To paraphrase the Blu-ray Disc Association and the Digital Entertainment Group, Blu-ray is "clearly on the path to success" in HD content distribution. But just in case it isn’t, LG and Samsung have decided to add a "Plan B" to their respective BD-300 and BDP-2500/2550 Blu-ray players: Streaming media capability.

Both companies recently announced support for Netflix’ High-Definition (HD) Instant Streaming, via free software updates that are available through each player’s network connections. Instant Streaming is the same service that Netflix announced earlier this year for owners of Xbox 360 and Roku players, and will start off with a selection of about 300 HD movie titles.

Netflix’ streaming service also offers "Watch Instantly," a catalog of over 12,000 movies and TV shows in standard definition that can be viewed on either player, plus TiVo Series 2 and Series 3 set-top boxes.

I’ve previously written about the growing trend towards direct downloads of TV shows and movies, and how it will impact rentals and sales of DVDs, both red and blue laser. There’s no question that video on demand (VOD) and time shifting are having a greater impact with each passing year on how video programming is purchased and viewed.

LG’s and Samsung’s decision to hop on the streaming bandwagon even before all the wheels have been installed clearly shows which way the winds are blowing these days: Direct downloads and DVRs are becoming de rigueur for American households, while trips to the video store to pick up and drop off DVDs are slowly losing their appeal.

Combination BD players with RAM (and ultimately, hard drives) may be big news in the USA, but they’re old hat in Japan. On a recent trip to the Yodobashi Camera store in Osaka, I saw numerous BD players for sale from Sony, Sharp, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, and Pioneer. Not a single stand-alone BD player was seen — every model sported an internal hard drive recorder, ranging in sizes from 250 GB to 1 TB, and each one was set up to record the contents of its DVR to a BD-RE disc.

From a convenience standpoint, a combination DVR with a network interface and BD-RE burner makes perfect sense. No more trips to Blockbuster or your mailbox; just point and click from your couch. And the most logical time to buy a copy of a movie or TV show is after you’ve seen it and decided it’s a keeper, not before.

Of course, that last sentence assumes you’d need to buy a copy at all. Services like Amazon’s Unbox let you download purchased TV shows and movies from their servers whenever you need to. Your virtual media library is accessible anytime with a broadband connection.

Several years ago, companies like Toshiba and Humax tried to sell combination TiVo Series 2 players with DVD recorders, but met with lackluster sales. Now, HDTV and DVRs, along with faster broadband connections, have changed the playing field so much that stand-alone BD players aren’t nearly enough to excite would-be customers these days.

What Blu-ray manufacturers need to bring to market (and what I believe we’ll see by the end of next year) is a combination media player with wireless broadband connectivity, a DVR, and BD-RE capability, just like the BD player/recorders offered for sale in Japan. Oh, and they shouldn’t cost more than $300! (Circuit City currently has the BD-300 on sale for $299).

Now, that’s a product that should sell like hotcakes…