Amazon's latest video delivery service is apparently live for Sony Bravia Internet Video Link-equipped customers. A reader reports that after a rather low key system message and reboot the Amazon Video on Demand logo added itself to his streaming options, joining YouTube and other providers available since the $299 add-on launched back in April. Amazon's website still lists shows it as being in beta, but they're probably just too busy with Home or those HD TiVo downloads to bother dropping a line. Anyone else noticing a new option on the XMB lately?

[Thanks, Jared]

Outside of the Planet Green HD addition, Cablevision subscribers haven't had a whole lot to applaud over recently. For fans of Golf / Versus, however, we reckon you all can stop moping around and point your remote to an all new video-on-demand outlet. Starting this week, the carrier will begin offering its iO TV digital cable customers free access to VOD content from Versus and Golf Channel, but sadly, none of it will be shown in high-definition. Maybe one day...

TiVo's been offering up movie rentals for a solid tick now, but it finally landed an agreement to include flicks from Walt Disney Studios. Coming soon to Series2 and Series3 HD DVRs, users will be able to view a variety of SD rentals (with select films available in HD) for 24-hour blocks of time. The partnership encompasses TiVo, CinemaNow and ABC, but strangely enough, that's about all the details that any of those firms are dishing out right now.

[Via CNET]

Hold onto your trousers folks, as ITI Neovision's quizzically named N is bringing HD porn to Polish subscribers anytime they want. The service, which is thought to be the first of its kind in Europe, enables customers to select, purchase and view 1080i XXX-rated titles on-demand. According to a local, the first two flicks to surface are Sensual Dolls and Born To Be Sexy, both of which sound like surefire winners if that's what you're into. No word on how pricey each selection will be, but feel free to test the service out and let us know how it shapes up if you're so bold.

[Thanks, Arsenal]

Not letting Comcast steal all the VOD news at The Cable Show, Verizon announced it's added high definition video on-demand content from ON Networks. The free HD VOD content includes all the shows you may have seen on TVTonic or AppleTV, like Backpack Picnic, Golf Tips with Joe Beck and Proper Ollie. FiOS subscribers can look forward to 1,000 HD VOD titles each month by year-end, according to Verizon, it already offers access to more than 10,000 on-demand titles with 70% available for free. All those shows should be available right now, so feel free to grab the remote and take a look.

Fuse is coming to Comcast subscribers via an HD video-on-demand offering starting in July, with original series, interviews and music videos. The Cablevision-owned network's all-high definition content goes live to approximately 7 million digital cable customers, with Comcast the first provider signing up for the service. We don't know how USA TODAY's content will tie into it, but there's a few more HD choices in the bin for you.

Fiending for some Jack Bauer ticking-clock action? 24 won't be back until 2009, but Degree is continuing its series of digital shorts based on the series, The Rookie: Day 3 Extraction. Focused on CTU agent Jason Blaine, this season is made up of six 3- to 4-minute episodes with Jason trying to rescue his boss from a drug cartel, and will be available on VOD and online in HD with 5.1 surround sound. We couldn't find the HD versions just yet, but the first installment is available via Comcast's On Demand under Searchlight or on DegreeRookie.com today, and on DirecTV April 7 on channel 115.

[Via BusinessWire]

We knew it would just be a matter of months before Cox Communications found the means to offer up HD video-on-demand -- after all, you can't lag behind your main competitors for too long without stepping up, right? Nevertheless, the company has announced that customers in San Diego can now access "more than 20 high-definition titles" via the HD Movies on Demand channel, and the library of HD flicks should hopefully grow as time goes on. On deck to receive the HD VOD luxuries are Northern Virginia and Oklahoma City, with other unnamed markets to get tapped "later this summer." So, for those San Diegans looking for a good HD movie to soak in on Independence Day, why not give Cox's latest offering a whirl and tell us how it goes?

While UK users were recently able to catch America's biggest game in crisp HD glory, it now looks like HD lovers on the other side of the pond have even more reasons to celebrate. In a recent deal between Virgina Media and The Walt Disney Company's Buena Vista International Television (BVITV), hit network series such as Grey's Anatomy, Criminal Minds, Daybreak, Ghost Whisperer, Night Stalker, and Alias will soon be available in high-definition via Virgin's TV-on-demand service. Although further details were scant, it was also noted that this was probably not the last deal the UK would see in terms of adding additional HD on demand offerings this year, and while a specific timetable wasn't set, Virgin Media stated that the content should be available "before month's end."

Likely coinciding with XM's unveiling of its media-packed "infotainment" concept vehicle at CES, On2 Technologies will be showcasing its TrueMotion VP6 and VP7 compression codecs. While On2's codecs have been at work in XM's gadgetry (among other things), On2 is now aiming to take its compression software to the high definition realm as well as beefing up its stake in the portable arena. The VP6 codec will primarily be used in VOD, broadcast, digital video signage, and other bandwidth-constrained networks and mass-market devices for fixed and mobile video; the VP7, however, will demonstrate compression technology at "data rates as low as 2Mbps," which will supposedly allow "greater penetration of high definition video across low cost devices and existing networks for on-demand, broadcast and other streaming applications." The technology could eventually be used to broadcast HD content over 2.5G, 3G, and 4G mobile networks whenever we get displays large enough (and with enough pixels) to view them, but we'd be perfectly content with a little HD streaming on our navigation systems for now.

Cable companies are pushing high definition video-on-demand as a system seller over satellite, while Blu-ray and HD DVD still seek traction and fiber slowly rolls out. Still, even if it is available in your area, most customers report only a few selections available, and inconsistent picture quality. Holding things back are the usual demons, capacity and content. Until MPEG-4 and switched-digital roll out most providers simply don't have the bandwidth to deliver all their regular programming and more than a few HD VOD offerings. Couple that with movie studios unwilling to hand over premium content (in order to protect their investments in the aforementioned disc formats) and you've got a very slow moving situation. However as the bandwidth issues get sorted out, media research company Diffusion Group sees progress made the same way it has for regular HDTV, sports & broadcast networks first just like primetime television and ESPN-HD have led the charge so far.

That was the gist of a presentation by News Corp president Peter Chernin Tuesday. He said that consumers with high priced home theater systems would be "desperate consumers" of such offerings. Apparently his plan calls for "rental" releases via cable and satellite 60 days after they hit theaters. They think this could create new market for "home premieres" between the theatrical release and typical DVD windows.

So wait, you want me to see the movie in the theater, download it, then buy it on DVD? So instead of producing better movies that people want to come out and see, the movie industry just plans on consumers being willing to pay to see the same movie overandoverandover.....sounds like TNT's weekend lineup.

This plan seems really bad, Philip Swann at TV Predictions doesn't sound too enthused and neither does Henning at HDBlog. Are we all missing the point and there is actually a huge market for this or do you think it will crash and burn?

[Via digg]

Digital Hollywood Conference  is the place where the various companies that bring us much of the content we'll be experiencing on our HDTVs, cell phones, game consoles, and iPods get together and talk about the best ways to do it. 


Your next home server-mediacenter-xbox720-ps4-RSS parser-cell phone-breadmaker?  Yeah they've got that.  You can watch for updates here, as well as via a live blog of the event if you're interested (and we know you are) and a podcast; although several companies have already made notable announcements, and we'll keep you updated as it progresses.

I'll be keeping a definite eye out for information from today's "Transforming Television" seminar, because HDTV, PVR, OnDemand and Interactive TV all touch me in my special place.  Also at the conference will be our own Shawn Gold, speaking on Alternative Media & Advertising: Personalized Consumer Broadband, RSS Feeds, Blogging and Podcasting