ahead of the DVD release date for a premium price -- that surveys say some of us are willing to pay -- but prepare to have your analog hole plugged again. The MPAA petitioned the FCC earlier this month to lift the existing ban preventing cable and satellite providers from remotely disabling analog outputs on their set-top boxes via selectable output controls (SOC). In a bit of ICT redux, the movie studios haven't said definitively that they will use the technology, but insist on having the ability to force anyone wanting to view high definition movies to only see them through an HDCP-protected HDMI output to a compatible TV. The failure of AACS and BD+ to prevent high quality copies isn't a deterrent to the MPAA's push, so while ICT has gone unused on Blu-ray and HD DVD, we're still too fond of our component outs, switchers and homemade cables -- and too wary of a future change in policy -- to support any changes in the law.

While many cable customers stuck with TWC, Charter, Cox or any of the other mega-cable carriers out there can't buy an HD channel, the relatively diminutive ATMC Cable is making sure its tiny footprint of North Carolina subscribers are getting the most for their dollar. Continuing its slow but steady rollout of high-def options, the outfit has just thrown Smithsonian HD into the mix. The channel lands softly on slot 961 and becomes partners with HDNet, HDNet Movies, HD Theater, Universal HD, National Geographic HD and MOJO HD in the appropriately titled HD Suite. Best of all, the company has promised even more offerings in the coming weeks, most notably USA HD and PBS HD.

Check it -- Comcast subscribers in Montgomery County, Maryland are apparently the next bunch to receive the carrier's favorite trifecta: Science HD, Disney HD and ABC Family HD. According to a local, the lineup is still missing others like CNN HD and AMC HD, which have picked up by nearby Comcast systems already, but we suspect something is better than nothing. Oh, and if you haven't picked up on it yet, stay on the lookout for these three in your area -- odds are they're coming soon.

[Thanks, Jerry]

Assuming you're not Twitter, Facebook and Pownce'd to death already, Comcast is bringing the social network universe straight to your set-top box. This morning it announced the purchase of Plaxo, the company already behind Comcast's universal address book due later this year. By tying together TV plus online parts like Fandango and Fancast, it aims to ease sharing media between your various devices, family and friends. Add in tru2way app possibilities, and the future of our DVR looks increasingly networked (and a bit complicated.)

[Via News.com]

After tying the knot with AT&T and Verizon, it seems that Lifetime HD has wooed Cox Communications as well. Lifetime Networks has just announced a "wide-ranging agreement" that will bring all of its multi-platform channels -- including Lifetime Television HD, Lifetime Movie Network HD, Lifetime On Demand and Lifetime Movie Network Espanol On Demand -- to the cable carrier. Of course, the network took the opportunity to restate just how many females aged 18 to 54 will be absolutely elated to hear the news, but they'll all have to patiently wait until June before it begins rolling out to Cox systems.

Ahead of tru2way's expected big splash next week, TVWorks and itaas have worked out a deal to combine tru2way standards with itaas' istart developer program. Devs cranking out the OCAP tru2way apps for TVWorks (jointly owned by Cox and Comcast) platforms can join istart to get the tools and support necessary to test and deploy them. istart is also hooked up to Time Warner Cable and Scientific Atlanta's tru2way initiatives, so this should ease rollout against various networks and hardware standards, although we're still waiting to see more compatible hardware slated to hit store shelves.

For Time Warner Cable customers jealous over those eight newcomers received by Cox subscribers in the OC earlier this year, how's about this? According to the flier you see above, a full dozen will be hitting the lineup in Southern California sometime soon, but unfortunately, we can't determine if we're talking "tomorrow" soon or "next quarter" soon. Nevertheless, you folks in the area can look forward to seeing Disney HD, HGTV HD, A&E HD, Food HD, ABC Family HD, National Geographic HD, History HD, Versus / Golf HD, CNN HD, TLC HD, ESPNews HD and Discovery HD slip into the lineup, which ought to make your nightly viewing much more enjoyable. C'mon TWC, spread the love elsewhere, will ya? [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]

[Thanks, Munawar]

Charter already delivered TLC HD and Discovery HD to Western Michigan early last month, but now the carrier is gearing up to bring five newcomers to the central part of the state. According to a subscriber located in mid-Michigan, TBS HD, Discovery HD, TLC HD, CNN HD and Animal Planet HD are prepared to land on June 3rd (or so says a mailed flier), though there's no word on what slots they will fill or if any others will be following suit. Hey, with U-verse closing in, you've got to keep up appearances, right?

[Thanks, Matt]

Despite the fact that Switched Digital Video will allow HD providers to bring us more HD goodness, it's been a bad word around here because it prevents TiVos in Vista Media Centers from access the new HD. But with the Cable Show and the first public display of the Tuning Adapter -- formerly known as the tuning resolver -- right around the corner, TiVo fans can see the light at the end of the tunnel. But at the same time, with no word from Microsoft or AMD, Vista Media Center users with ATI Digital Cable Tuners are on the edge of their seats. So we decided to hit up AMD and CableLabs for some answers, and while we didn't hear exactly what we wanted to, the response was promising. According to AMD it's "in discussions with all the relevant parties to address the issue of Switched Digital Video" and CableLabs was quick to respond by saying "the CableLabs specifications for the Tuning Adapter and the UDCP application extension do not technically prevent use with an OCUR." Of course all this really amounts to is a definite maybe, but we're optimistic we'll see this happen.

We already knew that National Geographic HD was poised to land in Austria and Switzerland soon, but maybe not this soon. Nevertheless, the channel has indeed launched in both nations on UPV digital cable, putting its content in front of over one million subscribers in these two countries alone. Get down with your bad self, Europe.

Not too much to say beyond the title, but everyone's favorite high-def lister has now begun to integrate video-on-demand offerings into the lineups. It should be noted that VOD listings aren't totally implemented just yet, so if you see a few holes in your own carrier's list, rest assured that plugs are on the way.