Can you tell the difference between what all of the different makes of set-top-box are offering? Me neither, which makes any initiative an important one for anyone interested in purchasing one the many on offer.

VUDU is a set-top-box that rivals, and does pretty much the same thing, as Apple TV, Roku, and a host of other similar products.

Adult & Family-Friendly Content

Last week saw the company announce on-demand porn films via an Adult Video Network (AVN) channel. Adult movies can be bought or rented for between $6.99 and $29.99.

But this week’s offering is a bit more family friendly, and judging by the premium prices charged for adult material, more friendly to your wallet as well.

I remember watching a demonstration of a video phone years ago, only to find that the quality was so poor, the demonstrator may as well have been talking to a bunch of pixels. How times have changed.

Now, thanks to the emergence of VoIP services such as Skype, and affordable-for-all webcams such as the Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000, video chat is finally a very real option.

Perfect For All Occasions

The Pro 9000 has at its core a 2-megapixel image sensor. Combined with smooth-tracking autofocus, Carl Zeiss optics, and RightLight and RightSound technologies, this means you’re almost guaranteed a good result, whatever the situation the webcam is being used in.

While perfect for use on Skype and instant messaging service such as Windows Live Messenger and AIM, the Pro 9000 also comes with HD capabilities.

Netflix has added another content partner to its increasing roster, and this one combines digital downloads with Blu-ray movies. Good news for the companies involved, the consumers, and digital distribution?

Movie and television content streaming company Netflix seems intent on making its service as accessible to as many people as possible, setting multiple partnerships in an effort to enable its content to be delivered to the maximum number of homes.

Sub-$100 Roku Box

This strategy started back in May when Roku released its new set-top box, which came with the ability to stream Netflix movies. The box may have been derided in some quarters, but at just $100, it opened up digital content to a whole new level of consumers on a budget.

Since then, Roku has announced that the box will expand to include other content partners in time. YouTube, Hulu, and Amazon Unbox were cited as the most obvious candidates, but no names have yet been revealed.

One element of Web television that is already growing, and sure to grow even more over the next few years, is mobile video. So the need for products to make that a reality is ever-increasing.

With the release of the iPhone, and smart phones with similar Internet access, and multimedia interactivity, mobile video is sure to become a fast growing sector, with more people wanting the ability to watch television on the move.

Dual Uses

My-IPTV Anywhere Mobile 2.0 Deluxe is a product with dual uses. Using it, you are able to record cable TV programmes, and then watch them from a PC or mobile device anywhere in the world.

It’s been expected for some time, but yesterday finally saw the new YouTube service come alive on TiVo. The service will roll out on all TiVo Series 3 and HD boxes over the next few weeks.

The service comes as part of the 9.4 software update, and means that all YouTube videos will now be viewable on TiVo in H.264. This is the first time TiVo has rendered content in anything other than MPEG-2.

Streaming YouTube On TiVo

TiVo owners can now stream all YouTube videos, watch them in full-screen, and fast forward, pause and rewind them in the same way as any other video on your TiVo.

We’ve recently spoken quite a bit about webcams: the technology involved, video conferencing, video blogging, and what are the best currently on the market.

But most of the attention has been on webcams designed for use with PCs and laptops, but not for Apple Macs. Now it’s time to redress the balance.

The Ecamm Network iMage USB Webcam for Mac and Windows, does, by definition of its title, work on both Macs and Windows-based PCs, but by design and usability, it definitely owes more to the Apple products.

Horrible Design

However, while all of the variations of the Apple Mac, and most other Apple products, are nicely designed, with smooth lines, and a refreshingly simple layout, the iMage looks horrible.

There’s a small event going on right now in Los Angeles called the E3 Media and Business Summit, which is the place where Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, as well as a host of games developers unveil plans for the next year.

Today was the first day, and Microsoft was the first of the big three to show its hand. And one of the announcements means that Xbox 360 owners will soon be getting more access to online movie downloads.

This will be coming from Netflix, the online movie rental company, which is teaming up with Microsoft to allow Netflix subscribers, who also own an Xbox 360, to have access to its extensive catalogue through their consoles.