A periodic roundup of relevant news… from our friends at Last100:

Hands-on: G1’s Android web browser rocks [video demo]
where Android really rocks is the bundled web browser. It’s fast, renders the full web flawlessly (aside from the lack of Flash support), and does a fantastic job of re-flowing text when you zoom in on a specific part of a web page, therefore eliminating the need for horizontal scrolling despite browsing on such a small screen.

Netgear extender to deliver YouTube HD
The EVA 9000 Digital Entertainer Elite is aimed at “the tech-savvy, early adopter, not your average Roku user”, and, along with YouTube support, can download BitTorrent files, access additional Internet-based content, as well as stream video from any PC connected to the same local network.

Every NFL game streamed online, on-demand and ad-free
No longer content with leaving money on the table, the National Football League launched a new on-demand Internet TV service called Game Rewind that enables fans to “watch every NFL game in HD quality, with no commercials”

BBC iPlayer on more mobile handsets
It’s getting hard to keep up, with the BBC rolling out new versions of its UK-only seven day Internet TV catch-up service on what feels like an almost monthly basis. This time iPlayer support has been added to Nokia N85, Samsung Omnia, Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 and C905.

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

SageTV HD200 Media Player Unboxed
SageTV has introduced the HD200 HD Media Player, the successor to the HD100. Check out a few short unboxing videos and photos.

Motorola Takes Fox All HD
Fox is going all high-def in the first quarter of next year,  and it’s using Motorola to make the transition.

The CES 2009 Poll
CES 2009 is right around the corner, and the conversations have already begun about what’s likely to be hot at this year’s annual gadget fest.

Snapstream Mini – Enterprise TV Search for the Masses
Snapstream, the makers of BeyondTV have a new enterprise DVR that offers the same powerful TV search capabilities as their main Enterprise product at a lower price.

Bad Times for Broadband?
We may be in for tight times ahead, but there are good indicators for the broadband market that shouldn’t be ignored.

11 months after blowing up their prior destined-for-retail DVR(s), Digeo’s web site and Amazon have spilled the beans on the for-real model that’ll be available for sale… shortly? While they’ve published all sorts of specs (500GB hard drive, multistream CableCARD, no OTA support, Flickr, and expandable storage), we don’t yet know Moxi HD DVR release timing or pricing… and if the hardware will be burdened with service fees (à la TiVo). I’ve got a call into their (new) PR firm and will report back. (Thanks, Nate!)

Update: After speaking with Digeo’s PR firm, it sounds like this is a soft launch with a limited number of units available via Amazon – $800, without service fees. The “official” unveiling is still scheduled for CES next month, but I’m seeing what I can do to get more info and a loaner unit.

Last night at the DigitalFocus event (NYC), I spent a little time at the Philips table with the DLO HomeDock HD. It pipes iPod content to your HDTV, via a docking station and pleasant interface. At $250, it competes indirectly with AppleTV ($230) – with the HomeDock’s iPod acting as the ATV’s hard drive. However, Philips does outfit you with a somewhat better remote control, utilizing RF and providing more buttons. The HomeDock HD should now be shipping, and at least one retailer has it listed for $200. If they’re able to drop the price even further, the HomeDock HD would be a more competitive offering and make a fine iPod accessory holiday gift.

The Slacker Internet radio experience has just landed within Sony’s Bravia ecosystem. Owners of select Bravia HDTVs and the Bravia Internet Video Link ($300) media extender can now stream music from Mari’s favorite online source. Similar in concept to Pandora’s Samsung Blu-ray player offering, this free Slacker service joins a variety of online content providers, such as Amazon Video on Demand (pay) and YouTube (free), on Sony’s platform. As with Slacker’s browser-based and portable hardware options, millions of licensed songs can be streamed from over “100 individually programmed genre music stations.” Though, I’m continuing to hold out for the soon-to-be-released Blackberry app…

The topic of replacing pay television services (cable, satellite) with web video comes up much more frequently these days as online content proliferates and given the economic downturn – folks are looking for ways to conserve. Having sampled just about every web service and video box, I recently weighed in at MultiChannel News:

Dave Zatz, a blogger who writes about the TV industry and entertainment technologies, said Internet video is often of poorer quality and less reliable than cable or satellite services. “While there are many newer options, I’d say they still aren’t ideal in replicating the couch-based experience,” he said. “Yet.”

While I know several who have indeed gone down the web video path, we’re nowhere near mass market adoption. Dumping pay television may accelerate but, for most, online content remains a supplement not a replacement. There’s just too many compromises. Getting content to and accessing it on the television remains a challenge for the mainstream, selections are unpredictable, quality is often low resolution, and there’s a large segment of news and sports junkies who are largely left out in the cold. That’s not to say we aren’t moving in this direction, but we’re clearly not there yet. (And for the last few years I’ve found Netflix-ing television shows to be the most enjoyable way to watch TV – entire seasons in a few days or weeks, commercial free, and without worry of mid-season cancellation.)

Now, having said that, the ZNF readership is clearly more tech savvy than most. So share in the comments the ways in which you’re getting online video to the television and if it has or will lead you to dump pay TV.

A periodic roundup of relevant news… from our friends at Last100:

Vudu boasts more HD content than the rest (but is the biz model the right one?)
Set-top box movie service Vudu is claiming to offer more High Definition content than any of its competitors — Apple TV, Netflix, XBox 360, and even Blu-Ray itself — reports CNet. And while content is mostly King, I’m still unsure about the company’s business model.

iPhone app climbs Apple’s ‘walled garden’ to display photos on TiVo
DVRPics is a new application for iPhone and iPod touch that enables you to stream photos to a networked TiVo so that they can be viewed on the TV. Currently only one photo can be selected at a time — a limitation the app’s developer blames on Apple, since third-party developers aren’t given direct access to the iPhone’s photo library.

New Xbox 360 games carry Netflix streaming promotion
In a joint marketing effort with partner Microsoft, a 48 hour ‘Gold’ pass to XBox Live that includes the Netflix promotion, can be found in the box of US retail copies of the newly released James Bond game, although access to Netflix on XBox 360 won’t be available until later this month when the previously announced Dashboard update is rolled out.

3’s “Facebook phone” officially unveiled
At a launch event here in London, the mobile carrier “3″ and sister company INQ Mobile unveiled the much anticipated “Facebook phone”. That’s not its official name, nor is it an official offering from Facebook — although the social networking site did have a hand in the phone’s deep Facebook integration.

Hands On with Nokia’s new touchscreen phone – the 5800 XpressMusic (aka the Tube)
Ever since Nokia officially announced its new consumer touchscreen smartphone, the 5800 XpressMusic (aka the “Tube”), I’ve been dying to get my hands on the device. Not because I was expecting an iPhone killer — it isn’t and probably wasn’t really intended to be — but because I was curious to see how well Nokia could adapt its S60 user interface for a touchscreen phone.