A rep from Jaman.com contacted me today to bring my attention to a new widget they’ve launched to complement their recently launched TiVo downloads. The Cinema Slots widget is perfect for the indecisive who want to watch something, but just can’t decide what to download. First select a genre (sorry, you have to decide at least that much), and then hit ‘Spin’ and the slot-machine style widget will suggest movies. The genres are: Anime, Bollywood, Action / Adventure, Sci-Fi and Fantasy, Independent, Hollywood, Drama, Documentary, and Comedy.

OK, sure, it seems to mainly be a cute little toy to play with. But I could see it being a conversation starter if you’re trying to decide on a rental with friends or family. Though they might need to work on the randomizer a bit. I tried anime and it kept suggesting Ghost in the Shell, repeatedly, alternating between GitS: The Laughing Man and GitS: Solid State Society. Certainly not bad choices (far from it, Ghost in the Shell is one of my all time favorites), but since I’ve seen it I was looking for something else. Eventually it recommended something called Conehead, which appears to be a free short. Still, it was fun to play with for a little while just to see what it would suggest in different categories.

It brought to mind the Urbanspoon iPhone application I’ve seen mentioned on numerous other blogs, podcasts, etc.

TiVo issued an official press release touting the new Jaman.com download support I posted about early this morning.

It did go live sometime today, I see on my TiVo that it is now under Find Programs & Downloads -> Download TV, Movies, & Web Video -> Jaman Movies and Shorts

And TiVoCast and TiVo Web Video content has moved from Find Programs & Downloads -> Download TV, Movies, & Web Video -> Browse Other Videos to Find Programs & Downloads -> Download TV, Movies, & Web Video -> Browse free videos. I guess they wanted to emphasize the fact that they’re free.

Stay tuned for the CinemaNow/Disney content which is expect next week.

TiVo announced a deal to bring Disney content downloads to their boxes, via CinemaNow, back in May, and a similar deal with Jaman all the way back in January. But little had been said about the deals since the announcements, until now.

Jaman.com content should become available on broadband connected TiVo boxes starting today. Similar to Amazon Video On Demand, Jaman content will be available for purchase or rent with prices starting at $1.99. Jaman’s library contains internationally-acclaimed films, including Indie and Film Festival Favorites, Best of Bollywood and Documentaries. Titles include Oscar nominees Girl with a Pearl Earring, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, and Supersize Me, as well as independent gems like Oil and Ice, Bollywood greats Devdas and Chokher Bali and anime landmarks Ghost in the Shell and Robotech. Jaman will also offer some content for download free of charge.

Disney content, provided through CinemaNow, will be available sometime next week. Disney content will be available for rental with prices starting at $2.99. Both classic favorites such as Dumbo and Fox & The Hound and newer films like Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest will be available.

And while the focus of the deal has been Disney content, which is not available through Amazon VOD, it does include CinemaNow content in general. So this will give users a great deal more content to choose from.

Both should show up under Find Programs & Downloads -> Download TV, Movies, & Web Video. The content, as with Amazon VOD, will be in standard definition. However, TiVo is working to add high-definition downloads to the TiVo Series3, TiVo HD, and TiVo HD XL.

I can’t wait for the HD downloading option. I also hope that TiVo is working on streaming options, now that they have streaming in place for YouTube. I’d like to see streaming from Amazon VOD, and then Netflix, Hulu, and other sites. That would make TiVo the box to have for online content.

Oh, this is interesting. TiVo is adding movie downloads from Jaman.com as a compliment to the existing Amazon Unbox service. Jaman specializes in independent and international films, so it’ll provide content you don’t necessarily find via Unbox. (Still waiting for Anime Network downloads folks. You can make it happen…) Also interesting is that it is referred to as “high-definition content from Jaman” and it will be available “in the coming months”, which seems to indicate that HD downloads are coming soon, as has been rumored. We know that the TiVo Desktop 2.6 web video update announced at CES includes HD capabilities for local transfers, so it sounds like HD downloads from the net are coming – and hopefully that will include HD Unbox downloads as well. As with Unbox, Jaman will offer both rental and purchase options, with prices starting at $1.99. There will also be a number of free downloads offered.

Jaman.com, a leading Internet movie service, and TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO), the creator of and a leader in television services for digital video recorders (DVRs), today announced that TiVo subscribers will soon be able to access thousands of American independent and international film titles directly from the TV screen via their TiVo DVR. The service will be available in the coming months to broadband-connected TiVo Series2™ and Series3™ subscribers. Viewers will be able to browse and select from Jaman’s premier library, featuring internationally-acclaimed titles such as Oscar-nominated “Paheli,” “Loverboy” (Sundance) with Kyra Sedgwick, “All About Lily Chou-Chou” (Berlin International Film Festival) and Dardennes Brothers’ “La Promesse” (Cannes/Toronto), helping to open up a new world of content to TiVo subscribers.

See the press release for all the details.