News.com is reporting this morning that Aeon Digital, a privately held firm specializing in IPTV-over the Internet has confirmed a licensing agreement with NBC Universal. The service will be made available via a $299 DVR available at retail and will use Microsoft’s Windows Media technology for delivery.

Upon further inspection, Aeon Digital has ambitious plans for their products. Two integrated LCD-TV and two set-top box products. Features of the DV-220 STB-include:

• IPTV Support
• 200 hour DVR with ability to archive to your PC. No mention of CableCard support though 🙁
• Streamed playback of music, photos, and video from your PC
• Component, composite and S-Video outputs
• Built-in 802.11g WiFi router with VOIP support,uPnP, NAT firewall
• Built-in EPG (Program Guide)

Movies such as “Ray” and the “The Motorcycle Diaries” will be made available as well as what looks like some tier-2 television programming. No details were provided on pricing.

This is a good step in the right direction. For now, this looks to be a contender for stand-alone TiVo Series 2 competition at retail but for the serious enthusiast, without HDTV and CableCard support, it leaves me a bit wanting. But it does signal an interesting trend- the logjam of IP-accessible content from big-name providers appears to be straining thanks to a lessening of fear (and interest in making more money) via these types of solutions by the content providers.

Blogging Devices Movies Tech Television Windows Media Windows Media Player XP Media Center