Just as we heard back in February, Time Warner and Comcast have joined hands in order to regain control on some of the content that is slipping right out from under 'em. In the olden days, the only portal for catching content was the 'tube; today, a vast array of television shows are available gratis on the web, and that's downright frightening for pay-TV operators. Today, both firms are detailing TV Everywhere in the most general way possible, only telling us that paying Comcast subscribers will soon have access to "premium long-form content" via a web portal. TNT and TBS are the only networks specifically named thus far, but considering that both of those already offer their best programming online to everyone, we're not terribly impressed.

The agreement also includes a trial with around 5,000 Comcast users, which will be used to heavily test a newfangled authentication technology that will be necessary to allow paying Comcast users to access the material from any internet-connected PC. NewTeeVee has also assembled a clean, easy-to-digest FAQ that explains what exactly all this is. To be frank, it seems like a solution in search of a problem from the consumer viewpoint. After all, with portals like Hulu and individual network websites already providing in-demand content online, why is there even a need for some "special portal" for Comcast users? We've heard that paying subs will have access to even more material, possibly movies or other premium shows. But we won't front: we certainly don't want TV Everywhere to convert some of the content that's already free into pay-only content in order to accomplish the aforesaid "even more" goal. At any rate, the public at large probably won't hear more about this until the trial sessions end at an undisclosed time, but you can bet we'll be keeping a cautious eye on any developments.

Read - TV Everywhere press release
Read - NewTeeVee FAQ

The VuNow platform is sitting a lot prettier, as it has grabbed an OEM deal to be included in Sherwood's upcoming line of receivers. Already making an appearance as the Netgear ITV2000 standalone unit, now high end amps and surround sound systems will have access to a variety of internet video sources without additional hardware. Verismo's said it will be pursuing many different opportunities for its technology, we'll wait and see where the YouTube / CNN / ESPN and more streaming hardware shows up next, though your cable box would appear to be a safe bet.

With Akihabara, mobile TV that works and games like this, does Japan really need another nicety to remind us of how awesome it is? Starting this week, Yahoo Japan has started to deliver free video services to loads of Sharp AQUOS HDTVs. The so-called Douga Channel currently offers some 3,000 videos gratis, and absolutely no member registration is required to tap in. At least initially, the service will target Sharp's AQUOS DS6 family of products, which are equipped with a revised Sharp GUI and an 'Ex System' for handling the video processing. Better still, the material coming through can be viewed in SD or HD, which has to make local cable companies cringe. At any rate, the company is still trying to hammer out a business model before delving into pay-TV, and it's hoping to service at least one million TV sets in the not-too-distant future. So... any news for North America?

Icron's PC-on-TV solution has been out and about since late last year, but we'd venture to say that adoption in the consumer market has been minimal at best. 'Course, the bevy of internet-to-TV set-top boxes that have emerged in the meanwhile certainly haven't help its cause, and the whole "wired Ethernet" requirement was also a real deal-breaker, ladies. Now, it seems as if the company is looking to leapfrog those who leapfrogged it by showcasing a wireless (802.11n) solution at the Connections Digital Living Conference. The product is still based around its ExtremeUSB technology, which passes along VGA / USB signals from a PC to a TV so that your computer can be fully seen and controlled on your den's HDTV. Unfortunately, two critical data points are still missing: first, there's no expected release date, and second, there's no independent reports on how well all of this works sans cabling.

Good news, Vista Media Center PC users will soon find a new option under the TV+Movies tile, as Netflix Watch Instantly streaming access is added directly to the interface. The soul crushingly bad news? A post on The Green Button informs that this does not apply to Media Center Extenders, so cheapskates hoping to get around the Xbox 360's Gold Xbox Live subscription requirement are still going to need those plugins and workarounds. This should go over much better than the InternetTV beta 2, but we're disappointed Microsoft's vision of TV on Your PC (as pointed out on its accompanying blogs, videos and assorted paraphernalia indicates) doesn't allow users to stretch their PC back to the TV at will. 'til that changes, check the gallery and after the break to see what awaits in Media Center once the update rolls out over the next 48 hours.

Update: We checked with Microsoft, and confirmed that, at least for now, this streaming only includes the same content as the browser experience - so no HD. As far as Windows 7 and / or RC1 support? No word yet.

[Via The Green Button]

Gallery: Netflix on Vista Media Center

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There's bad quality internet video and then there is really bad internet quality video and there is no doubt that the latest internet tv beta 2 from Microsoft is as bad as we've ever seen. Checking it out we couldn't believe our eyes and tried a number of clips before shaking our head and thinking "are you kidding me?" In some cases the video is presented as 4x3 even though we know the show is available on other sites like Hulu in 16x9, but to make things worse, even when the content is in the original aspect ratio, it is so over-compressed we don't see how anyone could take this serious. The interface is decent enough and does do a good job of integrating well with the rest of the Media Center experience, but we hate to say it but we'd rather see nothing at all then garbage like this. Our favorite internet tv beta 2 feature? The ability to hide it from the guide, and with any luck, forget it even exists.

The CEA is the latest on the Internet connected HDTV bandwagon , stacking up stats in its Net-Enabled Video: Early Adopters Only? study to show 14.5 million consumers are thinking of buying a net-enabled TV in the next twelve months. Finding out more info about what they're watching appears to be the big draw, although as with most surveys, it probably depends on the questions being asked, though we can't dispute stats showing many people are already online while watching TV. Give it a quick glance and you'll see why Yahoo!, Microsoft and Adobe are in such a hurry to be the online gatekeepers of your next display.

While a nationwide launch of the ad-based ZillionTV streaming service isn't expected until Q4 of this year, it's good to see that things are obviously on track. Just today, both the ZBar and ZRemote (shown after the break) -- two crucial hardware components to the system -- have splashed down in the FCC, giving those who just can't shove enough set-top-boxes under their television hope that one more is destined for US shelves. Granted, an FCC appearance doesn't guarantee an immediate market presence, but obviously the beta testing and collaboration with ISPs has been going well.

Read - ZBar filing
Read - ZRemote filing

Not that there should be any shock surrounding the formal introduction of boxee's App Box and API -- after all, both were teased sufficiently during last month's bleeding edge alpha release -- but we're still thrilled to see things moving along nicely. This week, the open source media platform launched both an API and an application portal, both of which will act to bring all manners of third-party gems to the media browsing world. boxee doesn't plan on being any sort of gatekeeper (at least for now), which hopefully will spur innovation and get more developers interested. In related news, ArsTechnica has also found that boxee is currently in talks with a few big players in the hardware space, essentially hoping to get its 1s and 0s onto game consoles, Blu-ray players and other set-top-boxes. There's no clue as to the whens and wheres, but we suspect this means there will be no dedicated STB in the near future -- for better or worse.

[Via ArsTechnica]

It's a bit surprising to see the Disney family of channels mixing it up with the riff raff like YouTube and, potentially, Hulu given so much time spent increasing its online video presence already (ABC.com, ESPN 360, etc.) but here we are. The deal with YouTube will put video clips (with shared advertising revenue from 15 second prerolls, overlays and banners) and all ESPN to embed its own player on YouTube's page, similar to the deal with CBS and its March Madness Silverlight powered page. About the possibility of a deal with Hulu, Disney's not talking, but if they do take an equity stake, hopefully it will bring the same priority for HD streaming (and boxee cooperation) that's been pushed on its own site.

There's been a lot of controversy over the years in regards to à la carte cable programming, and more recently, Hulu no longer playing nice with Boxee. The two are related to each other because in both cases, consumers think they'll lead to cheaper content. And let's be honest -- both seem appealing because we want to spend less money for the same content. The problem, of course, is that if we're spending less money, then someone is going to lose that revenue; and it goes without saying that any decent business model requires more revenue, not less. So those big corporations collecting all of those subscription fees are obviously going to have a problem with the idea. Now the conundrum comes in when you throw Netflix in the mix. Rather than nickel and diming you to death (much like your cable company), Netflix wants to give you an all-you-can-eat buffet for a monthly fee. The irony here is that while Hollywood loves subscriptions when it comes to cable TV, that's not so much the case when it comes to Netflix. The reason is simple -- we know you see this coming -- it's because the monthly fee is about three times that of a Netflix bill.

ZillionTV may not have a price, launch date or even confirmed areas of availability yet, but that hasn't stopped the outfit from racking up a deal to stream films from The Weinstein Company over its service whenever it launches. For those who've already forgotten, ZillionTV is the streaming to TV service with designs on selling its hardware to customers via their ISPs, then streaming content free with ads as well as providing pay video on-demand. Even without flicks like Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Vicky Cristina Barcelona and The Reader, it already had a competent lineup of content partners, but now ZillionTV is looking even more like a legitimate challenger, if only we had a few more details to go on.

If there was any doubt as to why the content owners asked Hulu to make life hard on Boxee, these recent comments by Rainbow Media's CEO Josh Sapan should pretty much clear it up. He tells Multichannel news that putting shows up on the internet shortly after they air on TV is doing nothing other than creating "bad habits." The article goes on to explain that the reason why you won't see as much of Rainbow Media's content online is because "such actions will eventually undercut the healthy advertiser/affiliate-fee dual revenue stream that networks enjoy" -- so you should have to pay for content and you should have to watch the ads. If at this point you're yelling about the all the ad-revenue generated when people view the same content on the web, according to NBCU president of TV Networks Distribution Bridget Baker "it's a drop in the bucket compared to ad revenue on linear cable channels." The interesting twist to their perspective is although these execs don't seem to understand that people actually prefer to watch TV, on their TVs, and not on small laptop screens, they do recognize that there is no stopping this movement. So their bright idea is to change the direction of the movement in their favor. The intent of the plan is to authenticate subscribers before allowing web access. So in other words, if you don't subscribe to cable TV, then don't expect access to the content on the web -- nice plan huh?

Now that ZeeVee's back in business with its much improved Zinc broadband video portal, boxee actually has some serious competition to keep an eye on. That said, the company is hosting a meetup in NYC tonight in order to launch a new "bleeding edge" alpha that will integrate Pandora radio / RadioTime and showcase a more robust API. Furthermore, you'll find a fresh XUL-based framework for the boxee browser to enable the app to more easily interact with any web-based video, and as if that wasn't enough, there will also be a PBS application baked in. We have to say, we're pretty impressed with the regularity of updates coming to boxee -- now, if only those big networks would allow hit shows to be broadcast online live alongside their TV airings, we'd be in television heaven. The full announcement is after the break.

ZeeVee just let loose its Zinc internet TV viewer, and we couldn't help but give it an install on our Windows XP-based machine. While it can be said that this is a competitor to Hulu, it actually provides access to Hulu material. In that sense, maybe it's infringing more on boxee's territory. Underneath, it really relies on access to public video RSS feeds, so obviously the options are pretty limitless. If you're interested in seeing just how quickly you should download / avoid this new piece of software, follow us past the break for a few impressions.