In what I assume is a move to advertise their (recently acquired) Movielink service (and get some press), Blockbuster has paid over a million bucks to exclusively distribute Jackass 2.5 for one week. The NY Times writes:

Paramount Pictures is lurching onto the Web with its “Jackass� franchise, with what it says will be the first studio-backed feature film to have its premiere online. The hour-plus film has original material and previously unseen outtakes from the second “Jackass� movie in 2006. The new movie, made for less than $2 million, will stream for free but will have 15- or 30-second commercials before and after it plays.

It’s not entirely clear to me if this will be offered via a website (blockbuster.jackassworld.com) or if it’ll require a download of the Movielink application. However, once the period of exclusivity expires, the “film” will be made available through other online sources (iTunes, Unbox - $10-$15) and physical DVD ($30). (via Hacking Netflix)

UPDATE: The film won’t require a Movielink install. Rather, playback will be web-based and may feature the most prominent utilization of Silverlight. (Requiring a 1.5MB browser plugin on Windows or Mac OS X.)

Mail-order video game rental service Gamefly is now giving subscribers 5 DRM-free tracks each month. I assume this is nothing more than a marketing gimmick (plus they’ve added commissioned iTunes affiliate links), but it’s worth keeping an eye on. FYI The first five bands (that I’ve never heard of) are: RJD2, Little Brother, OK Go, Shadows Fall, and Thievery Corporation.

Canadians looking for alternative ways to consume their media are having a pretty good month… Though much later than their southern US neighbors, in the last three weeks TiVo, Xbox 360 movie downloads, and now iTunes television downloads have been made available. iTunes TV purchases run $1.99 CAD which closely mirrors the US dollar. (For comparison, not everyone is pleased with Microsoft’s Points exchange rate.)

In other digital TV news, dedicated video download STB Vudu ($399) is also offering show purchases for $1.99 USD. However, until they significantly drop that hardware fee they won’t have many takers.

iPhone Canada by Rogers

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

• The Hulu HD Bandwidth Equation: Connected Home 2 Go
• Twas The Night Before DivX: Davis Freeberg’s Digital Connection
• A Look Back at CES 2007: Connected Home 2 Go
• On the Blog Council: Connected Home 2 Go

Sony has announced that Japanese PSP owners will be getting an update (3.80) next week that includes Internet radio streaming. Interestingly, the screenshot (below) says “Powered by SHOUTcast”… which is produced by an AOL subsidiary. The software also includes enhanced RSS support for OPML and images. I assume these features will make it to the US in the near future, though we obviously won’t be receiving (or utilizing) the ability to schedule video recordings via digital tuner.

Additionally, rumors have surfaced that the PSP may be getting directing downloads. Though, as Gizmodo points out: downloadable content isn’t worth a damn unless there is something good to download. Given the limited selection of games (and no movies) in the recently launched PSP online store, I can’t say that I’m feeling too hopeful. But I haven’t dumped my (second) PSP yet.. (more…)

Not that we need an excuse to give things away, but it is the holiday season… Our second raffle this week is for the SageTV HD Media Extender and SageTV software license (MSRP $249), courtesy our friends at SageTV. Check out Brent’s review for the product details.

If you want in, please leave one comment on this post. The catch is that you must provide a link to another comment you’ve left on ZNF (excluding contests) OR Brent Evans Geek Tonic. And if you’ve never left a comment, you now have an incentive.