Proving to be one of the brightest spots in HDTV broadcasting, HDNet is adding another sport to its lineup of regular high definition television broadcasts. The company says that it has finalized plans to broadcast 80 Major League Baseball games in HDTV during the 2002 regular season. HDNet says the broadcast schedule begins with the Detroit Tigers–Minnesota Twins game on April 13.

Last week, digital video and networking companies Optibase, Lucent, 3Com, DiviCom, ECI Telecom, and Siemens announced that they have formed BigBand Networks in an effort to provide "a new network platform to deliver entertainment-quality content and services combining video, voice, and data over multiple broadband networks including cable, DSL, satellite, and wireless."

The great thing about a video store is being able to walk right in, see what's available on the shelf, and then grab what you like for some instant home theater gratification. The bad thing about video stores is that getting your rental back on time can be a hassle, not to mention the late fees the stores count on to bolster their profits.

Hard-disc–based digital video recorder (DVR) products (aka PVRs or personal digital recorders) such as those sold by TiVo and ReplayTV have been getting a lot of press lately, but only a modest share of consumer dollars. In the few short months since DVRs hit the shelves, ReplayTV has already bailed out of the manufacturing business, and the ultimate fate of TiVo is still unkown. In spite of its shaky start, the DVR category is slated to take off in the next five years, according to a new report from the Yankee Group.