Microsoft today announced agreements with CBS, MTV Networks, Paramount Pictures, Turner Broadcasting System Inc. (TBS Inc.), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment to bring an initial lineup of over 1,000 hours of hit TV shows and movies to Xbox 360 gamers in the U.S. by the end of the year. Furthermore, Xbox 360 will be the first gaming console to bring standard and high-definition TV shows and movies via digital distribution over the Internet directly to the consumer.

Microsoft’s announcement was unexpected, and could prove to be more significant for digital video than the much-hyped Zune. In its announcement, though, Microsoft makes no mention of the platform being open for independent content delivery to Xboxes.

Beginning Nov. 22, on its first anniversary, Xbox 360 will be the first gaming console in history to provide high-definition TV shows and movies directly to gamers in their living rooms. Xbox 360 gamers will have access to the full-length TV shows as downloads to own and movies to rent via download from the Xbox Live network, the worldwide leader in online distribution of high-definition gaming and entertainment content.

This announcement also brings with it several additional “firsts”:

• For the first time, consumers will get an integrated gaming and entertainment experience on a gaming console that includes downloadable high-definition TV shows and movies. This new full-length content adds to the ever-expanding number of choices gamers have on their Xbox 360, whether they want to play games or play a movie on a disc or as a download in high definition or standard definition.
• For the first time CBS will deliver high-definition download-to-own TV shows including “CSI,” “Jericho,” “Numb3rs” and remastered “Star Trek” episodes; gamers can buy them and watch them repeatedly.
• For the first time on any platform, NASCAR.COM will deliver download-to-own condensed versions of select NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races from “Race Rewind.”
• For the first time, the Ultimate Fighting Championship will make 50 of its most intense fights available for download as well as select episodes from the original season of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series.

“This groundbreaking announcement is a win for everyone,” said Peter Moore, corporate vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. “It connects our partners with one of the most coveted audiences in entertainment today, and provides even greater value to our Xbox Live community, allowing them to enjoy the games and entertainment they want, when they want it.”

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NBC Universal today announced that it was laying off hundreds and refocusing its strategy with Internet media in mind.

The company’s new strategy, which they are calling “NBCU 2.0,” is a wide-ranging strategic initiative to assure future growth, streamline and strengthen operations, and exploit opportunities created by the rapidly evolving digital and global marketplace.

“Success in this business means quickly adjusting to and anticipating change. This initiative is designed to help us exploit technology and focus our resources, as we continue our transformation into a digital media company for the 21st century,” said Bob Wright, Vice Chairman of GE and Chairman and CEO, NBC Universal.

The company-wide initiative is expected to reduce the company’s annual administrative and operating expenses by $750 million by the end of 2008. It will also result in workforce reduction of approximately 700 positions, about 5 percent, over the same time period.

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The New York Times reports that Frito-Lay and Chevrolet are planning contests to capitalize on the buzz surrounding user-generated video:

Frito-Lay and Chevrolet, looking to capitalize on the buzz created by user-generated content, are holding ad-making contests, with winners getting money and prizes and their spots used as part of Super Bowl XLI campaigns. Some of the spots will also appear online, giving them a chance to be spread around the Internet virally.In addition, the National Football League expects to announce rules for its own ad contest in the next month.

The Super Bowl spots, unlike some other recent online user-involvement campaigns, will be heavily vetted by the companies and their ad agencies. Frito-Lay will allow consumers to vote for which advertisement should be shown, from five finalists the company will choose. Chevrolet and its ad firm will choose which ad idea to use themselves.

“In both cases, it’s a very tight grip,” said Drew Neisser, president and chief executive of the Renegade Marketing Group, a marketing firm based in New York that is affiliated with Dentsu. Frito-Lay and Chevrolet “are reserving judgment because they have a brand to protect.”

Let’s hope LonelyGirl15 doesn’t reveal her cultish Frito fetish in Danielbeast’s new Chevy.

MotionDSP claims to have developed a real-world version of the image enhancement technology featured in the movie Blade Runner.

In fact, the company wants you to send them crappy cell phone videos so that they can prove their point.

MotionDSP’s technology takes low resolution video, extracts information from each frame, and re-constructs a higher resolution video, enabling faces to be recognized and license plates to be read.

Here’s an example of MotionDSP’s technology in action:

Crappy Low Res Video

Crappy Low-Res Video Enhanced with MotionDSP’s Blade Runner Technology

The examples are interesting, and the company’s timing is good.

If they really want to push the Blade Runner angle, though, they should consider putting some skin jobs in the sample videos, and maybe adding a little futuristic synth music courtesy of Vangelis.
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Google introduced a new feature, embedding videos with a specific starting point, and their announcement goes a long way towards explaining why YouTube has been so successful, and Google Video an also-ran.

From the Official Google Video Blog: New Feature: Embed videos with a specific start point

1. Get the embed code (Click on the ‘Embed - Blog - Post to MySpace’ button, and then the ‘Embed HTML’ link):

2. Copy the code, and insert the following

FlashVars=”initialTime=number”

Where “number” is the time in seconds. For now, you can only specify seconds for embedded videos.

An example of embed code using this time parameter is:

WTF? This may be a nice feature, but obscure features requiring abstruse code aren’t going to make it any easier for Google to compete with the wildly popular YouTube.