DirecTV to boast 130 HD channels on August 14th, 1080p movies later this year

Now this is what we're talking about! On the very same morning that Verizon trumpets its achievement of hitting 100 high-def channels in New York, along comes DirecTV to make that figure look second-rate. The satcaster has just announced that it will be hosting upwards of 130 high-definition channels on August 14th, which means that 30 or so newcomers are just weeks away from going live. All of the channels will be transmitted in the MPEG-4 AVC standard, and if you're curious, it also plans to provide "movies in 1080p" later this year. Included in the new stations will be Showtime Extreme HD, Showtime Showcase HD, Planet Green HD, ABC Family HD, additional DirecTV HD pay-per-view channels and 23 more regional sports networks in high-def 24 hours a day. Any other carriers feel like doing the leapfrog today?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]