Since acquiring Movielink about a year ago, Blockbuster’s been relatively quiet with the property… The Movielink video download service has carried on in the interim. However, according to the Dallas News a rebranding under the Blockbuster name is nearly complete. A few hundred Total Access members have been provided beta access in a program that will grow until the official launch - projected for August. As the computer video marketplace swells, these service providers will need to find television outlets (think Netflix on Xbox, Amazon on TiVo) for mass market adoption. And even then the embedded Comcasts, Verizons, Time Warners, etc will most likely still take the lion’s share of video-on-demand revenue. (Thanks for the pic, Travis!)

I’m impressed with the D-Link DSM-330 DivX Connected HD Media Player’s interface and ease of use and the playback quality for formats supported out of the box. There is a market for this type of device, similar to Apple TV, and there’s compelling online content that will appeal to many with this media extender. Unfortunately that online content is relatively scarce. A bigger issue is the default restriction to only DivX video or MP3 and WMA audio, which limits this product to those who either already have encoded the bulk of their collection as DivX or who take the time to “hack” the unit to stream other formats. In talking with a DivX representative, I’ve learned that they are planning to provide additional format support. In fact, the next version of the server software will support Flash video support, which should help quite a bit with online content in particular.

I can recommend this device with qualifications. If you have a large DivX collection or are just starting out and like the concept of all video on DivX then this is definitely a very desirable media extender for you. If you don’t fit into that category, I still encourage you to consider the device for it’s nice interface and strong potential for online video and other online content. It’s not for everyone, but it’s a step in the right direction.

Read the rest of this entry at Brent Evans Geek Tonic »

TiVo’s not the only primary television add-on with web video intentions. Verizon is currently beta testing web video on their set-top boxes and their initial marketing partners include Veoh, Blip.tv, Break.com, and YouTube. Unlike TiVo which taps directly into YouTube’s H.264 content, Verizon utilizes their Media Manager PC software as an intermediary. Sites are indexed on a regular basis and when a video is selected from the DVR, the PC software automatically transcodes and streams content on the fly.

In addition to serving up those large video aggregation sites, Media Manager software also facilitates shipping virtually any video podcast to your DVR. The functionality is similar to what TiVo provides today. However, from a conceptual and functional point of view Verizon’s solution looks like it’ll be more elegant - allowing you to add RSS subscriptions directly to Media Manager via web browser.

These features will be offered as part of Verizon’s top tier DVR package, which also includes PC photo sharing and multi-room DVR playback. As you hear in the video above, customers not currently enrolled in that plan will be able to self-provision a trial through their box. The functionality and business implications are currently being evaluated and refined in beta, with the expectation it’ll be offered to customers later this year or early next year.

(This is Part 2 of a 2 part series. Part 1 covers Verizon FiOS TV IMG 1.6 software, which includes PC video serving, web scheduling, games, dual tuner buffers, GUI enhancements, numerous fixes, etc. and will begin rolling out later this summer.)

A short while ago I speculated that Verizon would be offering VOD content around the Olympics. A day later the news came out that NBC U and Verizon had indeed done a deal, with on-demand clips and event replays coming to both FiOS TV and V-CAST.

Right now on FiOS TV you can already get several free Olympics features. They’re not bad either. Check out the gallery of FiOS screenshots I took yesterday. (Thanks, Heather!) Note: Dave also spent today up at VZ headquarters in Basking Ridge. More FiOS photos to come?

Once the DTVPal was released a few weeks ago, I went ahead and requested two government-issued $40 “coupons” - which are more akin to plastic gift or credit cards. While we’ve still got several months until the digital television transition, there’s a finite amount of vouchers so I’m staking my claim now. Actually, it’s a claim by proxy - being the guy who manages my mom’s technology. Her kitchen doesn’t have a cable outlet and she enjoys her existing (NTSC-tuning) television - so for about $20 (minus $40 coupon card), it makes sense to just pick up a digital to analog OTA converter (CECB).

The question is: Which one? The top criteria should be ATSC reception and picture quality. Unfortunately, there aren’t many comprehensive model comparisons… and while reception is key, pq is less important on this small set and from her viewing distance. In fact, I suspect she mostly listens to TV while preoccupied with other tasks. While I like the form factor of the DTVPal and the polished UI (for a low-end device), I’m leaning towards the Zenith DTT900/901 or the RCA DTA800 because the included remote will also power the television on/off. Anyone picked these up?

Jabra BT8040 on 12seconds.tv

There’s no question the Jawbone offers the best Bluetooth headset noise cancellation technology. But it’s also uncomfortable and pricey. I picked up a Jabra BT8040 for $50 at Best Buy last week for the smaller form factor and multipoint pairing. Thus far, both incoming and outgoing sound quality have been good - including a successful phone conversation in the midst of Times Square. Like most BT headsets, it could use a little more volume but overall I’m very pleased with the function and comfort… Though I’ve yet to successfully simultaniously pair my laptop and iPhone. Folks who enjoy listening to music through one earpiece can also stream music via A2DP. The BT8040 is packaged with three ear gel sizes (two of each), an AC charger, and a USB charger.

While this isn’t exactly the TiVo+Amazon announcement I was hoping for (that’d be HD Amazon video downloads), Amazon customers with broadband-connected Series 2 or Series3/TiVo HD units will now have the ability to initiate product purchases - triggered via in-show advertising overlays or search:

Starting today, TiVo will launch the new service to consumers by merchandising products related to several high profile shows, including but not limited to The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Colbert Report, and Burn Notice. Consumers will also be able to use TiVo’s Universal Swivel Search to easily explore and buy products associated with their favorite shows, movies, actors, and directors, directly from the television set

As you can see from the pic above, the first two episodes of DirecTV’s Burn Notice broadcast have been accompanied by both horizontal and vertical black bars. And Jack R. of Michigan is wondering what’s up with USA Network or his HR20-700. Other USA Network shows, such as Law & Order, at least give the appearance of high definition content by filling the screen and displaying the USA-HD bug in the lower right (versus just the “USA” logo above). Unfortunately, I can’t verify having already removed my Comcast-provided episodes from the bedroom TiVo. I do recall the content filling the entire screen, though both episodes appeared somewhat dark and grainy - not sure if that’s a stylistic choice (like the uneccessary video pauses) or a side effect of stretching SD content. What are you seeing?