LG isn’t the only one souping up their HDTV models, Samsung is getting in on the act too. While LG is partnering with Netflix for streaming video, Samsung is partnering with Yahoo! for a wider variety of web content. Samsung will be embedding the Yahoo! Widget Engine into some of their new 2009 HDTV models. This enables the TV’s to run ‘TV Widgets’ written with XML and JavaScript, branded as ‘Internet@TV - Content Service’.

The TV’s can be networked with their built-in Ethernet ports or via a USB WiFi adapter. The TV Widgets will come from Yahoo! properties such as Flickr, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Weather and Yahoo! Finance as well as third parties like USA TODAY, YouTube, eBay and Showtime Networks. They claim it will be extended to include video streaming and other content.

The most interesting piece of this, I think, is that the platform is open to 3rd party developers to create their own TV Widgets. It sounds like interested developers will be able to create their own widgets and provide them to Samsung TV users with an open market. And I suspect Yahoo! will be looking to license this platform to other vendors as well.

In addition to the features reported in their press release, last week Electronista spotted a post in AVForums.com that Samsung’s new HTDVs would also have some very interesting network content support:

# Now supports playback of movies in the following formats upto 1080p: MKV/ WMV/ VOB/ AVI/ TS/ 3GP/ MPG/ ASF

# Now supports the following video codecs:

* XviD
* DivX 3.11/4.x/5.1/6.0/
* H.264 BP/MP/HP
* MPEG-1
* MPEG-2
* MPEG-4 SP/ASP
* Motion JPEG
* Windows Media Video V9
* VC1

That’s quite extensive format support. Models in the 7, 8, and 9 series will also be DivX Certified with support for DivX Video On Demand.

Press release:
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A year ago LG Electronics announced a deal to bring Netflix streaming content to their set-top boxes, which materialized on the BD300 Blu-ray deck. Now LG and Netflix are taking it one step further, by enabling streaming right to new LG HDTV models.

The new ‘Broadband HDTVs’ will support HD Netflix streaming directly over their built-in Ethernet connections. These new LCD and plasma HDTVs, along with five new Blu-ray players and home theater systems, will join the BD300 in LG’s Netflix-enabled lineup.

The press release is below:
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Welll, in just under 10 hours I should be on a plane to Las Vegas, NV for CES. The show properly is Thursday-Sunday, but there are press events Tuesday and Wednesday which I’ll be attending. During the show itself I’ll be splitting my time between working Sling Media’s booth and trying to visit other vendors as a blogger. As is usual for me, my first victim, er, target of the show will probably be TiVo. Since I’ll be working half the show my time for seeing the rest is cut in half, but I’ll try to do what I can.

Going into this CES I’m not sure what the big deal is going to be this year, if there is one. The economy is down and I haven’t really felt any particular buzz about any given area of the market. HDTVs get bigger while getting thinner and faster (refresh rates). We may see some interesting 3D technologies which will start to enter homes in the next few years. Palm is expected to announce Nova and new hardware, but I’m not excited. I was a die-hard Palm OS user for many years, since 1998, and still carry a Treo 680. But after five or more years of waiting for Palm OS 6 Cobalt Nova I just don’t feel that inspired. I’m already focused on Android as my next likely platform, and it would take a lot for Palm to sway me. Even if they produce an incredible OS, they have an uphill battle ahead to win over developers. I don’t think they have a real chance at this point to gain significant market share. And without that the developers won’t come - and the apps really make the platform.

Going forward I think the mobile market will effectively be, in no particular order, Windows Mobile Professional, BlackBerry, Symbian S60, iPhone, and Android. The original Palm OS is the walking dead, and I don’t see Nova/Palm OS II carving out enough market share to be viable. Symbian UIQ is effectively dead as SonyEricsson and Motorola have pulled out and the Symbian world is focused on the S60-based open source effort. Windows Mobile Standard (aka Smartphone) is rapidly dying as Professional-based touch screen devices move into the lower end of the market where Standard used to focus. I expect Android, which is basically just coming into the market, to post the biggest gains as more devices land. I think the LiMo/LIPS effort will falter and expect to see some of the vendors who have been working on it switch to Android. I think those five platforms will provide the bulk of the smartphone market, anything else will be a small niche.

We’ll probably see more tru2way devices on display from a number of vendors this year, but I don’t know that we’ll see anything revolutionary in that market. I’m hoping TiVo may be showing off their ‘Series4′ tru2way-enabled model, which they’re believed to have been working on for a while. And they may be showing their new DirecTV software, which I expect will be running on the HR20/21/22 DirecTV DVR Plus hardware. I’m not expecting anything else major, maybe some new content partnership announcements and perhaps plans to bring TiVo to more countries. (I’m surprised they haven’t re-launched in the UK yet with the DVB-T model actually.)

The past couple of years the Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD fight provided some interest. But that was effectively over with CES2008, and officially ended when Toshiba threw in the towel in February. There aren’t likely to be any big announcements in the Blu-ray world, aside from more content partnerships like LG adding CinemaNow and YouTube to Netflix on their players. Maybe someone will be showing off higher density disc or 3D content concepts.

I’m hoping to be surprised by something at the show, something just unexpected. If you know of something I should be on the look out for, do let me know. And if you’re going to CES drop by the Sling Media booth and say hello. I believe I’m on the afternoons of Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, and on Friday morning. I’m also scheduled to present for Sling Media at CntrStg on Saturday. Frankly I’m nervous as hell about that. It has been years since I’ve done a presentation or talk at a tradeshow and never at anything as big as CES.

OK, off to finish packing.

One of the most useful self-support tools on TiVo’s website has gone missing. TiVo used to have an online form to correct problems with your channel lineup, which was at that link or conveniently at http://www.tivo.com/lineup. I’ve used that form a number of times, and I’ve referred users there too many times to recall. A Google search on TiVo lineup problems will find countless posts online referring people to that form, and I’ve found references from people reporting using it as recently as late October, possibly later. But I went to use it a week ago and it was gone, and it is still down.

Searching TiVo’s support site I can’t find any references to it anymore, and pages like this one just walk the user through checking their setup and don’t offer any help to reporting actual problems. I try to avoid calling technical support since I’m generally capable of being self-sufficient, and it saves time for both myself and the support reps. But this time I was stymied and ended up calling support as Charter added 14 new channels in my area and I wasn’t getting guide data. Working with the rep it sounds like the very same form that used to be public is still used internally, since he asked me for exactly the same info I used to enter myself.

I don’t know why TiVo pulled this form down, it was very useful. Now users with lineup issues will need to call in. Perhaps they were getting too many false lineup issue requests or something.

Oh - Charter added these channels in the Worcester/Central MA area:
175 OVATN Ovation
298 FBNWK Fox Business
346 MLBN MLB Network
725 WTRHD The Weather Channel HD
726 FNWHD Fox News HD
730 ANPHD Animal Planet HD
731 TLCHD The Learning Channel HD
732 FOODH Food Network HD
733 HGTHD HGTV HD
736 NGEHD National Geographic HD
767 VRSHD Versus HD
768 GLFHD Golf HD
776 DSCHD Discovery Channel HD
794 FXHD FX HD

Charter says their new policy is that if you get a channel in SD you’ll automatically get it in HD as they add them, no additional charge. If they can add HD versions of The CW, USA, Comedy Central, Cartoon Network, and Sci-Fi I think I’d be about covered - on top of the HD channels they had and just added.

We first heard of XStreamHD in November of 2007. They’re working on a system to use satellites to delivery Full HD (1080p) video into homes with 7.1 sound (DTS-HD MA) in ‘Blu-ray quality’. More details appeared in December, and then in January to coincide with CES. I managed to visit their booth at CES 2008 and take some photos and gather more info. They popped up on the radar again briefly in October.

Well, it looks like they’re still out there working away, and they’ll be at CES 2009 next month. As will I, so I’ll try to check out their booth again. They issued a press release to announce a successful test of their transport system using the AMC-16 satellite. This confirms that their technology works using existing FSS (Fixed Satellite Services) capacity, which is part of their plan. They’ll use leased capacity on existing FSS satellites to distribute their content to end users.

Their technology and plans are interesting, but it remains to be seen if a new entrant can carve out a piece of the market. The last to try, Voom, didn’t succeed.

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Through December 29th Amazon is running a special promotion. Buy any one of seven approved Samsung HDTV models and a TiVo HD, and receive an instant $150 off on the TiVo HD when you checkout. That’s $150 off Amazon’s price of $233.18, making the TiVo HD just $83.18! The Samsung HDTVs range from 40″ to 52″ and $936.72 to $2,249.98, all 1080p LCDs. That’s not all, if you purchase a TiVo HD from Amazon through January 15, 2009 you also receive two free movie rentals from Amazon Video On Demand.

Through December 6 Amazon is offering a $150 discount if you buy a Samsung BD-P1500 Blu-ray Player and a Samsung 52″ HDTV. There are four models of TV that qualify, all 52″ LCD 1080p models, but with a few difference features. Pricing starts at $2,059.37 and goes up to $2,499.99 - with savings up to $900 off MSRP. The BD-P1500 is currently listing for $212.74.

Picked up from Blu-ray Stats News Log.

Amazon is running yet another Blu-ray related promotion through November, buy a select Samsung HDTV and a Samsung BD-P1500 Blu-ray player and get $200 off. That effectively makes the BD player, which sells for $203.59, nearly free. The LCD and plasma HDTVs range from 40″ to 58″, and $1,449.99 to $2,898.00.

Adding to yesterday’s specials, Amazon is offering a few more today.

Save $300 when you buy a Sony Blu-ray player and Sony Bravia HDTV together. Buy the BDP-S350 for $224.00 or the BDP-S550 for $329.99 along with one of four Sony Bravia HDTVs, 46″ or 52″ with prices from $1,797.94 to $2,077.98 and Amazon drops $300 off the total. Both Blu-ray players are BD-Live capable, and the offer runs through November 8, 2008.

If you just need a Blu-ray player, Amazon is also selling the Samsung BD-P1500 for $206.64 - with a free copy of Incredible Hulk on Blu-ray! Buy through November 8, 2008 to get your free BD. The BD-P1500 is also a BD-Live capable player, and at that price it is a great value.

And remember, the Samsung Blu-ray Player/Home Theater Bundle and 24-month financing on select Samsung HDTVs offers that I posted yesterday are still running.

Amazon has a couple of Blu-ray specials in their Gold Box today. First up is Kill Bill Volumes 1&2 Blu-ray Bundle. MSRP $69.98, normal Amazon price $39.99 - today only $27.95! (It figures - after meaning for months to pick this up I finally did, two weeks ago.)

And if you don’t have a Blu-ray player yet and you’re ready to move up to Blu-ray and surround sound, you can save an extra $50 on a Samsung Blu-ray Player/Home Theater Bundle. Purchase the Samsung BD-P1500 1080p BD-Live Blu-ray player for $206.64 ($299.99 MSRP) and the Samsung HT-AS720ST Blu-Ray 5.1 Channel Home Theater System (receiver and six speakers) for $460.40 ($599.99 MSRP) and Amazon will knock another $50 off. This offer runs through December 31, 2008.

And if you need an HDTV to go with that, get 24-month financing on select Samsung HDTVs. LCD, DLP, and plasma HDTVs in sizes from 40″ to 72″, and prices $1,282.37 to $3,468.70. No interest if paid in full within 24 months. This offer is good through February 24, 2009.