DVRs

Italian telephone company Fastweb launched Chili TV, a broadband video-on-demand service offering Web surfers a combination of free movies, rentals, and titles that can be purchased.

Verizon launched a new version of its Interactive Media Guide for FiOS TV subscribers in a few small markets with several new features, including a mosaic screen displaying thumbnail videos from the most popular channels at any given time.

A Silicon Valley-based social-TV/programming-discovery company which bills itself as having been founded by veterans of Google, Microsoft, IDEO, MTV Networks and Stanford University's artificial intelligence program has recently emerged from stealth mode with two new products and a partnership with MTV.

Rovi Corporation today announced TotalGuide xD, a customizable advanced media guide that connects and extends the cable video experience from set-top boxes to mobile devices, including tablets and smart phones. TotalGuide xD provides multiple system operators (MSOs) with a solution that addresses the rapid changes taking place within the digital entertainment market, as entertainment consumption quickly moves to an ‘anytime, anyplace' experience.

Hulu signed a new content partnership with Viacom that will bring the entertainment giant's programs back to web video viewers - but much of it will be behind Hulu's new subscription pay wall.  

Internet connected TV's are on the rise according to media research publisher Futurescape. In five years almost 40% of TVs produced in the US will have at least one TV set in the home with internet connections. Samsung is a little bit more aggressive with their numbers. They predict 70% of all their TVs will be internet connected by 2014 even though they are only at 17% right now.

Feared a decade ago as a killer stalking the TV-advertising model, DVRs are proving less of a threat than many people feared.

Connected TVs and set-top devices enabling consumers to view video from across the Internet on TVs could ultimately drive online video ads and marketing content budgets. The online video ad segment should grow at a 39% compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) during the next five years, becoming a more than $5 billion market by 2014, estimates analyst firm Piper Jaffray, which released a series of reports Monday related to IPTV.