Comcast's Amy Banse just hit the stage at NewTeeVee Live and announced key details about the company's new On Demand Online launch. If you can't check out the video (embedded after the break) here's the important stuff: It will be available at no additional cost to existing subscribers and allow the authorization of up to 3 devices per household. Log in once from home to Comcast.net or Fancast.com, download the Move Networks powered player to authorize your PC and proceed to stream from the very healthy library of VOD, whether at home or anywhere else, despite previous rumors to the contrary. The bad news? Yes, this does still count against the 250GB monthly cap if used at home and still no word on HD streaming, but within the concept of making content available to subscribers wherever they want to view it, this seems like a good first step.

[Via Media Experiences 2 Go]

Following the 5,000 person beta already ongoing, Comcast is apparently ready to deliver the On Demand Online experience to all of its customers by the end of the year, with a few rather significant caveats. At launch one the much hyped placeshifting element of the service will not be live, for the time being you'll need internet and TV service, and it will only work at home. Still, if queuing up last night's ep of Mad Men on your laptop is all you're looking for there should be a decent library of content to choose from with 24 cable networks signed on, and a $0 additional cost for the service. Our excitement level depends mostly on how quickly HD streaming and on the go access becomes a part of the package.

Not wanting to let it's cable and fiber competitors run away with all the streaming fun, AT&T has launched its own streaming video site in the vein of Sling.com and the various TV Anywhere related projects. Currently anyone who checks out the site can view all the content, including some provided by Hulu and CBS Interactive, but the plan is to include some walled off premium video for U-verse subscribers in the future.

Comcast , Time Warner and assorted partners are throwing a big push behind the upcoming On Demand Online / TV Anywhere trial, clearly attempting to preserve their business model and keep customers signed up for cable. You've heard our thoughts so far in video, audio and text, now it's your turn to speak up. So, are you just not that impressed by watching TV on your computer, or do you think on demand place shifting could be the next big thing and a big reason to keep / switch to cable? Pick a response and let us know in the comments below.

We heard that the cable industry (or at least TWC and Comcast) could begin offering up a lot of pay-TV content to subscribers via the web by this summer, but frankly, we didn't believe it. But thanks to new quotes from Time Warner chief executive Jeff Bewkes and DirecTV CEO Chase Carey, you can safely put us in the "believer" camp. Reportedly, TWC is looking to provide pay-TV content via the internet and even on mobile devices for no extra charge. Bewkes even noted that "everything on television should become available to [customers] on broadband for free," which is pretty amazing for a cable guy to say. DirecTV also seems kosher with the idea of giving in before customers simply jump ship, with its head honcho intelligently stating that "in the past, when a company tries to stop or block something from happening, it's usually failed." Oh, and this whole regime could totally be the shot in the arm mobile TV providers have been yearning for.

Read - TWC names TV-by-internet offering
Read - DirecTV following suit