The Samsung UN46B7000--one of the newly entertained Samsung HDTVs.
(Credit: CBS Interactive)Samsung announced on Wednesday that on-demand video services from Blockbuster and Amazon are coming to some of its home entertainment products.
Blockbuster OnDemand, which allows people to rent or purchase video content on a one-off basis, is now available on some of Samsung's high-definition TVs, Blu-ray players, and home theater systems.
According to Samsung, the service will be offered on its Series 650 and above LCD and plasma HDTVs, as well as its Series 7000 and above LED HDTVs. Blockbuster OnDemand will be available to owners of the Samsung BD-P1600, BD-P3600, and BD-P4600 Blu-ray players, as well as the company's HT-BD1250, HT-BD3252, HT-BD7200, and HT-BD8200 Blu-ray home theater systems. The company said that the service is available now through a firmware upgrade.
As part of the rollout, Blockbuster OnDemand content can be streamed across multiple Blockbuster-enabled devices in the home. According to the company, users who order a particular movie can start watching it on one Samsung product in their home and continue watching it on another supported Samsung device.
For its part, Blockbuster has had a busy week. On Tuesday, the company announced that its OnDemand service was finally made available on TiVo DVRs. Like the service on TiVo, Samsung equipment owners can expect to pay between $2.99 and $3.99 for movie rentals. Blockbuster charges between $7.99 and $19.99 for film purchases.
As part of the deal, Blockbuster will start selling Samsung Blu-ray players that feature the company's OnDemand service in "thousands of corporate-owned stores and participating franchise stores." Blockbuster also said on Tuesday that it will also start selling TiVo DVRs in its stores.
But Samsung didn't stop there. The company also announced on Wednesday that Amazon Video On Demand will be offered to owners of Samsung LCD and plasma HDTVs that are series 650 and above, and LED HDTVs that are series 7000 and above. To get the service, users will need to download the Amazon Video On Demand widget using their television's Internet@TV content service.
Samsung said that once the user downloads the Amazon Video On Demand widget, they will be able to access Amazon's more than 50,000 movies and television shows. Amazon's widget joins already-available widgets from Twitter, Yahoo, YouTube, and others, the company said.
A growing trend?
The fact that Samsung has added Blockbuster's and Amazon's video services to its HDTVs shouldn't come as a surprise; it's competing in a marketplace where integrated entertainment is becoming the norm.
Earlier this year, LG announced the launch of two broadband-equipped HDTVs--the 47-inch 47LH50 and the 50-inch 50PS80--that feature the company's NetCast Entertainment Access. That service gives users the ability to access Netflix's streaming library of movies and TV shows. Toshiba is also getting in on the trend.
Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
(Credit:
Roku)
In its bid to put together a roster of compelling content, Roku has just acquired an ace.
Starting Tuesday, the set-top box--known to many as "the Netflix box"--will begin streaming Major League Baseball games. As with the current Netflix arrangement, you have to be a subscriber to the service, in this case MLB.com Premium, to access the content that normally would be available only on a PC or iPhone.
And while this is a boon to baseball fans, it's an even more important development for Roku. MLB.tv Premium is the first live content available on Roku's device, and by bringing that from the PC to the TV, the 50-person Saratoga, Calif., company is beginning to differentiate itself from similar consumer electronics products.
Roku currently has access to the Netflix Watch Instantly queue, as well as Amazon Video on Demand, which allows for rental and purchase of movies. More recently, Roku added content from Blip.TV and MediaFly, two content aggregators, for videos and podcasts.
MLB.tv will work the same way. It will be accessed via a new pane that can be reached via the small remote. Once a customer's account is synced, any live, out-of-market (as in, not your home team) game across the league can be seen, with the choice of both the home and away team's local broadcast feed. Games up to one week old are available in the archive, and previews appear of each team's scheduled games up to a week in advance. ... Read more
Amazon Video on Demand HD, as it appears on the Roku Digital Video Player
(Credit: Roku/Amazon)It's been a long time in coming, but Amazon Video on Demand is finally available in high-def. Owners of TiVo HD/Series 3 DVRs, the Roku Digital Video Player, the Sony Bravia Internet Video Link, and Panasonic VieraCast TVs (and, presumably, VieraCast-enabled Blu-ray players) will be the first to enjoy Amazon's content in HD (software updates to enable HD viewing on those products should be available imminently). Likewise, Windows and Mac users will also get access to HD video content via Amazon's Web site.
As with competing services, HD movie rentals will cost $3.99 to $4.99, and TV episodes will be available for purchase for $2.99 each (HD movie purchases currently won't be available). More than 500 HD movies and TV shows will be available initially, encompassing content from most major studios, including Warner, Sony Pictures, MGM, Paramount, and Universal. TiVo is pledging that the "vast majority of titles" on its boxes will offer Dolby Digital 5.1 surround soundtracks.
CNET was able to get a sneak preview of the Amazon HD offerings on the Roku box last week. For existing users, it's a pretty seamless upgrade: new HD-specific filters for HD movies and TV shows are available, so there's no need to go hunting and pecking for high-def content.
Quality on the Roku box was very good--the 720p video is closer to that of a really good DVD, but it's definitely superior to the standard-definition content that's available. We didn't detect any major difference between the quality of Netflix and the Amazon HD offerings on the Roku, but the Amazon interface allows you to choose rentals or purchases directly from the onscreen interface, whereas Netflix requires you to manage your viewing queue via a PC.
Amazon and Netflix will be getting some company.
(Credit: Roku)The Roku Digital Video Player may be getting as many as 10 new Internet video-on-demand channels by the end of 2009. So says Roku vice president Tim Twerdahl in an interview with U.S. News & World Report.
The Roku Player was originally a Netflix-only device, but it recently added Amazon Video On Demand. The U.S. News story reports Roku has "quietly distributed a development kit to what Twerdahl calls a few 'close, big-name' partners." More info is expected to be revealed this summer, at which time the development kit would be made available to additional programmers.
Providers weren't named, but tech blogger Dave Zatz points out that YouTube support on the Roku has been hinted at in the past, and that Blip.tv has outed itself as a Roku developer as well. If those are 2 of the 10, that still leaves 8 more.
Obviously, any of the existing video content aggregators (Hulu, Sling.com, and CNET sister-site TV.com) would be huge attractions to the Roku, as would individual network-video sites. I'd also like to see some music services (Pandora was just added to Roku rival Vudu, and will also be on most Samsung Blu-ray players and home theater systems shipping in 2009).
Which providers would you like to see added to the Roku box? And do you think that Roku is starting to steal some of Boxee's thunder? Share your opinions below.
(Credit:
Roku)
Amazon Video On Demand will be coming to the Roku Netflix Player in early 2009.
Amazon's video service will become the first non-Netflix "channel" to be available on the Roku box. The service, formerly known as Amazon Unbox, offers more than 40,000 movies and TV shows.
While that dwarfs the 12,000 or so streaming titles currently available via Netflix--and includes many newer titles as they're released on DVD--they're available on a pay-per-view basis rather than the flat-fee subscription of the Netflix.
A mid-December firmware update included the promise of "a number of great new channels that will begin to appear on your player in early 2009." That implies that Amazon is the first of several additional viewing options that will eventually be available on the box. Whether or not the Roku hardware will be rebranded to emphasize its more diverse choices beyond Netflix remains to be seen.
Amazon Video On Demand is also available on TiVo DVRs and the Sony Bravia Internet Link, as well as on Windows PCs and Macs.
If you just purchased a Neuros Link and you can't find the video you're looking for on Hulu or any other free streaming video Web site, don't fret: there is one more place you can access videos, but it will cost you. The Neuros Link supports Amazon.com video rentals, allowing you to select from thousands of titles ranging from 99 cents to $5.99 per rental.
According to a Neuros representative, there is no update necessary or installation of any kind. You simply go to the site create an account, if you don't already have one, and select your movie.
What makes this service so great is that is doesn't require a contract or monthly service fees.
Keep coming back to Crave as more features are announced we will post them.
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