I don’t normally look to the Huffington Post to provide me with meaningful media analysis any more than I look to a rainbow trout to give me meaningful advice about the stock market.  But today they gave me something interesting, and it’s something I have to pass on.

There’s a new premium online / cable channel coming around, and it’s brought to us by major content providers like Paramount, MGM and Lions Gate called Epix. It’s essentially a gigantic movie and television clearinghouse, and right now, it’s not much in the way of news.  But it’s what it represents that could be a SERIOUS problem to places like Netflix.

Okay, here’s the rundown.  Basically, right now, in order to rent movies, Netflix has to buy them from the studios which is essentially a license to rent.  That’s why the FBI hasn’t landed on every Blockbuster Video in the country because they’re violating that terms of service agreement in the beginning of every movie.  But what if the studios got to figuring that they’d make more money offering digital download themselves?

No more printing DVDs.  Just make a master copy to upload to the server and let everyone download it.  It would invalidate the format wars forever, and put a whole bunch of home entertainment companies, especially those that specialize in players, out of business if they didn’t react fast enough.

This could be the beginning of something big…but will it be good?  Time will tell.

This is sort of a strange news post that also gives you better insight into how one of the greatest content resellers on earth, Netflix, operates.

Thanks to Microsoft and Google, it’s very, VERY, easy to see that it’s pretty simple to make huge pots of cash when you don’t have to make and ship a product.  Digital download is the way things are moving, and with them, the need for warehousing, storage, and production costs are falling through the floor.

But, as Netflix has shown us in a development the Motley Fool refers to as “The Netflix Law”, it’s extremely difficult to improve on software.

Sure, we’ve all seen new versions of Windows come out every few years reliably–but how many of us are rushing to upgrade?  My laptop and my backup desktop BOTH run Windows XP.  I’m two versions behind–is that stopping me from computing?  Not hardly, kids.  I’ve tried Vista, and I’m not terribly happy with it.  I’m not hugely upset with it, but I’m not falling all over myself to change.  Netflix ran into this exact problem when it offered its million dollar Netflix Prize, a chance for users to improve the recommendation system.  The best they could get was really only an incremental improvement over the original, and that took three years to generate about a ten percent improvement.

So while hardware will be running under Moore’s Law (performance doubles every eighteen months on average), software will be lucky if it gets eighteen percent better every two years.  Software has to take an early lead and hope to hold it, just like Netflix has done so far.

So the plan is going forward–Blockbuster’s ready to offer its limited-duration digital downloads of movies at its kiosks, and NCR, the national vending company, is conducting the initial testing.

Apparently, the kiosks were already “digital download ready” from their inception; they just didn’t have it ready to go.  There’s some talk of expansion, too, so maybe some are just more ready than others.  Now, if you were hoping to download them to your SD-compatible laptop or cell phone, I’m sorry to dash your hopes like this, but it’s JUST to your television for now.  Future tests will expand outward, but if you don’t have an SD card port on your television, just forget about this round of tests.

They’ll be offering as many as fifteen hundred titles by 2010, and you’ll have thirty days to watch the movie from when you first purchase it.  But once you start, you’ll have forty eight hours to finish it.

A little too limited to do much good, especially at the opening stages of the game, but hopefully the future versions will open it up a bit.

You might well think that, in a recession as bad as the one we’re facing now, one of the first things to go would be subscriptions.  Well, newspaper and magazine subscriptions are definitely flatlining…but as it turns out, subscriptions for cable and internet and video games like World of Warcraft and even DVD series like Netflix are still holding their own, and in some cases, increasing.

Now, on the surface, one might call this a push toward a post-literate America that’ll be indistinguishable from Idiocracy in about twenty years or so.

But I think the issue is really one of value rather than literacy.  A magazine subscription, the product arrives once a month.  The newspaper, once a day.  But the rest of these might deliver as many as eight items in a single day, and might run continually all day every day.  The internet provides everything a newspaper does, and in much more rapid fashion, with constant updates.  A magazine can’t compete either.

The internet is rapidly becoming America’s dominant communication medium, and I wouldn’t be surprised to find the rest of the world sharing in that assessment.

The short answer is no.

The long answer, however, involves a discussion of the various ARMS of Blockbuster, but one thing’s clear enough--Blockbuster’s days IN ITS CURRENT FORM are numbered.

Video store guys (and ladies), pay attention–your jobs are likely doomed.  Blockbuster, not too long after announcing that several hundred of its stores would be shuttered permanently to kick off 2010, also came out with the announcement that they just saw huge losses in third quarter 2009.

And there’s likely a good reason.  There are simply so many replacements available for Blockbuster chain stores that it boggles the mind.  On demand, iTunes, and let’s not forget that dynamic duo of Netflix and Redbox–even the neighborhood video store still has a place in most people’s lives (especially as they so effectively combine movie and video game rentals, and let’s face it, Gamefly is still woefully deficient on that score).

But I don’t think Blockbuster will collapse.  I think it’ll finally shutter its brick and mortar stores and go strictly online.  It might even keep the local stores as warehouses for their stock, and gain a serious size advantage on Netflix while also reducing costs.

Whatever happens, they’d better do something soon, or else the whole operation’s going down.

I say possibly, of course, because it isn’t like this is the first time Netflix managed to link up with a device provider to make their streaming video a bit easier to deal with.  Samsung, a host of Blu-ray players, lots more.  So now Sony’s Bravia television becomes one more brick in Netflix’s wall of streaming video.

All you’ll need is an internet capable Bravia, and the latest software upgrades, and you’ll be able to stream from Netflix’s pretty well massive library of at last count over a thousand titles.

This is, of course, awesome.  But as far as I can see it’s like polishing the brass on the Titanic.  There’s still a huge portion of the populace that can’t use this service, or can only use it in vastly reduced quantities because they plain old don’t have the bandwidth.  It’s great that the number of devices that can access this service increases almost with every passing week, but until that basic hurdle is overcome, there’s just no way it’ll get as far as it can.

Just so you’ve got an idea of what you’re looking at, Clicker is one of a handful of sites that seems to be gunning for the role of hub of internet video.

I went to have a look at Clicker and I have to admit I was pretty impressed.  There’s all kinds of video over there, and it–unlike YouTube–is actually really well organized.

See, what they’ve done is take a whole bunch of streaming video–stuff like CSI episodes, stuff on Hulu, random web junk like stuff from The Escapist and so on–and sorts it into a set of categories like Technology and Gaming, Sci-Fi and Fantasy, and Animation.  From there, you can follow your genre of choice into the various offerings, and you can do it all for free.

It’s a clever little package, and should do well in the long run, especially if streaming video keeps going the way it is now.

This was an interesting question I heard just yesterday, and no one less than the CEO of Netflix himself, asked it.  He raised a really good point, too, one that I figured would be great to bring to you guys and hash it out.

See, most of the internet companies out there are whining and complaining about how Netflix’s streaming video service is jamming up their pipes and making it impossible to continue making obscene piles of money on the cheap, as well as destroying demand for cable TV.  After all, the networks say, who in their right mind would continue to watch the preset program array, laden with commercials, that is cable when you can get your TV your way with no commercials cheaper on Netflix?

Netflix, meanwhile, doesn’t really deny any of that, but says that their streaming video service is actually DRIVING demand for cable internet services, because people want the biggest, fastest pipes possible to get their TV their way with no commercials cheaper.

This lead to the comparison–if Apple could sell more Macs because they worked with iPods, then cable can sell twenty meg internet because it works with Netflix!

Pay attention, cable companies…it’s a smart move.

So the word is now semi-officially out that Netflix plans to delay its offering of new releases by fully a month in exchange for a huge sack of free loot from the studios. Well, not DIRECTLY–the studios will just lower the price of the DVDs sold to Netflix in exchange for the opportunity to SELL them to us first.  Now, this apparently won’t affect anybody but Netflix, so it only sounds like Netflix is screwing itself over…or are they?

See, only about a third of Netflix’s business–roughly thirty percent–is new release titles.  The REST of Netflix’s business, almost three quarters of it, is on so-called “Catalog titles” or movies that aren’t new releases, that have been out in circulation for a while or on an earlier version.  There isn’t, that I know of, a specific date cutoff when something stops being a “new release” and becomes a “catalog title”.

So if most of Netflix’s business doesn’t hinge on when new releases come out, and Netflix can get a deal on new releases (word is that the price cut will HALVE Netflix’s operating expense) it sounds like it’s the studios that just shot themselves in the foot.

One of the worst things about renting movies is returning them.  And no matter where you rent your movies, unless you stream them, you’ve either got to take yourself to the mailbox or the video store in order to return your stuff and get new ones.  But Blockbuster has a new and interesting idea that will cut that pointless second step out of movie renting.

Now, you can take your SD card–the kind of thing you load into a camera for added memory–to a Blockbuster kiosk and download a movie to it.  Then, after a certain period has passed, the movie will be unwatchable as attached DRM software kicks in and digitally neuters it.

Chances are this is a move that’s too little too late for Blockbuster, who’s roundly getting its ass handed to it by Netflix and Redbox, but subscribers should at least find it convenient.  Hopefully this new measure of convenience will at least be enough to keep Blockbuster from further hemorraging subscribers.

Netflix, wow…even they’re starting to feel threatened by the Redbox video kiosks.  And frankly, I don’t know why, not for the life of me.

See, apparently, Netflix believes that the one dollar rental “devalues the content ecosystem”, which is a fancy way of saying “makes people think they can pay less for stuff which in turn drives them to actually DO pay less for stuff and break it off in our collective tukhus.”  Which is an absolute JOKE as illustrated by the equation I’m about to show you:

Netflix charges about twenty four bucks ($23.99) for its four at a time unlimited plan.  Now, let’s assume a thirty day month that has no annoying postal holidays in it (Columbus Day my ENTIRE ass.  NOBODY gets that day off.) and start it up.  Also assume the first day of this hypothetical month is a Monday, and there are six mailing days in a week. Assume further that I keep up that constant flow of watch and return (I work nights, or from home, or I’m unemployed.) every day.

I get my first four movies on the first, watch two of them that afternoon and get them back in the mailbox before the end of the day, and then watch the second two later that night, to put them in the mail the next day.  I don’t get any movies on that Tuesday, but I get a set of two on Wednesday, and a set of two on Thursday, and so on.  Now, what that means is that I basically get two movies a day, every day, for twenty four days in the month, a total of forty eight movies, for which I paid twenty four bucks for the month to rent them.

Getting the picture?  Now, I’m no mathematician…but it sure looks like my total per-title Netflix cost is FIFTY CENTS A MOVIE.  If I stream any titles in the month the cost picture buckles even further. Even if you cut that figure in HALF, and I only get a cycle going of ONE movie per day–not hard with a four-max–then suddenly Netflix MATCHES Redbox!

And they’re whining about Redbox devaluing the content ecosystem?

Parents in the audience–you know what a great day it was when your young son or daughter burst forth into the world, and how much you longed to tell everybody about it.  Fathers, you looked forward to back-slapping congratulations as you handed out the ceremonial cigars (or possibly the bubble gum variety if you’re being more healthful).  And mothers, you knew this was only the start of your greatest achievement, miracle and blessing as you helped mold a young life.

But it probably isn’t a good idea to send streaming video of the delivery to everyone you know.

A lady out in Minnesota decided to stream her birth live to three different sources, including a local television statement, following months of blogging about the incident.  The mother, herself a former teacher, decided to create the streaming video as an “educational moment”, and filmed herself delivering her baby and shot it out to the web.

You know, they talk about how you have to watch your web presence so that you can get jobs in the future…this might be a good example of that.  I know if I’m hiring in a tight economy, and my choices come down to the lady with the clean resume who doesn’t post much of anything online and the woman who gave birth on the internet...well…I think you can fill in the blanks.

I know, that’s a pretty breathless chunk of hyperbole right there, isn’t it?  But it might be true–check this out.

See, as most of us have known for some time now, it’s not exactly tough to hook up a PC to an LCD television.  If you don’t use the HDMI inputs, then you’ve probably got a PC input ready to go.  Older televisions can even get in on the action by way of an S-video port.  But where most people seem to have a blockage (most people that aren’t home theater buffs like ourselves) is in using that PC as a full featured home theater device.  That may all change now.  Dig the word:

Unlike other options—set-top boxes and fancy Blu-ray players—it uses your home computer as the video streaming device, meaning you can add services, browse robustly and even record video like a DVR by patching your cable or satellite TV through your PC. And again, it’s all wireless.

Because the extra hardware you need (i.e., the “extender”) is just a wireless dummy, you’re not sinking money into some soon-to-be-obsolete gizmo, and you’re not limiting yourself to just one service (Hulu and Netflix almost never appear side-by-side on streaming devices.) Your Netflix, your Hulu, your TiVo, even your channel guide gets better when it’s all replaced by a Windows 7 PC.

This is the kind of thing a LOT of people needed to hear.  And it poses the distinct possibility that the home theater PC may well wind up mainstream, and that’s just entirely too awesome.

Hey everybody, this’ll kill you.  Apparently, all this time, you’ve been reading a media expert!

See, I was reading this article about a new kind of download service that’s being started over in Australia, possibly as a way to replace the DVD.  And of course, every time I see that phrase I snort derisively (the last time I did that I learned never to read media articles while drinking milkshakes) and launch into my standard schtick about how it’s NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN until a whole bunch of problems are fixed.

I get midway down the article and, sure enough, I SEE THIS:

But media experts warn there will be plenty of hurdles to overcome before movie downloads become a part of everyday life, including internet download speeds, unrealistic download caps, data costs and the price of movies.

That’s almost exactly my schtick.  In order, almost.

So then I read on about how Microsoft thinks it’s got the first two of those beat by offering a kind of streaming technology that tailors its content to your bandwidth capability, starting out with a really light stream and working its way up.

The problem with this, of course, is that even its minimum is still out of reach for a lot of people.  You have to have a three meg connection in order to watch in 720p.  Satellite and most wireless internet service providers generally offer a top speed of about one and a half.

So it’s still got a way to go yet before it can kill DVD.

Finally, a worthy management system that should allow for streaming videos around a home or office has become official. The Envive TheaterStation Multi-Zone content management system is now official armed with central storage. It has storage capacities ranging from 4TB to 14TB and doesn’t need a TheaterStation server to function. It can also support up to 20 independent zones of audio and video and is compatible with MAC, Windows and Linux PCs. It supports most media file formats and should be the answer for people who are looking at ideal mediums to distribute various media content. No word on pricing though.

(Source) Slashgear

All right, folks…a little chicanery for you today.

I want you all to know, especially any lawyers out there, that I did NOT invent this process nor do I condone or appear to condone any activity that may even vaguely be construed as illegal, immoral or unethical in perpetuity throughout the universe.

There.  That oughta shut the lawyers up.  Anyway, I found out over on Lifehacker that there’s a way to download streaming video on Netflix.

Dubbed the Netflix Download Links Greasemonkey, which is downloadable online, it allows you to bypass the various DRMs and such that prevent you from watching Netflix streaming content on anything but Windows Media Player, or prevent you from watching Netflix streaming content when you’re not in your house or near a WiFi connection of any decent speed.

In all honesty, we need something like this.  You know how many Netflix users out there don’t have sufficient internet bandwidth to USE a service that Netflix offers freely with subscription?  Plenty, that’s how many.

If you could go somewhere with WiFi and download video off Netflix to watch later, that would be a fantastic service for people with lesser bandwidth.  But, once again, that might fuel PIRACY, and we can’t have that, so for now people will be unable to use a service they pay for just to prevent other people from making a quick buck.

Thanks a LOT, Netflix.

In case you want to use your HDTV for anything else but watching TV then get ready to embrace Vudu’s new offers. The company has confirmed that it plans to bring various services straight to your TV as long as it’s a connected one. These services are Pandora, Flickr and Picasa which I am sure you’re familiar with already. Unfortunately not every HDTV out there will be able to access them just yet. Flickr and Picasa will be available on HDTVs made by LG or Mitsubishi while Pandora will be available only on HDTVs from Mitsubishi.

Vudu will deliver even more applications to your connected HDTV in the near future so stay tuned as we’ll keep tabs on Vudu for you.

via Vudu

Just a few days ago we told you about Netflix intention to make its streaming service available to PS3 owners. Today we’re happy to tell you that the company is ready to ship the discs you need in order to stream movies on your PlayStation. Sure you will have to ask for one as it will not be magically delivered to your door otherwise. And yes, you definitely need to get the disc if you want to take advantage of Netflix’s streaming service on your PlayStation right now. Otherwise you’ll have to wait until 2010 to get a PS3 update which will enable PS3 instant streaming without the need of any extra disc.

via Engadget

So a new brand of pico projector, the SHOWWX, has burst onto the scene and has already taken orders for the tiny devices.  Microvision, the company behind the SHOWWX, has struck a deal with a European mobile phone producer to basically attach SHOWWXs to their line of phones.

This is actually a really impressive development.  This is the very beginning of the era of the universal home theater, in which content can follow you and be exhibited anywhere under similar conditions to your own home theater.

See, the SHOWWX is intended for mobile devices, and so works well with streaming video, Flash video, and most anything you’d see on, say, YouTube or Hulu.  But that’s not to say that the streaming from Netflix wouldn’t also work.  And since the SHOWWX is designed to throw up an image measuring roughly two hundred inches across, they’re just perfect for home theater, even when you’re not home.  Think about that–watching a movie in a hotel room the exact same way you’d watch it at home?  Oh, sure, the SHOWWX isn’t a match for a 1080p JVC, yet, but this is just the beginning.

Just the beginning….

Best Buy is ready to enter the video on-demand business. The electronics retailer has announced a partnership with CinemaNow which should bring entertainment to your home soon. Starting with next year, customers that purchase connected devices from Best Buy will be able to enjoy all the CinemaNow content they want.

CinemaNow’s video library will be included in every connected device so no matter what Best Buy store you go to, the service will be available almost immediately. Best Buy will let you watch your favorite titles on all the connected devices in your home and some new movies will be available on the same day the official DVD is released. What devices will get the new service? All TV sets, Blu-ray players, PCs, smartphones sold by Best Buy and capable to connect to the Internet will come bundled with the new CinemaNow service.

Best Buy has also partnered up with Netflix, TiVo and Napster which means that next year you will have a lot of movies and TV shows to watch on your connected devices.

via New York Times