As for other streaming boxes – Popbox, Western Digital, etc. – no idea. None of the other devices really have much of a user base so it may not be worth the effort.

Well, according to a post today on Tech of the Hub, I was dead wrong. SlingPlayer for Connected Devices is coming to the Western Digital WD TV Live family. They posted a message from a tipster, apparently from the Sling Media Beta site:

If you have a WD TV Live or WD TV Live Hub, now would be a good time to list it in your TV & AV Equipment Test Platform. We may have a beta opportunity coming up real soon and we usually recruit testers based on their beta profile information.

Today SlingPlayer for Connected Devices is available for Boxee and the Logitech Revue Google TV – though it also works on Sony’s Google TV products. And now it looks like it is coming to the WD TV Live Hub 1TB Media Center (MSRP $229.99, Amazon $169.00) and WD TV Live Streaming Media Player (MSRP $129.99, Amazon $92.95), at least from that note. It isn’t clear if it will be coming to older models like the WD TV Live Plus (Amazon $149.84).

So I contacted Gabe and he informed me that he’d emailed TiVo about the Netflix client and that’s what he was told. So I decided to reach out to my own contacts at TiVo before posting the news, and they confirmed it. TiVo is indeed working on a new Netflix client and it will support 1080p streaming. But TiVo is not giving out any release date, or even a rough time frame, nor are they providing details about any other changes.

I pretty much agree with that Gabe postulated in his post. The new client will most likely be written in Flash and only run on the Premiere platform. S3/HD users are probably SOL and won’t see any updates. The client will probably be on par with the current Netflix clients for Roku, PS3, etc. You’ll be able to control your queue, search the entire library, etc. Surround sound is uncertain given the encoding Netflix uses and the HW capabilities of the TiVo box. But there is hope. Closed captions will very likely be supported.

Again, TiVo will neither confirm nor deny any of this aside from the fact that a) there is an update coming and b) it is using the new Netflix SDK and will support 1080p. The rest is conjecture based on the TiVo platform, their recent development activities, the SDK’s features, and the competitive market. TiVo’s Netflix client was leading edge when it launched – in 2008. It hasn’t aged well though, and calls for an update have been increasingly loud. I’m sure S3/HD users will be less than pleased if they don’t get one, but the fact is the Premiere is TiVo’s main revenue stream these days.

I have to wonder if Netflix being excluded from MSO-provided units by contractual issues has lowered the importance of Netflix development for TiVo. Since retail looks to have a decreasing significance for TiVo as MSO deals ramp up distribution, it seems natural that features that are usable by their MSO partners would take priority over retail-only features. In any case, an update is overdue and welcome. I might even subscribe to Netflix since they’re bringing back Arrested Development.

My Sling Adapter from my TV provider/employer DISH Network still beats them all. I get all of my TV channels streamed to me on almost any device, all live. It even gives me full control to record and watch things on my DVR. Anywhere I get 3G/4G or wifi, so I’m not tied down to my home network at all.

After my first post Gabe Gagliano of Tech of the Hub Blog forwarded me a few such comments he’d received – also from the 204.76.128.217 Dish IP and both using @dishnetwork.com email addresses. The first is from ‘Rose’:

I like how many devices you can play the streaming service on. What I don’t like is the content. I think it is horrible, and with them raising their prices I plan on leaving. I plan on going to Blockbuster through my provider/employer DISH Network. With them I can get it free for 3 months. Go to this link to check out the promotion through DISH [URL removed]. Blockbuster has some great deals going on and now is the best time to switch.

The next is from ‘Monica’:

I don’t think Apple will come out with an HDTV; they still have things to work on with the original Apple TV. I have Google TV and think it’s soooo much better than Apple TV. The biggest thing for me is Google Chrome; I love being able to surf the internet on the same screen as my TV shows. I really like the variety of apps available too. Even if I’m not watching TV I can use the Pandora or YouTube app or order a movie using the Netflix app. I work for DISH and knew a lot about the Revue but had no idea I would fall in love with it!

Note that the Logitech Revue Google TV links up with Dish DVRs as they partnered. So that’s the promotional link. And finally, one that just made me roll my eyes:

I don’t like how Netflix is removing services and hiking up the prices, I definitely don’t think that’s fair at all! I’ve been looking around and I found another alternative to Netflix and now that DISH Network has teamed with Blockbuster, they have a bunch of cool offers that are available to New and existing DISH Network customers as well as non-DISH customers. Blockbuster has the most extensive library of movies, games and TV shows and you can get thousands of On-Demand titles straight to your PC or TV! Customers will also have access to over 100,000 movies, TV shows and games by mail with new releases coming out before Netflix and Redbox. You can exchange them inside a Blockbuster store and even get Blu-Rays at no additional price. The best thing about this new offer is that you won’t find these titles on DIRECTV Cinema or Comcast on Demand and everything is combined onto one bill! I actually work at DISH Network and I’ve been wanting to tell people about this for a long time and I want everyone to check it out!

So “I’ve been looking around and I found another alternative to Netflix” becomes “I actually work at DISH Network and I’ve been wanting to tell people”. Yeah, looked real far.

Over on SlashGear a Jesus Lopez left this comment:

DirecTV’s new Nomad device is really cool, but I’m glad that I have my employee Sling adapter. With it I can stream live and recorded TV to my Android phone, iPad, and laptop. So not only do I have access to my DVR recording but all my live channels.

Like I said in my earlier post, I have no issue with people leaving genuine comments. But these aren’t the only such comments I’ve had left let alone seen on other blogs. Often the exact same text, or with minor tweaks. And with services like Disqus you can look at the comment history for a user and see if they’ve left many of the same comment.

So the question I posed last time stands – is this officially encouraged behavior? Could it be the law of unintended consequences, maybe some kind of referral bonus? (I think this is less likely now as only some of the posts contain a link.) Is it just esprit de corps and natural enthusiasm? (Call me cynical, but I highly doubt it.) This just smells like employees being ‘encouraged’ to promote the company’s products via social media. I’d love to hear from anyone who has the real info. Or from other bloggers receiving these comments. Let’s see just how widespread this really is.

I took a screencap of the notice, but the meat is this:

Dear Customer,

I have big news for Amazon Prime members – we’ve just signed a deal with FOX to add a broad selection of movies and TV shows to our unlimited instant streaming service later this fall. The new additions from the FOX library include 24, Arrested Development, The X-Files, Ally McBeal, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and – available on digital video for the first time – The Wonder Years. We now have deals with CBS, NBCUniversal, Sony, and Warner Bros, and adding FOX will bring the total to more than 11,000 movies and TV shows available for unlimited instant streaming.

Since launching earlier this year, we have now doubled the number of titles available in Prime instant videos, and there’s still more to come. Prime membership remains $79 a year, and of course features our unlimited free two-day shipping on millions of products. Prime is one of the best values anywhere.

Prime instant videos can be played on more than 300 HDTVs, Blu-ray players, and set-top boxes.

Right now there are 2,940 entries available for Amazon Prime streaming, but a lot of those are actually complete seasons of TV series, so the number of individual items is much higher. The Tech of the Hub Blog did a comparison of streaming services in August, looking at Amazon Instant, Hulu Plus, iTunes, Netflix, and Vudu. Netflix still has the content edge in numbers, but all content is not created equal and adding popular content gives a service more draw.

I do have a minor disappointment with this announcement, though it isn’t a new issue. The link in the announcement to“more than 300 HDTVs, Blu-ray players, and set-top boxes” in the announcement takes you to the Amazon Instant Video TVs and Devices page. On that page one of the entries is Compatible Digital Video Recorders – which are all TiVos, of course. But TiVo does not support Amazon streaming, only Amazon Instant Video downloads. So you cannot take advantage of the free Prime streams on TiVo, at least not yet. TiVo has said they’re working on an updated client to add streaming support, but we don’t have any word on when we might get that, and if it will be Premiere-only or if it will update older units as well. I hope no one is misled into thinking they’ll be able to access the stream from their TiVo today.

The screen capture of the announcement is below: