In a recent review of Sony's management of their vulnerable Playstation line, President and proclaimed "father of Playstation", Ken Kutaragi has been removed of his President status. In a recent move, he will now no longer be involved in day-to-day decisions of the Playstation line. Head of the US department in Playstation, Kazuo Hirai will now take over his position.
That's not to say that Kutaragi isn't going to have an integral part in Sony, only not directly involved in what they do with their Playstation line in the future. He's been reappointed to Chairman (as opposed to President and COO). In Japan, the title of Chairman does not hold the same respect as Cheif Operations Officer. Part of this could be blamed for delays in their new PS3 console and less than stellar sales of their PSP. With an anemic launch in both Japan and the US, coupled with a delayed European launch until March, Sony was none too happy about Kutaragi's handling of their flagship console.
Russia has bowed under the U.S. pressure and has agreed to investigate the legality of the controversial AllofMP3.com music service.
As Russia signed an agreement with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, in order to get an entry to the World Trade Organization, it has agreed to take action against digital piracy. U.S. Trade Representative has issued a press release stating that Russia will "investigate and prosecute companies that illegally distribute copyright works on the Internet". So, this incldues AllfMP3.com and other similar services that operate in Russia.
The problem is, however, that AllofMP3 is a legal service under the current Russian copyright legislation. The company sells music over the Net for extremely cheap price, without DRM hassle and allows customers to freely choose the audio compression method and quality they wish to have their music encoded with. As a summary, the site works exactly like a good legal online distribution channel should work, in order to fight against P2P networks. The problem, U.S. government and the lobby groups behind its demands, has with AllofMP3 and other similar services is that the royalties the companies pay to labels, are minimal or non-existent -- but still in line with the current Russian legislation.
A lawyer defending Net users that have been sued by the music industry's lobby group, RIAA, claims that the evidence -- or actually the lack of it -- in one of the cases RIAA is pushing in courts, if accepted, would effectively shut down the whole Internet.
The lawyer, Ray Beckerman, tells in an interview on DefectiveByDesign about a real case, Electro vs. Barker, in which, the recording industry, in its complaint, doesn't even bother to "specify any acts or dates or times of copyright infringement as the law normally requires". As the case proceeds in the courts, RIAA has made a statement that merely making files available on the internet is in and of itself a copyright infringement. "It was a shocking argument because if it were accepted it would probably shut down the entire internet", Beckerman says.
MPAA, obviously, has put in a brief supporting the RIAA's case. More interestingly, also the U.S. Government has filed a brief supporting RIAA's side in the case.
Sony officially announced what most of us considered obvious, the first wave of PS3 was sold out. No exact figure has been given, but some sources estimate not more than 200,000 units. The "small" number of PS3 launch units was however assisted by company's flag-bearing handheld and current gen console.
The sold-out PS3 had obviously more demand than supply, and the 15,000 PS3 units sold on eBay for an average price of $1,200 speaks for itself. Luckily for Sony, they have a pretty strong lineup with PS2 and PSP, the first-mentioned increased sales more than 100 percent and the latter almost tripled the sales.
The second patch for PS3 is out, the patch updates PS3 firmware to v1.11, but no details have been shared. Some speculate that the patch affects Music settings, others that it adds an icon to Account Management, yet no clarifying information. You can download the patch via PS3 System Update feature. Sony also set a limit of 500MB for the downloadable PS3 games, according to Sony Computer Entertainment Santa Monica director John Hight this was done strictly "to keep download times reasonable."
Sales figures show that Nintendo's newest console, the Wii have been racking up high sales numbers since its US launch just two days after rival Sony's vulnerable PS3.
Launched on November 19th in the North American market, Nintendo reports that some 600,000 units have flown off shelves, trumping the 400,000 units supplied by Sony. The third player in this console line-up is that of Microsoft and their Xbox 360 which launched a full year ago. Sales figures also show that Microsoft received strong numbers due to limited supplies in stores of the PS3 and Wii. Looks like greedy gamers "settled" on an Xbox 360 just to have a next generation system. Although, I'm none too sure just how much of a settling that would be.
Nintendo hopes to ship some four million units to the US and Canada by the end of the year which dominates Sony's figure of only one million units. Additionally, the Wii sells for a mere $250; half the amount of the stripped down PS3 version.
Nintendo will launch the Wii in the UK on December 8th retailing at £179. In contrast, Sony has stated that the European audience will not see its console until March and has yet to confirm a firm price point.
For those unfamiliar with the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), they are an association of over 2,000 companies who's general mission is to ensure the interoperability of new and existing electronic devices on the market. They attempt to make standards by which manufacturers develop products to ensure that consumers are not tackled with thousands of radically different products on the market with no roadmap on what to get. Betamax vs. VHS, CD-Rom, DVD, and even the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray battle that is currently being waged, the CEA has their hand in it.
In a recent press release from the CEA, they have decided to cut their projections of next generation media players from 600,000 units to a mere 200,000 units and are urging consumers not to partake in either format until the war has decided a clear cut winner. Even companies that make up the CEA are stating that history has shown that early adopters can be burned if they choose one format and the industry decides on another format. Consumers could find themselves with very expensive devices but little to no media in which to enjoy it.
Although, it seems a bit of common sense to wait on adopting a new format anyway. The more time that goes by, one format is sure to reign supreme over the other and time will also inevitably bring hardware costs down, making it easier on the consumer to purchase next generation equipment. Additionally, with the rise in things such as video-on-demand, IPTV and such, both of these formats will have other non-intended power players to contend with.
In a release geared more towards providing consumers with a fancy computer peripheral rather than a home entertainment showpiece, HP has come out with their external HD-DVD drive. Repackaged under the HP name, the hd100 is a Lite-On manufactured drive capable of reading HD-DVD, DVDR/RW (single and dual layer), CDR/RW and CD-ROM discs. It manages all this from a standard USB 2.0 connection to the PC.
Availability for these drives are scheduled to appear in the UK as early as mid-December and have a retail overhead of some £399. This price not only gets you the drive, but also the Cyberlink playback software needed to view HD-DVD content on your notebook or PC.
HD-DVD pioneers, Toshiba have already been steaming ahead in the next generation digital media war against the competitive Blu-Ray format by unveiling its second generation HD-DVD players, the the HD-XF2 and HD-XA2. Toshiba and its partners in HD-DVD (including the likes of HP, Microsoft, NEC and Intel) have a long road ahead of them if they plan to battle it out with rivals Sony, Apple, Phillips, and Samsung against the Blu-Ray products. HD-DVD, however may have received a welcomed boost in its product by recent support from The American Independent Media Manufacturers Association (AIMMA) which consists of 37 influential media manufacturing companies all standing behind the HD-DVD format.
Google has been sued for copyright infringement in Paris after a user uploaded a documentary made by a French movie maker to the Google Video service. Flach Film claims that Google acted as a fully responsible publisher when a third party posted "Le monde selon Bush" ("The World According to Bush"). The company alleges that it picked up 43,000 views in a short period of time.
In a recent filing with the US SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission), Google said it has been the subject of a lawsuit over a video that briefly appeared on its service, but it is unknown if this is the same case the company was referring to or a new one. Many believe that Google could soon face expensive lawsuits over content on its Google Video service and the recently acquired YouTube.
Flach Film said that by enabling access to the documentary for free, Google is clearly violating the country's intellectual property laws. It demands compensation for the unauthorized display of the video, which is distributed to cinemas and is available on DVD. Google claims that the film was removed from the service once the company was aware of the unauthorized copy, adding that uploading "illegal" videos is against the terms and conditions.
The communications regulator in the UK, Ofcom, is legalizing the use of low power FM transmitters that are designed to make digital music on an iPod or other MP3 player playable through a car radio. While these small devices have been widely available, their use in the UK has been illegal due to the Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1949. However, the "ban" has not been lifted on all of the available devices.
Under the Wireless Telegraphy Act, the use of radio transmission equipment without a license or an exemption is forbidden. This made popular devices such as Griffin's "iTrip" illegal because of their possible ability to interfere with broadcast from legal radio stations.
Some of these FM transmitter devices, which can be tuned to spare frequencies, will become legal from December 8th. Ofcom will also remove the need for a license to use Citizens' Band radio. All approved transmitters will carry a CE mark indicating approval for sale in the European Union.
Xbox Live US Marketplace yesterday launched the service for selling TV shows and renting movies from CBS, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, MTV Networks, Paramount Pictures, and few other companies. The pricing of the content depends on media format and type, and whether it is a new release or a classic.
High definition TV shows cost 240 ($3) Microsoft points, while the inferior standard definition media costs a whole lot less at 160 ($2) points. Movie prices vary from 240 to 480 ($6) points, standard definition "classic feature film" will cost you 240, high def classic 360 ($4.5), a new release film in SD 320 ($4), and at the top a brand new HD film 480 Microsoft points.
The movies have a 14-day "rent period", during which you have to watch it, however the movie has to be watched within 24 hours from the first time it is launched.
Full list of available content:
- CSI, CSI: Miami, CSI: New York, NCIS and Star Trek from CBS
- Chappelle's Show, Drawn Together and Emmy and Peabody award-winning South Park from COMEDY CENTRAL
- Pimp My Ride and Punk'd from MTV
- Avatar: The Last Airbender and SpongeBob SquarePants from Nickelodeon
On Wednesday, the Copyright Office/Library of congress published its determination in the latest triennial exemption rule-making. Congress mandated that the register of copyrights revisit the anti-circumvention provisions in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) every three years to ensure that consumers have proper access to things they have purchased. Six exemptions were granted.
Among the exemptions is protection for security researchers if they come up against another DRM technology that puts the security of computers at risk. Such an example was seen with Sony BMG's controversial protected CDs that used rootkit-like techniques to hide the protection deep in a Windows operating system.
Persons making noninfringing uses of the following six classes of works will not be subject to the prohibition against circumventing access controls (17 U.S.C. § 1201(a)(1)) during the next three years.
1. Audiovisual works included in the educational library of a college or university’s film or media studies department, when circumvention is accomplished for the purpose of making compilations of portions of those works for educational use in the classroom by media studies or film professors.
Unlike past updates 2.81 and 2.82 which were simply security updates, Sony has officially released the 3.00 update for the Playstation Portable. This big number update will have homebrew lovers eyeing it carefully as they attempt to disect what Sony possibly has inserted into the firmware.
Big updates include downloadable content in the form of PSone games like the original Ridge Racer. Additionally, this is also the update that gives the PSP remote control over the new PS3 console. Although this update may not come as good news to everyone, it does feature some nice new things to toy around with.
Game folder now supports Playstation Network titles
Remote Play has been added in the Network section
Online instruction manuals
Timed Recording is a new feature under RSS
A visual player has been added
Music gets a three speed fast forward and fast reverse
Camera has been added to the Photo section
UMD Auto-Start has been added to the settings
The Playstation Network sounds nice for now, but it appears that the PSP is merely a gateway to get the PSone library of games from the Playstation Network to your PS3. Sony has stated that directly playable PSone titles on the PSP via downloadable content has not yet been implimented, but is expected to happen before Christmas.
Today, all the major lobby organizations of the recording industry jointly announced that they want to start charging cell phone manufacturers a levy for each cell phone sold that is capable of playing MP3s or other music formats.
Organizations (Kopiosto, Gramex, Teosto and Tuotos) claim that the current situation in Finland, where stand-alone MP3 players, like Apple's iPod, carry a levy upto 15 euros ($19.22), is unfair as the phones that are marketed as "music phones" escape the levy fee.
Considering that world's largest mobile phone manufacturer, Nokia, is a Finnish company (and employs almost 25,000 people in Finland -- a country with a population of just over 5M), it would be interesting to see how this requirement is responded by the consumer electronics lobby organizations who have fought against the extremely draconian levy fee system of Finland for years. Then again, considering how the Finnish government handled the last year's copyright reform, it is quite likely that the recording industry will succeed.
In Finland, labels currently collect levy (a nice word for private taxation) for these items among others:
blank CDR media - €0.20
blank DVDR media - upto €1.21 (and yes, the money goes to the record labels not to movie studios..)
blank VHS cassettes - €1.82 for 4h tape
portable audio players - upto €15
digital video players, digital set-top boxes, PVR devices, etc - upto €15
On Friday, it emerged that Universal Music Group is suing one of the world's most popular social networking sites, MySpace. Universal claims that MySpace encourages its users to illegally share files and provides them the ability to upload music videos. The recording giant claims that material from The Killers, Jay-Z and Gwen Stefani is available.
MySpace has dismissed the lawsuit as "meritless litigation". "We have been keeping Universal closely appraised of our industry-leading efforts to protect creators' rights," MySpace said. "We provide users with tools to share their own work - we do not induce, encourage, or condone copyright violation in any way."
Universal doesn't see it that way and in its lawsuit (lodged in a US district court), it claims MySpace "encourages, facilitates and participates in the unauthorized reproduction, adaptation, distribution and public performance".
"Our music and videos play a key role in building the communities that have created hundreds of millions of dollars of value for the owners of MySpace." A statement issued by Universal reads. "Our goal is not to inhibit the creation of these communities, but to ensure that our rights and those of our artists are recognized."
As more reports filter in from the few existing Playstation 3s available from the Japanese and US launches, people are finding more out about what it can and cannot do.
One recent test was performed on older HDTV sets that do not natively support the 720p resolution. It appears that on sets that do not have the 720p resolution built in, but only feature resolutions of 480i, 480p and 1080i the PS3 has problems. Games that were meant to be played at 720p appear to be downgraded to 480p instead of upgrading to 1080i, which would be far more desirable. Apparently this issue is the same, whether or not you use an HDMI cable or a standard analog HD cable (component cables).
In contrast, Sony's competitor, the Xbox 360 does upscale games meant for 720p to 1080i if the HDTV supports the latter but not the mid-resolution.
Sony had been contacted on the matter to find out whether this is a hardware fault or a software problem that could be fixed via a patch, however Sony has yet to comment on the subject.
Several music labels including the likes of EMI, Sony BMG, Warner Music and Universal Music collectively lost a lawsuit in which they tried to take down a Chinese MP3 search engine.
Baidu.com faced a lawsuit from the aforementioned companies for providing links to copyright protected music. The overturn in the ruling, however stated that the links provided were downloaded on third-party webservers and not from Baidu themselves. The companies involved with suing Baidu had demanded a formal public apology, termination of service and payment of over $216,000 in "damages".
Baidu had argued that its service provides the same type of services as other search engines in which links are provided for content of third party webservers. In their statment, Baidu representatives said, "If the music companies had won, the whole search engine sector would have ground to a halt".
Score one for the little guy as record labels try every possible angle to reap more money out of its digital battle.
Lines of avid gamers stretched around stores like Toys R Us as Nintendo launched its infamous Wii. With about 1.2 million units making it to the western shores, fans like Isaiah "Triforce" Johnson just had to be the first person to own one. So at midnight in New York City, Johnson was ceremoniously rang up by none other than Nintendo of America president, Reggie Fils-Aime. Not wanting to squander this opportunity away, Johnson quickly unwrapped his brand new Wii and had Fils-Aime autograph it personally.
Thousands of gamers lined up all around the United States each hoping to be one of the few able to purchase the Wiis in stock. Armed with over twice the amount of units as its competitor Sony which launched two days earlier, Nintendo hopes to make a splash with its North American debut. Nintendo also hopes to lure new gamers into the arena with unique games and unique gameplay mechanics with its motion sensor equipped controller.
The Nintendo Wii launched with a price of $250, in stark comparison to its competitors at $600 for a premium PS3 and $400 for the top of the line Xbox
After queuing for as much as a few days, gamers in North America have finally gotten their chance to buy a PlayStation 3 (PS3) console. The machine sells in two models priced at $499 and $599. Approximately 400,000 consoles have been made available for the North American launch. "We're going to try and get as many units into the North American market as possible."Kaz Hirai, chief executive of Sony's American games division said.
"Usually most companies would boat the product in, but we're actually chartering airplanes to bring them into the North American market to try to shorten that lead time, so we get as many units into the hands of consumers as possible." he added. In Japan last week, less than a quarter of the North American figure of the consoles went on sale.
While some consumers lined up for days to buy a PS3 for themselves, some others have turned the launch into a business opportunity, lining up to get a console to sell later. James Salterio, 27 is an example. "I'm gonna sell mine," he said, estimating he could fetch up to $4,000 for it.
European gamers will have to wait until March 2007 to get their chance to own a PS3, prompting many PlayStation fanboys to look for any import options they can find.
Sure, you could plug down your hard earned cash for an iPod that can help cure AIDS, but it might not be as slick as iriver's newest clix device. Upgrading to the 4Gb version, iriver will be bringing the general public another ipod contender.
Armed with features like 4Gb of storage, plays music, video and downloadable flash games, 2.2" color display, digital FM tuner, built in voice recorder, up to 50 hours of battery life and much more, iriver definitely has a nifty little device.
Now this isn't to say that Apple doesn't make a good product, but for the price and features, I like the iriver. Although currently not available for purchase from their website (only the previous 2Gb model is for sale at the moment), expect it to be available very soon.
Nintendo is preparing for the holiday seasons with announcing that it will have close to 400,000 Wiis on sale in Japan when it launches there on December 2nd. This comes in contrast to console rival Sony who was only able to provide some 100,000 units of it's PS3 due to shortages.
As many already know, the unorthodox move of launching in the United States first on November 19th has not officially given way to details as to how many units will be available to US gamers. The same can be said for it's launch in Europe on December 8th. Although earlier reports showed 1 million US units, Nintendo has been pretty tight lipped as to what their official numbers will be. However Nintendo will have tough competition with Microsoft and Sony both expecting to have huge sales this holiday season. To possibly pad their chances of a profitable season, Nintendo says they will have around 1.5 million units ready for shelves in Japan for its handheld device, the DS.
In related news, Nintendo has hinted that another version of the Wii will make it to market that will be capable of DVD playback. While they once stated at gaming conventions that they did not want to stray from their pure gaming intentions, it appears they are going to try to get the Wii to appeal to a larger audience. Unfortunately, these DVD capable units are only slated for launch in Japan sometime in 2007.
Originally scheduled for its UK release this month, Toshiba's HD-E1 and HD-XE1 HD DVD players have been pushed back a month to take care of what is called a "minor reliability issue".
Toshiba had inked a deal with a third party hardware supplier for a few internal components and their testing revealed that these players were not as reliable as they would like. Instead of releasing a bad product to the general public, they've decided to hold off on shipping the units until they can fix the hardware problem.
The HD-E1 was scheduled for this month with the HD-XE1 to come out around christmas time, however both have been pushed back with the HD-E1 being now slated for christmas while the HD-XE1 will hit UK shelves in January 2007.
Of the problem with the players, Toshiba had this to say. "During final production testing of the HD-E1 model HD DVD player this month, Toshiba engineers have identified a minor reliability issue with an outsourced LSI component. This component is being replaced before the HD-E1 is released to consumers."
Specs for the units have not changed however. The HD-E1 boasts playback of pre-recorded HD-DVD, DVD and CD media in 720p and 1080i while the HD-XE1 ups the ante to 1080p and circuitry that converts resolution to 1080p, but not picture quality. The lesser unit sees an HDMI 1.2 port while the latter recieves 1.3 HDMI support.
Microsoft has today launched its new Zune player, hoping to effectively tackle Apple's iPod in the MP3 player market. The iPod currently has about 75% of the U.S. market and over half of the world market. The Zune is now available in the U.S. in just one model that comes in three different colours. The 30GB player is priced at $250.
As with any new gadget, this item has its fair share of praise and criticism, but since so many believe this is the first real challenge to the iPod, quite a bit of the feedback about the device is based on comparison between it and the iPod. Its inclusion of FM radio, wireless capabilities and its "slightly rubberised plastic" coating (which make it less prone to scratching and getting covered in fingerprints) have delighted some.
However, not all are convinced just yet. Firstly, the limitations on the wireless music sharing feature has fueled criticism. Also, the fact that music from online download stores like Urge, Napster, Rhapsody and even MSN Music (which is shutting down) don't work with the player despite all using Microsoft technology has gained frowns from consumers.
Currently, digital music tycoon Apple is working out the details for a deal with six major airline companies to allow it's very own iPod on major flights.
Now anyone who's taken to the air knows the familiar mantra, "Please turn off all portable electronic devices as they may interfere with flight operations", but that may change. Companies such as Continental, Delta, United, Air France, Air Emirates, and KLM have all agreed to begin installing iPod ports into the seats for passengers to plug into. Additionally, it is said that they are working on a way to stream video media from your iPod directly into the screens situated on the seat backs of the seat in front of you. I, personally cant wait to see reports on the first time someone loads up hardcore porn for all to see.
No details have been released yet as to which class of seating will receive the blessing from Apple, but one can guess where they'll start first. Installations of said ports are scheduled to begin by the middle of next year. Apple's partner in this venture is none other than Matsushita, the corporate headstone behind brands like Panasonic.
It appears that the all mighty Sony is yet again hit with pains associated with their hardware launch. For the many people far and wide that can remember back in the days of the PS2 launch, where as little as a few months after purchasing the vaulted unit, were treated with the infamous "Disc Read Error" (myself included... twice); it seems that launch bugs have taken another bite.
Although not on such a grand scale of incapacitation of the disc read error, the new PS3 appears to be suffering from a software glitch that is not allowing it to live up to one of the claims made by Sony during it's many early showings. 100% backwards compatibility. It seems that due to this glitch, almost 200 individual games including the likes of Gran Turismo and Final Fantasy suffer from no audio or graphic glitches when loaded in a PS3. Lists can be found on the Internet outlining at least 192 confirmed games that do not work for the new unit. Although Sony has refused to admit to an exact number, they did reply that they will be issuing an update patch in the very near future to fix this problem.
Sony claims the patch will make its system backwards compatible as it once claimed, but it makes you wonder what happened to the research and development groups during OS testing.
Chairman and CEO of Universal Media Group, Doug Morris, released comments about now rival iPod stating "These devices are just repositories for stolen music, and they all know it, so it's time to get paid for it."
Of course this statement comes after UMG just penned a deal with bedfellow Microsoft agreeing to share profits for every new Zune sold on the market. UMG wants to have this deal give off a trickle effect where money from the media devices can filter their way down to the artists themselves to ensure that everyone gets their "fair share". This profit sharing comes in addition to the money they're already going to receive for license fees.
Microsoft is currently working with additional music companies in hopes to ink similar deals, hoping to make profit sharing a regular occurance and get more people on board with the Zune. UMG is set to receive around $1 per Zune sold and has graciously stated that half of the proceeds will filter back to the respective artists.
In a recent article, RIAA president Cary Sherman took time out of his busy day full of lawsuits to comment on what he refers to as a gross misinterpretation of Fair Use.
The Fair Use section of the Copyright Act in question is what regularly comes under fire from the record labels and movie industry. It is clearly stated that it serves the best interest of the consumer in that he or she may lawfully consume the content they purchased in the time, place and manner of their choosing. Instead, the recording industry would have consumers pay multiple times for the same content in their fight to restore funding for the artists who make the content available.
Sherman describes Fair Use as an "an undeniably important plank of copyright law," and continuing to say that it is "in danger of losing its meaning." He further goes on to say that Fair Use is intended for criticism, news and scholarship and that "it is certainly not an excuse to boost the sales of electronic devices and services on the backs of hard-working creators."
In the article, Sherman takes direct aim at his archenemy in his quest for digital abolishment, the group known as Digital Freedom. Digital Freedom was launched a few months ago by the Consumer Electronics Association to counter lobbying actions taken by the RIAA and bring the consumer into the limelight and stop further plans on making DRM policies more strict. Digital Freedom holds true to their statement in saying that Fair Use rights are "under attack by the big recording labels and studios, who would ultimately deprive individuals of the right to communicate using digital technology."
The time was the late 1990's and during what seemed like a limitless horizon of digital possibilities. Internet companies sprang up out of nowhere and reproduced quicker than the proverbial rabbit. Overpopulation soon became a problem and many corporations were hit by what became collectively known as the dotBomb.
Lycos was one company that, although survived, felt a huge decline in service after that dreaded event. With popularity gaining for places such as Yahoo! and Google, Lycos fell to the wayside in the wake of the next wave of Internet entreprenuers. During it's hayday, Lycos saw success by rejecting a majority share buyout offer for $4 billion, only to accept a $12 billion dollar offer a year later. Hard times hit and the company was offloaded for a mere $95 million to the Korean Daum.
Fast forward to today and Lycos is announcing they want to take two of the most popular types of Internet interaction and meld them together in what they hope becomes a flurishing community. Lycos says they have a good product in their new Lycos Cinema.
Merging the styles of successful sites like YouTube and MySpace, Lycos Cinema hopes to allow users to view streaming video all the while participating in an online chat community. Executives hope that one potential avenue would be simliar to Match.com in which users can go on a virtual movie date before actually meeting each other. One would wonder if they'll provide the virtual slap in the virtual face when someone virtually suggests they have virtual sex after the virtual date.
Once known for its massive collection of online music, MP3.com became a huge target for everyone's favorite fun spoiler, the RIAA. After several multi-million dollar lawsuits and a few corporate buy-outs, things are about to change for the once doomed website.
Since it's creation in 1997, founder Michael Robertson faced a several million dollar lawsuit loss at the hands of the RIAA and was later bought by Vivendi Universal Music in 2001. Recently, Vivendi sold the rights to CNet just in 2003. CNet now has worked deals that will give the new MP3.com music downloads from independent artists. This marks a significant change from it's previous format of simply having editorial content and news relating to music.
Just days after it's sell out Japanese launch, the Sony PS3 already has downloadable television content via the Japanese network, So-net.
Details are sketchy at the moment as far as pricing and availability, but from what we can tell, these downloads are available in H.264 format, DRM free and available in resolutions of 720p to 1080p. With the console being so new to the consumers, there's no reports yet as of whether or not this content will be able to be retrieved from the PS3's hard drive.
Since these downloads are only visible on the Japanese based So-net, there's no confirmation on the same type of treatment for U.S. buyers when the console is released in the States on the 17th of November.
The launch of PlayStation 3 has filled gaming and technology news, but the Open Platform for PS3 has dropped a bomb. Ealier Sony promoted the Open Platform with Yellow Dog Linux operating system available and upgradeable for your PS3, now it seems like it is not going to stop there, you'll be able to install most of you favorite Linux distros also.
The installation of such operating system is made possible by Open Platform for PS3, claiming in its website that "PLAYSTATION®3 allows any desired third-party system software to be installed on it." This means that you'll be able to install any Linux distro with a PowerPC build available, and there a lot of them - Ubuntu, Gentoo, Fedora Core and SUSE to name a few.
Sony has released documents regarding Linux on the PS3, that includes an installation and setup how-to for Fedora Core 5. All you need is Other OS installer, available later from Sony's own Open Platform website, Addon Packages CD, and Fedora Core 5 installation
DVD.
For detailed Linux on the PS3 documentations visit here.
The case, UMG v. Lindor, has just gotten more interesting. Marie Lindor is currently in a legal battle with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), accused of being a web pirate. Ms. Lindor is now challenging the RIAA to explain why it demands $750 per track in damages when they are available legally to the public for just 99c. Of course, the RIAA did fight to stop this amendment to the case.
The trade group claimed it was not up to Ms. Lindor to decide the damages and that her complaint was without merit, the motion was untimely and it would prejudice the RIAA. However, Judge Trager did not agree with the RIAA on those claims nor a claim that Ms. Lindor was required to send a notice to the United States Department of Justice of her defense of unconstitutionality.
So now the RIAA needs to explain how it has come to the $750 per track figure. Lindor has already provided proof that possible damages to the RIAA amount to no more than 70c per track, which is the share record companies pick up from online retailers.
Here is a paste of the Judge's ruling from the Recording Industry vs. The People blog:
Google Inc. has denied that a rumor detailing a $500 million reserve set aside by Google in its deal to acquire YouTube has any truth. The denial came form Chief Executive Eric Schmidt on Tuesday at the annual Web 2.0 summit. The rumor had arisen from an anonymous blog post that claimed insider information about a legal reserve aimed to settle copyright claims brought against the company over content uploaded to YouTube by its users.
Billionaire Mark Cuban, who has been an outspoken critic of the Google-YouTube deal, published the rumor on his Blog Maverick site, saying he had not verified the details. Speaking to more than 500 industry insiders, Schmidt said the rumor was not true during an on-stage interview by conference organizer John Battelle.
In a two-part question, Battelle asked first if Google had a secret reserve for legal claims and secondly if Google was making progress striking deals with content owners. "The former is not true," Schmidt said. "The latter is. We have visited as many media companies as we can." YouTube's incredible success relies enormously on technically illegal content.
Many television and video producers along with recording labels have expressed anger at pirated copies of their content being uploaded to YouTube's servers every day.
After constant delays, reports of problems at Sony and public relations nightmares over the past couple of years, the device that many describe as being crucial to bring Sony back on top is finally going to get into the eager hands of gamers in Japan. As expected, the PlayStation 3 console has created a huge buzz in Japan with gamers flocking to get their hands on their own. Gamers in the U.S. will also get their chance next week.
European gamers however are being forced to sit on their hands again as the territory has been left out of Sony's Christmas plan. Still, the buzz around the console in the UK and the rest of the continent has prompted many enthusiastic PlayStation fans to consider attempting to import a console before the March 2007 launch date.
Sony, of course, is strongly against retailers attempting this and seem poised to even take on Santa Claus if he dares try to deliver a PS3 to a European kid this Christmas. Lik-Sang, a source many would have chosen for a PS3 import, folded to pressures on the company it blamed on multiple Sony lawsuits over PSP imports in the UK last year.
Never-the-less, even with problems surrounding Sony recently, the PS3 has still been labeled as the console war favorite by many sources. The advancement of the PlayStation franchise sports hardware capable of displaying new standards in graphics and the much touted Blu-Ray capabilities that make way for high definition movies and capacity-demanding games.
Microsoft Corp. has agreed to pay a fee to Universal for every Zune payer that is sold. The amount given per sales was not disclosed but this represents how Microsoft is desperately trying to break the dominance of the iPod. Several major record companies have expressed beliefs that they should be paid for the sale of iPods and other devices that rely so heavily on music content.
"Rivals including cell phone makers eventually could pay for hardware sales as well as for the music itself," Universal said. "We felt that any business that's built on the bedrock of music we should share in." Currently the iPod has almost an 80% share of the MP3 player market and iTunes is still by far the dominating legal music download store.
Due to these facts, Apple and Steve Jobs have been publicly credited with almost single-handedly creating the legal music download business. However, Jobs' reluctance to give record companies a share of iPod sales and other disputes they have had over the pricing of downloads could come back to bite Apple now that the competition is going to reach over boiling point.
A draft government report prepared by the Australian Institute of Criminology has lashed out at the music and software sectors for their piracy statistics. The confidential briefing for the Attorney-General's Department labels the statistics "self-serving hyperbole" and says that copyright owners "failed to explain" how they reached financial loss statistics used for great influence in lobbying and at court cases.
The report specifically says that figures for 2005 provided by the Business Software Association (BSA), which amounts to $361 million a year of lost sales in Australia are "unverified and epistemologically unreliable". However, senior researchers have disagreed with its conclusions so it is to be redrafted.
Researcher Alex Malik was particularly critical of the use of the questionable statistics in court. "Of greatest concern is the potentially unqualified use of these statistics in courts of law," the draft reads. Institute principal criminologist Russell Smith has described the report as an early draft and said that is currently being edited by the agency.
"We wouldn't use language like that because it's not accurate, it's hyperbolic and overblown," he said. "It was a very early draft written by a consultant, and we would want a chance to revise it. We have an extensive quality control system in the institute, so that drafts are read by most senior staff. The report hasn't been finalized. It's still being edited and revised."
Eager consumers hoping to whet their appetites with a Japaneses version of the Sony PS3 that launches in 2 days will be in for a little shock. Apparently this first run of PS3 consoles does not contain the correct firmware to enable it to connect to the Playstation Network hub. Have no fear as the update is fairly simple, if nothing more than just a simple annoyance.
If that doesn't trip your trigger for Sony being the master of release hardware, there's more. The much touted ability to connect the PS3 with a PSP has also run into a bit of a snag. Whether merely software concerns, or yet another attempt at stopping "homebrew" applications on the PSP, users will need to update their PSP to version 3.0 in order to connect to their new PS3s. Unfortunately it seems that this update will not be available until at least the end of November.
This morning in Japan, just 2 days before the launch of the Sony PS3, Japanese consumers were treated with an official release of one network download price point for content on Sony's network.
The content is a game called Blast Factor, an answer to the game Geometry Wars, and is set to be priced at 840 yen or approximately $7.00. Taking up about 95 megabytes on the hard drive, it looks like Sony's offerings for digital downloads may carry a bit more payload than those that can be had on the Xbox Live servers.
No pricing information has been released for any other titles as of yet nor for anything outside of Japan.
Microsoft Corp. announced that it will begin using the Xbox Live service to offer video content to its users. On November 22nd the service will begin selling content like TV shows to users. Video content in both standard definition and high definition will be available, with HD content costing more. SD video content will be priced around the same as rival stores according to Peter Moore, Microsoft's corporate vice president for interactive entertainment.
Apple's iTunes service sells TV show episodes for $1.99 for example. Microsoft has negotiated the rights to sell (or rent) content from CBS, MTV Networks, Paramount, Warner Bros. and Turner Broadcasting. This is another push from Microsoft to reach further into the living rooms of consumers and flex more muscle in the home entertainment markets. This does differ from Microsoft's "other" attempts and also other video download stores.
Microsoft believed that media centre PCs was a way to bring the company further into the home entertainment area, but it didn't catch on as much as expected. This is where the Xbox 360 can shine; the service will be relatively easy (at least in comparison to setting up and maintaining media centre PCs) and in a blow to other video download services, it eliminates the need for a PC in the middle.
Disney has displayed its faith in Nintendo's new Wii console by forming a development studio that will produce content exclusively for the console and Nintendo's handheld gadgets. Fall Line, the new studio based in Salt Lake City and headed by Scott Novis, is the fourth game development studio now under Disney. The plan is, of course, for Disney to cut back on out-sourcing game development and produce its own software.
Avalanche Software, Propaganda Games, and Climax Racing are owned by Disney. Disney has a vast array of brands that can be brought to the games industry, whether they span back decades or are more recent box office hits created by studios like Pixar. However, with Pixar producing content that gets the attention that "Cars" or "The Incredibles" have gotten, Disney will have to wait to develop Pixar-branded videogames for some time.
Currently THQ holds the game rights to the next four Pixar movies. "It seems like with our brand, the Nintendo platform is a really good place to put our development effort," said Fall Line head Scott Novis. Novis previously worked on the game adaptations of the movie Cars. In December, Chicken Little will become the first game from Disney to be available for the Wii console. It was developed by Avalanche Software.
As many of our users probably have already noticed, we launched a fully revamped version of our main home page today. The new front page gives a better idea of the constant flow of various content updates that happen on our site almost 24 hours a day, mixing together the software updates, news articles and game downloads.
Obviously, some people simply prefer to see our news updates on the front page and get annoyed by the fact that they're now mixed together with the other sitewide updates. To accommodate this, we made the small "checkboxes" available at the top of the page to choose what to show and what not to show on the page.
As with most of the recent site improvements, the change of the home page layout was based on the suggestions we've received through our innovation contest. Again, if you have ideas on how to improve our site further, don't hesitate to participate in our innovation contest.
Microsoft is preparing for the launch of its new Zune music player by opening its official website and starting to downgrade its MSN Music service. MSN Music will no longer sell music tracks after the Zune store has launched according to the company. While Zune.com does have some Zune-related content from Microsoft, the official Zune site is actually Zune.net.
MSN Music has started pointing towards the new Zune site, and on November 14th, the buy button will be replaced by links to the Zune store and Real's Rhapsody service. Just like on Xbox Live, users will buy "Microsoft Points" and use them to buy tracks and albums. The points work across the Zune Marketplace and Xbox Live Marketplace.
Individual tracks will cost around 79 Microsoft points (around $0.99). There will also be a Zune Pass subscription service allowing users to rent unlimited amounts of music for $14.99 per month.
Apple Computer Inc. has added an 8GB version of its red iPod Nano to its line-up. The player costs $249 and is advertised as being able to store 2,000 tracks. It has double the capacity of the next Nano in line, the 4GB model which retails at $199. As with the other red iPod, $10 is donated to the Global Fund to fight AIDS in Africa per sale.
Apple launched the red iPod Nano in co-operation with Bono last month. The players have a 1.5" screen, and are advertised to have 24 hour playtime on a full battery. The announcement of the iPod Nano Red is a cross-brand campaign dubbed (PRODUCT) RED.
In cooperation with this campaign, several other companies are making their own offerings. For example, Motorola is offering a red RAZR and The Gap is ponying up their own red leather jacket to help the cause.
We have been working on a lot of improvements to AfterDawn.com for the past few months. One of the improvements went online today as switched our software section to a new version. It now allows, among other things, offering older versions of software items, as well as stable and beta versions on the same software page.
During the seven years we've been online we have gathered quite a large archive of old versions, and we'll be adding some of the essential ones to the archive. If you have a specific old version you would like to see added, please send us feedback and let us know!
Another, smaller change that was made was the addition of a [ + quote] button to the forums. The button allows you to automatically quote a specific message when replying to a thread.
Despite extensive testing the new features caused some problems that affected the entire site. For that reason the site was very slow or unresponsive. We are very sorry about the inconvenience caused by the downtime.
In a recent review of Sony's management of their vulnerable Playstation line, President and proclaimed "father of Playstation", Ken Kutaragi has been removed of his President status. In a recent move, he will now no longer be involved in day-to-day decisions of the Playstation line. Head of the US department in Playstation, Kazuo Hirai will now take over his position.
Russia has bowed under the U.S. pressure and has agreed to investigate the legality of the controversial AllofMP3.com music service.
A lawyer defending Net users that have been sued by the music industry's lobby group, RIAA, claims that the evidence -- or actually the lack of it -- in one of the cases RIAA is pushing in courts, if accepted, would effectively shut down the whole Internet.
