June 29 - 4:15pm EDT   The US Supreme Court today rejected an appeal by film studios and television networks of a New York court ruling that would allow a new type of digital video recorder service from Cablevision. A report says the justices refused to review a ruling made by a US Court of Appeals in New York that said Cablevision's proposed service would not directly infringe the copyrights of the media companies that produce the recorded movie and TV programs. No reason for the rejection was given. [full story]

June 26 - 12:40pm EDT   Canadian rent-by-mail DVD service Zip.ca said today that it's in talks with Sonic Solutions, the owner of the Roxio CinemaNow movie download service, to bring the first large-scale movie download service in Canada. The partnership will allow PC and portable multimedia device users to download TV shows and movies, making it somewhat akin to the streaming feature Netflix offers its US customers; it's not clear if Zip would shadow this format. [full story]

June 25 - 4:45pm EDT   MvixUSA on Thursday announced the upcoming release and specs of its 1080p-capable Ultio networked multimedia player. The device is compatible with UPnP-standard networks and can be ordered with a 1TB hard drive. Streaming content from Netflix, Hulu, YouTube and other similar sites is supported, and MvixUSA says the device supports a record amount of video file formats and codecs, including the relatively uncommon RMVB or FLAC. [full story]

June 23 - 10:25am EDT   VIZIO on Tuesday announced its VIA-badged TVs with access to Internet Apps will now have access to Real's Rhapsody music service. With the user interface, users can browse the near 8-million song library using VIZIO's Bluetooth universal remote control, which has a built-in QWERTY keyboard, while watching TV. Songs can be searched by title, artist or album and on-demand access to new releases and top albums is available. [full story]

June 22 - 2:20pm EDT   Fresh from a win against EchoStar, TiVo is set to tie directly into pay-per-view systems as well as Time Warner's cable network, according to two sources. The DVR producer is said by Bloomberg to be talking with more than one pay-per-view provider to either allow its recording directly or else to license out the technology for third-party hardware or software. Details are vague, but it would be separate from online-only support for Amazon VOD, Netflix and other services. [full story]

June 11 - 1:00pm EDT   Electronics multinational LG is beginning to ship two new lines of TVs, originally announced during CES. The LH50 series is based on LCD technology, and currently includes only a 47-inch model; a 42-inch set is due later this summer. The predominant LH50 feature is said to be integrated Netflix streaming, allowing subscribers of the rental service to stream movies without a separate set-top box. Sets should also be capable of 1080p resolution. [full story]

June 8 - 11:05am EDT   Lionsgate, MGM and Paramount today launched an invitation beta for Epix, a hybrid cable and online movie streaming service meant to supplement rather than replace regular pay-per-view TV. Anyone with a cable package that includes the channel will get access to the studios' movies weeks ahead of their regular DVD releases for "free" but will simultaneously have access to streaming, 720p versions of those same movies for their computers. The approach is ad-free, even online, and automatically scales the bitrate up or down (to as low as 500Kbps) depending on the quality of the connection. [full story]

June 1 - 3:00pm EDT   Microsoft today launched a range of changes to the Xbox 360's video features. Now rebranded as a Zune service, the former Xbox Video Marketplace will now provide videos in full 1080p and promises an "instant-on" feature that starts streaming videos almost immediately on faster connections. The extension will be available in all countries and should come along with an expansion of video rentals and purchases to 18 countries from the current 8. [full story]

May 20 - 7:35am EDT   Microsoft today quietly added Netflix support to Windows Media Center. The extension gives it features above and beyond athe Xbox 360 and lets users both add to as well as play their Watch Instantly movie queues. It can also auto-suggest new movies based on existing viewing habits. The addition gives home theater PCs access to a 10-foot media interface instead of having to use the Netflix website itself to stream shows. [full story]

May 19 - 9:00am EDT   LG today said it had started shipping the BD390, its flagship Blu-ray movie player. The reader is the first to play DivX videos at a full 1080p when either burned to a DVD or from an external USB drive. It likewise brings Wi-Fi and 1GB of internal storage, and can handle Blu-ray Profile 2.0 features as well as Netflix and YouTube video streaming without stringing Ethernet cable to a router or a Wi-Fi bridge. [full story]

May 13 - 2:15pm EDT   VUDU today signaled a partial change in direction with word that it will start offering ad-supported music and video through its service. Once limited to renting as well as selling movies and TV shows, the company is tapping Brightcove to provide ads for a free Sony music video service. It also plans to expand this to include other services but hasn't set out its plans to date, including whether or not it may extend this to TV and other long-form content. [full story]

May 12 - 4:20pm EDT   Researchers NPD Group today said that 88% of the money consumers spend on home entertainment goes towards purchasing and renting movies on DVD and Blu-ray discs. Of the $25 each US consumer spends on average in a given month, 63 percent was found to be spent on DVD purchases, 7 percent on Blu-ray discs, and 18% went towards renting DVD and Blu-ray movies. The remaining 12 percent was split between video on-demand (VOD) services (9 percent) and digital downloads and online streaming (3 percent). [full story]

May 5 - 4:50pm EDT   For the first time, Vudu will offer its library of more than 14,000 movies and 1,500 high-definition movies on hardware from a third-party, effectively becoming a service provider in addition to a hardware manufacturer in the process. Vudu chose Entone as its partner, which supplies set-top boxes and DVRs to small regional TV providers. Vudu will endow the Entone hardware with the same functionality as its Vudu Box offering, including on-demand access to HD and HDX movies, via a software update. [full story]

April 20 - 10:25am EDT   Adobe has devised a new version of its Flash animation standard which should allow TVs and other electronics to stream content directly, according to an announcement. Called the Flash Platform for the Digital Home, the technology is now being licensed to OEMs and should ship in products scheduled for the second half of 2009. Some companies which have agreed to support the platform include Broadcom, Comcast, Disney, Intel, Netflix, Atlantic Records and the New York Times. [full story]

April 17 - 9:15am EDT   If accurate, a rumor floated today will see Best Buy leap into its own online movie store. Entertainment magazine Variety claims to have heard from movie studio executives that the retailer is talking to CinemaNow and "other online movie services" to establish a link between itself and one of these services. While what's involved is uncertain, Best Buy is likely to arrange for a cut of the revenues for each movie viewed and may promote hardware with that movie service's features built-in. [full story]