Digital Media

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: ZillionTV)

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 back side of the Z-bar shows the connections to the TV and the Internet.

(Credit: Marguerite Reardon/CNET )

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.

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.

Roku Digital Video Player

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.

Worldwide subscriptions to telecom-delivered TV are expected to grow threefold by 2012, according to a report released Monday.

Despite the dire economic climate, the number of such subscriptions is expected to reach 71.6 million by that time, according to market researcher In-Stat's report.

Telecom-delivered TV--offered in the United States by AT&T and Verizon Communications--includes IPTV, which is television delivered via Internet Protocol. Elsewhere in the world, France Telecom, Telefonica, Deutsche Telecom, and China Telecom are jumping aboard.

The telecommunications providers are trying to take on the giants of TV service--satellite and cable.

Key markets over the next few years include Brazil, Korea, and India due to recent regulatory changes that create more favorable conditions for the technology, In-Stat said.

"A number of new countries, including places as varied as Montenegro, Jordan, and Ghana, saw the launch of their first commercial IPTV offerings in 2008," Michelle Abraham, In-State analyst, said in a statement. "Only a few markets, like Japan and Argentina, remain hamstrung by restrictions that hinder incumbent operators."

The In-Stat report is another indicator of the growth expected in IPTV, with ABI Research anticipating similar increases in telecom TV subscribers.

In-Stat's report also notes the continuing trend toward convergence, such as the ability to control set-top boxes from PCs and mobile phones.

Phone companies around the world offering IPTV are expected to see a 32 percent increase in subscribers by 2014, according to a new report published by market research firm ABI Research.

ABI's report notes that while traditional satellite and cable TV platforms will likely continue to retain a foothold in most markets, new IPTV services that provide interactive television will grow to nearly 79 million subscribers over the next five years.

"(IPTV) usage will initially be concentrated in countries with established high-speed Internet technologies, such as France, the Netherlands, South Korea, and Hong Kong," Serene Fong, an industry analyst at ABI Research, said in a statement. "But as technology progresses and matures, developing countries such as China will rapidly catch up in subscription numbers."

Earlier this week, Microsoft announced that its Mediaroom IPTV software is being used by a Chinese TV provider called Guangzhou Digital Media Group. The deal marks two firsts for the company--its first IPTV deal in China as well as the first time its software has been used to power TV over a traditional cable network.

Phone companies around the world are using IP technology to provide TV services that compete with satellite and cable operators. Here in the U.S., AT&T is the largest phone company to use the technology to offer TV services. Verizon Communications uses a combination of IPTV technology and traditional cable and broadcast technology to deliver its Fios TV service.

The value of offering TV service over an Internet-enabled data pipe is that it can provide more interactive programming. Viewers can select movies on demand and will one day be able to interact with advertisers to find out more information about a particular product or even buy items right from their TVs.

Today most cable and satellite operators around the world use traditional infrastructure to deliver services. But even these companies are exploring ways to use IP technology to make their services more interactive.

(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.

The 99-cent offerings include a good assortment of worthwhile movies--including some recent hits.

(Credit: Vudu)

One of the biggest beefs with the Internet video-on-demand services offered on the Apple TV, Vudu, TiVo (via Amazon Unbox), and Xbox 360 is that the movies are just too expensive--usually around $4 for new movies, $5 to $6 for HD films, and a bit less for older "catalog" releases.

Watch just five or six movies a month, and you can easily rack up a $30 charge--not very appealing compared with Netflix's all-you-can-eat pricing plans.

But Vudu took a step in the right direction Wednesday with its new "99 for 99 cents" section, which will offer a rotating list of films for just under a buck. Even better, the initial list--already available on Vudu's Web site--isn't crammed full of the usual sort of dreck you see on such virtual bargain tables.

In addition to some older favorites (Animal House, Groundhog Day, Austin Powers, Chinatown, The Big Lebowski, and many of the Star Trek and Jack Ryan movies), you'll also find recent hits such as I Am Legend and Cloverfield. Not bad at all--though it's worth noting that all of these are in standard-def, not HD. Vudu's also extending its recent "renewal" policy, which lets people rewatch movies they've already purchased in the past seven days (99 cents for standard-def reruns, $1.99 for HD).

Remember that nearly all of the pricing and viewing limitations--such as the fact that rentals must be watched within 30 days of downloading, and within 24 hours of first clicking "play"--are imposed by the Hollywood studios that own the films (rather than the hardware makers). To that end, it'll be interesting to see whether Vudu's rivals begin offering a similar discount tier. In the meantime, though, Vudu's got a another distinguishing feature over its competition.