Tired of watching Amazon Video on Demand, Dailymotion and YouTube videos on your BRAVIA Internet Video Link? Coming through on its promise to send Hancock to Sony HDTV owners first, Sony Pictures is offering the flick (in 720p or 480p, depending on bandwidth) for $9.99 starting October 28 through November 10, and even throwing in a free Blu-ray copy after it's released November 24. We'll have to wait and see if the Hancock At-Home Premiere is a one of a kind promotion (note: the stream is "valued" at $29.99) or a regular benefit to owning a BRAVIA and accompanying $299 add-on, but we can't help thinking this would be alot more interesting if it were offered over the PlayStation Network.

[Via Sony PR]

A couple of months back, we saw what was to come with DISH Network's 1080p video-on-demand service. Now, the cats and kittens over at Sound & Vision have a definitive writeup explaining the value of the aforementioned offering. At the time of review, Speed Racer was DISH's 1080p VOD movie of the month, so critics fired it up via the satcaster's set-top-box while comparing it to the version on Blu-ray. Obviously, DISH's 1080p isn't the same quality 1080p as what you'll find on a BD-50, but the results were pretty astounding, regardless. In fact, critics had a tough time deciphering between the two from a normal viewing distance, and while they were fully expecting to be underwhelmed by DISH Network's 1080p material, they were actually stunned by just how impressive it looked. Of course, the dearth of titles available at any given time means that this won't sway potential customers in and of itself, but you can rest assured DISH is looking to beef up its 1080p HD VOD lineup as quickly as possible.

Amazon's always looking for creative new ways to distribute digital media -- and in light of its recently-launched Video On Demand service and the decent head of steam AmazonMP3 has managed to build, it'd probably just love to shoehorn its way onto a high-profile mobile device right about now. VentureBeat is reporting a juicy rumor of a G1 that made an appearance somewhere in San Fran's seedy underbelly over the weekend bearing an Amazon music and video app designed to dole out media for cash, suggesting that Android's first commercial hardware might come out of the gate ready not just to lock horns with the iPhone's WiFi App Store, but also to straight-up beat it by throwing in movie and TV download capability. Then again, no 3G network -- particularly one with as small of a footprint as T-Mobile's -- is mighty enough to effectively do feature-length movie downloads over the aether, so it remains to be seen exactly how this would all play out. Get a good night's sleep this evening, folks, because if everything goes according to plan, we'll have some solid answers in just a few short hours.

The New York Times is reporting that Amazon is scrapping its Unbox service in favor of a new online TV and movie store called Amazon Video on Demand. Unlike iTunes and Unbox, Amazon's new digital store-front will stream any of 40,000 movies and television programs to customers. According to Bill Carr, Amazon's VP for digital media, "Our goal is to create an immersive experience where people can't help but get caught up in how exciting it is to simply watch a movie right from Amazon.com with a click of the button." In this regard, the first 2 minutes of every video will begin to play when customers visit the video's product page. Movies can be purchased and downloaded to your hard drive or stored in an Amazon video library allowing you to stream the content to other (any?) Internet connected devices. Films and TV shows from "almost all the major studios and television networks" will be available for sale or rental in the US at undisclosed prices -- only Disney and its ABC subsidiary are holding out for uh, obvious reasons (Steve Jobs is Disney's largest individual shareholder).

[Thanks, setteB.IT]

Last month you let us know in the comments how you felt about the MPAA's latest effort to close the analog hole -- by removing the FCC's ban on selectable output control (SOC), giving them the ability to remotely disable the analog output on your cable box -- now try telling someone who can actually do something about it. The FCC has opened the petition to public comment until June 25, and replies to comments by July 7. Currently, the MPAA is arguing that allowing SOC will actually hasten the digital transition, once it feels comfortable offering early release flicks on HD video-on-demand, people will have more incentive to upgrade their TV sets. Of course, owners of older HDTVs without HDMI connections or anyone else who'd rather use analog outs would be left in the dark, and Ars Technica notes the EFF and Home Recording Rights Coalition have already spoken out against the plan. Give the MPAA's proposal a read then let the FCC know which side of the line you fall on before it's too late.

[Via Ars Technica]

Read - MPAA proposal (warning: PDF link)
Read - FCC Electronic Comment File Submission (The docket number for field #1 ("proceeding") is 08-82.)

We haven't heard much from Vongo since the company announced it was a Vista launch partner in January, but Starz's scrappy video-on-demand division just unveiled the 2.0 version of the service today -- although it's a little unclear what's been changed apart from a supported portable device list that now numbers an absolutely astonishing seven. The chosen few PMPs include devices from Archos (which we sort of figured), Creative, and Toshiba, with additional support for any number of Media Center Extenders. Of course, users of the $10 / month service can only use it on three devices at a time including PCs, so you'll probably run out of activations before you try to add another PMP or Media Center Extender, but it's a nice thought, at least.

Dish Network's booth was certainly not destitute of propaganda, but it did provide an open look at its current line of DVRs and receivers as well as giving onlookers something else to look forward to. We'd hate to leave you hangin' like that, so follow the trail on over to EngadgetHD for the full skinny, alright?

It's been a long time comin', but it looks like DirecTV's bonafide video-on-demand service is nearly ready for primetime. Judging by a descriptive thread over at DBSTalk, the service -- dubbed DirecTV on Demand -- has been rolled out in beta form to at least some users, so here's a quick look at what you can expect. First off, DoD will reportedly "be available for internet connected HR20's that are running on a compatible version of software," and requires that a user request a program via the 'net or through their HR20, after which the DVR "downloads that content via the internet, and stores the downloaded content just like any other recorded program." Feel free to hit the read link for all the nitty-gritty details, but for those into abridged versions, click on through for a few key points...

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

While PSP users in Japan will soon be able to use their preferred handheld to pick up some digital broadcast TV, those in Europe will apparently be getting some new video options of a different sort, with Sony today announcing a partnership with Sky that'll see the two form a new company to offer video on demand. Details are unfortunately still pretty light at the moment, but the service (offering "a wealth of video and film content") will apparently be available in the UK and Ireland initially, with talk of further expansion in Europe reportedly still "ongoing." According to GamesIndustry.biz, the two will have plenty more to say about it at the Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany on August 22nd.

Ubicod has thrown together the UMS200, a standard definition set top box which does a whole lot of interesting stuff with your video. The most interesting feature for us is the network capability made possible by two Ethernet ports. If you hook up a PC to the box you can watch live TV pretty much anywhere: it also goes the other way and lets you stream MP3s, pictures, and unnamed video file formats to your TV. Taking a little step back, the UMS200 also features a PVR function with time shifting for those of you that don't fancy watching TV on your laptop screen. Specs wise the UMS200 has a 200MHz processor for decoding MPEG-1, -2, and -4 video, as well as streaming MPEG-4 over a network at bitrates from 300kbps to around 6Mbps. Unsurprisingly for a standard definition device, it only features analog RCA outputs, so you'll have to look elsewhere if you like your definition nice and high. Other less interesting features include online flash game support, and an Electronic Program Guide so that you can plan your life around what shows happen to be on. We'd love to tell you when and for how much the UMS200 will ship, but unfortunately Ubicod's product site won't cough up the details.

[Via MaxGizmo]

While major networks have started rebroadcasting episodes of their hit shows online, it looks like the UK's Channel 4 is taking the lucrative approach to offering up shows on the internet by launching its (PC only) 4oD video on demand service. Sure, remembering to set your precious DVR to capture those oh-so-priceless episodes of your SO's favorite shows is the ideal scenario, but Channel 4 is apparently hoping that your forgetful nature (and lackluster work firewall) will bring you over to its site in search of satisfaction. Inking a deal with PACT, the trade body of the independent production companies, the company will be splitting a currently undisclosed amount of the profits, but will be offering up commercial-free (at least initially) rebroadcasts of the past 30 days of programming. Additionally, "over 1,000 hours" of archived material will be available for download, and users will also be graced with "two free shows" per week just for stopping by. Episodes will run £0.99 ($1.96), where they can be viewed for two days, after which the file will "automatically delete itself" (until hackers figure out a way to save them, that is), while "films" will demand £1.99 ($3.93).

[Via Digital Lifestyles]

If nothing else, you've got to admire the tenacity of a Connecticut-based firm called USA Video Interactive, which just days after losing what seems to be a final appeal in its lawsuit against Movielink, decided to go after almost all of the country's major cable operators for supposedly infringing on the same patent. Comcast, Cox, Charter, and Time Warner (disclosure: Time Warner owns the company that owns the network that includes Engadget) are all named in a suit filed Tuesday in a U.S. District Court in Texas by USA Video (maybe Cablevision got spared because of all its other legal woes), which claims that like Movielink, the cable giants are violating its so-called Store-and-Forward Video-on-Demand patent (#5,130,792, filed in 1990) by using protected technology in their own VOD services. Besides making patents, the company also offers various products revolving around email, web tools, digital video watermarking, and content delivery infrastructure, so it's probably not appropriate to bunch it in with other lawsuit-happy -- but seemingly less legitimate -- claimants such as NTP and Visto.

[Via TechWeb and Digital Media Thoughts]