Tag: vOD
Sky TV on an Xbox 360 – not long to wait now
The service will deliver up to 20 live channels and a host of video on demand footage like movies and music events. Initial demos back in May when the scheme was unveiled also displayed how Windows Live Messaging facilities could be added to the video so that user could talk about the games/movies/events they are watching with friends as they can do now when online gaming.
Rumour: Hulu to be offered on Xbox 360
Could Hulu, the mega-popular VoD service be coming to an Xbox near you? Maybe, if you live in the US.
After Microsoft and BSkyB announced they would be teaming up to offer Sky content on Xbox 360s in the UK, murmurs that a similar service might appear stateside with NewsCorp’s US based VoD being offered on US Xboxs, although nothing official has been announced.
However if you live on the right side of the Atlantic is may be some time yet before you see Hulu on your Microsoft console, although plans to bring Hulu and its wealth of American content to British viewers are afoot.
The proposed service in the UK would pick up the baton from the VoD none-starter that was Kangaroo. Sky opposed the service which would have seen the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 offering content on one online platform. But with Hulu the potential for a single consolidated UK VoD service looks oddly probable, while also offering about 125 days of US content.
But, if and when Hulu does come to the UK, it’ll surely be a while till it finds its way to your 360.
(Via ITProPortal)
Post-Kangaroo, 4oD gets a Flashy revamp
The Competition Commission may have put the kibosh on Kangaroo but that’s not stopping the individual broadcasters pushing ahead with their own TV-on-demand services.
Channel 4 isn’t letting the marsupial off the hook quite that easily, though, and is set to reuse some of the technology that would have been used in the joint project to beef up its own 4oD (Four on Demand) offering…
GO!VIEW adds tons of videos: PSP users needn't moan about nothing to watch over Christmas
GO!VIEW has just had hundreds of hours of video content added to it, so Sony PSP owners should have a much bigger range of films and programmes to watch this Christmas.
Content includes the latest TV series such as Lost and Heroes plus classic US and British series including Knight Rider, Miami Vice, Quantum Leap, Red Dwarf and I’m Alan Partridge…
Virgin Media: Mutli-screen VoD services "two to three years away"
Despite the increasing number of service providers offering video-on-demand services via cable or broadband, managing director of Virgin Media’s online operations predicts that we’re still two to three years away from ubiquity.
Alex Green, speaking at the Online TV and Video Forum in London, said that his company was working towards creating a “seamless, intuitive experience” spanning TVs, computers and mobile devices, but admitted that “VoD is not yet a fully-fledged family proposition” despite “the consumer… becoming increasingly sophisticated”.
“Our solution is to create a network in the home that delivers entertainment on demand to any screen in the house. This will take two to three years,” said Green…
FetchTV launches: subscription-free VOD with Freeview and DVR
IP Vision has announced a new hybrid set-top box which can be used to access the complete range of Freeview channels, acts as a digital video recorder (DVR), as well as being able to access a range of video on demand content over the Internet.
The company is keen to point out that this is a subscription-free, operator independent service, unlike those from the likes of BT, Virgin Media and Tiscali. It can be used with any broadband provider.
At launch, over 1,200 hours of content will be available in the VoD library including films and programmes from Paramount, ITV, Turner Broadcasting, Eagle Vision, Fremantle, Entertainment Rights and Aardman…
Project Kangaroo VoD service could begin alpha testing in December
Project Kangaroo, the joint online TV initiative from the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, has been a long time in the making, but at last it seems as if a launch date — for alpha testing at least — is in sight.
Despite ongoing reservations from the Competition Commission that this hopping beast is going to be just too big and stifle competition (you know, a bit like Sky does — err… allegedly), a December launch is planned…
BT Vision to get Five On Demand service this month
BT Vision customers will soon be able to catch up with a range of Five’s programming thanks to a deal which brings the On Demand service to BT’s broadband TV service.
Users can pay 99p to watch single episodes, or get unlimited access by subscribing to Vision TV for six quid per month.
If you’re feeling the pinch and want to save some cash, it’s worth noting that you can watch a lot of UK-based shows from Five on your computer at the Demand Five web site, although many of the US favourites such as CSI and NCIS must be paid for…
Opinion: The Christmas Day TV movie premiere means nothing any more
I remember a time, growing up in the 1980s, when there was real anticipation for what the BBC and ITV would pull out of the hat for the post-Queen’s Speech Christmas premiere or blockbuster.
In an age where video recorders had only just arrived, there were barely four terrestrial channels, and you had little choice but to watch the broadcasters’ choice, this worked quite well.
As video recorders took hold, I began to think that the channel wars were just a tad pathetic. After all, if you really wanted to watch two programmes that clashed, you just recorded one of them and played it back later.
I suppose broadcasters bank on the likelihood that most people will be stuffed and near-comatosed by 3pm on Christmas Day, but really, good though Finding Nemo and Shrek 2 are, they don’t feel like exclusives any more.
BT considering 50Mbps broadband
According to a report in the Financial Times, BT’s chairman, Sir Christopher Bland, has said that the company were looking at increasing broadband speeds to between 40 and 50Mbps.
Such a scheme could cost around £4 billion, and thanks to regulation and the high cost, BT would have to make a viable case for implementing it.
FTTC (Fibre To The Cabinet) and VDSL2 are great technology, but in a market where customers want to pay as little as possible for their broadband, BT would need to prove it could recoup the massive cost of development more quickly through value added services such as video on demand.
