There’s been a couple of new features announced from DIRECTV satellite TV.

As of today, DIRECTV satellite TV customers will be able to access HBO GO and MAX GO, the mobile versions of the two premium channels.  Of course, only customers currently subscribed to the premium channels will have access, but that’s to be expected.  In a press release issued by DIRECTV, Derek Chang, EVP of Content Strategy and Development, said, “The addition of HBO GO and MAX GO is the next step in bringing quality video content to our customers anytime, anywhere.”  Chang went on to say, “Giving our customers the opportunity to experience their favorite programming, no matter where they are, truly enhances their overall viewing experience and helps them get the most out of the content they subscribe to.”

DIRECTV also made a few other changes recently.  In another statement, the satellite TV provider announced more local coverage plans with local HD channels available 16 more markets.  According to the statement, “By the end of 2011, DIRECTV will offer local-channel access to 99 percent of U.S. TV homes, covering 190 markets across the country, including local HD in 174 of those markets.”

DIRECTV satellite TV customers  can expect new local HD channels beginning this summer in parts of Arkansas, California, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montanna, New York, Tennessee and West Virginia.

We’ve all seen the fall of Blockbuster video in recent months.  There have been banners reading, “Still renting!” posted on sides of stores.  Then, only weeks later, a new banner goes up reading, “Store closing”.  It’s sad.  But there may be new life for the originator of the home movie rental.  Dish Network won a bankruptcy auction for the failing entertainer. The big question on everyone’s mind seems to be, “Why?”

Why would the Dish Network satellite TV provider buy a home movie rental chain as it falls into obscurity?  There certainly seems to be no lack of speculation.  Yahoo! News even claims that Dish Network will keep the 1700 remaining Blockbuster Video stores up and running.  But how do home rental stores equate to sales for satellite TV providers?  Right now it’s anyone’s guess.  What is clear is that Dish Network’s purchase of Blockbuster Video could be a game changing play for a section of the streaming video market currently run by Netflix.

It’s nice to see a helping hand from corporate America in time of tragedy.  Showing once again how important it is to care for your fellow man, Time Warner Cable offers free calls to Japan to help connect friends, families and coworkers.

In a press release issued by Time Warner Cable on Friday, Glenn Britt, Chairman and CEO, acknowledges a surge in the number of calls being made to Japan.  Britt says, “We have seen an increase in the number of calls made by our customers to family, friends and colleagues in Japan who have been touched by the events that occurred earlier today. They are all in our thoughts and we hope that this program removes a small measure of worry from our customers.”

As of now, the free calls through Time Warner Cable are scheduled to run through April 15, 2011.  The press release clarifies the program by saying, “Digital Phone Customers who are making calls to Japan during the eligible period do not need to make any changes to their accounts in order to take advantage of this program. This program will cover any Time Warner Cable Digital Phone and Time Warner Cable Business Class Phone subscriber making a direct call to Japan. Calls to operators or directory assistance will continue to be charged at the usual rate.”  Read the full release at Business Wire.

In our globally connected communities, local natural disaster is a tragedy felt around the world.  Time Warner Cable is doing its part to help keep people connected.

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.

Time Warner Cable Internet packages have expereinced some upgrades in the Research Triangle Park area of North Carolina.  The end result is an upgraded experience with speeds up to 50 mbps downloads and up to 5 mbps for uploads.  Of course, the upgraded speeds will require a new cable modem.  However, these new modems do come with built-in wireless connectivity.

One source, DSL Reports, claims a $25 fee increase over Time Warner’s current Internet rates with a max of $99, while another, the LocalTechWire, had no pricing data as of yet.  Regardless, the increased speeds should be well received in the tech hot spots of Research Triangle Park.

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.