Verizon has announced that FiOS TV users can now stream YouTube and Internet Radio directly from their displays, using their remote controls or smartphone.
Subscribers can access the music and video sharing site via Media Manager, which is now available to all FiOS TV owners, instead of just DVR customers.
“Adding YouTube and Internet Radio to FiOS TV further expands our customers’ digital home-entertainment world by giving them access to an unprecedented amount of online content on the biggest screen in their home – their TV,” adds Shawn Strickland, vice president of consumer strategy for Verizon. “When customers connect their homes to our all-fiber network, their TV and Internet worlds seamlessly come together to create experiences cable can’t deliver. We are working with some of the most popular companies on the Web to create a high-quality, engaging Internet-to-TV experience that will only grow richer with time.”
Users can even use their Motorola Droid phone as a remote control if they download a free “Mobile Remote” app from the Android Market.
To be able to watch YouTube, you will need an HD set-top box or a FiOS TV DVR. From there, it is a simple firmware upgrade.
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Following Microsoft’s presentation yesterday, it was Sony’s turn today to woo the crowd at the E3 Expo and for the most part they did.
First off was the announcement of the worst kept secret PSP Go! updated handheld. Kaz Hirai even made a joke that one of the company’s nickname for the device was “The worst kept secret of E3.”
As already leaked, the Go! strips the UMD drive and has everything running off 16GB internal flash memory. The design changes to a “slider” and Hirai says the handheld is “50% smaller and 40% lighter than original PSP-1000.” Also notable is the integration of Bluetooth. Users will also have the ability to download music and movies directly from the PlayStation Network.
A few of the new apps coming with the Go! are “Media Go” and “Sense Me.” Media Go replaces the current “Media Manager” and integrates easier with the PlayStation Store. Sense Me will “use a 12-tone recognition system to analyze your PSP music library in order to deliver playlists based on moods you select.”
Hirai also noted the classic hit Final Fantasy 7 , first available on the PSone, would soon be coming to the PlayStation Store along with 50 other classics.
The company will not be dropping UMD or PSP-3000 support either, says Hirai. How much will the new handheld cost? An unjust $250 USD.
Among notable games the company demoed: Uncharted 2 - Among Thieves, MAG, Assassin’s Creed 2 and Gran Turismo PSP stole the show.
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CinemaNow has introduced a new mobile feature for its service that will allow any web-enabled mobile device to download digital movies.
There is a catch however. You cant play the movies on your phone, the service only allows you to download the movies using your phone, to a PC at home, as long as the PC has the CinemaNow Media Manager installed and running. According to the service’s FAQ section, “On CinemaNow Mobile you can browse the same CinemaNow video selection, watch trailers, make purchases and have the video download at any of your PC’s.”
If you don’t really get the point of the service, CinemaNow tries to explain it better:
“Let’s say you’re at the bus station or at a friend’s house, thinking about what to watch tonight when you get back home. Once you bought and sent your video to your home PC via your phone, it will be there for you waiting to be watched when you get back.”
It is an interesting idea if you want to remotely download a film, but those who use CinemaNow know that a streamed movie starts very quickly so this service seems like it will only save a few minutes at best.
More interestingly however, is that CinemaNow’s chief operating officer David Cook says movies that can be played on phones is coming sometime in 2009, with more details to follow.
