As regular readers of WebTVWire will know, Vuze is a video content distribution company built upon the P2P-based platform Azureus.

It’s similar to the iTunes TV shop in that it provides easy access to professionally-produced material both new and old – albeit with one great distinction: most of the stuff is free.

Making Headlines

Fairly recently, Vuze made a few headlines through the issuance of a petition to the FCC to investigate and halt ISPs’ practices of throttling bandwidth and network access to restrict the proliferation of data sent across the Internet via the BitTorrent protocol. 

It has demanded a stop to such selective restriction for the fact that it’s business model is wholly reliant on the technology, and stated that any blocks would shackle its business plan to the point of inoperability and out-and-out failure.

I was hoping to upgrade to an HDTV this holiday season, and apparently I’m not alone, with HDTV at the top of Americans Christmas wish lists this year. 

As an analogue cable subscriber, before I buy-in, I’ve been considering the freedom that “going digital” should give me compared to the old analog world. 

The primary reason I haven’t “upgraded” to digital cable up to this point comes down to TiVo, it and the freedom that devices like it that connect to an analogue coax cable give me. 

Digital technology is supposed to deliver more, not less freedom, isn’t it? It’s not clear that upgrading to digital cable gives me the freedoms I’m used to.

Diving into the digital cable world looks to be a kludge of coax, daisy-chained set-top boxes (STBs), and IR repeaters. 

A quick note to any of our American readers thinking about laying your hands on a TiVo HD IPTV set top box. According to the good folks over at Gizmodo, you are going to need the official TiVo Wireless Adapter.

TiVo lists on its site that you need to use TiVo branded gear for the unit, which is a bit of a shame although at least the company is being forward in informing you, the consumers, about it.

It seems that seeing as the new TiVo HD unit runs Linux, there are only very few drivers for wireless adapters included in the OS, meaning that third-party devices won’t work. Makes us wonder why TiVo didn’t just build their own wireless adapter into the unit in the first place. *harrumph*

In an attempt to boost demand for its high definition service, TiVo has today debuted a trimmed-down , less pricey version of its digital video recorder, 10 months after the original went on sale.

The firm announced that its newest TiVo High Definition DVR model, capable of recording up to 20 hours of high-resolution television, would retail for around $300 USD, and hit store shelves this September.

In contrast, the TiVo Series3 HD Digital Media Recorder, which is capable of holding about 30 hours of HD programming and has greater high-end audio and video features, already retails at $800 USD.

That said, both aforementioned models are more expensive than the average cable set-top box, a device that many millions of viewers receive from their TV provider for a miniscule monthly fee.

Internet TV and web based video streaming is gaining popularity daily, and you know it’s closer to mainstream take-off when big business jumps on the bandwagon.

IPTV is increasingly making it’s way into more and more different facets of the consumer market.

The latest news to push that point further along is an Amazon-TiVo joint announcement stating movies available in Amazon’s Unbox department will be accessible to all Series 2 and Series 3 TiVo set top box owners/users – directly through interaction with said TiVo boxes – starting today.

Okay, so it’s not technically IPTV if we’re talking “Internet Protocol Television”. Same diff, though, folks. It all kind of fits under the same roof.

Anyhow, this is definitely good news, even for those uninterested in what TiVo and/or Amazon have to offer. 

The latest company acquisition rumor to hit the internet, according to Businessweek, is the potential purchase of Netflix by Amazon. As part of the deal, Amazon Unbox would be merged with Netflix’s own movie rental download service.

Netflix recently has been weakened by Blockbuster’s Total Access plan. Amazon’s Unbox has never really captured an audience, mainly because of its awkward interface. By purchasing Netflix, Amazon would get a built in user base to market an improved download service.

Amazon’s stock declined on the news, maybe because investors doubt the longterm market for video downloads or rentals.

Having tried both Amazon’s and Netflix’s attempts at video on demand, I would say that Netflix currently has a leg up by offering consumers the choice of renting a physical DVD or streaming a movie. Interestingly, both companies have agreements with Tivo to stream movies to a consumer’s Tivo box.

Looking at the Joost interface it will be obvious to many that this is something that you could imagine on your TV screen. In fact, the first moment I saw Joost I thought that’s exactly where the company wants to take it.

Mike Volpi, the new CEO of Joost arriving from Cisco. told The New York Times that:

Joost is a piece of software and it can reside on a variety of platforms… It could be on a television set-top box. Or potentially it could be imbedded in a TV set with an Ethernet connection, or on a mobile phone, or in some alternative device that might come out in the future. The flexibility is really high.”

Possible Set Top Box Partners

But who will this STB partner be? Joost could theoretically just go out there and strike a deal with any STB manufacturer to create a Joost IPTV box that will bring Joost to the TV set.

However, I’ll put my money on the fact that they are also waiting for a deal with a popular brand with a large consumer base.

Let's look at the options: