Sony’s Google TV-powered television makes a splash at IFA in Berlin

Sony-which is partnering with Goolge and Logitech on the development of Google TV–says it will roll out a 46-inch, Goolge TV-powered connected television in the U.S. this fall, and is demonstrating a set running on the Android OS at the IFA show in Berlin. Sony says the first set to hit the U.S. market will be a 46 inch HDTV, with a 1.2 GHz Intel Atom CE4100. Google’s brand name, and the strength of its partners, could help it step into the space aggressively

App helps iPhone users transfer large HD video files

It sometimes can take an eternity to send large HD video files from an iPhone, but a new iPhone app, aptly called TransferBigFiles, allows users to send the files in the background using WiFi or 3G for up to 10 minutes-no need to connect to a computer. The free app also will pick up where the transfer left off if you drop your signal. The company says it’s the first app of its kind on the market for iPhone. “With all of the excitement around the iPhone’s new HD video capabilities, we want to make sure users have the best possible experience when sharing those videos and photos with others,” said Hamid Shojaee, CEO of TransferBigFiles.com

Apple introduces revamped Apple TV device

Apple unveiled its newest iteration of Apple TV yesterday, introducing a $99 device that’s roughly the size of a wallet and bears little internal resemblance to its predecessor. The set-top box-not, by the way, called iTV as rumored-is designed to stream video content from Apple’s iTunes store, eliminating the need for storage or syncing and is capable of 720p output. Jobs said the new Apple TV would be available in about four weeks. The device is powered by the A4 processor, the same Apple-produced chip that is in the iPad, and a big upgrade from previous model that relied on the Intel Pentium M processor. Although Apple didn’t say if Apple TV is running on iOS or OS X, it did say the Apple TV initially won’t have apps to run, so it’s essentially a moot point.

Apple, Amazon and Sony join race for VOD prize

Repeat after me: Change is good, change is good… You might as well get comfortable with it, because after today there’s very little about the over-the-top delivery space that isn’t going to get some major tweaking.

Rumor: Sony planning new movie and music rival to iTunes

Sony showed off Qriocity, a service that would allow users to download movies at CES early this year, but made no promises about when it might launch, although there were rumors it would hit the market in February. Well, now Sony is rumored to be announcing a new music and video download service that would be available across all of the company’s connected devices, starting with the PlayStation game console. Launch date? Sometime next year, reports the Financial Times . The announcement is expected at the IFA tech show in Berlin sometime today (likely before Apple splashes its latest news this afternoon).

Boxee releases new beta with streaming movie library

Boxee , one of the best all-in-one media center apps, has just released a new beta that introduces a l ibrary of full-length streaming movies . Boxee was already famous for letting you watch and listen to streaming content on your computer, and hook the whole thing up to your TV, too, but its new partnerships with indie movie sites make it even better. With Boxee, you already have Netflix, YouTube and other sources at your fingertips, but in terms of free full-length movies, it’s been tricky for Boxee to find partnerships (there’s been a long history of drama with Hulu , for example)

Report: Justice Dept. dialing in on Comcast-NBCU deal

The other shoe finally has dropped in Comcast’s bid to acquire NBC Universal. While the FCC has been taking a hard–and public–look at the deals impact on the burgeoning online video industry, The Wall Street Journal reports that the Department of Justice also has been combing through the details of the $13.7 billion deal for the past eight months. Its focus: Whether Comcast is part of a cable and satellite effort to box out Internet video players from getting access to television programming rights. The agency’s focus reportedly is on whether Comcast–once it acquires NBCU–will make it more difficult for Internet companies to compete.

Hulu Plus gets a big minus for premium content mix

Have you upgraded to Hulu Plus? You may be a little disappointed in the amount of content you’re getting for that $10 a month. In fact, One Touch Intelligence recently analyzed the available content on the online video catch-up service and found that only about 12 percent of the content Hulu Plus users paid for wasn’t already available for free on the standard Hulu. Aside from the premium content available on Hulu Plus, users have few additional reasons to be thrilled with the service. The Plus service carries the same ad load as does the free service, it’s not available for any mobile platform outside of Apple’s iPad and iPhone, and much of the premium content is available elsewhere eventually.

It’s not Netflix, but Clicker’s iPhone app does offer a lot of Web TV

Clicker.com is like the TV guide of web shows (and TV shows online). It doesn’t get as much hype as Netflix and Hulu, but does offer a lot of video content. Clicker is mostly worth talking about because of the iPhone app , though.

MPEG LA Says H.264 Will Be Royalty Free For Life, For Content That Is Free

With all the talk of Apple devices, the Flash platform and the H.264 codec, there has been a lot of speculation in the industry on what MPEG LA planned to do when their current H.264 licensing terms expired in 2015. Today, MPEG LA put part of that speculation to rest as they have announced that they will not charge royalties for Internet video that is free to end users.

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