In an effort to break into one of the fastest growing entertainment sectors in recent history, Amazon has launched its own online video service.  It’s an obvious attempt to try and capture some of the revenue and traffic associated with a service that has been largely dominated by Netflix at this point, but competition seems to bring about the best in innovation.

A letter addressed to customers has been posted on Amazon.  The letter, from Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos,  says Amazon Prime members will have unlimited access to the 5,000 movies and TV shows in the Amazon library.  Amazon Prime membership currently requires a $79 annual fee and allows members to use “free” 2 day shipping on most Amazon products.  The letter also states that Amazon’s online video service will not be an additional fee, so if you’re an Amazon Prime member check it out.

Of course, there are a couple of side notes.  First, if you’re not an Amazon Prime member you can always join.  Second, you’ll need the technology.

In order to stream video through Amazon Prime, you’ll need a high speed Internet connection and a compatible viewing device.  you can see the rather exhaustive list of acceptable devices over at Amazon’s video page.

There’s new news from the good folks over at Comcast cable TV.

An article from Multichannel News claims Comcast will launch its 24 hour Xfinity 3D channel on Sunday, February 20.  Following in the footsteps of its forerunner, ESPN 3D, Comcast’s Xfinity 3D channel will carry original content, shows, concerts and movies.  ESPN 3D actually went 24/7 earlier this week.

The launch is definitely promising and it turns out the kickoff is actually more of a puck drop.  According to Multichannel News, “Xfinity 3D will go live at 6 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, Feb. 20, with the 2011 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic, an outdoor matchup between the Montreal Canadiens and Calgary Flames at McMahon Stadium in Calgary. That’s to be followed at approximately 8 p.m. by an MTV World Stage concert by Kings of Leon from the O2 World in Hamburg, Germany.”

Are you ready for the big launch?  See if you can get Xfinity 3D by comparing plans and prices for Comcast cable TV using our “Savings Widget” at the top of the page.

Mathew Lasar posted an interesting article to Wired over the weekend.  It offers a look inside the other ongoing battle in the realm of cable TV providers.  As Lasar points out, net neutrality and the NBC / Comcast cable TV merger have stolen the headlines recently, but the debate over online video, specifically through products like Google TV, continues to cause problems.

The main issue appears to be some form of virtual turf war.  On one end, cable TV providers feel like Google TV is attempting to block them out of the online video revolution.  On the other, Google TV and its partners feel like their products and services will free up the last entertainment frontier.  Both sides make valid points.  Both sides also make some pretty weak points.

One phrase that keeps popping up from the cable TV providers is “consumer confusion”.  They believe that allowing services like Google TV to compete head to head with cable TV providers, potentially opening the doors to watching “illegal content”, will confuse TV consumers.   Maybe it’s more likely that consumers won’t be “confused”, but that they simply won’t care where they get their content, as long as they still see their favorite shows.

Of course, online video services like Google TV claim to bridge the gap between traditional TV services and the wealth of content available on the Internet.  What they don’t seem to make readily available is that the Internet does offer all kinds of portals to potentially “illegal” content.  Sites like Hulu broadcast TV episodes with the consent of their creators.  Some sites offer the same content without any form consent at all.  With that in mind, the cable TV providers’ claims don’t seem so far fetched.  Perhaps they are being squeezed out of the online video market.

The bottom line is that you can’t stop technological advances.  Products like Google TV will continue to surface.  As we saw with the record industry, online music totally rearranged how we get our music today.  The same is happening to cable TV.  Like the music world, cable TV providers will struggle to work out how to remain relevant, but at least they aren’t the first to go through it.  Products like Xfinity TV and the menagerie of online video and DVR products from providers like DIRECTV are certainly a step in the right direction.  It’s just going to be a little messy while everyone figures out how to play nice.

If you watch movies online using NetFlix you’ll be interested in what they have to say about speed and delivery.  The movie rental company recently released a chart showing cable Internet providers and phone companies and where they rank in terms of delivering HD titles using NetFlix online.  While it may seem like a risky move, it may be just the type of prodding our cable Internet providers and phone companies need to pick up the pace.

The chart illustrates online performance in kilobits per second over the last few months, since October 2010.  It looks like Charter, Comcast cable TV, Cox and Time Warner Cable are the consistent top performers.  So what does that tell you?  Well, it looks like cable Internet providers are consistently providing faster service to NetFlix online customers.  However, none of the US cable Internet providers can top the Canadian providers.  It looks like our neighbors to the North are delivering faster Internet speeds.

Ken Floreance, Director of Content Delivery at NetFlix, does a good job of putting the speeds into perspective.  Ken says the “top HD streams are about 4800 kilobits per second. Clients may switch through a number of bitrates as they ramp up to the highest stream, or shift down from the highest stream if they cannot sustain play at that rate due to throughput constraints. No client would sustain a 4800 [kbps] stream from start to finish (there would at least be a few smaller streams averaged in for startup) but the higher the sustained average, the greater the throughput the client can achieve, and the greater the image quality over the duration of the play.”

Sp you likely wouldn’t experience blistering speeds from start to finish, but the US could certainly stand to see a higher average throughout the industry.  Ken plans on updating monthly, so hopefully we’ll see a steady increase from sea to shining sea.

With all of the conspiracy theory and negative talk surrounding the merger of Comcast cable TV and NBC, the more uplifting news tends to get buried on the back page.  Let’s help bring some of the positive news to the forefront.

According to a press release from Comcast, the cable giant is using On Demand technology and the power of its far reaching services to help law enforcement find missing kids.  As the press release states, “Comcast’s Missing Kids On Demand and online, produced in partnership with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, features 20 video profiles chronicling missing child cases from across the nation.  Each video provides relevant details about the child’s case, including the name of the missing child, city of the disappearance, possible whereabouts, likely abductors and photos.  In cases where the child has been missing for a long period, an age progressed photo showing what he/she may look like at a more recent age will also be available.  In addition, during the airing of each profile, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s toll-free 24-hour national missing children’s hotline (800-THE-LOST) will be displayed on the bottom of the profile, so viewers can report tips should they have any information.”

With all of the talk of corporate greed and government regulations, it can be easy to forget how much good can from a company the size of Comcast.  Missing Kids On Demand is a noble effort to help the children who need it most.

I heard from a friend, who heard from a friend . . .

Anders Bylund, over at The Motley Fool investing news site, cited Zatz Not Funny as the source for this story picked up from the Consumer Electronics Show (CES).  Apparently, Verizon Director of Consumer Product Development Joe Ambeault told Zatz Not Funny that the future of Verizon TV is the Internet, and only the Internet.  That’s right, Verizon will be IPTV all the time and that could mean cutting the cable TV cord for consumers coast to coast.

For consumers, the move to Verizon IPTV would be relatively painless.  The story claims the majority of the heavy lifting will be on Verizon’s end, so consumers won’t have to make a ton of technology upgrades.  Another plus for consumers would be choice, an option not many have had in the realm of cable TV providers.  If the speculation is correct, an Internet based Verizon TV service could launch coast to coast without the restraints of physical cables and connections.  Your Verizon TV service could technically be piped into your house over your Comcast cable TV or Time Warner Cable high speed Internet connections.

That also means that satellite TV companies like DIRECTV and DISH Network wouldn’t be th only national pay TV players anymore.  I said it yesterday and I’ll say it again today.  These are interesting itmes we live in and we are seeing the future of TV evolve right before our eyes.

We spend a lot of time discussing the idea of “TV Everywhere” and the evolution of TV as we know it.  Thanks to increasing broadband speeds, cable TV providers are at a digital crossroads.  No where is that point better illustrated than in a recent article by Ty Braswell at Venture Beat.

As the article bio states, Ty was the VP of New Media at Virgin Records during the Napster heydays.  He saw first hand how new technology changed an industry forever and makes some good points about cable TV providers and how they should embrace the idea of “TV Everywhere”, rather than fight it.  Record companies took a big hit.  Cable companies should take a look back at our recent history and learn what NOT to do.

Ty says it best when he says, “2011 will be the most significant year in the history of television. We are days away from the tipping point. Industry leaders who fail to organize with their competitors will see their business evaporate.”

Some companies, like Comcast cable TV, have made good strides toward merging the Internet and TV to accommodate the needs of their customers.  Take a look at their Xfinity TV app.  The biggest problem with the Comcast app to date is the resistance from content providers to allow their content to be rebroadcast in multiple mediums.  That problem can be worked out, but it needs to happen soon.  How long did it take for iTunes to completely change the shape of the music industry?  Netflix appears to be on a similar path with TV entertainment.

Robert F. Kennedy was right.  ”like it or not we live in interesting times.”

Comcast cable TV everywhere might not be as spectacular as first hoped, and it’s not for Comcast’s lack of trying.  Once again, “redistribution” is the wrench in the plans.  While several networks have signed on to let Comcast “redistribute” their content pretty much everywhere, including the recently released Internet enabled iPad app, some are crying foul.

According to an article on ZD Net, Comcast has redistribution deals in place from premium networks Cinemax, HBO, Showtime and Starz.  Other networks point out that the new Xfinity iPad app isn’t covered in existing content distribution deals.  Existing deals cover your at home TV viewing  or even some limited Internet viewing in the home, neither of which offer the remote viewing promised with “TV everywhere”.

As the possibilities of TV everywhere continue to expand with the evolution of the Internet and Internet enabled devices, expect to see more legal wrestling between networks and cable TV providers.

Looking for more affordable cable plans from Time Warner Cable or Comcast cable TV?  You may just be in luck.

According to a report in the Philadelphia Business Journal, Time Warner Cable and Comcast cable TV are battling recent trends in customer fall off with more affordable cable TV packages.  The article claims Time Warner and Comcast cable TV are both offering “lower prices for no-frills cable-TV packages in some areas.”  However, Comcast is quick to point out that the believe the recent drop in subscriptions is due to over the air antenna use, not an up-tick in Internet TV.

To see if you can take advantage of these new, lower priced Time Warner and Comcast cable TV packages just enter your address in the “Find Savings” widget at the top of the page.