Hopefully there’s a business model here.
Snag Films is the just-launched site for (free) web-distribution of documentaries via web widgets. Founded by Ted Leonsis, Ex-AOL exec and Chairman of web-widget technology company Clearspring, it’s been dubbed “Hulu for documentaries.”
More from Variety:

IndieWire will supply SnagFilms with archival content, news, analysis, blogs and film reviews. IndieWire will also [...]

XBox news roundup from E3:
A price cut and more storage and interface and functionality upgrades.
Netflix-on-360—finally.
Details:

_For now, Netflix will only stream in about-SD resolution.
_As Netflix transitions to HD, Microsoft said it stands to reason that streaming HD to the Xbox should be feasible.
_Netflix will be for Xbox Live Gold members only, so you’ll be paying that [...]

NAPTE (National Association of Television Program Executives)
LATV Festival
July30-Aug1 2008
The Highlands Entertainment Complex
Hollywood, CA 90028
Digital Day
A lot of good stuff.

I’m mad I didn’t see this sooner. Brought to you by the peeps at From Here to Awesome, with support from Current TV.
DIY Days
Saturday, July 26th
1745 North Spring #4
Los Angeles, CA 90012
How do we sustain ourselves as filmmakers and storytellers in this day of shifting film distribution systems? How do we monetize our film and [...]

Via NewTeeVee:
Roku, the maker of the $99 Netflix streaming set-top box, has told Forbes that it will be updating its software later this year to let the device stream video from other “big name” providers.

YouTube has opened up a channel/section/whatever for long-form indie films, The YouTube Screen Room.
Check out Are You The Favorite Person of Anybody? written by Miranda July and directed by Miguel Arteta, from the Wholphin DVD series.
The YouTube Screening Room is a platform for top films from around the world to find the audiences they deserve. [...]

Netflix dropped it’s first set-top box, dubbed “The Netflix Player by Roku” (Roku is a CE company founded by ReplayTV’s Anthony Wood). The device is strictly for watching “Instant Viewing” streams from your Netflix account.
The Pros:

Cheap ($100)
802.11g wireless
Firmware upgradeable (to what extent remains to be seen)
HDMI
optical audio (though no surround–the Netflix streams aren’t surround anyway)
Movies [...]

Chris Anderson, author of The Long Tail, discusses “free”:
Chris Anderson talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about his next book project based on the idea that many delightful things in the world are increasingly free–internet-based email with infinite storage, on-line encyclopedias and even podcasts, to name just a few. Why is this trend happening? Is [...]

A thought-provoking piece from Joel Johnson (Heh…no relation.) at Boing Boing gadgets. It really is only a matter of time before “little computers” are actually built-into monitors.
In Appledom, iTunes is the future, not AppleTV. AppleTV and other PC-based media centers only exist because no television manufacturer has figured out how to make a passable, [...]

Blockbuster is apparently looking to develop a set-top box to deliver streaming video rentals. While it would seem that such a device would have an advantage in the size of it’s content library, especially after purchasing Movielink, what really differentiates this (assumed proprietary) box from a “cable channel” that you need an additional piece of [...]

Worthwhile: Saving the HDi platform for non-HD DVD media.
MS Don’t Kill HDi! An Open Letter from Format War Frontline
On a technical implementation level HD-DVD was farther along than Blu-ray, even at the time of its death. HDi comprised a powerful tool and a competitor that raised the stakes on its rival, especially because it was [...]

Some action this week.
YouTube wiped some sweat off it’s brow, with a ruling in US District Court denying punitive damages in Viacom’s infringement suit.
Also this week, YT bumped up video quality, killed the YT watermark, and announced an expanded API to begin to position itself as a video distribution and services platform. No word yet [...]

That’s the rumor. Apple+AppleTV can consider it an ass-kicking if it’s true.

KCRW has launched a very cool new web player (BETA!). This should be a model for every station (and TV station, for that matter).
_Listen Live
_Sort/browse by subject:Music/News or Program
_Create playlists
_Share/embed
_RSS subscriptions
_Embedded E-commerce-buy the currently playing music from Amazon or iTunes.

An excellent precedent, and an interesting business move by CBS, even if you have no interest in the NCAA Tournament. Via Silicon Alley Insider.
The NCAA tournament has been one of CBS’s most successful forays on the web, drawing nearly 1.4 million users last year. And putting the games online is one of those moves that’s [...]