On Monday November 1st, the day before the Streaming Media West show begins, we have four different workshops including one on HTML5 And Web Video Standards. The workshop will focus on the HTML5 video standard and the various options out there to support it, and will even take a look at the code of a few live HTML5 video deployments, such as the Wikipedia live video beta.

Hosted by leading organizations in the open video movement—HTML5video.org and the Open Video Alliance—this workshop will highlight the benefits and challenges of working with the up-and-coming standard, the current status of HTML5 video in the market, and help differentiate between reality and hype regarding the various video standards out there today.

Using promo code DRF1 you can register online for the workshop and go to both a morning AND afternoon workshop for only $245. That’s six hours of hands-on training and you can choose from four subjects including:

• HTML5 and Web Video Standards
• Flexible Delivery and Interactive Experiences on the Adobe Flash Platform
• Live Streaming With Microsoft and Silverlight
• Encoding H.264 Video for Streaming and Progressive Download

You can also register online for the entire Streaming Media West show and get $300 off by using my personal discount code of DRF1. Have questions about the workshops? Send me an email and I’ll be glad to answer them.

It's been almost six months since the WebM Project launched at the Google I/O conference with a developer preview and at the Streaming Media West show in LA on November 3rd, members of the WebM team will give an update on the overall project. As the WebM team nears a major release of VP8, code named Aylesbury, members of the WebM community will give an update on the improvements that community developers have made to the VP8 video codec, availability of WebM content, hardware and tools, and plans for future development.

You can register online for the Streaming Media West show and get $300 off by using my personal discount code of DRF1. Have a question about the show? Someone you want to meet? Reach out to me and I'll be happy to make an introduction.

At the Streaming Media West show in LA (Nov. 1-3), we've got a great lineup of content owners and device manufactures discussing how streaming video is changing the television landscape. Come hear from executives at NBC, Fox Sports, CBS, Yahoo! and others as they talk about how they are taking advantage of this connected platform to deliver content. Learn how online video based subscription offerings might affect cable companies and how they are capitalizing on this trend. Confirmed speakers include:

• Moderator: Paul Alfieri, VP, Communications, Marketing, Limelight Networks
• Matt Weisbecker, VP, Sales, Western Region, NBC Universal Digital Media
• Sibyl Goldman, VP, Entertainment, Yahoo!
• Jeff Clark, VP, CBS.com
• Bhavesh Patel, VP, Interactive Media, Fox Sports International

You can register online for the Streaming Media West show and get $300 off by using my personal discount code of DRF1. I'm also happy to assist any attendee who needs an introduction to any of our speakers or exhibitors on the show floor at the event.

On Wednsday November 3rd, Boxee's CEO Avner Ronen will present his thoughts on the Internet TV landscape in a presentation at the Streaming Media West show in LA. Enjoy a guided tour with Avner through the Internet TV platforms including Google TV and Apple TV and learn what consumers keep asking him for and how he sees the competition stacking up. Come see the Boxee Box in action and hear all about the new TV platforms that arrive this fall.

You can register online for the Streaming Media West show and get $300 off by using my personal discount code of DRF1 – And keep an eye on my blog as I'll be giving away some Boxee units as soon as they ship.

While this isn't the first time that DirecTV has promoted that customers can get some movies from them faster as opposed to Netflix, over the weekend DirecTV started running a new series of commercials taking aim at Netflix's 28-day window. I can't link to the video as I can't find it online, but in the commercial, DirecTV highlights the Russel Crowe Robin Hood movie on the screen and tells Netflix customers that with DirecTV, they don't have to wait to get 30 days to get new movies.

While DirecTV's commercial is accurate, I found it funny that they used the Russel Crowe Robin Hood movie as an example. For all the talk of online movie platforms, streaming devices and 28-day windows, nearly ever online movie service on the market has the exact same content. On the Xbox 360, one of the featured movies in the Zune Video channel is Robin Hood. And when you launch iTunes and select movies, it's Robin Hood they highlight. PS3, Ronin Hood. Amazon Video On Demand, Robin Hood. Even firing up an old VUDU device, Robin Hood comes up number two. CinemaNow, Robin Hood. That's six different online movie services all promoting and highlighting the exact same content.

For all the talk of how different these services are suppose to be, I find that when it comes to the content available for streaming, nearly all of them are identical. Sure, there are some services that have a deeper catalog of content, or more content in HD, but I don't know of any online movie service today that has an "exclusive" for movies and most TV shows.

I currently stream movies using platforms including Netflix, Zune Video, PlayStation Network, Blockbuster, iTunes, CinemaNow and VUDU across devices like Roku, Xbox, PS3, Apple TV, TiVo, Sony Netbox, WD TV Live Plus and others and frankly, there are not that many differences between them. The devices look different but the platforms and most importantly the content, are all nearly identical.

Right now, no one service really stands apart in the online movie space and until one of them starts buying exclusive rights to content, I don't see that changing anytime soon.

Earlier in the year, Netflix signed deals with Twentieth Century Fox, Universal and Warner Brothers agreeing not to rent new DVDs by mail for 28 days from the date the DVD goes on sale. Yesterday, Netflix confirmed it has agreed to a similar deal with Sony and the 28-day window for their content. In exchange for Netflix agreeing to the studio's terms, Netflix says they get access to more digital content allowing them build up their inventory of streaming titles faster. But the problem I see with this approach by Netflix is that their inventory of streaming content hasn't really grown by a large percentage over the past two years.

In January of 2008, Netflix confirmed it had about 12,000 titles available for streaming. In September of 2009, ads on their website put that number at 17,000. Today, it appears that Netflix has about 20,000 titles for streaming, although Netflix won't confirm that number for me. If that number is accurate, it means that Netflix has only added about 4,000 movies a year for the past two years. That's not a lot of content.

The problem I have with these deals is that neither Netflix nor any of the studios are willing to say just how much digital content Netflix gets or how new any of that content is. If this deal is so good for Netflix users, why won't they give out any specifics? As a Netflix user, I want to know what I am getting by giving up the ability to get new movies by mail when they come out. I would think Netflix would want to reinforce that with customers by telling them that they may not be able to get new movies, but look at all this other great stuff you get in return. Netflix simply tells their customers that these deals are good for us, with no details for us to decide for ourselves.

Why should we believe that the consumer is the one that is really going to benefit from this when it appears that only the studios and Netflix benefit? Because Netflix agrees to the 28-day window, the studios charge Netflix less for the DVDs when they go to buy them. And because of the window, the studios get to try and sell more DVDs to us, even though consumers are asking for more first-run digital content. We're not asking to buy more DVDs. So I see the benefit to Netflix and the studios, but what about the Netflix customer?

I'm sure many will point to the recent licensing deals Netflix has done with EPIX and other content owners to argue that Netflix is growing their inventory of digital content quickly, but the number of titles available for streaming don't back that up. Netflix is spending a lot of money now on licensing digital content, yet the company doesn't answer any questions about what their inventory looks like, the number of titles available, or any details on how old or new their digital inventory is. And while Netflix is quick to tell us about all the new licensing deals they do, they never mention when many of their older deals expire and that content is removed from the watch now inventory. The number of titles available for streaming is going up, but based on everything we have seen so far, I would argue that Netflix's inventory of digital content simply isn't growing fast enough.

Disclaimer: I am a long time Netflix customer and love the service.

On Wednesday at 2pm ET, come join me as I moderate a Q&A session entitled "Video Delivery in the Enterprise" with Adobe’s product manager Kelash Kumar in our next installment of StreamingMedia.com's Ask Adobe Web Event Series. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to ask Adobe all about their new enterprise Flash Media Server and get your questions answered on the topic of delivering high quality video for live and on-demand communications and training within your organization. The webinar is free and you can sign up here.