Amazon.com now makes available to the general public its video-on-demand service, through which ad-free movies and TV shows can be streamed on Macs, PCs, and Sony Bravia flat-screen TVs, says Cnet News.

“The ability to watch content instantly without downloading first was among the most requested features of our customers, and now it’s live,” Roy Price, Amazon Video on Demand director, said in a statement.

First tested on a limited number of users, Amazon’s service is now open to all.  Customers can instantly watch movies or TV shows via a Web browser on a PC or Mac.  Amazon is also partnering with Sony to enable users to purchase or rent movies and TV shows directly through Sony’s Bravia Internet Video Link device on the Bravia TV sets.

Amazon will continue to offer movies and TV shows for download via its Unbox application.  User’s TV shows and movies are automatically transferred to their Amazon Your Video Library account, where they can be accessed.

I’m taking a little break from blogging.  Back soon.

Fan of summer Olympic sports but can’t always on TV?

Microsoft is working with NBC to provide the underlying technology for what they’re describing as an unprecedented online presentation of the Olympics, says the Seattle P-I.  More than 3,000 hours of on-demand video and more than 2,200 hours of live coverage from China is expected.  Opening ceremonies are scheduled for Friday evening.

Follow your own schedule and view your favorite sports whether they are seen on television or not.  The site, NBCOlympics.com, will be free to use, supported by advertising.

“One objective is to drive people to our broadcasts, but the other is to satisfy the interest and the appetite of the Olympic fan who simply can’t get enough,” said Gary Zenkel, the president of NBC Olympics.  He described it as “the most technically ambitious Internet project to date.”

Microsoft’s Silverlight interactive technology, a rival to Adobe Flash, will play a key part in the “enhanced” online experience. The custom NBC media player is a showcase of Silverlight’s features – such as the ability to watch multiple video streams at once, using picture-in-picture boxes.

Other features to watch for include a window of text-based commentary that people will be able to use to quickly jump to different points.  Rob Bennett, general manager of MSN Entertainment, Video and Sports predicts that the Beijing Olympics will someday be looked back upon as “a turning point in the way that people experience live events, and sports in particular, online.”

Microsoft Research’s new “sphere” display, is being shown today at Microsoft’s Faculty Summit, according to the Seattle P-I.  It is purely a research development, not yet envisioned as a product.  See the article for a video demonstration.

The idea is to see what the technology can do, and how people will use it.  People can touch the surface with multiple fingers and hands to manipulate photos, play games, spin a virtual globe, or watch 360-degree videos.

“It’s really an exploration of ideas,” explained Hrvoje Benko, the Microsoft researcher spearheading the project, during a sneak preview Monday afternoon.

Sphere is a “cousin” of the Microsoft Surface tabletop computer, already being used in some retail and hospitality settings.

The New York Times is reporting today that Amazon is about to take on a new venture, introducing an online store of TV shows and movies called Amazon Video on Demand.  The service, which will allow people to stream entertainment to their computers without long waits for file downloads, will be rolled out to a selected group first for testing, then given wider release later this summer.

Amazon customers using the new store will be able to start watching any of 40,000 movies and television programs immediately after ordering them because they stream.

“For the first time, this is drop dead simple,” said Bill Carr, Amazon’s vice president for digital media. “Our goal is to create an immersive experience where people can’t help but get caught up in how exciting it is to simply watch a movie right from Amazon.com with a click of the button.”

Amazon is also pursuing the technology and media world’s “holy grail” — an Internet pipeline to the TV.  It has struck a deal with Sony Electronics to place its Internet video store on the Sony Bravia line of high-definition TVs.

In the meantime, if you want to curl up on the couch with your laptop — or watch on your big screen monitor — you will soon be able to catch a show from Amazon’s collection.  It will be interesting to see how this venture competes with Netflix’s “watch instantly” movies, and its recently introduced set-top box.  Currently Netflix’s collection is much smaller than what may be available from Amazon, but is available as a free addition to many subscribers.

CrunchGear reports that an Amazon insider leaked the news that two new Amazon Kindle models will be ready for the holiday season, possibly as early as October.

One model is expected to be an updated version of the current Kindle, but with a vastly improved interface.  According to the source, the interface improvement leaps ahead 3 or 4 generations.

The second new Kindle is considerably bigger than the current one, more along the size of an 8 1/2″ X 11″ piece of paper.  Expect both models to come in a choice of colors.  No word on price.  Amazon fairly recently reduced the cost to $359.

If you are in the market for some personal technology but are feeling the current pinch during this economic downturn, you’ll be interested in PC Magazine’s picks for the 20 best products (rating 3 or better) under $100.

Categories include:

• Mobile Phones and PDAs,
• interesting computer peripherals such as mice, flash drives, and video cams,
• digital photo and video equipment
• MP3 players and headphones,
• and printers.
  

Do you remember when Flickr teamed with Moo to introduce mini calling cards with your selected photo on one side and  your contact info on the other?  Now Moo is getting ready to bring you regulation size business cards to relieve the boredom of the ordinary.

You can sign up for the newsletter and receive 20% off your first order when the cards are launched.  See what it is all about in the clever video “Introducing Moo Business Cards” below.  [via Web Worker Daily]

Introducing MOO Business Cards. from Moo Crew on Vimeo.

 Digital Inspiration provides a world time map to the opening of Firefox Download Day. 

This answered my question (and many others I have seen posted already) about when the Firefox fun will begin.

 Get ready to set a Guiness World Record with a Firefox download!

Want to get away but don’t have a particular trip in mind?  TravelMuse, just launched in public beta, may provide inspiration. 

Users are asked a series of simple questions and, using that input, TravelMuse suggests some places they might want to travel, says TechCrunch.  The site also has weekly travel articles from 50 freelance writers.

At the “inspiration finder,” you enter your home airport (trips all seem to revolve around air travel, yuck) and the amount of time you expect to fly, the amount you want to spend, how long you want to be gone, the type of vacation you are interested in (i.e., beach, family, art/museum), and the class of accommodation you want.  

The site then gives you eight matches, ranked by compatibility to your preferences.  A strange thing - but perhaps inevitable given the limited responses the site gives - is that the number of hours you indicate you want to fly is not an “up to” thing, but a pretty exact number.  For instance, I indicated flying for 6 hours from my home airport in the Northwest and got responses taking me to Hawaii, Florida, and similar far-flung places but not to points in between that would take fewer hours.  The choices were nicely varied, though.

The travel suggestions consist of packages that you can select from, when available, and you can read up on local points of interest with the site’s comprehensive database.  The site also facilitates group travel by allowing you to share travel ideas with friends.
 
Although Travelmuse may be a good place to help you get started with planning, it may not give you the best deal pricewise.  Be sure to also check more comprehensive sites like Kayak and good old standbys, Travelocity and Orbitz.