CBS, the owners of TV.com who are currently in a content battle with HULU have recently upped their stake to grab more eyeballs by syndicating their content to iPhone users. Via their new TV.com iPhone application (not available in Canada), they are offering access to a library of content from the CBS network of properties (The CW, Showcase, CNET TV, etc...). 

Full episodes of mainstream network content ranging from Star Trek to C.S.I. can be accessed to users but apparently a lot of shows still aren't available in their entirety, but hopefully that will change over time. Regardless, this is a great first set and will no doubt put pressure on the others content players to follow suit, so bravo to CBS for taking the first step! Now what about us up here in the north?? CBC, CTV, CanWest?? 

Oh and I almost forgot...screw you HULU!  [via NYTimes]

Hulu has decided to pull content from BoxeeTV??! It seems to me that Hulu's content providers got really high on bad shrooms, got paranoid, and decided it's not a good idea to have their shows streamed to your TV through Boxee. A blog posting on the Hulu's website explains in more detail about the decision. CEO Jason Kilar says "While we stubbornly believe in this brave new world of media convergence -- bumps and all -- we are also steadfast in our belief that the best way to achieve our ambitious, never-ending mission of making media easier for users is to work hand in hand with content owners." I applaud their sincerity and understand this can't be fun for him right now.

It really saddens me to think that the media players who can make a difference are choosing to hinder progress and continue to make the same old mistakes. Boxee was a move in the right direction. Do they fear that Boxee will replace cable? Whether its Boxee or another application, internet television will be an option. So why fight progress when they could be benefiting from the initiative of companies like Boxee. Did they not learn from the mistakes of the music industry and a little application called Napster? Well, Apple did and created something called iTunes. 

It looks like Apple is working on a video streaming service called iTunes Replay. The reported service will store purchased videos up in the cloud so you can access and stream the media to multiple devices. 

The company has never really made their big move with AppleTV. Maybe they were too distracted with iPods and iPhones, or just patiently waiting for the right time. Whatever the reason, they tripled sales of AppleTV last year so they know the demand is there. We also know that cloud computing is something Apple is interested in. The launch of the MobileMe service, although a bit of a rough launch, was a sign that they were looking to the clouds.

Storage and streaming makes perfect sense to me. Not only will it save me hard drive space, but my media will be better organized and more accessible.  Downloading files seems so 2006, I'm over it. [via ZDNet]

For most people, figuring out which remotes control which device can be quite frustrating. So the idea of having a universal remote is quite appealing. However, you quickly realize you have to figure out how to program that too?! Pressing sequences of buttons and counting blinking lights or going on a website to configure your remote can be a bit too labour intensive for the everyday person. The Digital R50 with it's LCD screen with setup wizard claims to have you up and running in no time with minimal fuss. It even has a macro feature that allows you to control several commands with one button.

It would be nice if someone could invent a universal remote that could also control web interfaces, my iPod/iPhone and Front Row on the Macbook as well. 

If anyone out there owns a R50, please email me your review on this product. [via Wired]