Verismo Networks announces their long awaited $99 VuNow PoD is now available online. With partners like YouTube already on board, the VuNow delivers a world of Internet videos right to the television easily without the need for a computer. Verismo's VuNow is the only solution that provides everything a consumer wants. Access to the broadest Internet content, simple to use, easy to install, and compact in size -- all at an affordable price.

The IPTV and switched digital video equipment market increased 6% sequentially in 3Q08 to $1.4 billion, reports market research firm Infonetics Research. In its latest report, IPTV and Switched Digital Video Equipment, Services, and Subscribers, Infonetics lowered its long-term IPTV and SDV forecast due to an expected slowdown in IPTV subscriber growth and a decrease in cable operators moving to switched digital video. Annual overall growth will continue in the worldwide market through the downturn, but will grow in double-digit percentages rather than high triple-digit percentages, as it has in previous years.

Intellon’s HomePlug AV-based powerline ICs are expected to be interoperable with future products designed to the newly-confirmed baseline for the IEEE P1901 global powerline communications standard. HomePlug AV technology included in the confirmed baseline for the P1901 standard provides the key to a seamless path toward compatibility with the future standard.

Research and Markets has added the "The Taiwanese IP STB Industry, 4Q 2008" report to their offering. This research report presents Taiwanese IP STB shipment volume and value forecast and recent quarter review of shipment volume, value and ASP, manufacturer volume ranking, shipment by maker. The report also provides shipment by technology and function; examines price trends, production locations, shipment destinations, business types, and customer portfolios. The content of this report is based on primary data obtained through interviews with IP STB makers. The report finds that in the third quarter of 2008, Taiwanese IP STB shipment volume maintained strong growth. Increasing shipments of high-end models provided a boost for the industry's shipment value. Shipment volume of the industry in the fourth quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009 is expected to continue to grow, as the global economic downturn is not expected to have a major impact on worldwide IPTV subscriber growth.

Roku has released support for streaming HD content. Through the use of advanced compression technology, Roku can deliver instant streaming of HD content over average consumer broadband connections – bringing HD to the mass market at an affordable price of just $99.

Netflix is the first content provider to deliver HD content to the Roku player. Additional providers of HD content are expected in the first quarter of 2009. The new software will be automatically delivered to all Roku players free-of-charge over the course of the next few weeks.

Pixelmetrix received its first order for the Electronic Couch Potato (ECP) and ECP Consolidator from a major IPTV operator based in Europe. The ECP, an after the network probe, measures and reports end-users’ experience for delivered video services. Integral elements include telemetry and fault information from multiple points along the transmission chain. So is the consolidation of that information to one or more points of central control and observation. As a central management console, the ECP Consolidator works in tandem with a collection of ECPs. It presents the status of all broadcasted channels scanned.

The Open IPTV Forum has again significantly increased its membership. At its meeting in Marseilles in December 2008, the OIPF announced the addition of 8 new members, all committed to help drive the development and publication of specifications for standardized IPTV services. These organisations join the founding members - Ericsson, FT Group, Nokia Siemens Networks, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Sony Corporation and Telecom Italia - and a host of other IPTV industry stakeholders, to bring the total membership to 52.

The BBC and Adobe announced the public beta of the new BBC iPlayer Desktop download manager built on Adobe AIR, a key component of the Adobe Flash Platform. The new BBC iPlayer Desktop beta will enable Windows, Mac and Linux users to download programs to their desktops. Previously, the ability to download programs was only available for Windows users. Now, the new download manager allows users to view their favorite BBC shows, online or offline, with a high-quality solution across operating systems.

BitBand introduces BitBand Vision Ti4, designed to provide maximum flexibility and performance to Service Providers deploying IPTV services. The new Vision Ti4, a part of BitBand’s Content Delivery Network solution, offers the advantages of rapid cost reductions in solid-state drives and the flexibility of using Commercial-Off-The-Shelf hardware. The Ti4 stands out against alternative solutions based on limited life-cycle proprietary hardware.

Nielsen Online announces that 65 percent of online video viewers stream content between 9am - 5pm Monday through Friday, compared to 51 percent of online video viewers who log on between 6am - 8pm on weekends (see Table 1). With a 96 percent broadband penetration among at work Web visitors in October and many employees spending nearly eight hours a day at their computers, workdays are prime time for online video viewing.

GridNetworks announces support for GridCast TV on the Sony PlayStation 3. The GridCast TV service, which launched last month, enables content distributors and owners to stream video directly over the Internet to viewers’ TVs without requiring a set-top box or any other additional hardware. GridCast TV uses existing UPnP devices such as the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Internet-enabled TVs.

Avail Media announced unprecedented growth for 2008. Key milestones achieved this year include:

• 73 commercially launched video deployments utilizing Avail Media's managed video service platform;
• Linear content affiliate base grew by more than 100 percent year on year;
• VOD business grew by more than 300 percent to more than 1 million subscribers; and
• International deployments in Guam and the Caribbean.

Research and Markets announces the addition of the "Worldwide Telco TV Services 2008: Explosive Growth Continues" report to their offering. Telco TV continues to grow as new players around the world get on the bandwagon and existing players increase their footprint, penetration, content, and range of services. This report discusses key players including AT&T, Verizon, France Telecom, Telefonica, Deutsche Telecom, China Telecom as well as other incumbent and emerging operators around the world. The discussion covers not only what they are doing but also how successful they have been and what they face in terms of competition.

For the fourth consecutive year, ABI Research puts a different twist on the traditional December activity of surveying the year just past and speculating about what the new one will bring, with a white paper titled "What’s Isn’t Going to Happen in 2009." The paper is available for free download from the company's website.

Given the global recession, lots of things won't happen in 2009, of course. So ABI Research's analysts focused on several of the company's core areas of expertise, including mobile marketing and mobile banking, near-field communication, digital media, IPTV, transportation, navigation and location based services, mobile phones and mobile telecoms, intellectual property, Wi-Fi, WiMAX and other networks, with a special look at Asia.

CBSSports.com will stream select 2008-09 SEC college basketball games this season. A total of 12 games will be streamed live and free of charge including the SEC championship game on Sunday, March 15. The games will be streamed in 16x9 and have on-demand highlights and recaps. After the 2008-09 SEC college basketball season, CBS is once again planning to stream March Madness.

This is great news for those who enjoy catching watching the games at work.