Not that long ago, 1080p Hollywood movies were the domain of Blu-ray, but with Numericable jumping on the full HD VOD bandwagon, followed in short order by DISH Network and DirecTV, it's neighborhood is looking a little crowded. Luckily Strategy Analytics has an $899 report on why Blu-ray is safe -- at least for now -- from competing with service providers, although they also report the BDA is "exploring" DirecTV and DISH's claims of Blu-ray quality movies on demand and will take "appropriate action". We know how cheap you are, so the read link points to the totally free blog entry which you'll is about as skeptical as we were about their supposed picture quality. Of course, since too many HDTV owners aren't even watching high definition, it could be a hard sell convincing them of the difference between Blu-ray and other lower-bitrate 1080p sources.

After ESPNews, now it's time for ESPNU to make the jump to 720p, as promised last year, on August 28. So far Time Warner Cable, Verizon FiOS, RCN, Atlantic Broadband and Broadstripe are signed on to distribute the channel, with ESPN "working on" deals with other providers. The debut event is the Vanderbilt vs. Miami (OH) football game at 7:30 p.m., with ESPN's fourth U.S. high definition station expecting to air over 200 HD events in its first year -- Thursday and Saturday live college football games, plus basketball, lacrosse, baseball, softball, volleyball, wrestling and hockey. Coupled with a 15-year agreement to air SEC matchups on its family of networks, there should be plenty of SPEED on tap for ESPNU HD.

Although you may not have heard much about Bay St. Louis during Hurricane Katrina, it too was ravaged by the storm. As the city continues to pick up the pieces, AT&T has announced that it may be going head-to-head with Mediacom by offering up its U-verse TV service in the area. This isn't the first (nor second) time that we've noticed AT&T ambling for position in Mississippi, though a deal here seems much closer than in other areas. AT&T has already pitched its services to councilmen and it already agreed to pay the city the same rates as Mediacom. Still, the deal isn't quite nailed down just yet -- a number of bigwigs still have to sign off, and there's nothing to say that the two parties will eventually meet on terms. Fingers crossed, though.

[Thanks, Robby]

Maybe you haven't noticed, but Verizon has been throwing FiOS TV to Washington cities on a really regular basis. This week, we see Woodway awarding the carrier with a video franchise, while nine more New Jersey cities -- including parts of Salem County, the city of Camden and the city of Paterson -- get the luxury of ordering. Finally, we've got much of Stafford County, Virginia expecting to receive the fiber-based programming service in the future, though Verizon only promises that rollouts will begin "later this summer," with the rest of the place having to wait anywhere between a few months and a few years to get covered. We'll see you next week -- here's to hoping your neck of the woods gets covered within the next seven days.

Read - Virginia expansion
Read - New Jersey expansion
Read - Washington expansion

We'll be frank -- we're getting a little tired of AT&T patting itself on the back each time a U-verse locale reaches its first birthday, but we figured it prudent to point out that said services are now available to over a quarter-million living units in the greater Sacramento area. Since launching in (you've got one guess)... August of last year, the fiber-based programming / internet / digital phone service has expanded to cover select parts of Carmichael, Fair Oaks, Folsom, Gold River, Lincoln, Rancho Cordova, Rocklin, Loomis, El Dorado Hills, Stockton, Modesto, Ceres, Fairfield, Vacaville, Mountain House and Tracy. We appreciate the kind words for yourself, but how's about a little gift for those loyal customers? Say, a few new HD channels?

Just over a year ago, we heard that AT&T would be sinking hundreds of millions of dollars into the Carolinas in an attempt to "upgrade its fiber network, further broadband deployment, and deliver internet-based technologies to customers in North Carolina and South Carolina." Now, we're beginning to see signs of life. According to this nondescript job posting on Craigslist, AT&T is scouting residential field agents specifically for U-verse in the Raleigh / Durham, NC region. Sure, this could very well be a hoax of some strange kind, but we can't possibly be more hopeful that it's not. Hey TWC -- is this enough to get you to add a few HD channels to your absolutely abysmal selection in the Triangle?

[Thanks, Jonathan]

Though probably not as niche as Rural Free Delivery (RFD HD), World Fishing Network HD still has a pretty narrow audience. That being the case, there's still some logic to pushing the channel in rural parts of America or in regions with nearby fishing outlets. Call us crazy, but New York City is not the first place that comes to find when someone mentions deep sea fishin'. Nevertheless, Verizon has just announced that WFN HD has arrived in the Big Apple on FiOS TV, giving transplants an easy way to get back in touch with their small town roots. There's no word on when the station will hit other FiOS TV areas, but we'd bet it'll be making the rounds soon enough.

Ons Net, a FTTH provider in The Netherlands, has just cranked up a new promotion that should be music to the ears of consumers in that area of the world. Starting on September 1st, HDTV programming will be offered up for free with the purchase of its digital television package. Currently, said tier contains 51 channels for €7.50 ($11), and an additional 20 channels can be purchased for €3.95 ($6). Granted, you will need to purchase a set-top-box for €149.95 ($223), but that's a minuscule price to pay for gratis access to Discovery HD, Brava HD and soon-to-come HD versions of Dutch and Belgian public channels, right?

[Via Broadband TV News]

For the second week in a row now, we've got quite a few locales getting blanketed (or at least getting set for coverage) by FiOS TV. Verizon has announced that its fiber-based television / high-speed internet services are now available in Covina, West Covina and Sepulveda, California. Furthermore, Washington state is getting even more FiOS TV love by awarding the carrier a video franchise in Woodinville. We wrap this week up with confirmation that said service is finally headed to Newburgh, New York after initially hearing that a deal was in the works last December. We'll see you next week -- here's to hoping your neck of the woods gets covered within the next seven days.

Read - California expansion
Read - Washington expansion
Read - New York expansion

Take this one with a hearty helping of salt for now, but we've received a bit of information that hints strongly at AT&T revealing a whole home DVR (possibly dubbed Total Home DVR) in the very near future. Unfortunately, details about the unit itself are still few and far between -- we've no idea who will be manufacturing it, and we can't confirm / deny whether it'll revolutionize your life (or the way you see U-verse TV). Still, we've reason to believe that the provider will be coughing up the official verbiage soon enough, so keep an eye out.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

The cable industry keeps going out of its way to mention tru2way is open to all, so after Verizon blasted the tech in a letter to the FCC as inhibiting technical innovation, here's National Cable & Telecommunications Association CEO Kyle McSlarrow's waved his hand and sent over this bit of suggestion. Apparently the NCTA is happy to have Verizon as a friend in attempting to rid cable boxes of those icky FCC-mandated FireWire ports (since Ethernet is a suitable replacement, according to them), but wants to clear up the misconception that tru2way devices are incompatible with cable alternatives (satellite, fiber, etc.) since hey, you can still use a set-top box just like you do now. Unfortunately since many of us have the "misconception" that we'd prefer devices that worked with any provider without requiring additional hardware, that's probably not going to cut it. Empty gesture or a real effort towards a unified set of standards across all providers? Take a look at the letter (warning: PDF read link) and decide for yourself.

[Via Cable Digital News]

São Paulo, Brazil stand up, you're first in line for auto-stereoscopic (read: no glasses) 3D IPTV broadcasts courtesy of Telefónica/TVA and, we assume, that swank WOWvx-powered 1080p 52-inch Philips 3D HDTV promised to hit shelves by year end. Fortunately it now has a price, unfortunately, that price is €18,000 and requires you live in the Jardins neighborhood, hooked up to its fiber network in order to have the capacity to suck down all that 3D. Consumer accessibility is pegged at "inside three or four years", so you start saving, the SMPTE will figure out how to make it all work, and we'll sit back and remember how awesome Captain EO was that one time at Epcot Center. Everyone has to do their part.

Verizon's latest push to get you to switch from your current carrier revolves directly around high-def, as it's offering new customers a HD DVR or HD Home Media DVR for a full year should they sign up before October 4th. According to Shawn Strickland, vice president of video solutions for Verizon, FiOS TV is "delivered over the network that's built for HD," and it's doing its best to ensure that everyone out there knows it. So, do any of you other providers care to match this, or will the leapfrog game end here?

[Image courtesy of PCMag]

Shortly after breaking the semi-magical 500,000 subscriber mark, AT&T's executive vice president of content Dan York sat down for an interview on the future of U-verse. The bigwig made known that U-verse TV's long-term HD plans were still undisclosed, though "north of 100 [HD channels]" were in its near-term sights. He also insinuated that HD VOD was still aways out, though he did acknowledge that "HD is clearly important to consumers." He also hinted that more substantial changes could come to the service once the really magical one million subscriber mark was passed, suggesting that it could leverage better deals and possibly more content by being able to claim a cool million on the roster. It's a fairly interesting read if you're interested in AT&T's take on IPTV -- we're just anxious to see it come to more places.

[Via SmartBrief]

AT&T already has a small TV footprint in Kansas City, and now neighboring Kansas is finally getting some U-verse love. As of this week, Wichita-area residents have one more choice when it comes to programming, as U-verse TV, high-speed internet and digital phone have arrived. As always, there's no telling whether your domicile is within range, so go ahead and cross your fingers while making the call.