Audio Video News

Snail-mail DVD rental company Netflix hasn't officially said it plans to allow downloads of movies via Microsoft's Xbox 360 gaming console, but all clues point in that direction. Let's add them up, shall we? 1. Microsoft nixed Blu-ray on its game...

Early year-end present for Netflix! They had hoped to have 500,000 subscribers paying an extra $1/month to be able to get Blu-ray discs by the end of the year. They've already met that goal, a few weeks ahead of schedule. Do the math -...

Even while Netflix has passed the 20 million mark in subscribers, some Netflixers are pleading for a disc-only rental plan.

"If you don't want instant gratification, then there should be an option -- call it the slow lane, if you like," said a blogger quoted in Home Media Magazine. In the wake of recent Netflix disc-rental price increases, an online poll showed 10 percent threatening to ax their membership. That probably won't cut much ice with Netflix, which sees its future in streaming, even to the point of removing "Add to DVD Queue" from its streaming interface.

Convergence might be the brunt of jokes in some quarters, but not at 7 Mark Drive in San Rafael, CA. That's the home of <A HREF="http://www.net-tv.net/">NetTV</A>, which has just announced its new ExtremeDVD home-entertainment system. ExtremeDVD is optimized for 3-D gaming, Internet access, satellite downloads, and high-resolution movie playback.

Cablevision's network DVR, long delayed by court battles with the entertainment industry, finally reached some homes in April, having cleared its final legal hurdles.

HD DVD might be taking another leap ahead on the interactivity front. The most recent firmware update for Toshiba's first-gen HD DVD players adds "support for certain anticipated network delivered content in future HD DVD discs." Those of you who can get your HD-A1 or HD -XA1 player to an Ethernet connection can download the update from the 'Net, or you can contact Toshiba to get the update on a disc.

Move over, fiber optics; good-bye, T1 lines. The unexploited potential of ordinary copper telephone wires will soon be mined by a consortium of computer and communications companies. Known as the Home Phoneline Networking Alliance (or HomePNA), the recently formed group intends to deliver affordable, high-speed networking over existing phone lines.