Please follow DHS developments throughout the day on Twitter using #dhs11.

We’re thrilled to have Roku join this panel and the overall event, given their unique insight into OTT video and set-top-boxes. Rajeev will bring an important perspective to the event

Blockbuster is already taking shots at Netflix on its own website, pointing out the 60% price hike, while promoting its Blockbuster Total Access offering. Despite losing vast market share to competitors in recent years, Blockbuster still operates some retail store outlets, along with a DVD mail and on-demand OTT video service.

Blockbuster could be choosing a good time to launch their service as online video watching reached a record-high earlier this year, in June, according to comScore. Over 179 million U.S. internet users watched video online in June.

Come hear leading carriers including Verizon, Cox, Nex-Tech, AT&T, Ringgold Telephone, DirecTV, Kaplan Telephone, and others as they share their digital home vision and strategy. Digital Home Summit attendees also gain access to FTTH Conference educational sessions and the FTTH Expo on Wednesday September 28th. The Digital Home Summit is brought to you by telecompetitor.com.

Reed is a Technical Lead for IPTV Service Delivery Technologies and Testing, where he has been developing and testing AT&T’s U-Verse™ since 2004.  He is also a member of the board of directors and serves as chair of the technical committee for the HomePNA Alliance, and is an alternate board member for the Home Grid Forum.

Digital Home Summit would also like to welcome two new sponsors.  Cloverleaf Digital, a leading independent provider of interactive IPTV applications, has just signed on as a Silver Sponsor. And the networking reception on Tuesday, September 27 will be sponsored by the HomePlug Powerline Alliance, an industry initiative to create specifications, marketing and certification programs for HomePlug technology and powerline networking.  Only a few sponsorship opportunities remain.  To find out more about available sponsorships, please download the prospectus.

The Epix TV network will stream recently released movies weeks before they appear on DVD, during the period of time they’re available pay-per-view in what’s known as the “pay-TV” window.

Epix is the first of what Roku’s calling “authenticated TV channels.” Epix doesn’t offer retail subscriptions; rather it’s chosen to partner with cable or broadcast networks distributors, ISPs or OTT video providers, such as Roku, in order to reach viewers. Hence, those who want to stream Epix HD movies online will need to have subscriptions to a cable, satellite or telco provider that offers Epix subscriptions. This includes subscriptions to service providers’ cable and broadband services.

Roku viewers will have to “authenticate,” or prove that they subscribe to Epix through a cable, satellite or telco service provider. They will then have to go through a linking process similar to that done for other Roku subscription channels, such as Netflix or Hulu.

Epix is currently available to Charter, Cox, Dish Network, Mediacom, Suddenlink and Verizon FiOS subscribers. Roku’s offering a 14-day free trial of the service for customers of these service providers that don’t subscribe to Epix, as well as those who are subscribers to service providers that don’t currently distribute the Epix service. You can check out www.epixhd.com for more info.

SEP 2, for Smart Energy Profile 2.0, is an emerging “technology-agnostic” standard established in 2009 by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to coordinate development of alternative smart grid and home networks and associated consumer electronic devices. The first-generation standard supported ZigBee but not IP.

The SEP 2.0 consortium will establish a joint certification and test program for wireless and wired devices supporting smart energy applications and end-user devices such as thermostats, appliances and network gateways.

“As the hybrid wireless and wired home of the future takes shape, the need for easy interoperability becomes key,” said Rob Ranck, president of HomePlug Alliance. “We are excited to bring HomePlug Alliance’s strong expertise to this collaboration and help provide a robust certification program.”

“The smart grid will be comprised of all types of devices connecting in many different ways, and we must ensure those devices interoperate and communicate seamlessly, regardless of how they connect,” said Edgar Figueroa, Wi-Fi Alliance CEO. ”This collaboration represents a groundbreaking step in the industry. Through this collaboration, the smart grid ecosystem will benefit from interoperable smart energy products that use some of today’s most popular connectivity technologies.”

The 42″ Insignia Connected TV powered by TiVo Design is priced at $699.99. The 32″ model goes for $499.99. No paid subscription to TiVo is required.

The connected Insignia HDTVs integrate Internet with existing cable or satellite television services and include TiVo’s user interface and “certain search capabilities,” which enables viewers to search broadband video by title, actor, director, keyword and other criteria.

Also built in is access to Web entertainment services, including OTT video from Netflix and Best Buy’s CinemaNow, as well as music from Pandora and Napster.

“The amount of content available on the Internet is expanding rapidly and at the same time it’s becoming increasingly difficult to navigate and find the programs viewers want to watch all from one source,” said Jim Denney, TiVo vice president of product marketing. “Teaming with Best Buy to integrate TiVo’s intuitive HD user interface into their Insignia Connected TVs is a way to help consumers get the most out of their television experience and enable them to find what they want to watch.

“From our perspective, this is another important distribution channel to deliver the TiVo experience to an ever greater number of television viewers who are increasingly looking to embrace and manage over the top content. Embedding TiVo’s user interface directly onto the television is a logical next step and showcases the power of TiVo beyond the DVR.”

Those interested can learn more at www.bestbuy.com/insigniaconnectedtv.

We’re also thankful to CHR Solutions for becoming our latest sponsor. CHR will sponsor the event’s luncheon.

“How consumers tune in differs greatly across services,” according to a Nielsen research survey. The majority of Netflix users, for instance, said they watch Netflix content on a TV screen. In contrast, 89% of Hulu viewers said they watch directly via computer.

Half of all Netflix users said they connect to the streaming OTT service via a game console, including Wii, PS3 and Xbox Live. Forty-two percent reported watching Netflix content directly via computer.

The means viewers used to run OTT video services through their TVs also varied. One-fifth of Hulu users and 14% of Netflix users said they streamed content by connecting their computers to their TVs. Viewers are also using a variety of OTT set-top boxes to do so, citing Roku Box, Google TV and Apple TV.

Differences in what viewers were watching seems to reflect Neflix and Hulu’s respective content strengthens and focal points. Seventy-three percent of Hulu users primarily watch TV shows as compared to 11% for Netflix users. Fifty-three percent of Netflix users, in contrast, said they primarily watch movies, while 9% of Hulu users said so.

When it comes to watching both TV and movies via OTT services, twice as many Netflix users as compared to Hulu users said they watch movies and TV shows equally.