We’re just a few days away from the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) show next week and there are already a few very interesting announcements.  The big one from Microsoft has to do with Silverlight, their go-to service for streaming video.

CONNECTIONS: The Digital Living Conference and Showcase is still months away, but the keynote from Samsung VP Scott Birnbaum is already raising some eyebrows. He’ll be covering the standards, the keynote greatest hits if you will.  He’ll be talking about the future of 3D, and the future of LCD displays.

The iPad has a lot of potential as a secondary media device.  It’s not going to replace that nice plasma in your living room, but if you’re out on the deck, in your office, or in the kitchen and you need some entertainment, it just might do the trick.  That is, as long as there’s content to watch on it.

It’s getting to the point where it seems almost archaic to release a Blu-ray player or a television that doesn’t connect to the internet in some way.  At the least, people expect access to music streaming services and social networking, but video streaming is becoming the norm.  There’s no standard though.  Content differs from provider to provider, and so does quality.

"Many households are working with devices they already have to get the connected-TV experience," says Kurt Schref of Parks Associates. According to the latest study from Parks, there has been a significant increase in the amount of households using an HTPC or game console to get web or network based entertainment onto their screen.