Consumer content

Universal Music Group, the nation's largest recording company, and YouTube are closing in on a final agreement to create a new premium music video Web site, according to sources close to the negotiations.

The sources said that the proposed service, which is tentatively named Vevo, would be a destination site closely linked to YouTube. Should an agreement be reached, Vevo would likely be the largest music-oriented site on the Web. Talks are ongoing, but a deal could be reached as early as the next few weeks, sources said.

A YouTube spokesman said: "We are always working with our … Read more

PALM DESERT, Calif.--How does one measure the effects of economic meltdown?

At Demo 09 here, there are two ways, one that's obvious, yet hard to see, and another that is both obvious and visceral.

While Demo for years has featured about 65 to 70 companies, this time around there's just 39. Everybody knows that, but it's hard to actually see it. The main ballroom where Demo presentations are held is packed, with every seat at every table full. But that's an illusion: the wall at the back of the room has been pulled in dramatically … Read more

A new company called ZillionTV says it will soon introduce a new service that will enable cable and satellite subscribers to cut the cord and get subscription-free movies and TV shows right on their TVs from the Internet.

The company, which officially launched on Wednesday, has struck deals with some major Hollywood movie studios and TV networks, including Disney, 20th Century Fox Television, NBC Universal, Sony Pictures, and Warner Bros. Digital Distribution.

The plan is to offer streaming movies and TV shows directly to TVs using a broadband connection. The company has created a small piece of hardware it calls a Z-bar, which provides the connection between the TV and the Internet via an Ethernet cable or Wi-Fi. The Z-bar also acts as a receiver for the company's unique remote control, which works a lot like a laser pointer and uses sensing technology to navigate through the content menu on the TV screen.

The ZillionTV service, which is currently being beta tested, will only be offered through an Internet service provider. It will be commercially available starting in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Unlike some other Internet-to-TV services, such as Netflix's movie rental service, ZillionTV does not require a subscription. It also doesn't require users to buy an expensive box, such as Microsoft's Xbox 360, Apple's AppleTV, or even Roku's $99 digital video player. Instead, for a nominal activation fee of less than $50, users will get the Z-bar and remote. And then they will be able to view up to 15,000 titles of TV shows and movies through the service without having to sign up for a monthly subscription.… Read more

Updated 5:25 a.m. PST Wednesday to note the official release of the Kindle application.

Amazon on Wednesday unveiled a free application that will allow the same electronic books available on the e-tailer's Kindle to be read on Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch.

The program will be available for download for Apple's App Store and give users access to the more than 240,000 e-books that Kindle users can buy on Amazon. The program's Whisper Sync service promises to keep track of a reader's place in their chosen book, allowing users to pick up … Read more

Netflix is trying to locate the source of a series of glitches that some users of the company's streaming service are blaming on Microsoft's Silverlight video player.

Over the weekend, a steady stream of angry messages was posted to Netflix's blog. The complaints range from choppy video, to audio that doesn't sync with the picture, to grainy image quality.

The complaints began accumulating soon after the Web's largest video-rental service switched to Microsoft's Silverlight in November. The posts appear to have trickled in until last weekend, when a score of customers began reporting problems. … Read more

The White House has denied that it has "abandoned YouTube as the provider of the embedded videos on the president's official home page."

In the report written by Chris Soghoian, a contributor to CNET's Blog Network, the author correctly noted that President Obama's weekly video address was distributed via a Flash player from Akamai instead of YouTube. But the author also wrote that the White House was bowing to pressure from privacy activists. White House officials acknowledged switching players but denied making any permanent decisions about them, or that they were motivated by privacy concerns. … Read more

PALM DESERT, Calif.--If you've spent any time online, you've almost certainly found yourself wondering about the trustworthiness of the people and Web sites you encounter every day.

Already, individuals are often rated on many sites, like Slashdot or eBay. But it can be difficult to easily discover whether you can trust what you come across, regardless of where you go online.

That's where a company called Purewire and its Trust service come into play. The service, which Purewire announced Tuesday here at Demo 09, is intended to give people a way to quickly and simply see … Read more

The Roku Digital Video Player has just gotten a whole lot more interesting.

The company announced Tuesday that it is adding more than 40,000 movies and TV shows to its online video service from Amazon Video on Demand.

Roku launched its $99 digital video player in May with Netflix as its first streaming partner. For a monthly fee, consumers can watch any of Netflix's 12,000 movies and TV shows in its library.

The company said it had sold out of the device in the first two weeks after it went on sale. And since then, sales have been strong, said Tim Twerdahl, vice president of consumer products for Roku.

The company won't release specific sales figures, but Twerdahl said the company has sold well over 100,000 devices in the past nine months.

While this is certainly a good start, the Roku box could become even more popular as more content is added to the platform. The Netflix deal has been a good start, but the service only offers a fraction of its overall DVD library for streaming.

The deal with Amazon is key because it not only offers a much larger library of content, but it also offers hot new titles, many of which are released on Amazon's download service when they're made available on DVD.… Read more

Update 9:20 p.m. PT: To include YouTube's response.

Neil Young wants to remind YouTube that Rockin' in the Free World isn't free.

The iconic musician, whose hits include "Harvest Moon," "Cinnamon Girl," and "Rockin' in the Free World," says in a blog post that YouTube doesn't fairly compensate acts represented by Warner Music Group.

Young is referring to the spat that erupted in January between Warner Music and YouTube. The two companies couldn't come to terms on a new licensing agreement and Warner Music's content was pulled … Read more