Internet video

Taking one more step into the broadcasting world, Google is planning a web-based TV service in partnership with tech giants like Intel, Logitech and Sony. According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, the Google TV effort is in its preliminary stages.

The industry behemoths are reportedly collaborating on software that will help users navigate web-based video programming on traditional television sets. The software would offer a platform on which other developers could launch programs, the Journal reported. The technology could show up in future TVs, Blu-ray players or set-top boxes.

The latest novel from best-selling romance author Jude Deveraux isn't exactly a book. "Promises" is a reading and viewing experience, a digital text in which videos not only complement the narrative but add to it.

"Promises" is one of four online video books being published Thursday by Simon & Schuster Inc. in collaboration with Vook, an Emeryville, Calif.-based startup that integrates text, video and social networking.

Macrovision is on the move. The company has changed its name to Rovi, unveiled a media guide called Liquid, and is partnering with Blockbuster OnDemand.

Liquid seeks to solve the problem of digital-content overload. The media guide aims to connect consumers to entertainment content on the Internet and digital content stored at home, as well as broadcast and cable TV, in one user interface.

Tiny, cheap laptops known as netbooks have been a big success. But not everyone likes their small screens and keyboards, and their processors aren't powerful enough for some common tasks, like playing high-quality Internet video.

Now, Intel Corp. is pushing slightly more powerful chips for slightly larger computers that still have key netbook qualities such as a light weight and long battery life. Could this be a Goldilocks moment for laptops -- when we get machines that are just right?

Parents might get a new reason to yell at their kids for playing video games too much: In the future, it could rack up their Internet bills.

A service unveiled this week aims to stream video games over the Internet, setting gamers on a collision course with cable and phone companies that are seeking to curb growing demands on their networks by charging for heavy usage.

You would be hard-pressed to find a screen today that does not get Internet access. It's not just the PC and the phone -- online content now appears in elevators, in the back of taxis and at your airplane seat. Some companies even tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to get the Internet displayed on a refrigerator door.

So how is it that the Internet has largely escaped the single biggest screen in most of our lives -- the television?

The films are great at this year’s Sundance Festival, of course. Filmmakers and fans come to Park City knowing that they should be given the rigorous selection process for dramas, documentaries, and short films. What I am most impressed by, however, is the emphasis on social media from attendees and organizers alike.

Cisco Systems, the dominant provider of the digital pipes that run the Internet, is making a big play in digital entertainment. The company says it plans to introduce a new line of products in January, including a digital stereo system that is meant to move music wirelessly around a house.

YouTube made two announcements Thursday for Web surfers who want high-definition videos. The company has expanded its HD player and is testing three new landing pages that aim to help the video-watching masses find news, music and movies on the site.

"People are beginning to watch more Internet video on their television and they are beginning to watch more long-form video, so it's inevitable that they are going to want to see higher quality than YouTube has normally provided," said Phil Leigh, a senior analyst at Inside Digital Media.

A Significant Difference