Despite the numerous Verizon FiOS TV DVR updates, I’m most frequently questioned on their HD initiatives. Truly, content is king. Here’s a summary of Verizon’s HD announcement:

• Plans to double HD channel count next spring, with up to 150 HD channels by the end of of 2008.
• HD video-on-demand begins rolling out this year, with over 1,000 titles expected by the end of 2008.
• In-home HD streaming functionality scheduled for next year. Not clear if this will require new hardware.

(via EngadgetHD)

Guess where I’m headed tomorrow morning… Select Walmart stores will be carrying a limited quantity of the Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD player for a low $98.87. At that price, I don’t care if Blu-ray ultimately crushes the HD DVD consortium. In fact, even if I can’t score a unit, the $165 Xbox 360 player (with many free HD DVD discs) is looking good. Especially since I need to replace my Xbox remote (long story). The Blueman Blu-ray Group could have ended this format war months ago if they had only dropped hardware prices - Now, who knows?

(Thanks, Kevin!)

Chris, of Amazon Daily, and I were recently lamenting that we don’t receive many HD channels via Comcast (he’s in Seattle, I’m outside DC). Maybe it wouldn’t be so painful if we weren’t aware of other Comcast regions, such as New England, receiving at least a half dozen more HD channels - many of which we’d actually watch (CNN, Food, HGTV). However, this phenomenon isn’t limited to Comcast — Verizon has only added two FiOS TV HD channels (A&E, Fox Business) in recent months and EngadgetHD speculates they’re currently out of bandwidth. But even DirecTV’s massive offering of 70 HD channels (about 4x my count), isn’t entirely delivering yet… What percent of those provide true HD content and at what frequency? Heck, I was channel surfing last night and it looks like much (all?) of the national evening news is still 4:3. The studios, networks, and operators really need to get with the program…

If the pricing/SKU dug up at Target is any indication, the rumored 40GB PS3 will indeed be landing on American shores (10/28?) for a low $400. As a satisfied Xbox 360 owner, I’m not really looking for a new gaming device. However, the cheapest Blu-ray player on the market that also happens to offer games could be tempting. Especially if Sony makes good on some of these other announced features… Megazone picked up more info regarding their Playstation video download and placeshifting aspirations:

“We are building a software infrastructure to distribute video and music, more particularly video, through the PlayStation Network,� said Sir Howard Stringer, Sony chief executive, during an interview in Moscow. “That is a Japanese and American combined effort to build a platform around a common software architecture to distribute video via the PlayStation network into the [PSP handhelds] and beyond.�

A periodic roundup of relevant news… from our other blogs:

• Why FiOS TV Doesn’t Need HD Yet: Connected Home 2 Go
• Fiber Fiber Everywhere: Connected Home 2 Go
• The Return of M&K Sound: TechLore
• TiVo’s PayPerPost Hook Up Is One Night Stand: Davis Freeberg
• Intel Gets Cable Religion: Connected Home 2 Go

On the heels of Joost’s announced intent to offer live TV, I spoke with the CEO of online video distributor Jaman - a company taking a very different approach to delivering content. Jaman has gotten attention from some of the big wigs both for its focus on indie and international films and for its ability to deliver high-def video to via the Apple TV. However, in my discussion with Gaurav Dhillon, I was most fascinated by his take on the importance of focusing on video downloads right now rather than video streaming.

The Jaman strategy is interesting because it combines online interactivity and short-form video (movie trailers) with a desktop client and long-form video delivered for offline viewing. The theory is that mucking up the broadband networks with bandwidth-hogging applications is not responsible. Instead, Jaman uses a content delivery network and progressive downloading to get content to its users. Within a minute of beginning a download, users can start watching their rented or purchased movie. But if there is traffic overload on the Internet, Jaman will throttle the download back - a good way to keep ISPs happy, particularly since Jaman’s content is all HD.

In its online bag of tricks, Jaman has just introduced new social and searching features for its website. There’s a cute Movie Finder app that lets you adjust sliders toward different movie characteristics to help you find the one you’re in the mood for. (See pic above) There’s also a People Finder feature that finds avatars similar to your own so you can meet other Jaman fans. (A bit cheesy, but an interesting novelty.)

And for the basics on Jaman:

• Rentals cost $1.99
• Purchased films cost $4.99
• The Jaman application runs on both Mac and PC
• There are currently almost 2,000 films under license
• Content comes from film festivals and regional aggregators of movies around the globe

If Jaman piques your interest, you can try it and get three movies free to start. I know what I’m watching this weekend.

While twiddling my thumbs waiting for the official Multi-Room Viewing (MRV) and TiVoToGo (TTG), I went ahead and cobbled together my own very nice MRV solution.

I’ve read online that the max distance for a non-amplified HDMI cable run may not meet my needs, but quite a few vendors offer long HDMI cables. So I took the plunge and paid $51.01 (including shipping) for Monoprice’s most expensive 35′ HDMI cable. That allowed the living room Series3 to power the 42″ plasma locally via component, while simultaneously powering the 30″ bedroom HDTV via HDMI (with the help of a $5 13/16″ drill bit) as shown below. Video and audio come through very well, and there’s no indication that the source TiVo is out of range.

The next challenge is remotely controlling the TiVo… And at the same time this plan was percolating, Monster offered me their Harmony-powered IR+RF remote (AVL300) for review (MSRP $400). I’ve programmed it to control the bedroom TV via IR and the livingroom Series3 via RF. Response through the walls and around corners has been instantaneous, again with no indication the TiVo is located somewhere else.

Overall, this solution is very nice. I’m enjoying the immediate playback from a remote DVR, including HD content… unlike TiVo’s Multi-Room Viewing which doesn’t always stream (standard def content) real-time without having to wait for the buffer to build. I also like the idea of having one DVR to manage, though I’m limited to recording on the two Series3 tuners. (I still have a Humax DVD-burning TiVo in the bedroom… for now.)

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