Can XStreamHD pull off its 1080p on-demand service this year?

At CES 2009, a startup company called XStreamHD plans to demonstrate an innovative new satellite delivery system for on-demand, high-definition video...wait a minute, haven't we done this one?

Last January, we called it the "real deal" -- a digitally-streamed, on-demand movie programming service in full high definition, delivered via satellite. At CES 2008, XStreamHD gave the press, including BetaNews, hands-on demonstrations of an innovative HD streaming service -- maybe not quite "on-demand" in terms of time of delivery, but certainly a way to get high-quality movies of the consumer's choice delivered directly into the home, outside of the Internet.

October 2008 -- the projected launch date for this service -- has come and gone. This morning, XStreamHD made the announcement that it has completed a trial run of its Fixed Satellite System (FSS) transport service, and this time, it worked.

That came as something of a surprise to those of us who thought we saw it working the first time.

XStreamHD's plans remain to deploy a movie delivery service using customer premise equipment that serves as the storehouse for consumers' "HD libraries," but that uses other hardware as the selection media, such as a Sony PlayStation 3. Last October, when it was first expected to be going live, the company announced it had selected its choice for audio encoding technologies: UK-based ARC International.

But despite displaying the Sony logo prominently on its Web site, XStreamHD has yet to announce any solid partnerships for movies or HDTV content. It does plan to make another demonstration at CES 2009, where we can expect the satellite delivery system to be demonstrated, and perhaps hardware partner Seagate will make another appearance. But this time, perhaps we'll refrain on hauling out the phrase "real deal" again until we see something more concrete, in association with someone who actually produces videos that a consumer might demand from XStreamHD.