The Register has an interesting write-up about the Energy-Efficient Ethernet (EEE) Study Group and their findings for ethernet power management. It is estimated that Energy-Efficient Ethernet could save a total of $450 million every year in just the U.S. alone, with even more significant savings worldwide.

"We're going to look at ways to reduce power consumption by switching to lower speeds during periods of low link-utilisation," said EEE Chair Mike Bennett.

Alexander Cameron shares his views in "Cutting Off the Air Supply" on Narrowstep, Joost/The Venice Project, and BT's business of DSL backhauling.

To us, this paper was of quite interest both for Alex's industry insight into BT and the UK's DSL economics but also for his viewpoint on Joost and its hurdles.

While we have remained quiet with our viewpoints on Joost during beta-testing, our feelings are much like Mr. Cameron's in that Joost will present bandwidth issues for users and must win some significant content deals before becoming anything as ground breaking as Skype or Kazaa. Then again, were Skype and Kazaa really ground breaking or were they mere pedestals created by the media and large acquisitions?

Round three of this media grandstanding may be upon us with article headlines stating "Internet TV Has Finally Arrived."

Really?

Minus the serious bandwidth issue facing Joost, one would find it very hard to believe that Joost will be the "best of both the internet and TV worlds" unless they can sign on the entertainment or sports industry. If Joost can't produce some significant content agreements in these fields and others, then it becomes a software-based YouTube with a smaller bandwidth bill.

Now onto Alex's paper...

Steven Colbert from Comedy Central speaks on AT&T.

The FCC Media Bureau spoke out on Wednesday reiterating that cable companies must support a separable security option by July 1st rather than forcing their own set-top boxes with integrated security on consumers. "...commencing on July 1, 2007, no multichannel video programming distributor subject to this section shall place in service new navigation devices for sale, lease, or use that perform both conditional access and other functions in a single integrated device."

The FCC contends that the cable companies required use of their set-top boxes stifles innovation in the set-top box market. The Consumer Electronics Association President and CEO Gary Shapiro agrees, "Competitive device manufacturers are eager to offer exciting new content devices to cable customers, and the FCC has assured consumers that innovation will not be stifled. By taking this action, the FCC ensures that consumers will finally realize the benefits of a competitive market for products that can connect to cable systems."

Cable companies have naturally opposed this move due to the revenue they make from renting cable boxes. Comcast said it would appeal a decision denying them a waiver.

Amino and Orb Networks announced a partnership during CES that will integrate Amino's AmiNET series of set-top boxes (STBs) with Orb's software and roll out a series of product offerings throughout the year. The combination of technologies will close the gap between the STB and the PC, using the Orb MyCasting application platform as the bridge. Orb and Amino also are working to improve the consumer experience by providing an enhanced user-friendly interface.

Like the Slingbox, Orb has created a "MyCasting" product that gives consumers the ability to stream their media over the Internet and watch or listen to it on nearly any device. But unlike Slingbox, Orb's MyCasting is a software-only solution that installs on the users computer to create a personal broadcasting system.

Apple yesterday revealed Apple TV (often referred to as iTV), a wireles device that will allow consumers to play iTunes content, including movies, TV shows, music, photos and podcasts, (shouldn't iTunes be rebranded to iMedia or something?) from a Mac or PC on a TV. Users will be able to browse and view their entire collection of digital media from across the room using the Apple Remote. Apple TV connects to almost all modern widescreen televisions, and will be shipping in February for just $299.



So what will it be for you--the SlingCatcher, Xbox 360 or the Apple TV? To us, it all comes down to where you have your media. If a user doesn't hold a lot of content, i.e. movies and television shows in iTunes, then what is the attraction for the Apple TV? While we admit that iTunes does offer a nice selection of content, one will always be limited to iTunes. This is exactly what Sling Media's CEO Blake Krikorian referred to.

In off topic news, Apple revealed the much anticipated iPhone. As it doesn't relate to any of our core subjects and considering the media blitz on the device, we won't go into details but they have a nice demo of it here.

In yet another story that relates to the union between the PC and TV, Starz Entertainment announced that Vongo, the Internet-based subscription video download service, will be available to play on the television as result of a new relationship with Microsoft for Windows Vista and the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system.

The Xbox 360 will automatically check to see which Windows XP or Vista-based devices are registered on the network and ask the user whether they want to access content, such as their Vongo movies, from that PC.

So what does this mean for your current provider's on-demand pay-per-view service? Big trouble. Vongo subscribers have unlimited access to more than 1,000 movies and 2,500 total video selections as well as a live, streaming Starz TV channel for a monthly cost of $9.99. That makes the $3.99 per-movie rental fee most providers charge for on-demand a bit hefty.

But where does simplicity come in? Renting a movie via on-demand is pretty easy and nearly instantaneous. Renting a movie online will add a delay to that movie-going experience. However, for those who might not have on-demand movies, this would be a solution.

LG is showing off the BH100, known as the "Super Multi Blue Player", at CES this year. The new player answers the war between the two competing high definition formats.

The player will cost $1,199 and is slated to his the shelves the first quarter of this year.