As the prophet Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor used to ask his audience, “what do we want?” More. Power. AMD has just released its dual-GPU ATI Radeon HD 5970 graphics card, and the specs are pretty ridiculous. Aside from having two GPUs capable of 4.64 teraflops of number-smashing goodness, the 5970 also comes standard with a 725 MHz engine processor (which can be overclocked), a 1 GHz memory clock, and 2 GB of GDDR5 RAM. Now, for those of you with 90-inches of screen real estate to fill, the 5970 can output in resolutions all the way up to 7,680 x 1,600. Direct X11, Open GL 3.2, and Open CL 1.0 compliance also made their way onto the stat sheet. Makes you want to fire up Mindsweeper and really put this puppy through its paces, doesn’t it? $599 is the number for this monster, if you haven’t fallen off your chair yet.

P.S. In addition to two DVI ports, the Radeon HD 5970 also includes a Mini DisplayPort

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We hit up Verizon’s Motorola DROID event a bit earlier and finally got a chance to check out the DROID in person. Ok, seriously though, Verizon and Motorola engineers were on hand to answer any questions and gave us a quick walkthrough of the handset’s browser and amazingly cool Google Navigation application. We’re pounding away on our own full review with video, but in the meantime you can check out this quick one after the jump.

A lot of people loved our tech-focused segment on the all-new 2010 Mercedes E-Class and we’re following up with a nice video overview of the vehicle. We were lucky enough to meet with Bart Herring who is product manager for the E-Class series, and in addition to giving us a great presentation on the car, took some time to help put this video together.

All you movie addicts who own the PlayStation 3 no longer have to envy Xbox 360 users. Sony and Netflix are teaming up to bring movie streaming to the Ps3. The bonus for those on the PlayStation Network is, since your PSN accounts are free, all you need is a Netflix account to watch movies whereas Xbox 360 users need a $50-per-year Xbox Live Gold membership. The service will launch in November and if you decide to use your PS3 to access your Netflix account (why wouldn’t you?), Netflix will send a Blu-Ray disc that will allow you to access its library. It might seem like a hassle to pop in the disc every time you want to watch movies, but Netflix says it’s working on a software update for the PS3 that will do away with the need for a disc. It looks like you gamers and movie buffs are about to see double the couch time.

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More coming soon.

Our Apple tipster (who accurately predicted organizable iPhone homescreens in iTunes as well as integrated social networking components) is back at it again! This time we’ve been sent an image that we’re told is a “product mockup that may coincide with the launch of a revised Apple TV.” It seems a little far-fetched that this unit’s only purpose would be to control an Apple TV, and you can even see a Safari option on the mockup. To be honest, it looks like a touch screen iPod nano, just longer. We’re going to dig a little bit and see what we can find, but we figured we’d run this with a high dose of caution for informational purposes.

Thanks, Lindsey!

File this little guy under gadgets we need ASAP. VUDU has been tearing it up lately as the company wisely broadens its horizons beyond dedicated set top boxes. The HD on-demand content provider recently announced partnerships that bring its service to various LG and Mitsubishi flat-panel televisions, and now VUDU is taking things to a new range of products: LG Blu-ray players. It certainly makes sense — if you’re going to add an on-demand HD streaming service to a line of home theater components, why not make them Blu-ray players? The first LG model that will be graced with VUDU service is the BD390, which is available now with an MSRP of $399. VUDU will go live on the player via a free software update toward the end of the month, though CEDIA attendees will be able to get a preview of the VUDU-enabled player this week at the show. If you have a High Def addiction and you’ve given up fighting it long ago, the BD390 is definitely the 1080p fix you’ve been looking for. Hit the jump for the full release.

VUDU NOW AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY PLAYERS

VUDU Extends Footprint of Industry-Leading HD Movie Service

To LG Electronics’ Network Blu-ray Disc Player

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 9, 2009 – VUDU, Inc.’s industry-leading on-demand high definition (HD) movie service is now available on the BD390 Network Blu-ray Disc player from LG Electronics, giving consumers a whole new way to access the largest on-demand HD library of Hollywood movies in their living rooms, the company announced today.

VUDU continues to work with top consumer electronics manufacturers to become more accessible to customers who want to rent or buy major Hollywood movies in high definition.  The VUDU service, already available on flat-panel HDTVs, uniquely delivers the largest available HD movie library of instantly-viewable movies in 1080p with Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 surround sound and provides customers with VUDU’s superior user experience for finding and watching movies in high definition.

“Our goal as a company is to offer the best possible HD movie service to the broadest possible audience,” said Alain Rossmann, CEO of VUDU.  “By adding the top-rated LG BD390 Blu-ray player to the lineup of VUDU-enabled products, we’ve made it easier than ever for customers to enjoy the VUDU experience.”

Some of VUDU’s key features include:

• Instant viewing experience:  unlike typical Internet and on-demand video streaming, VUDU movies start immediately, and viewers can fast forward, rewind and browse chapters without the delays or the frustration associated with buffering
• Highest quality video:  VUDU’s unique HDX format delivers true 1080p resolution and TruFilm encoding enhancements, now available for the first time on an instant-start basis
• Immersive sound:  VUDU is the only on-demand service to deliver Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 surround sound at all video quality levels
• No monthly fees: customers can instantly buy or rent from VUDU’s extensive library of standard and high definition movie and TV titles without any monthly service charges
• Largest HD library anywhere: over 2,200 titles are available in HD or HDX format
• New releases: Newly-released titles from all major studios are available the same day as DVD release, typically months before they are available on subscription-based service.

LG’s BD390 networked Blu-ray player transforms and personalizes the home theater experience by offering a stellar array of entertainment options.  In addition to its broadband capabilities, the BD390 offers exceptional “Full HD” 1080p video performance and exceptional image quality from standard DVDs with 1080p up-scaling via HDMI output. The BD390 is also equipped for easy connection to the home network and has one gigabyte (GB) of built-in memory for BD Live functionality.

Model BD390 with LG’s “NetCast Entertainment Access” feature is available now at nationwide retailers at a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $399. VUDU connectivity will be available at the end of the month via a free upgrade.

Try to compose yourselves, BlackBerry users. We know it’s hard, what with the knowledge that you’re now closer than ever to having a browser on your handsets that isn’t completely abysmal, but do try. Word came through this morning that registered Skyfire BlackBerry testers now have a new version available and ripe for the picking. The beta, version 1.0.0.12304, is said to be a pretty significant improvement over the alpha 2 version though there’s still plenty of work to be done. Patience is a virtue but let’s tell it like it is — we can’t be rid of the BlackBerry browser soon enough so hurry up Skyfire Labs! Hit the jump for the new feature list along with known bugs.

Some of the features we did add:

• New Keyboard Shortcuts:
  We mapped the keyboard shortcuts to be similar to the ones in the native BlackBerry browser to offer a more familiar user experience.
• Switch to Skyfire:
  Once Skyfire is installed, you’ll see a “Switch to Skyfire” option show up in the options menu of the original Blackberry browser. We added this feature to help when users click on links in email and SMS and end up launching the native browser instead of Skyfire or when you navigate to a web site that is better viewed in Skyfire.
• Text Entry in Thumbnail view:
  You now don’t have to zoom-in to enter text. We resolved that issue and now enter text directly in the thumbnail view of pages.
• Contextual zoom with camera corners:
  Similar to the other Skyfire platforms, we now support contextual zoom. Thus we detect areas of interest (say articles or images) and allow you to zoom-in to areas easily by fitting the area of interest to the screen dimensions.
• Faster zooming:
  You’ll see a great improvement in your ability to zoom. Unlike Alpha 2, the page displays text at all zoom levels, without any redrawing of the screen. Less checkerboards.

Know Bugs In The Latest Build:

• You cannot connect to Skyfire: We still have limited capacity for this Alpha. Thus if enough testers are already browsing at the moment, you might not be able to connect. Simply try again in a few minutes. This is a good reminder as well to NOT share this alpha with anyone (as per NDA), since this would limit capacity even further. The next release will address this.
• General hiccups when entering and exiting streaming mode, including: “An error occurred while playing media” error message when flash object is detected and “streaming” mode activated.
• Slow performance on 2.5G networks. We are still optimizing. You will get the best experience on 3G or WiFi networks for now.
• “An error occurred while playing media” error message in streaming mode.
• Sometimes you cannot control volume while in stream mode. This is a known BlackBerry bug.
• Stale tiles from the previously visited pages show up when scrolling up or down. We’re working on fixes to reduce checkerboards.

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A quick break from our regularly scheduled programming to bring our photogs in the audience some steamy gratuitous camera leak action. It looks as though Nikon’s dSLR and lens roadmap for the remainder of 2009 through the end of 2010 may have come to light and to say there are some juicy morsels lined up is a gross understatement. New bodies, 14 new lenses from Q3 2009 through Q3 2010, Full-HD video recording galore, a 30.2 megapixel beast likely in time for the 2010 holiday season… Suffice it to say this rumored roadmap is not lacking in the action category. In short, if this is the real deal — we likey. Hit the jump for the skinny and if anything manages to catch your eye, we highly recommend you start saving today.

August 4 introduction: (Apparently the end of July presentation is for compact cameras)

• Nikon D3000
• Nikon D300s with Full-HD movie 24 fps, improved AF, self timer + mirror-up, cf + sd-slot
• AF-S DX 17-65/3.2-4 G VR with 72(!) mm filter

October 15 presentation:

• Nikon D700x with 24.5 MP, Full-HD movie 24 fps, improved AF and self timer + mirror-up
• AF-S Nikkor 24-135mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR (The FX-dream-walk-around-lens?)
• AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II (What everybody waited for! 82 mm filter, 1530 g)
• AF-S Nikkor 35mm f/1.4G
• AF-S Nikkor 85mm f/1.4G (No VR?)

Q1/2010:

• AF-S Nikkor 14-28mm f/3.5-4.5G ED
• AF-S Nikkor 120-450mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR II (Replacement for 80-400? 82 mm, 1480 g)

Q2/2010:

• Nikon D4 with 15.7 MP, improved 1 EV, Full HD-movie 30fps
• Nikon D400 with 13.8 MP, improved 1 EV, Full HD-movie 24fps

Q3/2010:

• AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/4G VR (On the waiting list for many!)
• AF-S Nikkor 400mm f/5.6G VR (Have been missing a long time!)
• AF-S Nikkor 70-240mm f/3.5-4.5G VR (The missing medium size telezoom!)
• AF-S Nikkor 105mm f/2G DC (A small surprise. No VR?)
• AF-S Nikkor 24-85mm f/4G VR
• AF-S DX Nikkor 60-95mm f/2G VR (The DX dream-telezoom!)
• AF-S DX Nikkor 17-60mm f/2.8G VR (Replacing 17-55 with addition of VR)
• Nikon Coolpix P1DX with DX 12.3 MP stabilised sensor, 28-85/3.5-5.6 zoom (comparable to FX, actually 18-56), 2.9 inch 920k-display, movable upwards for macro.

Q4/2010:

• Nikon D4X with 30.2 MP with 1 EV improved sensitivity

[Via Nikon Rumors]

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Now, we’ll preface this by saying that it is absolutely, positively, 100% impossible to draw any real conclusions about a product like a search engine without a fair amount of hands-on time. After viewing this preview video, we can also absolutely, positively, 100% say that the name “Bing” sounds more ridiculous each and every time it is uttered. Seriously, it’s a really bad name — to quote one of our commenters:

Eh, I dunno. Can you imagine someone saying “Gee, I wonder if I can find a picture of a kitten online?” – “Sure you can, why don’t you Bing it?”

Doesn’t quite work…

As trivial as it may seem, Google is such a powerful brand that it’s now as much a verb as it is a noun. Microsoft’s Bing… Will never be a verb. It does however, appear to be a powerful amalgamation of a variety of existing services. Does it have that x-factor that will help catapult it into significance? Maybe not from what we’ve seen in this video preview so far but only time will tell. One thing is certain: an $80 million launch campaign will give Bing a better chance to compete than any comparable search engine has had before it. Hit the read link for the video and let us know what you think.

Thanks, Jason!

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Adobe is bringing Flash and HD content into your living rooms via set-top boxes, Blu-Ray players and other Internet-capable equipment. If you’re thinking it’s going to be a small or niche market participating in this program, think again — content providers already on board include Atlantic Records, Comcast, Disney Interactive, Intel, Netflix and even The New York Times amongst many others. The Adobe Flash Platform for Digital Home is available right now for OEMs and will be hitting System on Chip vendors in the latter half of 2009 ensuring all of your favorite Flash-based web content, videos, applications and services will become accessible to screens beyond just the computer. Of course, we have all been expecting this since Adobe first began moving forward with the Open Screen Project but we’re pretty excited about this coming digital technology and the fact that so many big industry players are involved. Hit the jump for additional details and information.

Flash Platform News

Flash Platform for the Digital Home
A new Flash runtime optimized for Internet connected televisions, set-top boxes, Blu-ray players and other digital home devices.  Brings HD videos, interactive applications and services, new user interfaces and other rich web content to digital living room devices.

Partners
Major System on Chips (SoC) vendors, OEMs, cable operators and content providers are announcing support for the optimized Flash runtime including Broadcom, Intel, Comcast, Disney Interactive, Netflix, New York Times Company, NXP Semiconductors, Sigma Designs, STMicroelectronics, Atlantic Records etc.

Availability
The optimized Flash runtime is available immediately to silicon vendors and OEMs.  SoC platforms, televisions and other devices are expected to be available with support for the new runtime in the second half of ’09.

Data points:

• Close to 420 million televisions, set-top boxes, Blu-ray players and other connected digital home devices are expected to ship with the next 3 years.  (Source: Strategy Analytics: Digital Media Devices Global Market Report December 2009)
• Adobe Flash Player content reaches over 98% of Internet-enabled desktops.  According to data from independent research firm comScore (Feb ‘09), approximately 80% of online videos worldwide are viewed using Adobe Flash technology, making Flash the #1 platform for video on the web.
• Flash Player 10 was installed on more than 55% of computers worldwide in just the first two months of its release, and is expected to surpass 80% in Q2 ‘09, far outpacing the installation rate of past versions. (Source: Third-party survey by Millward Brown that determines these stats, the survey methodology, breakdown by version, etc at http://www.adobe.com/products/player_census/flashplayer/ )
• The mobile Flash runtime has shipped and delivered Flash technology based content on close to 40% of all new mobile phones and devices in 2008.  More than 1 billion mobile phones and devices have shipped with Flash by the end of Q1 ‘09.  (Source: Strategy Analytics Forecast, Jan 2009)  Flash Player 10 for smartphones is on track for OEM avail in second half of ‘09.  First platforms to be supported: Symbian, WiMo, Android and Palm webOS

Flash Platform for the Digital Home – Partner Quotes

Comcast: “Comcast is constantly working to deliver richer user interfaces and services to our customers,” said Labeeb Ismail, vice president, Technology at Comcast. “As an active participant of the Open Screen Project, we are working closely with Adobe to integrate the optimized Flash runtime with tru2way technology, enabling a new range of engaging, interactive services to consumers.”

Disney: “Disney and Adobe share the vision of extending HD video and rich, engaging experiences across multiple screens,” said Bud Albers, CTO and senior vice president at Disney Interactive Media Group. “Adobe Flash technology plays an important role in delivering the latest Disney content via the web, mobile phones and other consumer electronics. As a leading innovator for media and entertainment, we are excited about the opportunities of Flash based applications and services coming to televisions.”

Intel: “Intel and Adobe have a long history of collaboration and have worked together to optimize Flash technology for the digital home on the Intel® Media Processor CE 3100, the first in a new family of purpose-built Intel System-on-Chips (SoCs) for CE devices,” said William O. Leszinske Jr., general manager of Intel’s Digital Home Group. “As an active participant of the Open Screen Project, we recognize the value of extending rich, Flash based Internet content and applications to a broad range of devices in your pocket, on your lap, at the office and now in your living room. We are excited to integrate the optimized Flash runtime into digital home platforms featuring Intel’s SoC, such as advanced set-top boxes, high-definition digital televisions, Blu-ray Disc players and other connected AV devices.”

Netflix: “As the world’s leading online movie rental service, Netflix always seeks new ways for subscribers to find and enjoy the movies they’ll love,” said Bill Holmes, vice president of Business Development at Netflix. “Adobe’s Flash Platform for the Digital Home offers great promise as Netflix continues its expansion directly to the television with our consumer electronics partners.”

New York Times: “The New York Times is pleased to work with Adobe on the Open Screen Project,” said Michael Zimbalist, vice president of Research and Development Operations at The New York Times Company. “The extension of Flash technology to digital home devices is an important step in delivering applications consistently across screens and will help the Times Company better deliver our high quality news, information and multimedia to the digital living room.”

Sigma Designs: “Sigma Designs has long recognized that IPTV is the future, and has been a constant innovator of SoC solutions for IP-connected set top boxes and Blu-ray players,” said Ken Lowe, vice president for Business Development and Strategic Marketing at Sigma Designs. “Consumers clearly want to access Flash based HD videos and other rich web content on their televisions. We are working closely with Adobe to integrate the optimized Flash runtime into our SoC solutions to enable a better, more interactive user experience on connected digital home devices.”

Adobe Dynamic Media Organization (DMO) News

Strobe:  New software framework, code-named Strobe, which aids in the development of an open industry standard for media players and accelerates the creation and delivery of high-quality video and interactive experiences for web audiences. Strobe will offer production-ready software components for media players, reducing the time content publishers spend creating their own playback technologies.

Preview of Adobe Story:  Collaborative online scriptwriting for use in film, broadcast, and rich media. Adobe Story captures metadata in the script, the earliest part of the production chain, and will enable users to collaborate on scripts and expand their ideas.  A public beta is expected to be avail on Adobe Labs in late ‘09.

Premiere Pro CS4 version 4.1:  Free update for existing customers. Includes compatibility with RED R3D content for users of laptops and lower-powered systems, and support for an updated RED plug-in.

Hulu may be getting a healthy dose of new programming content courtesy of Disney. According to sources close to the situation, Hulu and Disney are in serious negotiations to bring Disney programming to the online video portal. The talks reportedly focus on ABC programming content which include the popular TV series  Desperate Housewives and LOST, but may include programming from other Disney assets as well. In exchange for providing content, Disney is requesting an equity stake in Hulu on par with NBC Universal and News Corp and possibly performance incentives. With the relationship between Hulu and CBS souring, Hulu could use a high profile deal to boost its position in the increasingly competitive online video marketplace.

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According to NewTeeVee, RIM may be launching a new service that will allow BlackBerry owners to download TV episodes to their handsets. The service, possibly announced as soon as next week at CTIA, would require a monthly subscription fee and would provide unlimited downloads from a catalog of TV episodes licensed from several broadcast and cable companies. Once an episode is selected, the video content will supposedly be downloaded via Wi-Fi to the handset and stored locally for viewing on the go. Since the service uses Wi-Fi and not the cellular signal to download content, all Verizon Wireless and most Sprint Blackberry owners need not apply. Crazy…

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It looks like Xboxers might not be the only gaming console owners who will be able enjoy Netflix streaming in the future, provided customers show interest that is. A new survey currently being conducted by Netflix asks users a variety of questions surrounding the idea of streaming Netflix content directly to their Wii consoles. The survey also questions what the requirement to purchase a $10 “Netflix Instant Streaming Disc” would do to Wii streaming desirability, leading us to believe Nintendo has absolutely no interest in making the service available any time soonvia a firmware update. $10 to stream to the Wii and avoid purchasing and setting up yet another hardware device? Count us in. Reports also suggest a similar survey covering PlayStation 3 is currently being circulated. What do you guys think — would you pay $10 to add Netflix streaming to your Wii or PS3?

Thanks, Jon Jon!

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Hot on the heels of Apple’s recent announcement of HD movie rentals and purchases, Amazon is rumored to be readying HD content for its Amazon Video on Demand service. Apparently Google search bots have indexed some Amazon pages, like the Law & Order page above, that show HD content for $2.99 per episode. The same cached pages also suggest the availability of season passes for this HD content — a potentially great feature if the price is right. Clicking on any link within the cached pages bring you to the main page of Amazon’s Video on Demand page suggesting that this HD content is not ready to go live… At least not yet. It’s probably safe to assume however, that a formal announcement will be coming soon.

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Man, so many people wrote in about this that we just had to do something real quick. This is a very brief walkthrough of the device and a couple applications. We provide no warranties to the quality, musical integrity, emotional attachments nor uncontrollable outbursts you might have while viewing it.

Oh ho ho, it’s magic!

It was only a matter of time before Apple jumped on the HD bus and sure enough, iTunes users will now have access to a shiny new catalog of HD movie content. Starting immediately, a preliminary catalog of HD movies is available and accessible from within a new HD Movies page in iTunes. Films available to buy or rent in HD will also offer the option to do so on the standard movie page. Surprisingly and very disappointingly, it looks like HD content will be delivered at 720p for the time being as opposed to full HD. Hmm. New HD movies will run $19.99 for a purchase and $4.99 for a rental within the first 30 days of release. Older titles can be rented in HD for $3.99 a pop.

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Roku announced this morning that it would be adding Amazon Video On Demand to its portfolio of available online video content, bringing the grand total up to two. Roku owners will be able to rent or purchase movies and televisions shows from Amazon’s 40,000-title-strong Video On Demand service after an update that will be rolled out over the course of the next week to enable this service on all Roku boxes. With Netflix as the cornerstone, Amazon content as a supplement and YouTube supposedly on the way, the $99 Roku box keeps looking better and better.

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If you’re one of the lucky ones that I’ve let follow me on Twitter, you’ll know that yesterday the BGR team hit Fat Joe and Akon’s music video shoot for “One”. Fat Joe’s a BGR buddy, but Akon has eluded our HD camcorders until now. Check out our brief interviews with both of them on the tour bus. Quick takeaways? Joe uses a Boost Mobile i880, Akon uses a BlackBerry Bold, and RIM, AT&T and Colorware need to start cutting us some checks.

Verizon just earned about 10 extra cool points for this… Amazing.

Thanks, John!

Samsung handsets have been leaking like a faucet in an old horror movie lately and today seems to be keeping the trend alive. Thankfully, this time around we’re seeing blurrycam photos and preliminary specs of what looks to be a full-featured handset rather than a river of entry-level phones. With an eye on multimedia, the Samsung Acme i8910 has a familiar form factor and what is rumored to be a heck of a spec sheet. As for the moniker – Acme – yeah, we have no idea but we don’t remember Wile E. ever pulling one out of a package. Here’s what the rumor mill has so far:

• 8 GB and 16 GB versions
• 8 megapixel camera
• Secondary front-facing camera
• HD video recording
• DLNA and DivX support
• HDMI output
• 3.5mm audio jack
• Wi-Fi
• GPS

Wow. There’s no word on when or where this puppy will drop or what the price point will be but with all of the Samsung handsets leaked over the past few weeks it’s a pretty safe bet that several of them will make their way to the show floor at MWC. Let’s hope this is one of them because all those multimedia features actually have our interest piqued. How about you guys? Hit the jump for a pair of shots.

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From the time it was released until today, one of the many gripes about the iPhone is its lack of video-recording capabilities (and MMS and copy/paste, we know). For the time being, only those who jailbreak their iPhones can enjoy video recording with apps like Cycorder. While nothing has been confirmed yet, it would appear as though those iPhone patents that set the Internet on fire just a week ago reveal details that could hint at video for the iPhone. Alexander Wolfe of InformationWeek did a bit of digging into Apple’s patent documentation and has come up with some pretty interesting data that everyone else (including those who have done some serious analysis of Apple’s patents) seem to have missed. The patent states:

“The device supports a variety of applications, such as one or more of the following: a telephone application, a video conferencing application, an e-mail application, an instant messaging application, a blogging application, a photo management application, a digital camera application, a digital video camera application, a Web browsing application, a digital music player application, and/or a digital video player application.”

Does this mean that Apple is planning on bringing video to the next generation iPhone? Maybe. Or maybe it could be covering all their bases, just in case. One can hope, right? What the patent also reveals is that video-conferencing could be in store for the future as well:

“In some embodiments, the functions may include telephoning, video conferencing, e-mailing, instant messaging, blogging, digital photographing, digital videoing, Web browsing, digital music playing, and/or digital video playing. Instructions for performing these functions may be included in a computer-readable storage medium or other computer program product configured for execution by one or more processors.”

Right now, all anyone can do is speculate. The patent does show signs of potential for video-recording, video-conferencing and a host of other cool features; whether or not these features will actually come to fruition remains to be seen. We’ll just have to hope Apple doesn’t plan to sit on these patents and twiddle its thumbs.

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Good news to the legions of viewers who spend hours each day glued to a computer display watching videos of cats falling asleep – soon the fun won’t have to stop when connectivity drops. That’s right people, it appears as though the YouTube team is in the process of implementing a video download feature. Sure, there are already about 6,000 different ways to download videos from YouTube but none are as fast and simple as a tiny link beneath the player. To start things off, Google is allowing viewers to download a bit of political content but implementation of the new feature is expected to broaden fairly quickly. Good show YouTube, though we’re not sure exactly how this fits into recent efforts to better monetize the service. Oh well, time to go find some cat vids to download.

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One of our favorite SaaS utilities we’ve been beta testing over the past few months goes by the name of ScreenToaster and if you haven’t had the chance to check it out yet, you’ll want to remedy that very shortly. Built by French startup ScreenToaster SAS, ScreenToaster is a download-free screen recording service that just launched today after a pretty serious beta period including over 10,000 testers from around the globe. In short, it’s awesome. To elaborate slightly, ScreenToaster is a browser-based screen recorder that is compatible with Windows, OS X Linux as long as you can find your way around Firefox 2+, Internet Explorer 7+, Chrome, Opera 9 or Safari. Using the service couldn’t be easier, literally. Go to the site, click the ‘Start Recording’ button, adjust your settings and hit a keyboard shortcut to begin. ScreenToaster will record your full display, or a section you designate, along with audio and even your webcam if you so choose. When you’re ready to stop recording, a simple keyboard shortcut does the trick. The video is uploaded to your ScreenToaster account or a guest account if you haven’t yet signed up, and you can add some finishing touches such as adding subtitles / text and designating your video as public or private. The video will then be hosted on the site for you to watch, share, embed on your site or do whatever esle you want to do with it. ScreenToaster is perfect for light screen recording, sharing, instructional videos, demos and plenty more – definitely have a go with it and let us know what you think in the comments below.

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As much fun as it is to bash the top of your DVD player each of the 135 times your Total Access movie skips during playback, Blockbuster has apparently decided to get serious about movie downloads – sort of. Back in November, Blockbuster finally announced its first set top box offering, allowing users to purchase OnDemand movies on a pay-per-view basis. Yay. Blockbuster’s set top offering, shall we say, hasn’t quite been greeted with open arms, nor has the PC-based download service available on blockbuster.com. That won’t stop the stumbling giant from moving forward and exploring new ways to stay relevant of course, and its latest move is just that. CinemaNow, a movie download service that continues to expand, will now be Blockbuster-branded. While this will make movies bearing the Blockbuster logo available on a new range of devices, it does little to advance Blockbuster in the digital realm – instead, the move simply slaps a more recognizable brand on the CinemaNow service. Offerings are still pay-per-view with titles available to rent or buy, and pricing will remain the same. Blockbuster Chairman Jim Keyes claims that the company is currently examining subscription options but stated nothing finite. Netflix, on the other hand, still offers unlimited movie downloads to all subscribers with a monthly DVD-via-mail plan of $8.99 or higher.

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The rumor mill never stops churning for Apple. The more recent and pervasive ones have been netbooks, an iPhone nano and Steve Jobs’ declining health – and now we can add a larger iPod Touch to the list. According to TechCrunch, three independent sources have more or less said that a larger iPod Touch can be expected by Fall 2009; one of the sources even claims to have held a prototype in hand. If this is true, it could be a nice compromise between a netbook and a tablet. The device reportedly has a screen size somewhere between 7 and 9 inches and will make use of iTunes and the App Store just as the iPhone and iPod Touch do now. While watching shows, movies and browsing the web would be a pure joy on a device like this, for some apps and for use strictly as a music player it may not be be the device of choice. TechCrunch states that Apple is still shopping for a manufacturer in the Asian region so there is obviously no price point to report for the time being. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out as there are certainly plenty of people waiting for Apple to churn out a tablet – would you guys line up on release day?

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Nintendo announced on Thursday that it will offer a streaming video service for its Wii gaming console. The new service will launch in Japan in 2009 and will feature original programming developed by Nintendo and partnering companies. Nintendo has hired the advertising firm Dentsu to promote this new service and recruit companies willing to develop the original programming content. Of the estimated 34.55 million Wii consoles sold worldwide, 40% are connected to the internet and present a potentially large pool of online viewers for aspiring video production companies. Though launching only in Japan, the new service is expected to expand to foreign markets.

If you crave some food while watching your favorite Wii-delivered flick, Nintendo has got you covered starting in Spring 2009. In another Japan-only service, Nintendo will be partnering with the Demae-can.com online food ordering service to allow you to order a meal right through your Wii. A wide variety of cuisine selections will be available including pizza, sushi, Chinese food, Japanese food and Western food. Mood music to match your selection will play in the background during the ordering process. Can’t decide what to eat? Let your Wii decide! The service will have a roulette mode that will randomly make a selection for you. We wonder how this movie and food ordering service will integrate with Wii Fit, rather than asking if you have been snacking or watching TV too much, Wii Fit will now know what and when you have been eating and being a couch potato. Will a tongue lashing ensue after your latest Wii movie watching and food indulging marathon?

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As BlackBerry users sit patiently and wait for the official BlackBerry beta program to FINALLY get under way, Sling Media has just cranked out a new build of its Windows Mobile application with a host of improvements. Most notably, SlingPlayer Mobile now supports 16 additional handsets sporting a range of display resolutions that had previously been unsupported. Is your weapon of choice among the list of newly-supported phones? Look no further:

• AT&T HTC Fuze
• AT&T LG Incite
• AT&T Pantech Duo
• AT&T Samsung Epix
• HP iPAQ 910
• Palm Treo Pro
• Sony Ericsson X1
• Sprint HTC Touch Diamond
• Sprint HTC Touch Pro
• Sprint Samsung ACE
• Sprint Treo 800w
• Verizon HTC Touch Pro
• Verizon Samsung Omnia
• Verizon Samsung Saga
• Verizon XV6900
• Motorola Q9h

The folks over at Sling sure have been busy lately but you know we’re never satisfied… What’s up with an iPhone app fellas? Oh well, hopefully we’ll get there soon enough. In the meantime if you’re a Slingbox owner with one of the devices listed above, definitely click through to the download page and get slinging.

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How low can you go is the question on the minds of potential VUDU owners as the company today announced a new price point for its set top box offering. Regularly $299, VUDU had announced a special deal earlier this year that threw in $200 of free movie credits with a purchase. It is now halving the cost of admission however, as the new price on VUDU’s site was lowered today to $150 including $50 worth of movie credits. VUDU is calling it a Christmas special but we wouldn’t be surprised if we see $99 become a regular occurrence in the near future as the struggling start up continues its attempts to boost sales. The shame of it is that VUDU has an awesome product, as just about any user will tell you, but the competition with cable provider services and other set top box solutions may prove to be too much for the company to handle. Stay strong, VUDU!

Thanks, Dave!

[Via NewTeeVee]

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Remember those Friday nights when you’d rent video tapes by the bundle and watch them all as fast as you can because they were due back in two days and you knew it would take an eternity to rewind each one? Though we’ve come a long way from finely tuning the tracking knob on VCRs for better picture quality, we’re still going to miss these giant cassettes, if not for nostalgia. These days, it’s all about high-definition, Blu-ray and digital sound, and there’s nothing wrong with that. It was bound to happen sooner or later, and Distribution Video Audio in Burbank, CA, the last large-scale distributor of VHS tapes, has shipped its last batch. Anything left over will be given away or thrown away. Farewell, large, black, and cumbersome video tapes! We won’t forget you, until we do of course.

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