Demonoid is finally back online after a week of downtime in which rumors swirled that the tracker was taken down by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA). Although the rumors proved to be somewhat true, the tracker and website are still being hosted on a Canadian ISP but now must block all Canadian traffic.
A note on the Demonoid homepage had this to say, "We received a letter from a lawyer representing the CRIA, they were threatening with legal action and we need to start blocking Canadian traffic because of this. Thanks for your understanding, and sorry for any inconvenience."
This latest decision mirrors the recent situations with other public trackers Isohunt and TorrentSpy which were forced to block access to US users.
Although the forums and the site in general still seem to be in somewhat of disarray, the admins promise to have it up and running at full pace in a few days.
Many savvy and paranoid torrent downloaders have noticed that the latest episodes of "Heroes" and "Prison Break", released on EZTV, are being tracked by none other than MiiVi.org, the trap site set up by MediaDefender to entrap pirates.
However, the tracker is another ingenious idea by the guys over at The Pirate Bay and nothing to be worried about. The new tracker describes itself "as a tribute to the fall of MediaDefender" and was registered to the admins of the The Pirate Bay. EZTV will now be using the tracker "tv.mivii.org" for its TV releases.
Just another parting shot at MediaDefender as it dies slowly.
Dreamworks Animation has announced the specs for the upcoming "Shrek the Third" HD DVD and it includes a few never-before-seen features including "branching PIP commentary" and the "most comprehensive web-enabled content yet."
The "Animator's Reel" will present a completely alternate version of the movie in storyboard form and will also utilize HDi technology to "offer a contextual seamless branch" to lost scenes and other content."
The new movie should also have the broadest web-enabled content seen to date for HD DVD. Dreamworks says a few of the extras available will be a "full-length subtitle trivia track, a movie guide with files on characters and talent in the film, plus an interactive coloring book feature that allows you to digitally paint your favorite scenes."
Another innovative feature is that the disc will allow users to customize their own menus based on their favorite "Shrek" characters and the menu the user selects will become the default, even after is ejected.
A new study from the U.S. Federal Government's General Accounting Office indicates that not only is there every reason to believe that many residents won't be prepared for, or even informed about, the digital TV transition set for 2009, but there isn't even any effort underway to assess what portion of the public isn't going to be prepared or how to reach them with the message.
"There is no one in charge, and that is cause for concern," said Mark L. Goldstein, director of physical infrastructure issues for the GAO. "There is no comprehensive planning effort, and no one is assessing what gaps exist."
Goldstein says the Federal Communications Commision needs to take the lead in educating consumers, but commisioners there don't seem to be able to reach a consensus as to what exactly their responsibility is. Although they've mandated that cable television providers ensure analog signals are available after the transition, little else has even been decided, let alone accomplished. Meanwhile, a recent study indicated more than half of all consumers aren't aware the transition will take place.
What's even worse is the misinformation coming from many retailers. A U.S. Public Interest Research Group study of retailers in Virginia found that sales people often gave "incorrect and misleading information" about the transition, frequently claiming that consumers need to buy new televisions. In reality, even people who rely on over the air broadcasts should be fine since the government will be offering vouchers for digital to analog converter set-top boxes.
Wendy Seltzer, founder of the Chilling Effects Clearinghouse - a project which brings together law clinics from several prominent law schools and the EFF to educate individuals about their rights with regard to intellectual property and fair use, recently spoke at Cornell University advising universities to fight attempted lawsuits against students for illegal file sharing.
Although she addressed the established problems with identifying users by IP address, that wasn't the main focus of her talk. Instead, she concentrated the potential damage to both universities and students that could result from cooperation, or at Limited resistance.
By Seltzer's reasoning, there's a lot more at stake than the legal problems of a small percentage of college students. In her words, universities should resist on the grounds that the lawsuits place an "undue burden" on them by pitting school administration against the students they're supposed to serve. She argues that when they're forced to share private information about students with RIAA lawyers they risk creating an atmosphere counter to the goal of academic opennes that's critical to education.
A paper from economist Stan Liebowitz argues that both the music industry and file sharing defenders are cherry picking facts to prove their points.
The primary purpose of the paper was debunking earlier research out of Harvard University which concluded that P2P file sharing has no impact on CD sales. The argument in that study was that P2P activity falls drastically during the summer because most college students don't use file sharing services when they're not at school.
Liebowitz points out two key problems with the study. First, he says the publicly available data on file sharing doesn't back the Harvard study with regard to file sharing patterns. According to his analysis file sharing activity actually increased slightly over the summer in the years covered by the original study. He also notes that the Harvard researchers didn't release their entire dataset, making it impossible for it to be subjected to any kind of peer review.
His report isn't one sided though. He also points out that the music industry's problems are primarily of their own making. He says that music labels' attempts to Block the availability of new technology and sue customers hasn't done anything to stop profits from dropping.
At least one Sony strategy to promote Blu-ray discs seems to be paying off. As we reported in July, Sony introduced a revenue sharing plan to lower the price of entry into the Blu-ray rental market. Although the move does seem to be at odds with statements from Sony and other Blu-ray backers that the format war is already over, it does seem to be making at least a small impact.
Hastings Entertainment, a regional retail chain based in Amarillo, Texas that already offered video rentals in addition to CD, video, and book sales, has expanded their selection of Blu-ray discs available for rent. According to video category manager Mason Goodfellow, the move is a direct result of the revenue sharing program.
“It basically helped us to spread [Blu-ray] to all of our stores and not have to make that much of a financial investment,” said Mason Goodfellow, Hastings video category manager. “We might be able to get in as many as eight to 10 copies per Title [in one store]. Without revenue-sharing, that might have been three to four copies.”
U.S. retailers have started advertising various popular features for $3.99. The movies, from Universal, Sony, and Paramount, would seem to be an effort from studios to disappointing DVD sales over the last two years.
Although the studios behind those movies haven't had about what's going on, Jeff Baker, senior VP-general manager of theatrical catalog and sales, said “It’s unprecedented to see national retailers outside of the fourth quarter promote $3.99 DVDs. It’s a negative precedent in the business to do that type of lower budget pricing outside of the fourth quarter. You would need to see some uplift in unit volume velocity to compensate for that lower pricing to maintain profit margins, and I have not uniformly seen at retailers the necessary uplift in volume.”
Regardless of how studio executives feel about the move, it's become clear over the last couple of years that DVD sales are dropping steadily, and it's not a trend that's going to reverse on its own. However, it's questionable how good a solution bargain basement pricing is.
Like the decline of CD sales, there are likely many factors for reduced interest in DVDs. One factor that's been cited in many recent studies is the proliferation of DVRs, especially among HDTV owners. Many HDTV owners have expressed a preference for time shifting hi-def content over watching DVDs. While lowering prices will certainly make them more attractive than they were at a higher price point, it's hard to imagine them competing with content consumers are already paying for, like cable and satellite services.
Although they have lowered manufacturing costs of the Xbox 360 by switching to the 65nm CPU, internal marketing pictures have shown that Microsoft will most likely not be lowering the price of the console but instead just bundling games and perhaps accessories.
The bundled games would be "Forza Motorsport 2" and "Marvel: Ultimate Alliance" on both the Premium and Elite consoles.
In Canada, bundling games has been a standard practice with the Best Buys and Wal-Marts already bundling 360 Premiums with Forza and Amped 3 or Forza and NHL 2k8.
As part of their plan to provide 100 hi-def channels by the end of this year, DirecTV has added 21 new HD channels to its satellite television service.
The channels will be broadcast from a new satellite the company launched recently, and will use MPEG-4Compression. Since their existing HD lineup uses MPEG-2 compression, subscribers may have to upgrade their receivers to get the necessary hardware for decoding the video. Additionally, customers without a new wider dish for reception may have to invest in one.
The new HD channels include offerings from Starz, Showtime, CNN, and the NFL. Another expansion next month will boost the number to 70 channels.
Next week will mark the first time a copyright infringement case brought by the RIAA for alleged copyright violations via P2P network actually makes it to a jury trial. The RIAA's evidence in the case of Virgin v. Thomas seems to hinge on the testimony of an expert witness whose expertise has already been called into question in another case.
In a deposition earlier this year, Iowa State University associate professor Douglas Jacobson testified about his forensic examination of a defendant's computer hard drive. The examination was done on behalf of the RIAA legal team, based on information provided by MediaSentry, a company that works with the entertainment industry to identify copyrighted works shared illegally on P2P networks.
His testimony states an assumption on his part that MediaSentry had conclusively proven an IP address registered to the defendant was used for sharing files. His conclusion, resulting directly from that premise, stated that despite a lack of either MP3 files that could have been shared or KaZaA software RIAA attorneys claim was used to share the files doesn't exxonerate the defendant, but rather shows that she has another computer.
According to a banner on its main portal web page Yahoo is notifying users that it will be shutting down its podcast service on October 31st and that it will have important news to tell customers, and possibly investors, tomorrow.
"Today we're planning some changes that also have our user and customer experiences in mind," reads a message on Yahoo's corporate blog from entertainment and video head Vince Broady, entitled, "Finding Focus in Hollywood. "We are streamlining the structure of one portion of our Santa Monica presence - our entertainment division - with a vision of offering a more integrated entertainment experience. That means we'll be creating more synergies between our music, games, movies, TV, and omg! properties, making them more personal and engaging for entertainment hounds."
The statement has many believing that Yahoo's Unlimited Music store will either be pared down or closed down entirely, with the company then moving those resources to Yahoo's free, ad-supported services.
Cinematube.net and SSUpload are the most recent targets of lawsuits by the MPAA, claiming the two websites are liable for copyright infringement due to a large number of links to pirated movies on both sites.
"We are putting illegal Web operators on notice that they are not above the law and will face serious consequences for their activities," said John Malcolm, executive vp and director of worldwide anti-piracy operations at the MPAA.
Although SSUpload is run from servers in the US, Cinematube is located in the country of Malaysia, an area of the world believed to be home to many piracy rings, distributing everything from fake designer clothing and accessories to pirated CDs and DVDs.
Major efforts by copyright owners, as well US and various Asian countries, have been made to curb Asian piracy operations. So far those efforts have failed ot put a major dent in those operations, which are commonly run by criminal organizations large enough to simply move to another location and start all over again.
With the offical acceptance of CSS technoloy on DVD by both the DVD Forum and DVD-CCA licensing group, responsible for CSS licensing, Sonic Solutions is moving forward with plans to offer the technology to both consumers and content vendors.
On the consumer end, the plan is for downloadable DVDs to become available online which can be burned using the company's Qflix sofftware. A lack of copy protection has long been a studio argument against distributing high quality video across the internet. Despite the fact that CSS encryption was cracked several years ago, it's the only encryption that can be used for DVDs without making them unplayable on a standard standalone DVD player.
For vendors, Sonic would like to see the technology used for on-demand burning. Unlike traditional pressed DVDs that aren't economically feasible to produce in small numbers, DVDs created with Sonic's DVD On Demand technology could theoretically be sold at a much lower cost, and even be created by automated kiosks like those currently being operated by Polar Frog. On-demand DVD burning kiosks could potentially revolutionize DVD sales because they can provide a great deal of variety while keeping inventory and shelf space to a minimum.
Toshiba is planning to unveil a new video processing product based on the Cell processor that powers Sony's PlayStation3. The Cell processor was developed in a joint venture from Sony, Toshiba, and IBM. The product, dubbed SpursEngine, will be the only the second product introduced that takes advantage of the technology.
SpursEngine is basically a stripped down Cell running at 1.5GHz with MPEG-2 and H.264 (AVC) decoding hardware added. It's designed to fit on a small peripheral card for a computer.
Toshiba apparently intends to use SpursEngine to create some kind of new GPU. They company's announcement earlier this week mentioned a demo planned for Japan that will involve capturing images of faces from the audience and turned into 3D models, but didn't elaborate.
No details have been released regarding the card's intended use. Since the market for making 3D models of faces is fairly small, it will be interesting to see what else it can do. At the very least it might potentially be a good hardware solution for hi-def video playback - something that many people's computer hardware isn't capable of on its own.
Sling Media co-founder and CEO Blake Krikorian is excited about the company's future after the announcement last week that the company is being acquired by Dish Network parent company Echostar Communications.
As a subsidiary of Echostar, and potentially the flagship brand for a new division of the satellite provider that would concentrate exclusively on hardware, Sling should have access to a fair amount of technology already developed for Dish Network. He says "EchoStar has built a lot of their own products, deployed more DVRs than anyone in the world. All that software and hardware they built themselves. It's pretty interesting technology for us to leverage into some of our solutions." He adds "They're telling us to 'Go, run like crazy, and do what you're doing, and let us know how we can help you. And by the way, here's a bunch of technology.'"
While Krikorian envisions enhancements to Dish Network's own set-top boxes to take advantage of features from the highly successful Slingbox line, the main focus for Sling will continue to be interoperability with a wide variety of receivers and signals.
He sees the deal as a good fit for Sling because he believes Echostar is serious about developing hardware, describing CEO Charlie Ergen as "an entrepreneur, not a corporate suit," and saying that he believes the company is commited to developing new technology.
Imagine if a major automobile manufacturer came up with a way to use an onboard computer to require that you buy gasoline from a particular company. It's the same gas you can buy anywhere, but unless the pump includes special circuitry only available to a single company that paid a bunch of money to the car's manufacturer for the privilege, the gas tank can't be filled. Now let's say that an enterprising individual wants to choose his own gas station, so he comes up with a way to reprogram the car's computer, allowing the owner to fill the gas tank from any pump at any gas station. Let's finally suppose that there's a recall on the car, requiring owners to bring them into a dealership for free repairs, but while the car is being fixed, every dealer is required to check the fuel tank computer to make sure it hasn't been tampered with to allow gas from non-approved sources, and disable the car's engine if evidence of tampering is found. When irate owners complain to dealership management they're simply told that a license agreement they agreed to by driving off the lot voids the car's warranty, and another on a piece of paper they signed to get the recall work done allows the dealership to modify the car in whatever way the manufacturer wants, so basically there's nothing they can do.
The National Legal Policy Center (NLPC), a copyright watch-dog group that conducts spot checks on video sharing sites in search of copyright violation recently conducted an investigation on Google Video and said the results were stunning.
Between September 10th and 18th the group checked Google Video and found over 300 videos featuring copyrighted material including 60 motion pictures released in 2007. These 300 pirated films received over 22 million videos over the past year, said the group.
"While Google faces numerous legal challenges related to the posting of copyrighted content on its video sharing websites, there is a growing chorus who believe that evidence of Google's seemingly indifferent attitude towards internet video piracy has resulted in a legitimization or 'mainstreaming' of video piracy which will have broad and damaging implications for all intellectual property owners," stated the NLPC in a letter to Congress.
The NLPC also added that Google never fulfilled its promise to add filtering technology to Video and YouTube which it announced late last year.
Bringing data figures to the table that they probably cannot back up, the NLPC said that internet piracy costs the film industry $2.3 billion USD per year in lost revenue.
Seeing that television broadcasts are gradually moving from standard-def to high-def and that DVD recorders will soon not offer enough storage, Sharp will be soon shipping Blu-ray recorders for the Japanese market that include 1 TB of storage.
The players, available in December will include HDDs with 1TB capacity and the ability to write to dual layer Blu-ray media. According to Sharp, 1 TB should hold 127 hours of HD video.
The recorder will not be cheap however. The 1 TB model will cost the equivalent of $2600 USD but Sharp did say it would be releasing lower end models without a HDD that would range from $875 to $1040.
Long before Halo 3 hit retail shelves, Microsoft boasted that the launch would be the "biggest day in US entertainment history." Judging by figures compiled for the first 24 hours, they can now back that claim up.
According to a press release from Microsoft, Halo 3 has generated $170 million USD in its first 24 hours of US availability, making it the biggest launch day in the history of the US entertainment industry. The sales beat out the "Spider-Man 3" movie as well as the latest Harry Potter novel, although it must be said that the game is fairly more expensive than either a movie ticket or a hardcover book.
In every copy of the game Microsoft also included a 48-hour trial for Xbox Live, which likely helped drive September 25th to be the busiest day in XBL history.
"Halo 3 has become a pop-culture phenomenon," said Shane Kim, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios. "Not only is Halo 3 setting sales records, it's also redefining entertainment... Within the first 20 hours alone, we've seen more than a million Xbox Live members come online to play Halo 3 - that makes September 25 the most active Xbox Live gaming day in history."
Finnish mobile phone giant, Nokia, the world's largest producer of mobile phone handsets, has signed new video deals with seven companies including CNN and Sony Pictures. The deal has been made to bring video content to Nokia's top-of-the-range multimedia phone models. The company has previously signed deals with Google Inc.'s YouTube video sharing giant and Reuters news agency.
"Consumer desire to watch Internet videos on mobile devices is growing all the time and we want to help users discover and access the best content in the simplest way possible,"Harri Mannisto, director at Nokia's multimedia unit, said on Tuesday.
The company has also struck deals to bring video content from India's IBN news channel, Jamba, RooftopComedy, ROK and Versaly Entertainment to its N95 models.
Sony managed to sell a quarter of a million new PlayStation Portable (PSP) units in Japan in just 4 days after the new model launched, according to a Japanese gaming magazine. The figure matches what the PSP console previously managed in two months in the territory. The slimmer and lighter PSP launched in Japan on September 20th, aiming to become more competitive with the huge demand for the Nintendo DS Lite.
Sony and Nintendo released the original PSP and DS handheld consoles back in November 2004. Since then, Nintendo revamped the DS with the DS Lite, which was seen considerable demand worldwide. The PlayStation Portable is more expensive but offers more multimedia features. The newer model is thinner than the original and offers TV-out.
In 4 days through September 23rd, the PSP sold 250,702 units in Japan, according to Enterbrain. For comparison, Sony sold 275,223 units of the PSP console in the entire of July and August combined. The PSP sells for 19,800 yen, with the DS Lite selling for 16,800 yen.
Toshiba is offering up a new portable media player (PMP), the gigabeat T400. The T400 comes with 4GB storage capacity which the company advertises as being capable of storing up to 6 hours of video in the Windows Media Video format, 1,000 songs or 4,000 photos. Toshiba's gigabeat T400 incorporates H2C technology to improve the quality of compressed audio for an unmatched listening experience.
H2C technology enhances the quality of MP3 and WMA audio files by restoring some of a song's treble & bass signals that get lost when tracks are ripped. In addition to H2C, the gigabeat T400 can play WMA Lossless music files to further supply users with the option of enjoying music at the highest level possible from a compressed file format.
Toshiba claims the battery is good enough for 16 hours of audio playback or 5 hours of video playback on a full charge. The player features a 2.4-inch LCD color display for video. It costs $119.99.
"In bringing the gigabeat T400 to market, Toshiba wanted to offer users a unique alternative to the portable media players currently available from a technology, durability and pricing standpoint," said Jeff Barney, vice president of marketing, Digital Products Division, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. "For under $120, few products on the market can match the gigabeat’s ease of use and playback quality."
New figures released by Leichtman Research Group (LRG), 20% of US homes have DVRs, with an increase to 50% expected by 2011.
"Cable and satellite TV companies are driving the penetration of DVRs into the home,"LRG President Bruce Leichtman told the E-Commerce Times. "The evolution of this product, like many others, is not solely about consumer demand," he said. "It's often about supply. This is a great example about the supply side pushing a product."
Rob Enderle, president and principal analyst of the Enderle Group, credits cable providers with quick adoption of the technology, saying "For the most part, the big motivator for consumers to get these things is that the cable companies have subsidized these into the market pretty aggressively."
Analysts also say the emergence of HDTV signals has also been a factor in the DVR's popularity. Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis for the NPD Group said "People with HD TVs prefer to watch HD programming. So if it's a choice between watching something in high definition that they've recorded and something live that may not be available in high-definition, they may find more value from the HD DVR."
Jean-Bernard Levy, chairman of Universal Music Group parent company Vivendi commented on UMG's very public feud with Apple over iTunes pricing, saying "The split between Apple and (music) producers is indecent," adding "We should have a differentiated price system."
Since July, UMG, the world's largest record label has held out on renewing a new long term deal for iTunes distribution, preferring to sign a new contract every month instead. Over the same period of time, UMG has been experimenting with ways to promote non-iTunes services, including providing DRM free downloads only through iTunes competitors.
Levy described the situation as a work in progress, saying "We are in a phase during which many different actors are talking to each other ... We are trying to put in place several projects to ensure that music is better remunerated ... We are not just talking to Apple."
Of course, what he really means is that UMG is working with other companies in an effort to either force Apple to offer a more lucrative contract or cut them out of the distribution chain altogether. So far no one has had any luck competing with iTunes, although detractors in the music industry often contend that's a result of a competitive advantage created by owning both the download and playback market through sales of iPods.
Now that the summer box office frenzy has ended leaving broken records in its wake, the studios are hoping that they can see a similar boost in DVD sales and rentals when the movies debut in the fourth quarter of 2007.
Beginning with the worldwide hit "Knocked Up", 16 films that grossed more than $100 million domestically are expected to be released on DVD from now until the end of the year.
There is huge money at stake as well. The domestic home video business brings in around $25 billion USD annually as compared to under $10 billion USD annually for box office grosses.
However, the business has been in decline for most of the year, hitting a 5 to 10 percent decline.
Additionally, the biggest physical rental chains in the market have hit some speed bumps as of late. Blockbuster has hit a state of turmoil recently and Movie Gallery has been in such financial trouble that it was forced to close over 500 stores yesterday. The next-gen format war as well is in complete uncertainty, especially after Paramount threw its support solely behind HD DVD. Afterdawn readers know however that HD sales still pale in comparison to standard def totals.
And so, with that being said, the big question remains as to whether the strong box office return will lead to strong DVD sales and rentals in the fourth quarter and busy holiday season.
"That's the big question," concedes Paramount homevid topper Kelley Avery, who believes the industry will end slightly up by year-end.
Demonoid, the very popular torrenttracker, has allegedly been taken down by CRIA (Canadian Recording Industry Association) as users have noticed that both the tracker and the website have been down for at least the last 24 hours.
Although Demonoid and CRIA have yet to deny or confirm the reports it is definitely a possibility that Demonoid's new Canadian ISP shut the site down after being pressured by CRIA. Recently, the ISP said it would pull the plug on Demonoid if it received complaints.
This would be the second time in recent memory that Demonoid has had major downtime, the last time being when it was still based in the Netherlands. The Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN asked the web host Leaseweb to take Demonoid down and hand over the admin's personal information but Demonoid relocated to Canada before anything could come of it.
It seems likely now that Demonoid will have to relocate again, or stay offline and be another huge blow to the BitTorrent community.
US satellite television provider Echostar Communications, owner of Dish Network, has agreed to buy Sling Media, makers of the wildly successful Slingbox. Prior to the announcement, Echostar already owned a small stake in the company. If everything goes as planned, after spending another $380 million they'll own the rest.
"EchoStar's acquisition of Sling Media will allow us to offer innovative and convenient ways for our customers to enjoy their programming on more displays and locations, including TVs, computers and mobile phones, both inside and outside of the home," said Charlie Ergen, CEO and co-founder of EchoStar, in a statement.
The statement continues "As an early investor in Sling Media, EchoStar has been pleased with the progress and commitment the company has made establishing Sling Media and the Slingbox as powerful and beloved digital media brands,"
Once the purchase is complete, Echostar may end up dividing into two distinct companies. One would consist of Dish Network and related operations, while the other would concentrate on consumer electronics manufacturing, with a particular emphasis on set-top boxes. Company officials believe the split would make both companies more attractive to investors, especially considering that some of the goals of one operation would likely be at odds with the other.
Filmax Entertainment of Spain is launching an online store selling movies and music around the world. The company hopes to have the site operational sometime in the first half of 2008.
With box office revenue and DVD sales both falling last year, Filmax is revamping operations in a number of ways. As part of a three year strategic plan, they also plan to concentrate on production, rather than acquisition of new movies.
"In the last two to three years we've reduced drastically our acquisitions budget. We used to invest $40 million a year in film acquisitions. These days, we prefer to invest that in production," said Filmax chairman Julio Fernandez.
In addition to hosting titles from Filmax's catalog of 4,000 movies and almost 2 million song downloads from a variety of labels around the world. the site will also be used for Streaming two different online television channels, including one that specializes in horror movies. "We will connect all the fantasy genre fans around the world," said Fernandez.
Over the next three years, Filmax plans to raise more than $135 million in new investments, which will be used partly to increase their online presence.
While IPTV was all the talk at the IBC conference in Amsterdam this year, Broadcast International (BI) claims that the infrastructure for delivering on the promise of IPTV is not yet ready for prime time. IPTV promises HD-quality video delivered on an IP broadband network, wherever and whenever users want it. However, video compression has become a major obstacle in its development.
"Experience has shown us that as broadband adoption has increased, so have consumers' appetites for ways to use that extra bandwidth. IPTV will test those limits," said Rod Tiede, CEO of Broadcast International. "Right now, most video compression solutions are not up to the challenge of dealing with the avalanche of video content that will accompany the emergence of IPTV, and certainly not with anything approaching HD quality. At best, most offer a 25 percent reduction in bandwidth, with compromised picture quality, which is nowhere near that required for IPTV."
Tiede believes that a compression system that offers a 90% reduction in bandwidth consumption is necessary. "In order for IPTV to live up to its promise, the user experience must be at least as good as that delivered by traditional broadcast media; and in fact, it should exceed it. But the existing infrastructure is just not up to that standard without a major change in video compression technology," he said.
Amazon today launched the public beta of its new DRM-free digital music store, starting with a 2 million song offering.
Many believe the new store could prove to be a strong competitor to iTunes as it features tons of songs, but all DRM-free. All files are in MP3 format and encoded at 256kbs. The tracks are compatible with most portable devices including the iPod.
The new store will also be more affordable then iTunes as Amazon will offer all individual songs for 89 to 99 cents and albums for $6 to $10 USD. iTunes, in comparison, charges $1.29 for DRM-free tracks and $12.99 for albums.
Noticeably absent from Amazon's store is all labels under Sony BMG however, which includes Arista, Columbia, Epic, Jive and RCA records. Due to contractual obligations, all their tracks must include DRM.
In an effort to stay in business, the large movie rental chain Movie Gallery has confirmed that it will be closing over 500 of its brick and mortar stores around the US.
Although bankruptcy has been widely feared for the company, CEO Joe Malugen hopes the move will bring the company back to financial health.
“Closing these stores was a difficult, but necessary decision to help protect the future of this company,” he said. “These stores are being closed after evaluating a number of factors, including store profits and the terms of the leases at each location. This action will allow us to focus our resources on the approximate 4,000 stores that have a stronger operating performance and prospects for future growth.”
Movie Gallery did not go into details about how many employees would be laid off or be transferred to other Hollywood Video or Movie Gallery locations and also did not go into whether customer's accounts would be transferred to nearby locations.
Movie Gallery has seen its stock plummet in recent months mainly due to losing market share after the introduction of "Total Access" by its main rival, Blockbuster.
Toshiba's Digital Products Division has announced the brand new DLP TDP-EW25U projector. The new BrilliantColor widescreen projector is one of the industry's first wireless network projectors compatible with Microsoft Vista Ultimate's "Meeting Space" functionality for remote sharing of presentation files. The TDP-EW25U projector's "extreme short projection" technology can produce a 60-inch image from just 2.4 feet away.
It allows the projector to be placed or mounted closer to the screen so that the amount of ambient light that can degrade the image quality is reduced, resulting in a more luminous image. The projector also features Windows Vista networking capabilities integrated wireless1 functionality for remarkably quick and easy presentation set up, as well as remote network management and extensive multimedia connectivity.
"The TDP-EW25U projector is simply the best-equipped widescreen presentation solution on the market today," said Sam Malik, director of projector sales and marketing, Toshiba Digital Products Division. "Attractively priced, this incredibly flexible next-generation presentation device gives professionals and consumers everything they need and want in a projector, wider viewing space, easy set up, wireless networking, unbelievable brightness and accurate, lifelike color reproduction."
Due to their ongoing lawsuit from the MPAA, the admins at the popular torrent search engine IsoHunt will be blocking US visitors on their TorrentBox and Podtropolis trackers.
According to an IsoHunt statement,
"As of earlier today, we have disabled access from users in the US to our trackers. This goes for ALL trackers (torrentbox, podtropolis) we run. This is due to the US’s hostility towards P2P technologies, and we feel with our current lawsuit brought by the MPAA, we can no longer ensure your security and privacy in the US. So, if you’re outside the US, you may notice less peers. We encourage you to add other public, unhampered trackers to torrents you post, in addition to Torrentbox and Podtropolis’s trackers."
This is the second time recently that sites have been forced to block access to US users including last month's shut down of TorrentSpy.
The MPAA believes that the only purpose of these trackers and engines is to share unauthorized copyrighted content, but the owner of IsoHunt does not agree. “We process copyright takedown requests daily, and have done so for hundreds of requests in the past, if not thousands. We work with all copyright owners, and even the RIAA email us routinely. The MPAA is the only organization unwilling to cooperate with us.”
Although it is widely credited with helping to bring both VHS and standard-def DVD to the mainstream, the porn industry has been surprisingly slow to embrace next-gen disc formats.
Many believed that the adult video industry would once again be a major factor in determining which of the rival formats would be victorious but so far the releases have been few and far between.
To date, DVD Empire only lists sixteen adult titles on HD DVD and a meager three for Blu-ray.
Industry analysts have put a few reasons forward as to why they believe the industry has been slow to adopt including the the fact that the discs are much more expensive to produce and that distributors are under the impression that it would be better to just leap frog the formats and focus on online content delivery of HD content.
More updates when they become available for all those interested in porn.
With the game ready to launch tonight, Microsoft has announced that it has already sold more than 1.5 million copies of Halo 3 in the US making it the fastest game to hit the milestone.
"The excitement and demand for Halo 3 has transcended a typical video game release and we’re preparing dedicated registers for its midnight release in our 24-hour stores," said Darin Dickson, video game merchandise buyer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. "It’s clear that this is one of the most anticipated games of the year and that 12:01 am Sept. 25 will be a memorable moment for thousands of gamers."
There will be up to 10,000 US retailers open tonight at midnight, with a few even having special events.
"Our customers have been waiting for Halo 3 since the day after Halo 2 launched in 2004," said Jill Hamburger, vice president of movies and games at Best Buy. "Halo 3 is going to bring the experience to new levels, and we are excited to help our customers get the best possible game playing experience."
Halo 3 surpasses Halo 2 as the fastest pre-selling game in history and the game is expected to be released in 37 countries and in 17 different languages.
Adobe Systems Incorporated has announced a major upgrade top its digital video software, Adobe Premiere Elements 4 for Windows. The company also announced Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 for Windows. Tight integration and a shared Organizer, with a common database accessible from either application, allow users to do more with their photos and videos.
"With video and digital cameras now part of our everyday lives and social networking sites on the rise, people are demanding sophisticated tools to show off their photos and videos," said John Loiacono, senior vice president of Creative Solutions at Adobe.
He added: "Sophistication doesn’t mean complication. The combination of Photoshop Elements & Adobe Premiere Elements offers a whole new user experience for consumers, which makes sharing impressive photo and video creations much easier and more fun. With access to all photos and video clips from one convenient place and options to export to YouTube, mobile devices and interactive galleries created with Adobe Flash technology, we expect our new products to be high on holiday wish lists."
Adobe Premiere Elements 4 makes it possible to create entertaining movies in just minutes. The new Organizer, the same found in Photoshop Elements, helps sort video clips and still photos with visual tagging options for people, places, or events. Video enthusiasts can apply comprehensive movie themes to a sequence of scenes in just a few clicks, creating a movie complete with transitions, effects and DVD menu.
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has become most known amongst consumers as being the trade organization that seeks out and sues sharers of music owned by the media companies it represents. Up until recently, the RIAA was staying on top of its pursuit of P2P pirated until they were handed some unfavorable situations or decisions. Most people sued by the RIAA opt to avoid going to court and settle with the trade group for a few thousand dollars.
We reported recently about Tanya Andersen's demand and receipt of attorneys fees after the RIAA dropped a file sharing case against her after two years. Judge Donald Ashmanskas said that the RIAA was unable to obtain, or chose not to produce significant usable evidence against the defendant. He commented that the case was unjustified as a reasonable exploration of the boundaries of copyright law as the RIAA seeks to avoid any major decisions on any significant issues.
He commented that if the trade group is allowed to continue with this process, "members of the public would be more hesitant to use the Internet to share creative works in general, regardless of whether their specific conduct violated copyright law or occupied an area yet to be addressed by copyright law."
A recent report from entertainment market analysis firm Screen Digest says the UK online TV market is expected to be worth £181 million ($362 million) by 2011, however movie downloads aren't expected to see nearly the same amount of growth over the same time period.
Despite growth in television content, music downloads are still expected to dominate online distribution, with projected sales totaling nearly 60% more than television.
Arash Amel, senior analyst for Screen Digest, said: “Broadcasters and pay TV operators will come under increasing pressure from many major ‘virtual networks,’ such as YouTube and Joost, who will be competing for viewers’ time and attention. This will be exacerbated by hardware manufacturers, such as Apple, Microsoft and Sony, who will be far more adept at selling TV shows because of their existing device relationships with the consumer.”
The report indicates that lack of interest in watching movies on a PC will be the difference between movies and other downloads, although with the introduction of new set-top boxes designed to connect your television to downloadable content it seems like that obstacle may not stand in the way for long.
Blu-ray has scored another victory of questionable importance by scoring an endorsement from the Home Theater Specialists of America (HTSA), a buying group for A/V dealers and installers. The decision to back the format was based on member sales trends.
HTSA said it expects its exclusive support of Blu-ray to “strengthen retailer commitment to providing more BD-based devices to meet growing consumer demand.”
Executive Director Richard Glikes said “Based on our member research and observations in the Field, it is clear that HTSA customers have made Blu-ray Disc their preferred HD format for movies and other packaged video content.”
Jay Vandenbree, President of Consumer Sales for Sony Electronics reacted to the announcement by saying "I think it speaks volumes when support comes from those who specialize in home theater, and are closest to the consumer.”
Of course HTSA's decision is actually quite different from most consumers who are overwhelmingly not interested in next-gen players because they're happy with the quality of standard DVD, often mistakenly believing that DVD is already in hi-def.
Virgin Digital has decided to shut down its digital music business and has stopped selling tracks or accepting new customers as of today.
According to the company, the shut down will be for good on October 19th. Also according to a note on the UK version of the site, "New sales of music will end September 29. Those customers who have a payment due before the shut off date will lose access the day their next payment is due."
The American site will also be closing, but differently than the UK site. Instead of losing all their unused credits, US users will be allowed to transfer their credits to the Napster online store.
If you have a subscription however, you will lose all access to your music on the 19th regardless. The closing of Virgin Digital is similar to that of MTV Urge which closed down a couple months ago due to ineffectiveness in competing with the like of iTunes and Napster.
This morning Starbucks announced that it plans to give away up to 50 million songs from iTunes as part of a large promotion aimed to bring interest to its new wireless music service that is starting soon.
Beginning in New York and Seattle, the popular franchise is set to launch the new service which will allow users that are "browsing the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store near a Starbucks, to view -- and download -- the currently playing song as well as the last ten played."
Apple and Starbucks say the service will be expanding to all stores with wireless access by 2009.
Starbucks said they would be giving away 1.5 million music cards each day from October 2nd to November 7th allowing the holder to download a special "Song of the Day" for free from iTunes. The first song given away will be "Joker Man" by Bob Dylan with a new song being offered each day.
PBS and WGBH Boston have announced that they will be joining their video distribution businesses, allowing both companies to more efficiently distribute products as rentals or online downloads.
PBS said executives from both companies would manage the partnership and all the funds generated to be put towards new TV programming and services. Programming will "continue to be created separately" however.
WGBH produces about 30 percent of PBS's primetime shows including the hits "Frontline", "Antiques Roadshow", "Masterpiece Theatre" and "Curious George".
“This is an extraordinary opportunity to combine efforts within public TV to better serve the public and the producing community,” said Andrea Downing, VP of PBS Home Entertainment and Partnerships. “Our new partnership will provide broader, more efficient distribution options for public TV producers, filmmakers, programmers and viewers.”
David Bernstein, VP and general manager of WGBH added, “By combining the scale and expertise of two successful distributors, we will be positioned to capitalize on public TV’s investment in programming and increase our capacity and library available for future, alternative distribution methods.”
Speaking at an Event in London, Microsoft's Mark Bennett seemed to indicate that the company would offer an upgraded HD DVD external drive peripheral for the Xbox 360 video games console. Several news articles cite him as saying the new hardware would support advanced HD DVD features such as picture-in-pictures (PIP) and interactivity functions. He also reportedly took some shots at Blu-ray's interactivity offerings.
However, it was reported later on that Microsoft said it would not offer a new Xbox 360 HD DVD drive and that the articles claiming it was under production were just a result of a misquote. It also denied plans of integrating HD-DVD drives into PCs in the future which were also previously reported.
Bennett did make an important announcement in London for UK and European Xbox 360 users however, saying that the company will begin offering 720p movie downloads like those it offers in the United States soon through Xbox Live. He said that the downloads would cost 480 Microsoft Points, which is about £4.
According to Reuters, there are rumors flying around that the large mobile phone provider Sprint could be getting sold to British Telecom, and soon.
Despite still having the third largest cellular service in the US, Sprint continues to lose market share causing its stock prices to decline.
If Sprint was to get purchased by Birtish Telecom it would join T-Mobile and Verizon as American carriers that have significant foreign ownership. T-Mobile is an extension of Deutsche Telekom of Germany while Verizon is partly owned by Vodafone of the UK.
YouTube, the world's largest video sharing site owned by Google Inc., has raised some eyebrows by banning the accounts of a group known as the Rational Response Squad after it complained that its videos were being taken down by spurious DMCA requests from Creationists. The group argues that its videos contained material either public domain, covered by fair use, or entirely self-produced.
The Creation Science Evangelism Ministries is responsible for the copyright complaints. It was founded by the now-imprisoned tax evader, Kent Hovind. While the videos offered by the Rational Response Squad may have contained quotes or arguments made by Creationists, the Creation Science Evangelism Ministries' websites state, "none of the materials ... are copyrighted, so feel free to copy these and distribute them freely."
This shows a major problem with the current state of the DMCA that has been felt by many many video uploaders; it puts the responsibly on the accused parties to show that its material is non-infringing after a DMCA takedown notice is complied with. For U.S. citizens that are somehow unaware or users from other territories around the world, there is a constant battle in the U.S. between proponents of Evolutionary Theory and Creationism (or as its now commonly known, Intelligent Design or I.D.).
Starz Media has announced that it will be expanding its online distribution by allowing Amazon's Unbox and Xbox Live to offer its movies and other digital content for sale.
Over 400 titles will be available through Unbox, said Starz, which includes Film Roman, Anchor Bay Entertainment and Manga Entertainment.
Some of the more popular titles to be available will be anime hits like "Ghost in the Shell", "Ninja Scroll" and "Blood: The Last Vampire" as well as horror classic "The Evil Dead" and "The Hills Have Eyes."
Over the past few months, Starz has signed a few large content deals to distribute via Azureus’ Vuze service, BitTorrent, Guba, IGN’s Direct2Drive, Netflix and Starz’s own Vongo.
“These deals represent our company’s commitment to expansion in the growing digital media world,” said Marc DeBevoise, Starz Media’s senior VP of business development and strategy.
A study from the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) at the Universite of Ottawa claims that DRM on various products, ranging from downloaded MP3s to productivity and security software violates Canadian law because users aren't adequately notified of how personal information is collected and used. It also indicates that Canadian law requires that consumers be allowed to opt of the collection and use of personal details.
"The privacy concerns with DRM are substantiated by what we saw," David Fewer, staff counsel with CIPPIC and the study's lead investigator, said. "In the Canadian marketplace we've found that there is simply widespread noncompliance of PIPEDA (Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act)." Of particular concern to study authors was the failure of companies to indicate that personal details were being collected for DRM purposes in their privacy policies.
Christopher Levy, CEO of DRM solutions provider BuyDRM, doesn't agree with many of the conclusions of the report. "The focus of the DRM system is to encrypt a piece of media, manage the licence key, profile to that licence, and deliver it -- that's it," Levy said. "It's unfortunate that consumers have been misled by a lot of vocal critics because the truth is DRM is no more evil than the lock and key that's on your door, the alarm on your car, or the authentication system in your cell phone."
According to a Parks Associates study, the portable media player market won't really take off until more content is available and devices make improvements to the overall viewing experience.
“The PMP market has not reached one tenth of its potential yet, and this data explains why," contended senior analyst Harry Wang. “Compelling video content and good video viewing experience trump cost of video content as the top two factors that will drive consumers' usage of next-generation, video-focused portable entertainment devices,” he said in citing the survey of PMP owners’ needs.
While portable devices have had video capabilities for years, small displays and little content created specifically for them, along with a high price tag, have held back mainstream adoption.
The study is hopeful about the latest generation of iPods, saying “Apple is close to having a dream device for portable video," but cautions that their highly publicized break with NBC Universal over pricing could open the door for services besides iTunes to flourish, possibly hitting them where it hurts the most - in iPod sales.
The second week in October will see some of the biggest names in HDTV meeting in Los Angeles for DisplaySearch’s Fifth Annual HDTV Conference.
The primary purposes of the conference are to share current market information from representatives of such groups as DisplaySearch, The NPD Group, Wedbush Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and Kersey Strategies, and make attendees aware of new HDTV related opportunities.
Much of the event will focus on content delivery, especially the next generation blue laser format war between HD DVD and Blu-ray. The role of game consoles in the HDTV industry will also be explored.
The next 1-2 years could see a great deal of innovation related to HDTVs. As some areas of the world abandon analog broadcasting in favor of all digitial over the air television, the percentage of homes that are HDTV capable should keep increasing. This means more consumers buying more hardware, who may be interested in new ways to receive content, ranging from DVRs to Video On Demand and IPTV.
Sales of television DVD box sets continue to grow in popularity, spurred in part by last year's hit Heroes. The show's DVD release coincided with a marketing blitz promoting the second season, which premieres in the United States next week.
“We are absolutely on fire,” said Craig Kornblau, president of Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Universal Pictures Digital Platforms, which markets NBC series Heroes: Season 1 on DVD. “We put out a number of good titles already [this fall] on the TV side, and they’re really cooking.”
Between last week's Emmy Awards and next week's full slate of series and season premiere's, Kornblau sees a lot of free marketing for television DVD products. After mini series Broken Trail received an Emmy last week sales got a slight boost according to Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Vice President of Marketing Marc Rashba.
Although there is potential profit from television series DVDs, there has been increased competition in recent years, both of recent content and older series. As the market expands even further, the role of DVD sales is likely to become more important for television networks' business models. DVR useage is quickly eroding the perceived value of advertising time, and downloads haven't been able to reach a mass market, due primarily to the challenge associated with playback on a television screen.
NBC distributor Universal is hoping to increase ratings for their critically acclaimed show Friday Night Lights. The show, based on the movie of the same name, has been well received by critics, but hasn't fared nearly as well in the ratings. Hoping to reverse the show's fortunes, Universal has made the show's first season available on DVD for around half the price usually associated with other television series.
"We're certain that home entertainment consumers who haven't yet experienced this unique show will be instantly won over by it once they see it," said Hilary Hoffman, senior VP of brand and digital marketing at Universal.
Apparently the reduced price hasn't been particularly effective, as sales haven't been impressive so far. Until the new season starts there's no way of knowing whether this is an indication of the show's future ratings, or merely a failed marketing effort. However if the show does take off it may mean a lot of new viewers happily discovering the first season available at near discount bin prices.
After thoroughly embarrassing the RIAA watchdog Media Defender over the last week, the group calling itself MediaDefender-Defenders has struck again, this time leaking the full uncompiled source code to MD's anti-piracy toolset.
The software is used on behalf of the RIAA, as well as record labels to control the unauthorized distribution of copy written music, movies, games and programs.
“The [leak] is complete for their operations regarding Kazaa, bittorrent, gnutella etc. This system is … released for the public in order to identify the decoys [MediaDefender] set up,” states the leak’s accompanying info file.
16 different tools in MediaDefender's toolset are aimed to target the Bittorrent network, including software to create bogus media files. The leak also includes tools for the control of many of the large filesharing networks including Ares, DirectConnect, eDonkey2000, FastTrack/Kazaa, Gnutella, Kademlia, Overnet, Piolet, SoulSeek and WinMX.
Making matters worse for Media Defender, the info file also thanks an unidentified MediaDefender employee, implying that the source code was sent directly from an employee.
MD has been sending out cease-and-desist notices to various BitTorrent trackers since the original leak admitting that “despite security precautions by our client, a person or persons illegally accessed MediaDefender's email and other files,” and that the sites in question “immediately and permanently cease and desist from posting, distributing or otherwise making available MediaDefender's trade secrets and confidential information.”
Some trackers have cooperated, others publicly mocked the request.
After data figures showed that worldwide sales of the Nintendo Wii have overtaken the Xbox 360, Microsoft has decided to firmly set their sights on Europe.
Talking to an interviewer from Bloomberg, Microsoft's group product manager Aaron Greenberg said "The number one objective is to win on a global basis and that may mean winning some markets and losing others."
"Europe is our priority focus right now."
Last week however, Microsoft said it planned to not give up on the Japanese market by increasing the number of game titles available there. Even so, sales of the 360 have stalled since its introduction, lagging far behind the Wii and even the PS3.
"It's difficult to see Microsoft capturing a significant share'' in Japan, said Hiroshi Kamide, a Tokyo-based games analyst at KBC Securities Japan. "After two years on the market, Xbox's position in the country is such that it makes you wonder whether further efforts are even worth it."
To date, 446,201 Xbox 360s have been sold in Japan, accounting for a meager 8.7 percent of the new console market. On a per week basis, the 360 is regularly outsold by the PS3, the Wii and even the PS2.
Richie Reinhardt, better known as Richie Ramone the former drummer of the band "The Ramones" is suing Wal-Mart, Apple and Real Networks over what he claims is copyright infringement for six Ramones songs that are available for legal sale on the internet. Ramone is asking for almost $1 million USD in royalties on the songs.
According to the suit, Reinhardt says he is the sole creator of six songs that he did not agree to offer for sale over the internet and that the copyrights on his music were violated when they began being digitally offered.
“The plaintiff has never authorized the duplication, distribution, performance or other exploitation of the compositions in any non-physical digital format,” the suit alleges.
Reinhardt is also asking for an injunction on the following six songs, barring them from being sold on the internet; "Can't Say Something Nice," "Human Kind", "I Know Better Now", "I'm Not Jesus", "Smash You" and "Somebody Put Something in My Drink."
"Richie has never gotten the recognition creatively, and certainly economically, for being a mainstay for the Ramones during what was probably not their most visible period," said Jeff Sanders, Reinhardt's attorney.
In finally bringing the iPhone to France, France Telecom announced today that it holds exclusive rights to distribute the phone in France.
CEO Didier Lombard did not reveal any pricing details but did say "the phone will not be subsidized by the operator and that French consumers will see iPhones before Christmas and as early as November."
The device is set for release in the UK on November 9th as well as in Germany in the same time frame. No word yet from Apple on when the iPhone will hit elsewhere in Europe/
Electronics giants Sharp and Pioneer have announced that they will be forming capital and business ties with plans to develop an array of HD consumer electronics.
Pioneer will sell 30 million shares to Sharp, making it the top shareholder in the company with a 14 percent stake. Sharp in return will sell 10 million shares of its stock to Pioneer, about 1 percent.
“As you know, there is harsh global competition in the electronics business field,” said Mikio Katayama, Sharp president/COO, in remarks announcing the deal. “Technology has been developing significantly faster compared to the past. Regarding industry trends, it is not an exaggeration to say that we cannot predict one year ahead, or half a year, or even three months ahead. In this environment, if we tried to cover all the necessary technology by ourselves, it would take considerable amounts of time, human resources and expenses. This might cause us to miss big opportunities.
“So, in order to cover core technology and know-how that we do not have, we believe a strategic business alliance is needed,” he added.
The companies jointly said they will use the new joining as an opportunity to develop Blu-ray DVDs, as well as audio and car electronics and displays.
A study released by the NPD Group shows that most owners of HDTVs aren't particularly excited about the next generation technology in HD DVD and Blu-ray. Only 11 percent seem preparted to by one within the next six months.
The biggest bit of bad news for next generation format backers is that the overwhelming majority of HDTV owners are content with the quality of their standard definition or upsampling DVD players. Given the Limited number of titles available in either hi-def format, there doesn't appear to be a compelling argument for to upgrade for most.
“We’re seeing some frustration with high-definition formats among people who’ve made the plunge because they currently cannot get enough content to meet their needs,” said Russ Crupnick, VP and senior entertainment industry analyst. “These early adopters aren’t choosing to evangelize high-definition players to others, in large part because they are unhappy with the available selection. The good news is that the industry can address this concern by releasing HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc titles more aggressively.”
Joining NBC and ABC in offering free television show downloads, Fox will be promoting several shows by making their premieres available for free on iTunes. The network hopes the downloads will convince viewers to either watch the shows on TV or buy future episodes through iTunes.
Television networks appear to be having trouble figuring where future revenue will come from as more and more viewers use DVRs to skip commercials. NBC's recently announced approach combines DRM to disable playback after a week with unskippable ads and the requirement for a special player from the network's website.
A market where consumers directly determine the value of a television show is something of a new concept for the major U.S. networks. Previously ratings and demographics could be combined to calculate the value of advertising time on each show. The same show, with the same viewership and demographics might be worth more or less than the traditional value would have been when the decision to watch is colored by a show's perceived value to the network.
Variety and choice are likely to be necessary to make television networks profitable. With no single delivery method able to dominate consumer interest, and new download and Streaming products being introduced regularly, networks should be paying close attention to how viewers acquire and consume shows, so they can find revenue streams compatible with what's already in demand.
Online retailers Woot.com is offering Microsoft's Zune player for a price of just $129, down from its previous lower-than-average $149 price. To avoid customers being upset about paying the higher price recently, Woot.com will offer customers who bought a Zune at $149 a $10 discount on their next $40 purchase. "Being in technology for 1+years, give or take a year, I can attest to the fact that the technology road is bumpy," Woot CYA OfficerLarry Stalin said.
He added: "There is always some idiot changing lanes without signaling, and the potholes never seem to get fixed. If you always wait for the next price cut or to buy the new improved model, you'll never buy any technology product. I mean, why should you? Truth is, you don't really need any of this junk. We're afraid you'll catch on to that fact and overpaid frauds like me will have to go back into fields like telemarketing and burrito construction."
According to a lawsuit filed on Thursday in Los Angeles, the U.S. pay-TV industry is breaking the law by offering only subscription packages or bundles and not allowing consumers to choose only the channels they want. Every major cable and satellite television system operators and every cable and broadcast network have been named in the complaint.
"The antitrust laws protect the right of choice," antitrust lawyer Maxwell M. Blecher said. "Here the customer is denied that choice." Blecher accused the parties involved of creating a monopoly that, "deprived consumers of choice, caused them to pay inflated prices for cable television and forced them to pay for cable channels they do not want and do not watch," in his complaint.
The lawsuit lists 9 plaintiffs but Blecher is seeking class-action status. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Kevin Martin has said in the past that a system that allows customers to choose only the specific channels they want would require federal legislation. The TV industry maintains that such a system would drive prices up as advertising revenue would fall, would require many more costumer service representatives and raise costs of billing and marketing.
In yet another twist on the embarrassing MediaDefender email leak, the infamous torrenttrackerThePirateBay is now set to file charges against MediaDefender claiming personal attacks on the site by paid hackers and saboteurs.
According to TPB's official blog, the admins confide that we "now have proof [... that] the big record and movie labels are paying professional hackers, saboteurs and ddosers to destroy our trackers."
"While browsing through the email we identified the companies that are also active in Sweden and we have tonight reported these incidents to the police."? Brokep, one of the admins explained, "The charges are infrastructural sabotage, denial of service attacks, hacking and spamming, all of these on a commercial level."
According to Slyck, the following companies are currently targeted by TPB's charges. Twentieth Century Fox, Sweden AB, Emi Music Sweden AB, Universal Music Group Sweden AB, Universal Pictures Nordic AB, Paramount Home Entertainment (Sweden) AB, Atari Nordic AB , Activision Nordic Filial Till Activision (UK) Ltd, Ubisoft Sweden AB, Sony Bmg Music Entertainment (Sweden) AB and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Nordic AB.
In an effort to crush 14 piracy release groups, 200 police officials took part in a huge raid on Thursday, one that spanned through Germany and France and saw the sweeping of over 50 homes and office buildings.
Release groups are the usual starting point for distribution of pirated games, movies and TV shows.
The GVU, Germany's organization that investigates intellectual property violations, said in a statement that the release groups had put at least 200 movies and 100 pieces of software into illegal networks and that many of the movies were not even released in Germany yet. English versions of the DVDs were taken and dubbed by the groups, said the statement.
The GVU also said during the raid 60 PCs, 2000 DVDs and CDs and servers as well as HDDs were confiscated.
"This proves once more the correctness of our strategy in concentrating on the tip of the illegal distribution pyramid," GVU chairman Christian Sommer said. "Today's raid will have a decisive impact on the release group scene, where pirated copies are first created."
Earlier this week it was reported that NBC Universal would be launching a direct download service that would allow fans to download episodes of their TV shows for free.
Now, it seems ABC is hoping to steal some of NBC's thunder by making an announcement that they too will be offering their TV shows up for download free of charge. The shows will be offered on AOL Video and will be paid in full by embedded advertisements, just like NBC.
What makes ABC's new offering even more important is that with AOL Video, users have the option to watch streaming video or download the videos to watch at a later time, making themselves the first network to offer such options.
Some of the hit shows available on AOL Video will be "Lost" and "Grey's Anatomy" with more new shows coming soon. ABC said it hopes to have four episodes of any given show online at once with older episodes being removed after a set number of days or weeks.
Halo 3, the much anticipated next chapter in Bungie's best selling series has been leaked online, over a week before its official release date.
Uploaded a few days ago, the 6.14 GB ISO file has been making its way through P2P and torrents and downloads are in the thousands. The game of course will only play on modified Xbox 360 consoles.
Microsoft claims the game was being sold at High Street retailer Argos before the company corrected its mistake and took the game off shelves. But the damage had already been done.
Microsoft has told potential buyers of the game to avoid YouTube where the ending of the game has been readily available since the game was leaked.
The government of Thailand has said that their relationship with YouTube has taken another bad turn and that they will be going to court to have two videos blocked. The government feels the videos are a threat to national security.
The videos, a two part series, run a total of 17 minutes and accuse the former Prime Minister Prem Tinsulanonda of "leading a government coup that occurred in September 2006, not the generals who claim to have headed it."
This is not the first the world has heard of such accusations, as supporters of Tinsulanonda's rivals have accused to former chief time and time again of the act.
The Thai government feels however that the videos are "confusing" to citizens and that it could cause "public unrest." The government is asking Thai ISPs to voluntarily block links to the videos while it seeks the ban in court.
YouTube declined comment so far on this latest situation.
MPEG LA, LLC has announced the availability of the ATSC Patent Portfolio License, which includes patents that are essential to the digital television standard (including high definition and standard definition) developed by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) and used in digital televisions sold in the United States, South Korea, Mexico, Canada and other countries.
"MPEG LA is proud to play a continuing role in support of digital television's now and next generation," said MPEG LA Chief Executive Officer Larry Horn. "This license gives further testimony to the ability of the MPEG LA Licensing Model to address real-world market demand for a convenient and reliable one-stop licensing alternative enabling manufacturers to focus their resources on new product development. We applaud these patent holders for their exemplary cooperation in coming together for the benefit of the marketplace with patents of demonstrated value to forge a voluntary marketplace solution inuring to the benefit of ATSC consumers."
The licensing terms include a royalty of USD 5.00 per unit for an ATSC Receiver Product capable of demodulating and decoding an over-the-air, RF terrestrial broadcast signal in compliance with the ATSC Standard and includes right to make, have made, sell, offer for sale, import, and for an end user to use ATSC Receiver Products.
CMC Magnetics Corporation and its U.S. subsidiary Hotan Corporation and Ciba Specialty Chemicals Corporation (Ciba) have settled a lawsuit brought by Ciba for alleged patent infringements. Some CD-R products imported and sold by CMC were produced with dye infringing Ciba's phthalocyanine and related CD-R media patent.
"We were not fully aware of the current dye technology and the related patent situation. After clarification from Ciba, we realize the importance of the technology of the Ciba dye in the dye industry. We regret that we had used for part of our CD-R production a dye from a local supplier that turned out to infringe Ciba's dye and media patents. After this incident we had instantly improved our internal processes to make sure that intellectual property rights are respected and switched back to Ciba's product," a CMC spokesperson commented.
"We appreciate that CMC has been co-operative in settling this matter and will adopt effective measures to avoid future infringement. We are pleased that the case could be settled on this basis," a Ciba spokesperson commented. No details on the settlement were provided.
The DVD Copy Control Association (DVD CCA) has finally given approval for technology to add CSS encryption to recordable DVDs. It was approved by the DVD Forum earlier this year, but DVD CCA approval was slowed by content owners who wanted additional DRM. Since additional anti-piracy measures would likely cause playback problems on existing players, they were eventually rejected.
There are two potential markets for the technology right now. The more lucrative is retail burning kiosks, which some chains already have plans to deploy. Such on-demand kiosks would reduce both inventory overhead and shelf space requirements for carrying a large selection of DVDs.
Depending on the cost of hardware required to write CSS to a recordable disc, another potential market would be downloads which could be burned with CSS on a home burner and then played on a standard DVD player.
Figures released by UK regulatory company Ofcom show that digital television is installed in 84% of UK homes. The 13% increase in the last year is the biggest one year increase to date.The figures are good news since the switch to 100% digital television broadcasting is set to begin in October.
In just the second quarter of this year, running from April through June, nearly 2 million freeview boxes were sold. Terrestrial broadcast is the most common viewing format, with a presence in 9.1 million homes, followed closely by both free and pay satellite service which combined are in 9 million more.
The report also indicates nearly 30% of 35 million secondary televisions are digital ready.
Toshiba has offered the latest firmware upgrade for it second gen HD-XA2 and HD-A20HD DVD players, an upgrade that enables 1080p24 output. However, initial results have been buggy.
The firmware, version 2.5, promises "several enhancements, including improved network connectivity for downloading web-enabled content on certain HD DVD discs and a fix for certain disc playback and HDMI/DVI related issues identified by Toshiba."
The output of RAW 1080p24 video over HDMI has been seen on several rival Blu-ray players but this marks the first time it is available on an HD DVD player.
According to HighdefDigest though, the fix for playback issues worked great while the 1080p24 output was buggy. An employee testing the firmware upgrade had this to say, "the setting also had a negative side effect of throwing audio sync off on most of the discs played. He goes on to say that the problem was so distracting that he found himself forced to return the player to 1080i output."
During his keynote speech today at the Tokyo Game Show, Sony president Kaz Hirai finally confirmed the upcoming DualShock 3 controllers with rumble feature.
The sixaxis controller will be available in Japan in November and then in the US and the UK in Spring 2008. No price has been set as of yet.
"We have not made any changes to its outward appearance and design, but it does have vibration," Hirai added.
Earlier in the day the controllers were seen in action at a demo of "Burnout Paradise" in which journalists were allowed to use the new controllers.
Hirai said there would be nine titles available at TGS that supported the new controller including the upcoming "Metal Gear Online." For months now Sony has downplayed the lack of the rumble but apparently recently "we have been able to overcome this difficulty," said Hirai.
There was also legal issues that were stopping the controller from being made. In 2002, Immersion sued both Sony and Microsoft for "patent infringement related to the inclusion of rumble features in their game controllers." Microsoft settled, but Sony decided to fight. In March 2007, Sony was ordered to pay out over 90 million USD to Immersion and the case was finally settled.
Making sure everyone knows that they are a staunch supporter of HD DVD, Micrsoft has announced that their HDi logo will appear on all ToshibaHD DVD players as well as one some HD DVD movies by Universal and Paramount.
The HDi logo is Microsoft "representing its version of the interactivity layer of the HD DVD format."
"Given some confusion over what qualifies as true interactivity," a Microsoft spokesperson stated today, "Microsoft wanted to officially logo the technology as a quality assurance."
A few examples of HDi are interactive content are in-movie menus, picture-in-picture commentary tracks, and Internet-driven Streaming updates. Microsoft hopes that by adding the label, it will make it easier for consumers to understand that the discs or players can support those interactive content. More importantly, Microsoft would like consumers to understand that Vista has built-in support for HDi.
Next month, Microsoft Corp. will revamp its portable media player (PMP) offering, Zune, according to an insider. The source confirmed that an image allegedly displaying the new line-up is in fact accurate. It shows a big change in the control function of the Zune, offering an iPod-like "squircle," a circular 4-way directional pad with a button at the center.
The new Zunes will apparently come in black, red and pink, which Microsoft dropping the often criticized brown color scheme. The new Zune model will offer 80GB storage and will completely replace the 30GB model, according to the source. An additional flash-based model will also apparently be available. The official price for the Zune player right now is $200.
The prices are expected to match those of Apple's iPod prices. The release is expected on October 16th, while the one-year anniversary of the launch of Zune will come on November 17th.
ViewSonic has expanded its offerings to consumers with the addition of new VX and VA series LCD monitors to its line-up. The new VX models tout a dynamic contrast ratio of 4000:1, which is about four times better than traditional desktop LCDs. The company is marketing these new models at video editors and other digital entertainment professional who will benefit greatly from improved contrast ratio.
The VX1940w is a 19-inch monitor that offers a resolution of up to 1680x1050, which matches the resolution of many 20-inch and 22-inch monitors without having to scale up the size. The VX2240w model is a 22-inch monitor that offers a more comfortable viewing angle and the VX1932wm is a 19-inch display that offers a resolution of 1440x900.
The displays, which offer both VGA and DVI inputs, will begin shipping in October this year. The company is also offering the budget VA series which includes VA1926w, VA2026w and VA2226 which are 19-inch, 20-inch and 22-inch displays respectively. All are widescreen models and offer a dynamic contrast ratio of 2000:1. In a addition there is also the single 4:3 model, the 19-inch VA926.
At the Tokyo Game Show today, a mainly positive keynote by Sony was marred with the announcement that the innovative PlayStation Home would be pushed back from its release date in October until spring 2008.
Hirai apologized for the delay and added that the reason was the makers of Home needed more time to "further develop the user interface."
The delay does not come as a full shock however because recently a random anonymous report surfaced from a Home beta tester that revealed some key components were behind schedule.
PlayStation Home is thought to be Sony's answer to the very popular Microsoft Xbox Live service. PlayStation Home would add community features such as content sharing and game trophies to the already available PlayStation Network and PlayStation Stores.
Although still in its beta stages, Anywhere.fm is a new service that will allow iTunes users to upload their playlists directly to their Anywhere.fm account.
The new service could be ideal for music lovers who want to have a playlist uploaded and available anywhere they go as long they have a internet connection.
So far the uploading app only works on Windows and OS X with Linux users getting full support soon. The company also said that support for other media players, namely Winamp and Windows Media Player is currently in development. Also in development is support for music files other than MP3.
For the beta stages, upload is free to all users but Anywhere.fm hopes to introduce a paid service for users that upload large amounts of tracks. No cost was revealed for the time being.
Users testing the service did show concern over possible legal issues they or the service could face.
"Anywhere.FM serves as a digital locker service for users to upload their licensed music and listen to it anywhere," said Sachin Rekhi, Anywhere.fm co-founder. "Users are legally allowed to make personal backup copies of their songs for use with this service." "Anywhere.FM enables sharing of music through Friend Radio in the form of non-interactive playback and complies with the rules under the statutory license for public performances," Rekhi said. "Anywhere.FM pays the associated royalties to SoundExchange, ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC to legally operate these radio stations."
Talal Shamoon, CEO of a leading DRM provider, blames content owners for the public's intelerance for the technology. At the Digital Rights Strategies conference he outlined a list of mistakes that he believes have been made in DRM implementations.
In his presentation he pointed out that DRM stops consumers from exercising legitimate rights, attempts to Block new technology, and is being used to protect content owners from abandoning their current business model. He said “Most deployments of DRM today have flown in the face of consumer behavior.”
At least on Sony executive isn't satisfied with the most common DRM implementation; the encryption and analog protection found on DVDs. “I think there is a role for DVD burning,” said Scott Smyers, VP of network and systems architecture for Sony Electronics. “My kids have a lot of DVDs that they play in the car, and after a few trips, they’re often unplayable. So I Rip and burn them to protect the originals.” As most Afterdawn visitors already know, this is illegal under the DMCA, which the Library of Congress has affirmed by refusing to allow an exemption for fair use copying in their annual reviews.
NBC plans to offer downloads of a limited number of shows starting in October. The downloads will include adds that can't be skipped and will include DRM to only allow playback for a week after the episode airs on TV.
It sounds similar to the BBC's iPlayer, which was launched to a limited number of users earlier this year, although that program is designed specifically for people who pay for TV licenses that are used for BBC funding, and currently allows viewers to watch downloaded programs for up to 30 days.
Although NBC will certainly be criticized for including the ads, their shows are already available without commercials for a fee. They can also be viewed commercial free with a DVR, or streamed from NBC's website.
"With the creation of this new service, we are acknowledging that now, more than ever, viewers want to be in control of how, when and where they consumer their favorite entertainment," said Vivi Zigler, executive vice president of NBC Digital Entertainment.
A limited number of shows will initially be available, including "Heroes," "The Office," "Life," "Bionic Woman," "30 Rock," "Friday Night Lights," "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" and "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."
Finally giving evidence that P2P and piracy aren't as bad as the MPAA and other outlets would have you believe, according to the recent leaked internal Media Defender email, piracy is actually used by some record labels to increase profitability.
The email tells us that Interscope records, and most likely other record labels are using P2P to determine how well they can market a new single. The email shows a specific instance recently in which music from Nicole of the group "The Pussycat Dolls" was monitored via P2P to see whether it was profitable to release her next single.
"Nicole from pussy cat dolls has a single called “whatever u like”. It’s not selling well on itunes or playing that great on radio. A song called “Baby Love” just leaked (I don’t know how long ago). Interscope wants to know if Baby Love is picking up steam on p2p. They need to make a decision by early next week on whether they should switch to this song as the single. Please get me a score comparison on Monday for these two tracks. Also, please put beyonces, fergie, gwen, and nelly furtado singles as comparisons." read the email.
The IFPI has announced that they have shut down six local eDonkey servers in Germany after it got injunctions against the owner of the servers.
According to P2P Blog, the servers were known on the eDonkey network as "Donkey Server No. 1" through "Donkey Server No. 6". IFPI Germany has claimed the shut down of 16 servers so far this year and expects to get more injunctions in the upcoming months.
There seems to be a cloud of controversy surrounding the methods used by the IFPI in these cases though. The owner of the servers told the popular German IT site heise.de that when contacted by IFPI lawyers he immediately installed filters that would stop the trading of unauthorized songs and video but they still got injunctions against him even after he cooperated.
According to figures collected by the NPD Group, the Xbox 360 saw a strong sales boost in August, most likely driven by the recent price drops on the console and upcoming hype for Halo 3.
For the month the 360 sold 276,000 units, a hefty jump from the 170,000 sold in July. The boost means the console outsold the PS2 and PSP for the month, the first time that has occurred in quite some time.
On August 8th, Microsoft cut the price across the board on their console and the strategy seems to be working. That, mixed with the hot selling new Madden title and the upcoming Halo 3 title could mean a couple more good upcoming months for Microsoft. The console sold almost double the amount that Sony did for the month with their PlayStation 3.
Apple and T-Mobile jointly said today that the phone carrier would finally be bringing the iPhone to Germany. The expected date is November 9th, the same day the iPhone hits the UK.
In Germany, T-mobile has 30.7 million customers making it by far the largest provider. It is also the only carrier to have EDGE data deployed across its entire network and the network will be essential to users of the iPhone.
The price will be 399 euros including VAT and will require a two-year contract with T-Mobile.
"I am proud that Apple and T-Mobile have become partners," T-Mobile International CEO Hamid Akhavan said in a statement. "The best mobile device currently on the market will soon be operating on the best network in the country."
There are no details available yet of the revenue sharing deal between the companies but Akhavan said all the details will be available by the release date.
Contreversial News Corp. head Rupert Murdoch commented on Paramount's decision to support HD DVD exclusively after previously offering both HD DVD and Blu-ray releases, saying "Paramount switched out the other day. God knows why." However, he followed that by saying he did actually know why, and that it was because Paramount and Dreamworks SKG were paid a total of $150 million.
Entertainment industry executives representing studios backing each format were at the New York investor conference. While Disney CEO Robert Iger said "We haven't taken any money (to choose Blu-ray) because we think it's far and away the best business,"Viacom's Philippe Dauman defended Paramount's decision, saying it makes more sense financially to back a single format, and HD DVD's lower priced players were behind the decision. He wouldn't comment on allegations of a payoff from HD DVD backers.
Later in the day Richard Parsons, CEO of Time Warner, explained his company's decision to support both formats by saying "The consumer doesn't care about the format." He says Warner is simply interested in reaching customers, and he doesn't believe it's clear which format will win.
Now that the EU Commision is done with Microsoft's antitrust appeal, which the software giant lost, at least one expert believes Apple may be the next company to face penalties.
"The decision by the Court of First Instance is a clear signal to the European [Competition] Commission that it has the leeway to go ahead," said Herbert Hovenkamp, a professor at the University of Iowa College of Law and a noted antitrust scholar. "[The commission] now has a license to go ahead, and they have a pretty aggressive posture. I think this bodes ill for some companies."
Although the commission didn't indicate any particular position on the matter in an April statement, saying "The Statement of Objections does not allege that Apple is in a dominant market position," the company will have to answer questions in hearings starting today. The hearings will revolve around the issue of whether the iTunes pricing structure, combined with a restriction that residents of each EU country may only make iTunes purchases in their own country's stores, violate EU laws.
Certainly Apple's market strategy is to use iTunes' industry dominance to fuel iPod sales, something other handheld music player manufacturers aren't happy with. Apple is already facing multiple lawsuits in the U.S. claiming that restrictions on copying iTunes downloads to other devices for consumption are anti-competitive.
Levono has created some ripples of interest in the market for high-performance computer display monitors with the introduction of a 22-inch LCD monitor that is capable of resolutions up to WUXGA, or 1980x1200. This screen is capable of displaying 1080p video found on HD DVD or Blu-ray movie releases or any other full HD source.
Such a high Resolution for such a small unit is a rarity in the industry. Usually, monitors around the 22-inch size can only scale resolutions of up to 1680x1050. Levono's ThinkVision L220x comes with VGA and DVI inputs, the latter supporting High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) for copy protection.
It also has one USB input and four 4 USB output ports. It offers a 16:10 Widescreen ratio, 178 degree horizontal and vertical wide viewing and 103 pixels per inch dot density. The monitor will be available this November for around $550.
Pioneer Corp. and Mitsubishi Chemical Media have announced that the pair have succeeded in creating a BD-R (Blu-ray Disc recordable) disc that utilizes an organic dye recording layer. Both the companies believe that the development will significantly reduce the development cost of BD-R discs. The development is a result of a partnership between the two companies, struck in 2004, to research write-once BD-R media with organic dye recording layer.
The technology, which is called "Low to High" (LTH, in groove recording), was included in "Blu-ray Disc Recordable Format Ver.1.2" specifications. Of course, a problem right now is that these new discs will not be compatible with any of the burners that are currently on the market.
The technology will help top reduce the cost of making the discs because it eliminates the need for large-scale manufacturing plant investments, and will allow older modified CD-R and DVD-R manufacturing equipment to be used as part of the process.
LG Electronics has announced a new PC that will come equipped with an optical drive to read from both optical disc formats competing to become the standard for high definition video, HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc. The groups backing both formats, the HD DVD Promotions Group and the Blu-ray Disc Association, have declared victory already based on sales statistics for hardware or discs, but recent studies have shown victory is nowhere near.
The new LX97WH PC will allow the user to enjoy high definition experiences from both the formats and of course, will also play the standard DVD format. It is powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo processor and Nvidia Geforce 8 series video card. All of the technology comes packed into a 8.9cm-slim PC case.
Nod details were offered on when the new PC will be available, what other hardware it will boast or how much it will cost the consumer.
Apparently at least one television provider isn't concerned about Apple's iTunes pricing. "We like our relationship with iTunes." CBS CEO Les Moonves said on Tuesday.
He also commented on Hulu, the joint venture between News Corp. and NBC Universal which will provide online video, saying "I love Peter Chernin and Jeff Zucker. They're both very smart, but I don't like to consult with them on what to do with my programming."
Although flexible pricing is almost universally being seen as a point of contention between music labels and Apple, television shows are different because downloads aren't threatening to replace watching TV, or at least a DVR, and renting or buying DVDs.
In addition, it's becoming increasingly common for television shows to be made available for free on network websites, sometimes even before they've premiered on television. In the UK the BBC is making shows available via a sort of internet connected software DVR.
It's somewhat questionable whether it's premature to break with iTunes as long as they're the biggest established source for digital downloads. Reaching people who are already established music customers may be the best way to establish a stronger television download market.
MGM will be bringing their movie library of over 4,000 titles to a hi-def cable network called MGM HD. DirecTV has already signed a deal to carry the new network. It will be advertiser supported.
Harry Sloan, chairman and CEO of MGM said “The growth of the MGM library and the further expansion of the MGM channels worldwide are the studio’s primary objectives.” MGM already owns movie networks in over 100 other countries.
Eventually the Channel will add movie related promotional content, but at the beginning they'll concentrate on the movies themselves.
DirecTV executive Derek Chang says the satellite television provider intends “to launch up to 100 HD channels by the end of the year.” With the mandatory switch from analog to digital television getting closer, and the number of HDTV viewers growing this seems like an obvious move.
Toshiba Corp. has announced a recall of 73,554 DVD players due to some reported overheating issues with a specific model. The company is recalling the players to replace defective alternating current (AC) power adapters that can overheat and damage the components within the DVD player unit. The repair will come at no cost to the customer.
All the SD-P1600 DVD player models purchased between September 2005 and June 2007 are subject to the recall, according to a report made by news agency, Kyodo. Toshiba said that it has received four confirmed cases of overheating with the units and the company has already discontinued making the players.
Toshiba, which backs the HD DVD format for next generation standard, is a very large consumer electronics company. Overheating issues are common in the CE market and are usually addressed with a recall, sometimes due to fire concerns.
MPAA CEO Dan Glickman said at a seminar on Tuesday that the group was "deepening their relationship" with telephone, cable and Internet companies, hoping that the ISPs will help them in their ongoing fight against piracy, "because we're all in this together."
"Their revenue bases depend on legitimate operations of their networks and more and more they're finding their networks crowded with infringed material, bandwidth space being crowded out," Glickman said, "many of them are actually getting into the content business directly or indirectly. This is not an us-versus-them issue."
When asked about the relationship between the MPAA and large ISPs, Glickman said there was "somewhat of an adversarial relationship" but that that was "changing."
The general counsel for NBC Universal, a member of the MPAA, suggested that "federal regulators should require ISPs to police their networks more proactively for pirated wares."
Glickman hopes to offer customers "hassle-free, reasonable, content-protected materials" but also admitted that the movie industry is not very flexible when it comes to manipulation of copyrighted works. "People just don't have the right to take (copyrighted works) at their pleasure," he added.
This morning AOL debuted a beta version of BlueString, a new service that would allow consumers to upload and share their digital media content for free.
The new service will give 5GB of online storage and the ability to "link directly to video clips and photos from third-party services without the need to upload or move them to BlueString," said AOL.
For consumers using the free version, the space should be enough for up to 10,000 photos and 1500 songs as well as 500 videos, of course dependant on size. The service will be replacing the now obsolete AOL Pictures.
"BlueString offers a simple, one-stop solution for personal media storage and management," executive vice president Kevin Conroy said. "For the first time, we're making it possible for people to access, combine and share all of their personal media from a single application for free."
The service is powered by Xdrive, the storage company AOL purchased in 2005. If free users need more space, a premium account is available at $99 USD per year, giving you an extra 50GB of space.
Nintendo, in an effort to curb rampant piracy in South Korea of its DS handheld games, has asked South Korean prosecutors to investigate into domestic web sites that they claim have illegally been uploading copies of the games.
Nintendo's Korean unit filed a complaint with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, in which it charges that web operators are freely allowing the illegal uploading of pirated copies of DS games.
“Nintendo will take further measures if copyright violations continue,” the company said.
In the eight months the DS Lite has been available in South Korea, it has reached sales of over 500,000 according to Nintendo.
This event also marks the first time Nintendo has asked prosecutors in Asia for assistance in fighting piracy. It has been actively fighting in Europe and the US.
Although it was confirmed that O2 has won exclusive rights in the UK for the iPhone, the details of the deal were never divulged, until yesterday.
According to The Guardian, Apple is set to take up to 40 percent of all revenue generated by O2 customers using the iPhone.
"I can't imagine any of the operators agreeing to terms like that," said one UK telecom official. "It is an extraordinary number."
Recent stats have come to light that state that in the US, Apple receives anywhere from $3 to $11 USD per month from AT&T for each iPhone customer.
To make matters worse, iPhone unlocking software is now readily available, making exclusivity packages obsolete in most cases.
Heres hoping O2 makes any money off this recent pact with Apple when the iPhone begins selling the UK soon.
Although Sony spokespeople are denying the claims, Asian press sources are reporting that the electronics giant has decided to sell its Kyushu Semiconductor facility, the facility that produces the Cell BE CPU for the PlayStation 3, to Toshiba for almost 100 billion yen, the equivalent of $860 million USD.
The deal, if true, would help in Sony's on going plan to scale down its investment in semiconductor technology while at the same time keeping the powerful Cell chip within its group of partners. Since its inception, Sony, Toshiba and IBM have been in charge of its development.
Sony should keep all intellectual property rights for the Cell chip and will just be selling the facility it is made in. Sony doesn't necessarily need the money, but it would help reduce Sony's capital expenditures for the upkeep of the facility. BusinessWeek reported those figures are nearing $2 billion USD.
After reading statements made by U.S. Register of Copyrights Marybeth Peters it shouldn't surprise anyone to find out that she's a self described luddite who doesn't even have a computer at home. Short of being in a coma since the law went into effect in 1998, that's the only explanation for saying "I think it did what it was supposed to do," which is what she recently told an audience at the Future of Music Policy Summit.
Just a cursory glance at recent DMCA activity finds clear evidence of organizations abusing the law's takedown provision to force the removal of material that they have no legal claim to. Last week Timothy Vernor filed a lawsuit against CAD software maker Autodesk for repeatedly sending takedown requests requiring eBay to remove his auction of a perfectly legal copy of AutoCAD. Without the DMCA they would have had to take him to court and convince a judge that the wording of their license agreement, which Vernor couldn't have even read before opening the software package, carries the legal weight to void the first sale principle which gives him the right to re-sell legally purchased copyrighted products. The first sale doctrine has proven very resilient to legal challenges, and would require much more than Autodesk's word, which is all it took to repeatedly thwart his attempts to sell the software on eBay under the DMCA. After several complaints from the software company his eBay account was suspended, stopping him from selling anything on the site for a month.
The Turkish government has recently banned The Pirate Bay, making the infamous torrenttracker inaccessible to any internet user in the country.
This is not the first time Turkey has banned sites though. YouTube was banned in March for hosting videos that insulted the founder of modern Turkey. Two days later when the videos were removed, the ban was lifted however. Just last month, the site wordpress.com was blocked because some users were charged with defamation of a famous Turkish author.
According to TF, when asked for comment, the admins of TPB said the site had been blocked “for over a year” but they’re “not sure if it’s the whole country or just the major ISPs.” They also said “there was some court ruling over it.”
The court ruling however, is somewhat of a mystery. The judge in that case ruled that Türk Telekom, Turkey’s largest ISP, had to block The Pirate Bay, but at this time it is unknown as to why.
The CRIA, Canada's equivalent of the RIAA, has changed their position on a copyright tax for MP3 players. Although they've been in favor of extending a levy already collected from the sale of CD-Rs and audio tapes to apply to portable music players, they've now decided to come out against the idea.
The reason is simple. The CRIA is afraid that by paying the tax, consumers would expect to get what they're paying for. While the CRIA believes such a tax only gives individuals the right to copy muisc they've already paid the music industry for, according to law professor Michael Geist the relevant case law say otherwise. Based on past court decisions, consumers would be entitled to download music from places like P2P networks for their players.
In an affadavit filed in Canada's Federal Court of Appeal challenging a decision by the Copyright Board of Canada to extend the levy to portable music players, CRIA President Graham Henderson said adoption of the levy "could potentially be interpreted to allow the copying of music files from any source - whether legitimate or illegitimate - onto any type of device ordinarily used by individuals to copy music." In other words when consumers pay for a license they'll expect to get some music to go with it.
Sonic Solutions announced a multi-year, global licensing agreement with RealNetworks for Sonic AuthorScript. AuthorScript is a media formatting and CD/DVD burning engine. RealNetworks has integrated the AuthorScript DVD burn technology into the new version of the RealPlayer, enabling users to reliably burn personal content and online digital media entertainment files that are not DRM protected to CD or DVDs that play on the more than one billion DVD players installed worldwide.
The new DVD burning functionality forms an important bridge between the PC and the TV, enabling RealPlayer Plus users to view their online content in the comfort of their living rooms. Resulting discs translate into hours of uninterrupted personalized programming that can be enjoyed around the house and on the go, and safely archived for future viewing. The new RealPlayer recognizes DRM video protection systems and does not copy DRM-protected content.
"Providing consumers with the control and flexibility to view, save and experience online video whenever and wherever they choose is a key focus for how Real is approaching the Internet video revolution," said Jeff Chasen, vice president of player and horizontal products at Real. "The inclusion of Sonic's powerful AuthorScript technology in the new RealPlayer is a significant value to our customers and is a key component to extending digital entertainment beyond the PC."
Sony Corp. revealed earlier this month, the new home entertainment service, HES-V1000. The company has updated its website to give some more details about the home entertainment server than were available when it was first just announced. This 200 Blu-ray Disc changer has a lot of power under the hood, and is priced at a steep $3,499.99. It also sports a 500GB hard disk drive.
The unit is capable of full HD 1080p video content. It is advertised as having enough storage space for 137 hours of video, 40,000 songs or 20,000 digital photos. Here are some specs...
200 BD/DVD/CD Changer with Full HD 1080P Video Output
500 GB Hard Drive
XMB (Xcross Media Bar) User Interface
Hard Drive can hold up to: 137 Hours of Video, 2000 Music Albums, or 20,000 Photos
Media analysts at Screen Digest believe that Blu-ray and HD DVD will both be around until at least 2011, and suggests that studios supporting only one or the other will only be harming their own bottom line.
"Christmas 2007 is going to be critical for the hi-def video business," says Richard Cooper, Screen Digest Video Analyst. "Both formats will be seeking to secure consumer buy-in to their proposition during the critical holiday season but with so much at stake on both sides we think it is highly unlikely that one format will emerge as the winner." He added "We believe that eventually most will decide to offer their titles on both HD DVD and Blu-ray in order to maximize their returns."
With all the rhetoric from supporters of both formats, it's easy to miss the fact that neither has sold enough hardware or content to be close to claiming victory. Many consumers don't have the hi-def displays required to take advantage of either format, and even among those who do confusion is rampant about what they are. Recent surveys indicate a commonly held misconception that a standard DVD player already supplies hi-def content when connected to an HDTV.
A new line of set-top boxes described as a digital media receivers (DMRs) from OEM manufacturer Digeo is expected to be available from select retail outlets in the U.S in time for this year's holiday shopping season. The boxes, which will be marketed under the Moxi brand currently distributed only to cable providers, will combine DVD playback, digital cable reception, DVR, IPTV, and music jukebox features.
Digeo CEO Michael Fidler believes that the units, which can not only receive and store digital media, but also control non-A/V systems like lighting, climate control, and security. Some units will also be able to supply content to thin-client hardware that can be located in different rooms. One of the key selling points of the boxes, according to Fidler, will be the unified GUI provided to control all of the DMR's features via remote control.
"We have very modest goals for the product," said Fidler. "We think it is establishing a new category. We know that TiVo has been out there with their product starting that, and this is a great new opportunity for retailers, who really haven't participated in the cable industry at all, until the availability of a national umbrella [CableCARD] that allows this product to be sold in any retailer in the country [or] to any operator in the country."
MediaDefender, the company caught offering virus laden movie downloads, presumably on behalf of their client MPAA, has been embarrassed again when internal emails detailing the company's operations became available via Bittorent after an employee apparently forwarded them to his Gmail account. The worst part for the company, not to mention the MPAA, is that the emails directly contradict company statements about their ill-advised, and ill-fated MiiVi site, which was taken down after reports of its MediaDefender/MPAA affiliation.
In a text file distributed with the download, a group calling themselves MediaDefender-Defenders claims responsibility for releasing the emails, saying "we hope this is enough to create a viable defense to the tactics used by these companies."
When the story originally broke, MediaDefender's position was that the site was created purely for internal company use and that any distribution of viruses to Bittorent users' computers was unintentional, a story very few people believed. With the release of these emails all doubt about their dishonesty has been removed. They clearly show that not only was MediaDefender intentionally offering their torrents to the public, but they were also looking for ways to promote the site while hiding its affiliation with the company.
SpiralFrog, an advertisement supported free music download site, has proven critics wrong by making its official debut on Sunday. The new service touts an impressive catalog of more than 770,000 music tracks and 3,500 music videos from many independent labels and also the world's largest record company, Universal Music Group.
The service was initially announced in August 2006, and its plans at the time gave it the "potential iTunes killer" label, but after suffering some financial issues and an executive shakeup in December, many critics doubted that the service would ever manage to launch.
SpiralFrog is unique in that it has discovered a method to offer a free alternative to P2P file sharing that carries some major label music. A quick check shows that the service is carrying 8 of the top ten songs according to Billboard. Users of the service much view advertisements while music downloads. It can be stored on 2 portable music players that support Windows MediaDigital Rights Management (DRM). Membership must be renewed every 30 days for the music to keep on working.
Nintendo will offer an "unprecedented" supply of Wii units to North America this holiday season, according to President and Chief Operating Officer of Nintendo of America, Reggie Fils-Aime. Fils-Aime told the San Jose Mercury News that the amount of units will be "substantially more than the launch, substantially more than has been seen to date." Nintendo has struggled to keep up with demand ever since launch.
It's a good time for Nintendo to be making promises like this after NPD reported the company sold a very strong 403,600 Wii consoles in August, easily topping the charts for gaming hardware. Not only is Fils-Aime confident the company will keep its promise, he warns that it will be tough anyway to get a Wii console during the holiday season.
He said that Nintendo does not take the success of Wii lightly and realizes it is fighting a long term battle, but he was not concerned with the recent price changes from PS3 and Xbox 360. "In terms of our competitors, what we continue to see is that 360 and PS3 essentially trade share as they alternate on price reductions. But, really, none of that is impacting our business," he said.
ITV will begin offering high definition programming in early 2008 in the UK. The ITV1 channel will have some programming broadcasts in high definition early next year, as part of "ambitious turnaround plans". ITV will announce ten million pounds in two projects, including the Freesat digital satellite service, a planned joint venture with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
The new HD service will offer sports and drama content and will start as a 2 hour HD slot during peak times, and increase to three hours of prime time HD. ITV said it is entering the area to capitalize on the growth of high definition television. ITV would like to see HD available over freeview by 2012 as analog broadcasts fade away.
A 44 year old man from Dundalk, Maryland, is facing 11 charges for child pornography offenses, five counts of receipt of child pornography, five counts of transportation of child pornography, and one count of possession of child pornography. He got caught in an FBI investigation that targeted sharers of child porn on P2P networks. Project Safe Childhood was created by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, last year.
Specifically, he stands accused of trading illegal files through his computer, depicting pre-pubescent children engaged in various sexual acts. If convicted, he would face a minimum of five years in prison up to a maximum of 210 years. It is, of course, very unlikely that he will receive near as many years as the potential.
Hunting child pornography on P2P networks is one activity that users generally applaud the FBI and other law enforcement agencies for doing. Some P2P clients over the years have come with pre-set filters that blocked out potential child porn files, but these same filters were referenced as a potential to block "any" content.
According to a Reuters report, T-Mobile and Apple Inc. will announce next week that they will offer the iPhone in Germany, one of the most important markets in Europe. According to sources, T-Mobile has agreed to share revenues gained from data and voice services by customers using iPhones, but it is unknown just how much of a cut that Apple will get for the services.
In the UK, Apple is to make an announcement on September 18th, where it is expected to announce a deal with a UK provider to bring the mobile phone to the territory officially. For now, the deal is expected to go ahead with O2 in the UK.
A recently leaked print advertisement from T-Mobile detailed an iPhone that has 16GB capacity, which is double what it available in the United States. However, some errors have been pointed out in the advertisement that make it appear fake.
Creative has recently launched its latest Zen player, which is the first to use Sigmatel's STMP3700 processor which has been designed specifically for portable media players. The new Zen is available with 4GB, 8GB or 16GB capacity. The credit card-thin device sports a 2.5-inch TFT display with a resolution of 320x240.
It can also playback MJPEG, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 SP, Windows MediaDivX 5 and XviD video streams and utilizes USB for PC connection. The new 90nm STMP3700 processor is based on the ARM standard and is currently being used in development of numerous other PMPs.
The new Zen sells for between $150 and $300 based on the capacity.
Target, the US' second largest retail chain has quietly decided to double its shelf space for Blu-ray disc movies while declining to add space for rival HD DVD titles.
According to Video Business, the change began several weeks ago. The HD DVD sections have remained the same while Blu-ray areas have doubled in size.
Although Target has not chosen a side in the HD format war, it signed an agreement in July with Sony to have its Blu-ray standalone, the BDP-S300, in prominent aisle space for the holiday season.
Blu-ray Disc Association chairman Andy Parsons had this to say although Target had no comment. "You’re going to get a clear message when you see more Blu-ray than HD DVD, and you’re going to think something is up," said Parsons. "The message to the consumer is that one of these [formats] is dominating. You’ll go with the masses and pick titles from the one that is likely to win."
HD DVD supporter Paramount however, played down the whole situation, attributing it to Blu-ray's current lead in sales.
"For a retailer to make a decision on shelving, it’s a very flexible decision," said Alan Bell, CTO at Paramount Pictures. "Retail might be shifting inventory around, but at some point, there could be diminishing returns."
A Toshiba spokesperson has said that final approval has not been given to the 51 GB HD DVD format but only that a preliminary version of the three-layer disc has been approved by the DVD Forum.
"We understand that the preliminary version (1.9) of the physical specifications for the triple-layer 51 GB HD DVD-ROM disc has been approved," said Toshiba's spokesperson today.
The spokesperson went on to say that it was not sure whether current hardware would be able to use the upcoming format which has been given the name "Trip-Layer".
"Toshiba will study the performance of current HD DVD player/recorders with the disc after the standard receives final approval by the DVD Forum" added the spokesperson.
That quote makes it pretty clear that final approval is still not granted which is contrary to past reports.
A Toshiba official statement adds the following: "We welcome the DVD Forum Steering Committee's decision to approve the preliminary version (Version 1.9) of the physical specifications for the triple-layer 51 GB HD DVD-ROM disc. This decision reinforces the fact that HD DVD is capable of offering a range of capacities due to the flexible nature of the format and provides studios with even greater options for creating high definition content. With extended capacities, studios can meet their future needs for releases that may require more storage."
Magnatune, a record label founded in 1999, is using Creative Commons licenses and a flexible pricing model to provide music via the web. Consumers have the option to either listen online with announcements between tracks or get a copy, either via download or CD delivered by mail, for a fee.
"What I'm finding is in an era now when we're all connected to the internet a lot, people don't really want to download music because then you have to manage it, you have to download it and make sure you don't lose it and if your computer blows up you have to go and re-download it," said John Buckman, founder of Magnatune. "What people want is access to music."
The most unusual aspect of Magnatune is that consumers can decide how much they'll pay for downloading a CD. Although they can choose to pay anywhere from $5 to $18, Buckman says the average is a somewhat surprising $8.40. CD purchases are also charged a shipping fee, although customers purchasing in that format can also download their music while waiting for the CD to arrive.
Buckman says "they really don't get anything more for paying more other than feeling like they're doing the right thing, but the reality is today nobody really needs to pay for music at all. If you choose to hit the 'buy' button at Magnatune then you're one of the people who has decided to actually pay for music. Shouldn't we reflect that honest behaviour back and say, well, if you're one of the honest people how much do you want to pay?"
At a conference of porn producers, attorneys, and other prominent industry figures, discussions were held on reducing the rampant piracy faced by the industry today.
Even though porn piracy has been rampant on the internet for years, and some would even say the porn industry was the driving force in technological innovation for years, falling sales have led the industry to look for a way to stop unauthorized sharing of their videos.
According to attorney Greg Piccionelli, "The lack of enforcement over the years has left the pirates and consumers with the impression that copying and stealing adult content is something that has absolutely no punitive consequence associated with it whatsoever, and so the industry has really sort of dug its own grave to this degree."
Despite sounding a lot like more mainstream media companies, whose only thought in the beginning was to solve piracy problems with DRM, Piccionelli doesn't believe that's a legitimate solution. "I worry about [the producers] coming up with DRM or technological solutions, because they're not going to work," he said.
After a recent meeting between Steve Jobs of Apple and Martin Winterkorn, CEO of Volkswagen, rumors have been circulating that the two companies are working on a so-called iCar that would include some kind of built in iPod media player.
Although the growing market for automotive entertainment devices is expected to be a $50 billion dollar industry by the year 2012, a partnership between the two companies might not make as much sense as it appears on the surface.
In addition to the much longer development cycle for cars vs. iPods, there are many fundamental issues that would need to be addressed for such an arranement to be workable. The automotive industry is a much more traditional business than either computers or consumer electronics. Innovation isn't generally considered as importance as reliability and tradition - values that leave a company like Apple defenseless against their competition. On a related note, unless upgrades were reasonably easy, car buyers could be left with obsolete iPods in their cars for most of the time they're being driven - not particularly helpful for resale value.
Another potential issue is the warranty. Standard automotive warranties run many times the expected life of an iPod, and it could end up being very costly for Apple.
The advice for broadcasters from media companies around the world is to get content online and be innovators. It was delivered at the Royal Television Society convention in Cambridge.
"(There are) huge rewards for those who innovate, death for those who don't," said Peter Chernin, president and chief operating officer of News Corp.
"Right now there are more than 300 million people around the world watching video content online. It's a fundamental shift that completely democratizes our business. And democracy can be scary, especially when we've been used to living in a totalitarian state".
This mirrors consumer opinions, and not just when it comes to television. The public has been sending that message with regard to digital content for the better part of a decade.
BSkyB Chief Executive James Murdoch said "The key thing for us is about not having anxiety to change but having a real appetite for it," he said. "You (need) a bigger appetite for risk, a bigger willingness to fail."
Certainly no one knows for sure what a successful business model for digital content delivery will be. If broadcasters and othe media companies don't adapt to take advantage of new technology someone else will, and that's possibly the biggest risk of all.
In a move sure to bring more accusations from open source advocates, the BBC's iPlayer development team has added a former executive from Microsoft's digital media division.
iPlayer is the name of the BBC's media player designed to be used for downloading their shows for later viewing. When it was released to a Limited number of viewers earlier this year it was surrounded by contreversy, in part due to the lack of support for non-MS operating systems like Linux.
In addition to the hiring of Jon Billings last week, the project also has Microsoft ties in the the form of BBC future media and technology group head Erik Huggers. At one time Huggers was Microsoft's digital media director.
Other users were upset because of the BBC's poor explanation that the July release would only be available to a limited number of people, and that the player's pre-release status meant it still had more than a few bugs.
When Warner showed off its Total HD disc at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas earlier this year, it seemed to be a good short term solution for consumers while the format war is on-going. However, the discs, which are compatible with both Blu-ray players and HD DVD players, have been put on "hold" for the time being with no release date in sight.
In January, Warner talked about getting the discs out to consumers as early as mid-2007, but a delay pushed Total HD back to early 2008. Now the early 2008 release aim has been revoked and the disc has no release date. "We're concerned that as the only one publishing on it, it would be hard to make it go," Warner Home Video president Ron Sanders told TWICE magazine.
There have been rumors that Warner is currently deciding to go exclusive with either HD DVD or Blu-ray Disc. While Sanders confirmed separate discussions, he seemed to indicate that the movie studio will be supporting both formats for a while and will have titles out for both during the holiday season.
According to figures from the NPD group, Nintendo's home console, Wii, and handheld console, DS, have maintained their strong sales in the U.S. during the month of August. The Wii console sold a strong 403,600 units with the Nintendo DS moving along behind at 383,200 units, bringing the total number of Wiis sold in the U.S. to over 4 million and the total number of DS sold to 12.7 million.
Microsoft had a decent month for the Xbox 360 console, moving 276,700 to bring its total figures for the U.S. to 6.3 million. The 360 version of Madden NFL 2008 was the best-selling console game, selling a very strong 896,600 units. BioShock also made the top ten, at number 3.
Sony's PlayStation 3 (PS3) console continued to move slower than its competitors with 130,600 units, down from last month's 159,000. This brings the number of PS3s sold in the U.S. to about 1.75 million units. The company's PlayStation 2 (PS2) continued to carry it through the rough times with 202,000 sales (39.1 million overall) and the PSP had a good month with 151,200 units sold.
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), along with other trade organizations for the entertainment industry, has been pursuing Internet pirates and sources of movie exchanges such as BitTorrent sites for the past few years. In that time, failed attempts to bring down the Pirate Bay was an embarrassment to the MPAA and other groups that accuse it of being an illegal service.
In several areas, so called "Pirate Parties" have emerged that could challenge the meaning of copyright itself through political process. However, when Dean Garfield, director of MPAA's anti-piracy department, was interviewed by ZDNet, he responded to a question of whether fighting the MPAA and similar organizations through the Democratic process is legitimate by addressed the "Pirate Party".
"There's nothing about what the Pirate Bay does or what the Pirate Party does that is legitimate. There's nothing philosophically principled about it. They steal copyright content and accept advertising dollars based on taking other people's work. There's nothing noble about it," he said. Of course, the existence of Sweden's Pirate Party is not to destroy the concept of copyright and legalize rampant piracy.
Members of the Santangelo family, sued by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for alleged copyright infringement by sharing music on P2P networks, have called for AOL, Sharman Networks (which offers the Kazaa P2P software) and Matthew Seckler to be added as third-party defendants to the case. Michelle and Robert Santangelo face an RIAA lawsuit from Elektra Records.
They are demanding $3,966,000 from both AOL and Sharman and $1 from Seckler, who apparently installed the Kazaa software on their computer. This could potentially set a precedence where other P2P defendants point the finger of blame at their ISPs or the providers of file sharing software.
"The Defendants and Third-Party Plaintiffs deny that they or either of them are guilty of Plaintiffs' allegations and affirmatively allege that the injuries sustained by Plaintiffs, if any, were solely caused by reason of the negligence and breaches of the Third-Party Defendants named herein: in the defective design of Sharman Network's program, "Kazaa" which was a dangerous instrumentality in its each and every use as it existed in 2002-2004; the trespassing and reckless installation by Matthew Seckler of such program; the failure to warn by AOL and Sharman; the failure to block the downloading of such files by AOL; the improper blocking of alleged (RIAA) warning messages by AOL and Sharman; and, the secretive file sharing system of and by Kazaa."
It is alarming to see AOL being challenged for not filtering / blocking content on the Internet.
DTS has announces the launch of its new Certified Developers Program, designed to support the implementation of DTS technologies for the company's customers and partners. Addressing the rapid expansion and adoption of DTS technologies in the marketplace, DTS is recruiting the best software engineering firms and third-party developers in the world to participate in the program in association with leading global product design company Tata Elxsi.
Tata Elxsi is officially the first company to join the new DTS program. Recommended by DTS, participating partners will be extensively trained to develop solutions of DTS technologies for both IC and manufacturing customers. Their capabilities will encompass embedded and software application development and integration, customization, porting and re-engineering applications across platforms, as well as testing, validation and quality assurance.
"The implementation of the DTS Certified Developers Program reflects a growing trend in the marketplace to improve service for customers: Many top-tier companies are launching similar programs to address rapid expansion in the Consumer Electronics space," said Brian Towne, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Consumer Division at DTS. "Tata Elxsi is a top-tier organization that has global reach, and we’re pleased to inaugurate this program with them onboard."
The DirecTV 10 satellite is currently undergoing testing procedures after being successfully placed in geo-synchronous orbit. The satellite was launched on July 6th, 2007. The testing has so far confirmed that the satellite is working correctly and is ready to deliver all planned high-definition programming. The aim is to deliver up to 100 HD channels nationwide by year-end.
The DirecTV 10 satellite's transponder payload also includes spot-beam capacity that will support the expansion of DirecTV's local HD channel services. While testing of DirecTV 10's capability continues, it appears that a portion of the anticipated spot-beam capability may not be fully available.
The investigation to determine the cause of the reduced capability and potential means to mitigate its effect is on-going. However, the planned expansion of HD local programming as previously announced should not be materially affected. The launch of DirecTV 11 11 is still scheduled for late this year or early next year, on a Sea Launch launch vehicle.
According to a new study from comScore, online video viewership in the United States is steadliy increasing. Nearly 75% of internet users in the U.S. watched video online in July, up from just over 71% in March.
Not only are more people watching video, but the amount of time they watch for is increasing. July's numbers showed an increase of nearly 25% in the time spent watching online video, while the number of clips viewed increased by around two billion clips.
Among video providers Google was the clear winner supplying more than 27% of the clips viewed in July, primarily from viral video site YouTube. Yahoo followed very distantly, serving up over 4%. In total, 134 million people watched over 9 billion clips.
Ironically, the recent boom in internet video is largely due to the explosion of YouTube, and is generally credited to the availabillity of copyrighted works, the same thing that has Google in court defending them against infringement claims by Viacom.
Hoping to revolutionize anti-piracy efforts for online video, Philips Content Identification is working on building the world's largest video fingerprinting database.
"The system in use at the moment from other technology suppliers are all re-active, whereas ours is pro-active” says Philips CEO Alex Terpstra. The systems he refers to are already in place or planned for viral video sites. They rely on reports from outside, such as DMCA takedown notices, to identify pirated video, after which can then be rejected whenever someone attempts to post it again.
According to Terpstra, the goal is to be able to identify virtually any clip of professionally produced video from just a five second sample.
Philips also announced that their technology will be powering Dolby Labs' new digital cinema watermarking technology.
"We are already dominant in digital cinema watermarking," said Terpstra, "with Christie, Dolby and XDC using our system. Thomson has its own technology, but ours is already in 3,000 digital cinemas and anyway Thomson’s Technicolor uses our technology in its special "Screener" copies of DVDs that go out to Film Academy members voting on the Oscar nominations."
Consumer technology analysis firm Parks Associates sees DVDs, diversity, ads, and set-top boxes as keys to successful digital video delivery.In a recent report they looked at a variety of technolgies ranging from broadcast television and DVRs to video Streaming and downloads and came to a number of conclusions, many of which match conclusions in a similar report from last year.
Among their chief observations was the amount of diversity in delivery channels for video, not just between companies, but often within a single company. For example, although Netflix and Blockbuster both have internet DVD rental servivces, Netflix also operates a streaming service for their customers, while Blockbuster is purchasing online movie service Movielink and already has the largest chain of brick and mortar DVD rental outlets in the U.S.
Another interesting observation regards the success of ad supported video while user paid content seems to be floundering. Despite resistance to this new model from many sides, from television network and viral video sites are having a much easier time courting advertisers than commercial content providers trying to find customers. Of particular note was Google's decision to drop Google Video months after acquiring YouTube.
With CD sales plummeting, Universal Music Group is reportedly considering a subscription based model for music downloads. It would create a P2P network for subscribers to freely share DRM free music files.
Unlike current subscription services like Rhapsody and Napster, Universal's proposed service called TotalMusic would be sold to ISP's rather than individuals. Under the proposal, ISPs would be forced to buy the service for all their customers, which would also require them to raise rates. While this would likely be a good deal for individuals who want the service, it would likely cause any ISP subscribing to the service to lose customers who don't want to pay extra for something they don't use.
While the general premise of a subscription model and P2P delivery seems sound, it's hard to believe that many ISPs will have enough customers interested in getting music from UMG to make it successful. However, with similar ideas coming from Columbia Records chairman Rick Rubin, it may only be a time before a more realistic service that involves all the major labels at least gets tested.
News Corp president and CEO, Peter Chernin, is expecting tough negotiations with Apple over licensing television programs for iTunes.
"We have a pretty Limited relationship with Apple and we'll see how it goes," Chernin told the UK's Royal Television Society convention. "I assume it will be prickly and dicey and contentious like all negotiations are and like all negotiations should be."
Apple has come under increasing pressure from music and video suppliers to move iTunes toward a more flexible pricing model. Last month NBC Universal announced that they didn't intend to renew their contract to distribute television shows through the online store.
The real division seems to stem from a difference in where Apple makes money compared to the entertainment companies. Despite being the leading online music distributor, iTunes' primary purpose for Apple is selling iPods. That means they don't need to make a big profit on media sales as long as they sell more than their competitors. Toward that end, they've tried to keep iTunes pricing as simple as possible, believing that's the most important factor in keeping customers.
Revver, a video sharing site that shares advertising revenue with its users, has announced that it has paid over $1 million to videographers over the past year. The YouTube competitor (although much smaller) said that it paid out the revenue to about 25,000 different users in total. Revver shared the revenue with the video suppliers 50/50, indicating the company makes between $2 - $2.5 million from advertisements unless it pays out more money to high-end video makers.
YouTube is considered to be the heavyweight of the online video revolution. The Google-owned video giant announced earlier this year that it would roll-out revenue sharing services. By this time, sites like Revver already existed that offered amateur video makers a cut of the advertising revenue generated by video views.
When more such services come along, and especially when YouTube jumps on the bandwagon, it will enable individuals or smaller production companies to offer free videos and make (hopefully) a decent revenue for their work.
According to a Samsung representative, the new BD-UP5000Blu-ray / HD DVD combo player will have on board decoding capabilities for all high resolution formats, following a firmware update scheduled for after its release. This apparently includes DTS-HD Master Audio. The same representative also said that users will be able to output Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio over analog 7.1 outputs.
The BD-UP5000 fully supports both next-generation formats including their interactive technologies, HDi and BD-J. The player is fully capable of full HD 1080p output at 24fps (if supported by display) for both formats.
However, priced at $1,050, Samsung has to deal with the same fact as LG's combo players; you can buy a PlayStation 3 (PS3) console and a Toshiba HD-A2 for less. Nevertheless, the novelty of a dual player is always good, and hopefully as time progresses, if neither group backs out of the war, these players will get better and cheaper.
As some Apple fans were lucky to get their hands on a new iPod Touch nice and early, some details have been spread around the web that may be of interest to readers. Firstly, the hacks for the iPhone to add additional software don't seem to work with the iPod Touch, but many are left hoping that its just a minor setback and this goal will be achieved later.
The iPod Touch also, for some reason, does not show up under Mac OS X as a drive, which will be disappointing for some and goes against Apple's own technical spec sheet for the device, which reads, "stores data via USB flash drive." Some have reported that the screen isn't as easy to view as that of the iPhone and the virtual keyboard is less responsive.
Last but definitely not least (and perhaps the most interesting) is the fact that some buyers ended up with an iPod Touch with no Mac OS X operating system. Instead, through some screw up, they got a model that had diagnostics software installed. The most interesting part of the diagnostics software is a Bluetooth icon with a red X marked over it, adding fuel to the rumor that the iPod Touch does have Bluetooth circuitry and may just need a firmware update to unlock it.
Sony Corp, Sharp Corp and Hitachi Displays Ltd will all study technology that will significantly cut the power consumption levels of LCD televisions. The three firms are aiming to develop the technology by 2011 to tackle the growth of power consumption of LCD as the models being developed keep getting larger and larger to cut into the once-plasma-dominated market for larger screens.
The study aims to reduce the power consumption to half of what is required today. The group will develop energy saving techniques and study LED backlighting for LCD panels. The announcement follows a move by Panasonic to reduce power consumption of Plasma televisions in order to increase competition with LCD.
SanDisk has launched the SanDisk Express line of high-performance flash memory products, based on the ExpressCard technology standard. SanDisk Express products aim to deliver best-of-class solutions for videographers and photographers who demand speed, durability and reliability
The first product in the SanDisk Express line is the SanDisk ExpressCard, a flash memory card designed for a new generation of professional camcorders that record to ExpressCards rather than magnetic tape, hard discs or optical discs. The SanDisk ExpressCard is expected to be available in November, in 8GB and 16GB capacities.
Recording time for high-definition video capture, at 35 megabits per second, will be approximately 30 minutes on the 8GB card and 60 minutes on the 16GB card. "With the SanDisk ExpressCard, professional videographers for the first time will have access to a high-speed, solid-state digital recording solution," said Wes Brewer, vice president of SanDisk's Cards and Accessories Division. "What’s more, because the PCI Express interface is an open industry standard, and because of the continuing decline in the cost of flash, we expect other video equipment manufacturers to adopt this compelling new format."
A Judge has told the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), that if it expects to sue an alleged P2P music pirate in his court, the trade group would have to present some evidence of the crime. As the number of RIAA lawsuits filed moved into the thousands, the trade group appears to be doing less research for each case.
In the Interscope v. Rodriguez case, Judge Rudi Brewster refused to grant a default judgment in favor of the RIAA due to inadequate evidence of copyright infringement by the defendant. The defendant completely ignored the RIAA, never responding to the claims made against her.
The judge said that the RIAA has to present at least some facts to show the plausibility of their allegations of copyright infringement against the defendant, adding that the level of proof presented required him to make a judgment based only on speculation.
Viacom has backed down from a DMCA takedown notice over a video posted to YouTube by a school board candidate in North Carolina after he filed a counter-complaint stating that the content posted to the viral video site belonged to hiim.
Last year Christopher Knight ran a television ad promoting his candidacy for local office. After seeing a big reaction to the ad on television, he decided to post it to YouTube. That's where the story gets interesting. After the video showed up on YouTube it also appeared on a television show called Web 2.0 on Viacom owned VH-1.
Despite not being asked for permission to air the clip, Knight was excited about the exposure, saying "I'm delighted that as a proud son of Rockingham County, I got worldwide exposure for this."
Unfortunately, when he returned the favor and posted his video's Web 2.0 appearance on YouTube, Viacom wasn't nearly as flattered. That's when they they sent YouTube a DMCA takedown notice for a video of their show arguably pirating Knight's work. While there was a small amount of video clearly owned by Viacom, most of it was Knight's own video, which Web 2.0 used without getting authorization first.
After last month's almost record sales, it seems Japanese console sales have taken a nosedive and are now only selling about half the amount of units as compared to four weeks ago.
The figures, according to Media Create, say that last week's sales were the lowest in months, with the Nintendo DS failing to shift 80,000 units for the week. For the comparable week last month, the DS moved 153,000 units to lead all consoles.
All other hardware sales fell at the same rate with the Wii, PlayStation 3 and PSP all falling over 40 percent.
It is also interesting to note that there have been better selling games this month as compared to last month and so the figures are even more surprising.
Also of note is the fact that despite Microsoft's plans to increase marketing in Japan the Xbox 360 sold a measly 1,286 units for the week.
According to a study from the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) concludes that fair use is responsible for nearly 17% of U.S. GDP in 2006 and employs approximately 1/8 of the American workforce. Comparing data from 2002 and 2006, the study concluded that not only is fair use an important source of profits, but those profits are growing.
The study was a response to several others that have been published in the last few years that attempt to quantify the economic importance of copyright. Those studies have been done using guidelines created by the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization), a United Nations agency tasked with helping protect intellectual property internationally. However, this is the the first study to use those guidelines to evaluate fair use related industries.
An interesting aspect of the study is that it outlines many uses for copyright content that the average person doesn't generally think about. It points out that many businesses might not even be able to operate without copyright exemptions. These companies, which are referred to (per WIPO guidelines) as "core industries," include software developers, broadcasters, and media outlets.
The famous pop star Prince said today that he is planning on suing the infamous public torrenttrackerThe Pirate Bay as well as YouTube and eBay in an attempt to stop the rampant piracy of his work over the internet.
According to a statement on his personal site, Prince says that while YouTube already filters pornography it does not do the same for music and film content.
Prince is using the British company Web Sheriff to help him remove the pirated materials and so far they have successfully removed over 2000 unauthorized videos but that it is a lost cause as new videos appear daily.
"Prince strongly believes artists as the creators and owners of their music need to reclaim their art," the statement read.
After a year of speculation, New Line Cinemas has finally announced that it will be releasing its movies in HD, starting with "Hairspray" on Blu-ray in November. The studio also said the movie will be released on HD DVD in early 2008 but did not specify a date.
New Line decided to go the path of its parent company Warner by staying format neutral, making them the only two studios to support both formats.
"Clearly, there isn't a format winner at this point, so we’re going to adopt the strategy from Warner, our sister company, and mirror what they are doing," said Matt Lasorsa of New Line "And by supporting both formats, we are giving consumers the ultimate choice."
Although most insiders believed New Line would become dual-format supporters, the release of the HD DVD a few months after the Blu-ray version is surprising. Lasorsa said the delay is attributed to a lack of region coding in current HD DVDs.
"Since we sell to independent international distributors, we have to be more sensitive to their release dates than a major studio," Lasorsa added. "But for second-party acquisitions to which we don't have international rights, we will be day-and-date on all three formats."
Nintendo's Wii console has been confirmed as the market leader, according to figures reported by the Financial Times. We reported last month that the Wii console had overtaken the Xbox 360 console in terms of the number unit sales worldwide, based on figures from VG Chartz. Now, although with different figures, the Financial Times has shown a similar lead held by the Nintendo console.
The sales data from the Financial Times indicates that Nintendo has sold 9 million Wiis, followed by Microsoft which has sold 8.9 million Xbox 360's and Sony which has sold about 3.7 million PlayStation 3 (PS3) consoles. VG Chartz reports currently that 11.45 million Wiis have been sold, 10.89 million Xbox 360s have been sold and 4.57 million PS3s have been sold.
The data for the Financial Times is collected from, Enterbrain in Japan, GfK in Europe and NPD in the United States. While the figures between both vary, they both show a similar lead taken very recently by Nintendo in the generation. The Nintendo DS console is also far ahead of the PlayStation Portable (PSP) in terms of sales, meaning Nintendo now leads both the home console and handheld markets.
MySpaceTV is to debut an original show in November, made by the creators of Blood Diamond. Quarterlife will debut on the MySpaceTV platform on November 11th. The show follows the lives of six people in their mid-20s and will "chart the sometimes excruciating, sometimes comic, often emotional experiences that comprise coming of age as a part of the digital generation."
The protagonist, Dylan (female) is a video blogger. MySpace has already tested the waters as a digital-age broadcaster by hosting Prom Queen, a Web series created by Vuguru (owned by former Disney chief, Michael Eisner). MySpaceTV also got the exclusive rights for the finale of Lonelygirl15, but that show had been openly distributed among the likes of YouTube and Revver by its fans.
MySpace is the "exclusive international distribution partner" for QaurterLife but it is unclear whether the company will pursue action against uploaders who post it to other video-sharing sites.
A deal between Yahoo and MTV will see the Viacom-owned music channel distributing an online music performance series in high definition from Yahoo Inc., according to the online edition of the New York Post. This type of deal is rare because it brings content created specifically for Internet consumption to regular TV broadcasts (and from an entity as big and well known as MTV).
"Nissan Live Sets" comprises seven to eight from a featured artist, performed live in front of about three hundred fans. The performances are recorded in high definition, making them suitable also for mainstream television. The deal with MTV will commence on September 17th with the second season of the series.
Apple Inc. has invited the UK press to an event on September 18th. While the company is expected to give details on the European iPhone launches, it declined to comment. It's invitation reads, "Mum is no longer the word." In Germany, T-Mobile Deutschland, along with France's Orange SA and Britain's O2 have reportedly signed exclusive deals with Apple Inc. to distribute the iPhone in their respective countries.
While no details of the deals have been made public officially, the operators reportedly agreed to give Apple 10 percent of the revenue they generate from the sale of voice and data services for the device. Apple recently cut the price of the 8GB iPhone model in the United States to $399 from the previous $599, making it affordable to more consumers but angering early adopters.
To sooth tensions, Apple has offered $100 store credit to early adopters who paid the full $599 for an iPhone. A recent article in Mobile Magazine claimed that the European iPhone will include 16GB internal storage and support for 3G data connections. The site cited a leaked T-Mobile print advertisement which also said the iPhone would cost €499 in Germany.
Sony Corp. has made another move to display its strong support for the Blu-ray Disc format, by dumping the DVD format for use in its digital video recorders in Japan. The announcement was made by the company at the same time it unveiled four Blu-ray video recorders. The new recorders offered support for dual-layer discs which was missing from earlier models, and also offer some more attractive features.
The new models can transcode into the more efficient H.264 / AVC video format, significantly improving the quality and amount of space needed for video content. Sony would advertise its 50GB dual layer Blu-ray discs as being capable of recording 4 hours of high definition content in MPEG-2 format, but that could be increased up to 16 hours with AVC.
The BDZ-X90 model is the most powerful of the new models, supporting output of 1080p Full HD content, designed for use with a home theater system. It also sports an internal 500GB hard disk drive, supports Deep Color and HDMI 1.3. The BDZ-L70 is made specifically for users with camcorders, supporting one touch transfer of video from Handycam models to its internal 250GB HDD.
Acting on a complaint made by Dutch anti-piracy foundation BREIN, Dutch police officers have raided and dismantled a plant used for the production of pirated discs. BREIN was informed of the activity at the premises by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), which has been monitoring activity at the clandestine plant for a while now. The plant had the capacity to output 900 discs per hour.
Among the movies being produced were Die Hard 4.0, Ocean's Thirteen, Evan Almighty and Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer. The IFPI has determined that the equipment in use came from a manufacturing plant that had previously been declared bankrupt. Officers also discovered discs which formed part of an order for thousands of pirate CDs featuring a compilation of chart music.
The pirate discs did not make their way into legitimate distribution channels, which often does occur. Instead they were sold by individuals in schools, workplaces, bars or on the street. BREIN estimates that such organized piracy accounts for an estimated 10 per cent of the Netherlands' physical piracy problem. The investigation is ongoing.
Despite reports of lucrative offers to follow Paramount's lead and get behind HD DVD exclusively, Waner Home Video president Ron Sanders says competitive sales of both formats are likely to ensure they release titles in both formats.
In an interview with This Week In Consumer Electronics, Sanders answered questions about the future of HD at Warner, saying "we’re talking to both sides and it’s crazy right now. We remain committed to both for the time being. We’ll see how the fourth quarter plays out. The consumer is still kind of divided, and we still believe that we should offer the content in both formats. Now, we will watch the marketplace very closely, and see how it plays out, but for now we are supporting both."
He called the current situation between HD DVD and Blu-ray"a Mexican standoff", and indicated that his company doesn't really care which side wins, as long as people are buying some kind of players so they can sell whatever kind of discs they play.
Former Viacom executives Tom Freston and Jonathan Dolgen have joined Micheal Eisner and others as backers of viral video company Veoh Networks.
Both men are currently advisors to various media companies, including Viacom in Dolgen's case. Between them they also have quite a bit of experience running studios including Sony and Fox in addition to Viacom.
Veoh executives are hoping that adding the pair of Hollywood insiders will ultimately help them establish relationships with potential content providers.
"As Internet television is becoming an increasingly large part of viewers' media experience, it's important for traditional and new media companies to work together to deliver the most engaging content possible," said Steve Mitgang, CEO of Veoh Networks. "These new team members, along with our existing advisors, will help us build the bridges between historic and emerging media business models that are necessary to drive even more innovation and greater variety in Internet Television."
According to Mobile Magazine, when Europe finally gets Apple Inc.'s iPhone, it will receive an upgraded model compared to what's currently available on the U.S. market. In the United States, the iPhone currently sells for $399. The GSM-based mobile phone also includes iPod functionality and 8GB storage capacity.
A leaked print advertisement from T-Mobile Germany details an iPhone model that sports 16GB storage capacity and is equipped with the much faster 3G data connection. The UMTS/HSDPA radio will send data over in much more efficient manner (at up to 3.6Mbps) than the EDGE connection that AT&T in the States offers.
The rest of the specs sound familiar like the 2.0 megapixel integrated camera, visual voicemail and of course, iPod functionality. The price tag for the phone will be a steep &euro499 (US$687) when the iPhone hits German shelves this November.
Sony has released the latest updated firmware for the PlayStation Portable (PSP) console. The version 3.70 update is for both the original PSP hardware and the newer slim model. It appears Sony's update service skipped the 3.60 firmware version that shipped with the slim models and has moved right on to v3.70
Here are some details of the updated firmware.
You can now set custom themes in [Theme Settings] under [Settings].
Support has been added for assigning buttons in [Remote Play].
A scene search feature has been added under [Video].
Sequential playback is now supported under [Video].
Simultaneous playback of content under [Music] and [Photo] is now supported.
The updated firmware is available via the PSP's network update service.
While the United States prepares to switch to digital broadcasts in February 2009, new rules from the FCC for cable companies will mean some viewers with analog TVs will be fine for a few more years. The FCC voted 5-0 to require that cable operators must continue to make all local broadcasts available to their users, even if they have analog TVs.
After the transition to digital, cable providers will have two signals to work with, digital standard definition (SD) and digital high definition (HD). To keep providing for the analog users, the cable companies will have two choices, either provide its subscribers with converter boxes or convert the digital SD signal to analog SD and provide it across the lines.
The converter box option is potentially very expensive and the analog signal option means the use of more bandwidth. The National Cable & Telecommunications Association applauded the FCC's decision but expressed concerns about the special circumstances of very small systems which could face severe cost pressures by complying.
Microsoft Corp. has had very little success in Japan with its Xbox 360 games console. Even in the PlayStation 3's (PS3) worst days in its makers home market, it still outsold the Xbox 360 2 to 1. However, Microsoft has repeatedly tried to push the console further in the face of such poor sales performances, and at the Tokyo Game Show on Wednesday, Microsoft has some good announcements to make.
One of the most important announcements was support from Square Enix, which up until now has held out on the Xbox 360. The developer will create two titles for the Xbox 360 platform, including Infinite Undiscovery and The Last Remnant. Both games appear to be RPG games, which are very successful in Asian markets.
Tomonobu Itagaki from Team NINJA/Tecmo Ltd. and Hironobu Sakaguchi from Mistwalker also appeared at the conference to voice their support for Microsoft's platform. "We continue to evolve our strong relationships with Japan's best and most innovative developers, and we're looking forward to delivering exclusive high-definition titles for consumers worldwide, this year and beyond,"Interactive Entertainment chief Don Mattrick said.
Acer America Corporation introduced the new P-Series displays, a full line of stylish and functional high-performance LCD monitors. The the P Series displays are ideal for home and educational environments, along with multimedia, gaming and video applications requiring premium performance, comfortable extended use, and increased versatility.
The new P Series includes four high-performing, panoramic widescreen sizes, 19-, 20-, 22- and 24-inch LCDs, offering more screen real-estate to manage multiple applications. Each widescreen display is housed in a glossy, piano black bezel with curved edges and supported via a sturdy silver base, adding a contemporary look to any environment. The display's useful control buttons are placed subtly, lending to the clean and efficient design.
Outfitted with either HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface), delivering the highest video and audio quality from one digital connector between LCDs and PC video graphic cards or other digital sources, or DVI (Digital Visual Interface), the popular video interface made to maximize the connection quality, the P Series displays ensures users with the most up-to-date multimedia innovations and connections.
Memorex has expanded its optical media products with the addition of Labelflash. LabelFlashDVD media enables the consumer to use this advanced technology to create custom high-resolution DVD disc designs. Using a labelflash-enabled drive and media, Consumers and prosumers alike can now create custom photo and video DVDs in sharp, deep blue, monochromatic designs.
"Labelflash is the elite solution for consumers and prosumers seeking to add finely detailed disc designs to their keepsake DVDs," said Carla Pihowich, director of marketing, Imation. "With Labelflash DVD-Rs, consumers have another solution to take their digital creations to a new level of design and personalization that can resist damage from smudges, scratches and the test of time."
Labelflash DVDs include a specialized dye layer which interacts with the laser in a Labelflash-enabled DVD drive to produce high resolution designs on the label side of a DVD. Simply burn data onto the disc, flip it over, and the Labelflash drive creates unique prints in varying shades of blue without a printer, labels or ink. Because the Labelflash dye layer is positioned below the polycarbonate disc surface, Memorex Labelflash DVD-Rs are highly durable and provide superior resistance to smudging and scratching
Sony is preparing to release four new Blu-ray recorders in Japan starting in November, including the first with the ability to record to dual-layer Blu-ray writable discs.
The recorders will not be cheap however. The lowest priced model will cost 140,000 yen ($1,227 USD) and the highest priced model will cost 200,000 yen ($1,752 USD). Sony says it plans to produce about 40,000 units per month after it goes on sale.
Although there are currently recorders on the market, and at cheaper prices, the new models are unique in that they can use all 50GB of a Blu-ray disc unlike current models which can write only to a single layer.
Sony said they would judge the market before making plans for US or European releases.
In an attempt to save money, Blockbuster's Chief Operating Officer position has been eliminated, and senior executive Vice President Nick Shepherd let go, although he will remain as a consultant through year's end.
James Keyes, the company's chairman and CEO since July, was brought in because board members felt former head John Antioco's plans to compete with internet based rental rival Netflix. As Shepherd leaves, two senior positions will be filled by Keith Morrow and David Podeschi, both of whom worked with Keyes at his former employer, 7-Eleven.
"Nick's position of chief operating officer is being eliminated. There's no other senior level role in the business," said Karen Raskopf, senior VP of corporate communications. "Nick has opted to leave Blockbuster to achieve his stated ambition to pursue broader executive responsibilities. He'd like to lead a company as CEO."
Jeff Embersits, an analyst at Shareholder Value Mangement said that Blockbuster hiring both a CIO (Morrow), and someone to be in charge of merchandising, distribution, and logistics is possibly an attempt to better position themselves to compete with Netflix.
A U.S. Federal Appeals Court upheld a lower court's refusal to grant a default judgement against two men accused of pirating DirecTV. The judgement, if granted, could have made each man liable for up 10,000 simply for inserting a reprogrammed smart card into their DirecTV receivers, and another $10,000 for modifying the cards. This doesn't shield them from up to $10,000 in damages for intercepting an encrypted satellite signal using modified smart cards, but does clearly draw a clear line between personal and commercial piracy penalties.
The original decision also noted that smart card itself doesn't qualify as a device "primarily of assistance in the unauthorized decryption of satellite cable programming, or direct-to-home satellite services" as the law requires. The card itself is primarily used by legitimate DirecTV customers to lawfully receive broadcasts.
In the court's opinion, one of the three judges involved in the 2-1 decision noted that DirecTV's original claim that simply inserting the removable smart card into a DirecTV receiver constitutes "assembling a piracy device" would, if upheld, blur the distinction between commercial and personal penalties.
Gene Munster of analyst firm Piper Jaffray, is widely considered to be the definitive source for iPhone sales and according to Munster, since the price cut of the phone, sales have tripled and that almost 27000 were being sold per day.
His estimate comes from surveying of all Apple stores selling the phone.
On September 5th, Apple decided to drop the price of the 8GB model to $399 USD and to discontinue the 4GB model. After the drop, many early adopters were upset at the huge price drop but Steve Jobs swiftly offered everyone a $100 USD credit at the Apple store and offered to fully refund the price difference if you had purchased the phone within the last two weeks.
Although obviously not reported on by Apple, the new availability of free iPhone unlocking software is probably helping to attract many new buyers, those with service other than AT&T.
According to news site iLounge, Apple Inc.'s new iPod Classic and iPod Nano players will require new accessories for TV-Out functions. According to the site, when a new iPod is connected to an older dock, the TV-Out option in the Video Settings menu is disabled. Of course, you can still watch video stored on the iPods on its small screens, this only affects connecting it to a TV for a larger view.
According to the site, the new iPods include "authentication chips" which will also be in many third-party devices for the iPods. It is this extra equipment that apparently blocks the TV-Out functionality of newer iPods with older docks. Apple's website states that both the new iPod models can use TV-Out with Apple's Universal Dock.
"Use the Apple Component AV Cable, the Apple Composite AV Cable, or the Apple AV Connection Kit. Other similar RCA-type cables might not work," the manual for the iPod Classic reads. If true, then many iPod owners planning to upgrade their iPods this holiday won't be very pleased.
A Seattle man has been arrested for allegedly using OP2P software including Soulseek and Limewire to steal personal/private information of users. Gregory Kopiloff, 35, scoured through users systems looking for information he could use such as income tax returns, student financial aid applications, credit reports and other sensitive data that would help him impersonate the victims
He used this data to create bogus credit card accounts which he then used to order thousands of dollars worth of goods, which he later sold on for half the price. So far, investigators have identified 83 different victims. He has been charged with mail fraud, computer hacking and aggravated identity theft offenses and faces a maximum of 29 years in prison.
These scams are possible because many users unknowingly share their entire hard drives, or sensitive folders on P2P networks. This often happens by accident while updating software but it also can be a case of the user not understanding how to use P2P networks and what the significance of a shared folder actually is.
Nero has announced that SecurDisc has been recognized by the Mt. Fuji Group as an industry standard for secure CD and DVD burning. SecurDisc technology provides a full feature set of security-related functions through a combined hardware/software solution. It also offers encryption with password protection, digital signature, and higher data reliability through data storage redundancy and defect management.
Underscoring the importance of providing users with a multi-layered approach to data protection, the SecurDisc command set and model descriptor will be included in the upcoming version 7 of the Mt. Fuji specifications.
"In an age where vital information is frequently stored and transported using CDs and DVDs, it is important to understand potential mechanisms for protection of critical data,"Charly Lippoth, Chief Technology Officer, Nero AG stated. "SecurDisc is designed for use by those who are serious about security and the protection of their data. Recognition from the Mt. Fuji Group and inclusion of the SecurDisc command set and model descriptor in their latest specifications truly highlights the value of SecurDisc technology in protecting vital information."
ViXS Systems Inc. has announced an MPEG4 AVC (MPEG4 Part 10/H.264) encoder/decoder system-on-a-chip (SOC) named XCode 3290. ViXS' current XCode 2100 Series is in included in consumer electronics (CE) and PC products. Set-top and CE manufacturers will now have the ability to build AVC home video products which are cost effective but still provide the sizzle factor required in these highly competitive markets.
The XCode 3290 will be integrated into home video products such as High Definition (HD) STBs, PVRs, DTVs, Blu-Ray/HD DVD recorders, Media Servers and Network Attached Storage (NAS) products. The XCode 3290's powerful multi-core processors allow for multiple and/or advanced applications such as PVR, DLNA and Networking without the aid of an external CPU.
The XCodeTM 3290's Dual HD Transcoding, encoding and dense peripheral integration make it a shoe-in for CE manufacturers building next generation home video products that have storage, networking and content protection needs.
A group of developers has followed up the release of the iPhoneSimFree software to retailers by offering another solution at a much more attractive price to an iPhone owner; completely free. The 6,458 bytes worth of data has been tested and confirmed working. With the recent $200 price cut from the 8GB iPhone and now unlocking software in the wild, Apple Inc. may be about to see a surge in orders.
While Apple might move quite a few more units from recent developments, AT&T Inc. may be a little bit more inclined to kick up a fuss. Up until now, the iPhone would only work if a customer subscribed to the AT&T network, but now unlocking software means it can be used with T-Mobile in the U.S. or with providers in different countries where it is not yet available.
Daeken, Darkmen, guest184, gray, iZsh, Nightwatch, pytey, roxfan, Sam, uns, Zappaz, and Zf are the nicknames of 12 hackers credited with the creation and release of the free unlocking software.
After a week of rumors that it would follow suit with NBC Universal's decision to pull TV programming from iTunes, News Corp president Peter Cherin confided the company has no plans to pull any programming.
Cherin did however agree with some of NBC's argument and feels that the networks should have more control over how much is charged for their programming.
"Right now, we have a perfectly good relationship with Apple," Cherin added.
The quote and NBC's decision cannot possibly be good news for Apple, but only time will tell where the programmer discontent will lead to.
SanDisk unveiled its latest player, the Sansa View which it claims will be the cheapest video-enabled media player using flash memory.
At launch, two models will be available, an 8GB unit and a 16GB unit, for $149 and $199 USD respectively. There will be a microSD card slot which can add up to 8GB of extra memory to the device. When the units hit retail shelves in October they will be the cheapest flash based video players on the market.
SanDisk also says the devices will support PlaysForSure and Rhapsody to Go and both will be included.
The View "sports a 2.4-inch Widescreen display, support for H.264, WMV, and MPEG4 video, and the ability to transcode DivX files for viewing on the device through included Media Converter Software. Other features include an FM radio with 20 presets and a voice recorder."
Those features exceed that of the newly redesigned iPod Nano which lacks voice recording, FM radio, and is more expensive.
A new download service in Sweden claims to offer probably the most consumer-friendly movie download service on the Internet. Headweb uses P2P technology to sell movie downloads without Digital Rights Management (DRM) protection. The movie downloads will be fully compatible with regular DVD players (when burned to a DVD disc) and maintains the same video and audio quality you will get from retail DVDs.
Furthermore, Headweb builds on other movie download services by working on more platforms than Windows, even apparently supporting Linux. For now, the company is working on offering full DVD downloads, but will expand to other formats in the near future. Since the service does not use DRM, it is not limited to a proprietary format such as Windows Media.
Since the service will be expected to protect copyright somehow, it uses watermarking technology that will make it possible to identify a movie being shared illegally and link it to the users' account. This watermarking won't be visible and won't cause any problems for the user, unless the download is spread through file sharing networks. The company believes that watermarking is an excellent alternative to DRM for the consumer.
This year's International Broadcasting Conference (IBC), which raps up today in Amsterdam, has been all about how to deliver content digitally in nearly every conceivable way. From Streaming over broadband to mobile devices to movie theaters, the focus has been on creating digital media and getting it to consumers. Right now the biggest buzz seems to be around IPTV.
With all the media hype surrounding the emerging supply of video available everywhere from viral video sites like YouTube to the BBC's iPlayer, it shouldn't surprise anyone that broadcasters want a piece of the action. And they're not the only ones. Technology companies like Microsoft are there hoping to cash in on the expanding market with media delivery solutions and encoding technology.
"The emergence of mobile TV and IPTV alongside conventional multi-channel television is creating new opportunities and challenges for everyone involved in the creation, management and delivery of content," said Mike Crimp, Marketing Director of IBC. "With its extensive programme of mobile and IPTV-related events, IBC2007 provides a unique opportunity for broadcast and telecoms professionals alike to discover the keys to success in this increasingly multi-platform environment."
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin wants the agency to require cable companies to guarantee support for their customers' analog televisions after the 2009 switch to digital broadcasts over the air.
"Unless the commission acts, some cable customers may actually be harmed by the transition and lose the ability to view some of these channels," Martin told The Associated Press on Monday.
In February of 2009 analog television owners will be eligible for a government subsidy to buy analog converter boxes so they can continue to watch TV. The subsidy, however, is targeted toward people who receive broadcasts over the air.
Cable providers could solve the problem by supplying customers with their own analog converters, and industry representatives have assured the FCC that their customers with analog TVs will still be able to watch them after the digital cutover, but Martin feels it should be required by FCC rule.
A National Cable Television Association (NCTA) expressed outrage at the proposal, saying "We've said we will voluntarily take care of our customers, which is different than a government mandate."
The FCC is scheduled to meet today, and will likely be discussing the issue.
A couple of months ago we made a decision to abandon one of our "side-kick brands", Filepedia.com in order to provide a smoother user experience for our users. Filepedia and its predecessor, Dawnload.net, have been around since 2001 and they've provided software downloads from areas that AfterDawn doesn't focus on, such as browsers, email clients, firewalls, etc.
The "two sites offering software downloads" setup has proven to be slightly complex for some of our users which is why we felt that by merging the two software sections, we could provide a better user experience and a much more harmonized "brand" for the software section.
As a result of this merger, AfterDawn's software section grows significantly and now boasts more than 1,000 hand-picked software downloads with user reviews, screenshots, etc. All user accounts, software notification subscriptions, RSS feeds, etc have been moved from Filepedia to AfterDawn, so users can manage their settings and notifications via AfterDawn's control panel.
TiVo Inc. has revealed that the TiVoToGo and Multiroom viewing features of the high-definition TiVo and original Series 3 will be enabled for use in November. Both features have not been made available due to concerned about piracy. When TiVo asked permission from CableLabs, it didn't approve the company's Digital Rights Management (DRM) software which would protect flagged content from piracy.
CableLabs recently approved the DTCP encryption standard, which may be what TiVo uses. "These features will provide support for video transfers between Series3 & Series2 systems and between a Series3/Series2 system and a PC. High Definition content will not be supported for transfer or playback on a Series2 system (Series2's just can't play HD), and copy-protected High Def or Standard Def content cannot be transferred (same as our current Series2 products)," detailed TiVo team member TiVoPony in the Community Forums.
While standard definition content rarely includes a copy protection flag while during broadcast, the same may not apply to high-definition content and some TiVo users may find they are more limited than expected in sharing HD content to other TiVos or PC. "If it's recorded in HD on a Series3 or TiVoHD, then it can be shared between those platforms, but not with a Series2," added TiVoPony. "And when I say 'can be shared between those platforms', it of course comes with any caveats the copyright owner dictates regarding sharing."
The Optical Memory National Engineering Research Center (OMNERC) has announced CH-DVD (China High Definition DVD). This next-generation optical disc format includes Chinese-owned intellectual property, and is based on HD DVD, the next generation high definition DVD approved by the DVD Forum. The realization of CH-DVD was supported by the Chinese government, and will pave the way for the localization of blue-laser, high-definition DVD in China.
OMNERC has established the China High Definition DVD Industry Association (CHDA) in cooperation with the DVD Forum and Chinese and international partners. CHDA will play a leadership role in the promotion of CH-DVD, and will make a big push to launch CH-DVD player into the Chinese market in 2008.
The emergence of CH-DVD as a high definition format integrating Chinese-owned intellectual property clearly demonstrates that a Chinese optical disc technology is already at the world-class level. In the near future, all related industries in China are expected to make the transition from standard definition DVD to high definition DVD.
According to an article posted on Screen Digest, the DVD Forum has approved a 51GB HD DVD disc. The disc, which consists of three layers of 17GB each, was reportedly approved for production by the DVD Forum on August 31st. The extension to the HD DVD standard was submitted to the DVD Forum back in April of this year.
The HD DVD group has not proved the technical feasibility of the disc and there are no details on whether any currently available HD DVD hardware is "triple-layer-ready". A rumor that has been around for months claims that many HD DVD players available will be able to play the triple layer disc after a firmware update, but the group has not commented.
Toshiba had talked about a triple layer 45GB disc back in May 2005, but by pushing capacity to 51GB the group may aim to get it out while Blu-ray dual-layer discs offer 50GB capacity. Of course, Blu-ray is not "stuck" at 50GB just as HD DVD is not stuck with 30GB.
Microsoft Corp. is currently negotiating with the BBC, seeking a deal that will make BBC content available to UK customers through the Xbox Live Video Marketplace. In the U.S., Xbox Live carries content from the likes of Disney, CBS and MTV. The Sunday Times reported that the Redmond-based software giant was speaking to the BBC and many other potential partners in Europe.
"We are working diligently on multiple fronts to make it happen,"Ross Honey, senior director for media at Microsoft's content and partner strategy group, said. "The BBC is a great content provider." Microsoft is expected to launch digital television and video services in Europe soon.
Sony recently revealed the PlayTV add-on for the PlayStation 3 (PS3) console that will give users access to Freeview programming via the console, and eventually, pay-per-view downloads in a deal with Sky.
Sonic Solutions has announced Scenarist Advanced Content Authoring Software Version 4.5, the company's HD DVD authoring software. Scenarist Advanced Content Authoring further streamlines the creation of complex titles with support for Multiple Playlists, Secondary EVOBs, Chapter Point File Import, Scheduled Events and much more.
As well as new features, Scenarist Advanced Content Authoring now includes Sonic's popular Scenarist Designer and new Scenarist Formatter. The new software applications are a strong complement to Scenarist Advanced Content Authoring, providing a highly optimized workflow from graphics and HDi preparation through HD DVD pre-mastering and burning.
"With Scenarist Advanced Content Authoring, we are providing the authoring community the most complete solution for the creation of Hollywood's most intricate and detailed interactive HD DVD titles," said Matt Palmer, Director of Product Management at Sonic.
He added: "Based on over a year of development and extensive feedback from members of Sonic's High Definition Authoring Alliance (HDAA), Scenarist Advanced Content Authoring redefines workflow efficiency and delivers the playback compatibility and reliability that high-end production facilities have come to expect from the Scenarist brand."
Nero has announced the global availability of more SecurDisc-enabled drives from LG Electronics, Inc. The addition of SecurDisc technology to the new LG GSA-E60N/L LG 20x External DVD Rewriter and the LG GSA-E50N/L Slim Portable provides secure data protection and content access control for data recorded on regular CD and DVD formats.
"With international headlines focused on the dangers of information loss, data security and document protection have become top of mind for consumers worldwide," said Charly Lippoth, Chief Technology Officer, Nero AG. "Information owners are increasingly aware of the need for strong access controls, and Nero continues to set the standard for what end-users will come to expect in ensuring the security of their files. The global availability of LG SecurDisc-enabled drives speaks to the market demand for this functionality."
SecurDisc offers solutions to secure your content from prying eyes offering encryption with password protection, digital signature, and higher data reliability through data storage redundancy and defect management, as well as copy protection for PDF files and a data integrity checker.
Vodafone today became the latest mobile phone provider to get into the music download business.
Although analysts had been expecting a deal that would make Vodafone the exclusive retailer of the iPhone across Europe, instead the company accompanied the introduction of their new music store with a look at new phones they'll be selling to go along with it. In place of the iPhone they've decided to go with Samsung's F700 smartphone.
Like the iPhone, the F700 has a touchscreen, but it also features support for 3G downloading. This means faster download speeds, which is an area where the iPhone has been criticized. Jens Schulte-Bokum, head of the global terminal division at Vodafone, said "we regret that the iPhone, initially, won't support 3G, which we believe is necessary to deliver a compelling music and Internet experience."
British company Omnifone will provide Vodafone customers with unlimited tracks from their catalog of over 1 million songs for £1.99 a week.
As reported earlier, the impending death of the 60GB Sony PlayStation 3 has led to intense rumors as to what Sony will do when the 80GB model is the only unit left.
According to Arstechnica however, consumers will be getting what they have been waiting for for months. The price of the 80GB model will drop to $499 while Sony will introduce a new "base" model, a 40GB offering for $399, just $50 USD more than the rival Core Xbox 360.
The sources involved believe Sony will also bundle the upcoming Spider-Man 3 Blu-ray movie which is expected to be one of the biggest sellers for Blu-ray when it hits shelves in late October. Also expected is a price drop on the PS2 to $99 USD. That being said, dont expect to hear any official news from Sony on the new offering until at least October although we will be waiting and will report any updates.
Apple has announced that it has sold 1 million iPhones, an astounding number for a phone which made its debut 74 days ago.
The record numbers makes it the best selling phone debut ever and it ranks highly on the list of all electronic device debuts. Using another hit Apple product as a comparison, the iPod took almost two years to hit 1 million sold.
"We can't wait to get this revolutionary product into the hands of even more customers this holiday season," CEO Steve Jobs said. The numbers should get even higher with the recent price drop of the 8GB model from $599 to $399.
Not everyone agrees with Mr. Job's sales numbers however. At the end of July, iSuppli estimated that just over 500,000 units had been sold, meaning that Apple sold 500,000 in the last 6 weeks, a hefty number by any stretch of the imagination.
The music industry has once again decided the reason people aren't spending as much money on their product is packaging. In order to correct this perceived packaging shortfall they've decided to introduce a new format called the ringle.
A ringle is a CD single containing a couple of songs and a credit to get a ringtone from some third party provider. With the exception of Sony BMG, all the major labels are still working on deals with ringtone providers.
The format is expected to launch next month. Sony plans to start selling 50 titles during October and November, while Universal Music should have 10-20.
Major retailers from Wal-Mart to Amazon.com are already planning to support the format, which is expected to have a profit margin for them either slightly less or slightly more than CDs, depending on the suggested retail price.
Like other music industry efforts in the last several years, this does nothing to increase the amount or improve the quality of new music releases. Perhaps this time around it will turn out differently than all the rest.
The UK Government has responded to calls for the BBC's iPlayer software to be opened up to more operating systems than Microsoft's Windows XP. The Government responded to an online petition which gathered more than 16,000 signatures since it was set up in June. The BBC Trust has made it a condition of launching the iPlayer that it worked with other operating systems in response to the call.
The iPlayer allows UK users to download and watch TV content from the BBC after it airs. However, it only works with Windows XP and this upset many TV license payers in the UK. The BBC Trust has now promised that versions of the player for alternative platforms will be available "as soon as possible."
As for goals, there is expected to be a Mac version of the player this Autumn followed by versions for several mobile gadgets and for Windows Vista. The Open Source Consortium (OSC) has also criticized the closed nature of the iPlayer and has called for versions that work with Linux and has met with the BBC Trust to discuss its views.
Universal Music Group's legal tactics are under fire again. This time the heat is coming from DivX, Inc., developer of both the DivXMPEG-4Codec and a viral video service called Stage6.
Apparently following the lead of relative newcomer to the viral video scene, Veoh Networks, DivX is suing Universal after being accused of copyright infringement, but not yet sued. Another striking similarity to the Veoh case is Universal's apparent lack of interest in using the DMCA's mechanism of takedown notices to get videos that supposedly violate copyright removed.
Based on an earlier situation with YouTube, which ended in Universal dropping a copyright violation suit and signing a licensing agreement, one obvious possibility that the ongoing accusations are part of a negotiation strategy using legal action to arrange for better financial terms. However, it's possible that their strategy is simpler than that. As billionaire and internet innovator Mark Cuban noted in a recent interview, the protection offered by DMCA safe harbor provisions may not even apply to viral video websites.
According to manufacturers of LCD panels, demand for LCD televisions is on the rise. In North America, there is considerable demand for 19-inch and 22-inch LCD TVs currently as consumers target them as second or third TV sets for a household. Vendors point to good pricing for LCD televisions of 19-inch and 22-inch sizes in the North American market to explain the demand.
However, 32-inch displays remain the mainstream size in the market while tight supply persists. In the market for LCD panels of 37-inch in size, tight supply is also enduring. Panel makers said that the shortage situation for 37-inch panels may increase in the second half as pricing for the segment continues to dip and suppliers for 37-inch TV panels remains few.
Demand for 42-inch LCD TVs is also picking up now that the units are becoming more affordable.
Four manufacturers of black CD-R discs are prepping legal proceedings against Royal Philips Electronics over the Veeza licensing program. The four companies, CMC Magnetics, Ritek, Prodisc Technology and Daxon Technology accused Philips of imposing the "unreasonable and discriminating" Veeza licensing program upon them, according to a press release issued by the Taiwan Information Storage Association (TISA).
The companies are claiming that the high royalty charges severely limit their ability to operate in the market for blank CD-R discs. Additionally, the companies claim that the licensing system discriminates against them because Philips couldn't subject Moser Baer India (MBI) or Chinese manufacturers to Veeza.
This makes it very difficult for the four companies to compete with the Chinese makers or MBI in several markets. The four companies will demand that Philips return paid royalty fees in excess of reasonable amounts and duly compensate for their lost business due to the discrimination of Veeza licensing.
A new small study carried out by the Royal National Institute for Deaf People will ignite the debate over the audio volumes that MP3 players can output and what exactly manufacturers' obligations are. The charity warned that over two thirds of young people who use MP3 players are currently facing premature hearing damage as a direct result of the volume they listen to the players at.
The group has accused manufacturers of slacking when it comes to adequately warning customers about hearing damage. RNID urges MP3 player fans to invest in in-ear filters for headphones which cancel out background noise and reduce the need for higher volumes. Out of 110 MP3 users tested in Brighton, Manchester and Birmingham, 72 listened to music at a volume over 85 decibels.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says that listening to music at that volume for more than an hour at time can damage hearing ability. The study found that half the young people questioned listened for more than an hour a day with a quarter listening for more than 21 hours per week. About 58% were completely unaware of the hearing loss risks and 79% had never seen warnings about noise levels on packaging of MP3 players.
Panasonic announced the debut of its newest LCD home theater projector with 1080p (1,920 x 1,080 pixel) native resolution. The PT-AE2000U suits or savvy home theater enthusiasts and audio video professionals who desire an immersive home entertainment viewing experience. The PT-AE2000U delivers 1080p images with a carefully-tuned lens system to reproduce remarkable detail and clarity with 1,500 lumen brightness and 16,000:1 contrast ratio.
The PT-AE2000U model comes equipped with Panasonic's new optical system that's designed to display beautifully detailed images with a captivating brightness of 1,500 lumens. The projector's new Detail Clarity Processor analyzes frequency characteristics of each frame in three dimensions (horizontal, vertical, and along the time axis) and applies necessary sharpness at varying degrees to create natural, life-like images with exceptional clarity.
"Continuing our close collaboration with leading Hollywood colorists and image experts, we've taken our projector technology to the next level to meet the growing demand for high-definition home entertainment content," said Thomas Zitelli, president of Panasonic Projector Systems Company. "For home theater connoisseurs and audio video professionals who desire the richest colors and the best image quality, our new PT-AE2000U LCD projector enables viewers to easily enjoy movie theater-quality entertainment at home."
Meridian has released a new iPod-compatible dock that might be interesting to users who store a lot of video content on their iPods. The company claims that the Meridian iRIS iPod dock is capable of playing video from an iPod on a connected TV screen and can also upconvert the video signal to full HD 1080p content. Furthermore, the company claims that it provides quality good enough for big screens, clarity and freedom from artifacts.
Of course, while this might be true (or at least true to a certain degree) for content purchased from the iTunes download store for example, the overall quality after processing still depends on the quality of the video itself and some re-encodes done at home might not look so healthy on your giant plasma HDTV. Such processing even done with DVD-Video by compatible players, while often beneficial, does not match or sometimes even come close to true full HD video.
The dock will output 1080p video through a HDMI output or 720p / 1080i through a component output. The dock will be available in November.
Some former Comcast customers would like to know how much bandwidth is too much. Even after having their internet service disconnected for excessive downloading, the cable company won't reveal at what point they crossed the line.
Bob Williams, director of HearUsNow.org, a consumer Web site run by Consumers Union, said the vagueness of Comcast's rules is "unfair and arbitrary."
"They're cutting service off to the people who want to use it the most," he said.
Just last month, Comcast spokesman Charlie Douglas said in an interview that the company contacts subscribers to work out bandwidth use issues, but Sandra Spalletta believes their communication is lacking in important details. She says "You have no way of knowing how much is too much," referring to her family's experience earlier this year. In March she received a letter from Comcast warning her to cut bandwidth use or lose their service. Despite cutting back, her service was disconnected anyway.
"You want to think you can rely on your home Internet service and not wake up one morning to find it turned off," said Spalletta, who filed a complaint with the Montgomery County Office of Cable and Communication Services. "I thought it was unlimited service."
Philips has announced that Dolby Laboratories will offer its customers the option of Philips CineFence anti-piracy watermarking technology to help protect digital cotnent. New cinema releases shown via Dolby's digital cinema solution can be embedded with Philips CineFence forensic watermark, thus allowing the content to be traced and protected.
Illegal camcorder copying has been identified as one of the major and most difficult to track forms of digital content piracy. With Philips CineFence, the watermark pinpoints the specific location, time and date the illegal camcorder recording took place. Thus the implementation of Philips CineFence not only allows for the tracking of pirated digital content, it also acts as a severe disincentive to those engaged in this illegal activity.
"Dolby is committed to providing the market with the most reliable and secure digital cinema systems," said John Iles, Vice President, Cinema, Dolby Laboratories. "We are pleased to offer the Philips solution to help deter piracy." The CineFence watermarks are imperceptible to cinema audiences, but maintain their integrity in the copied material, even after severe quality degradation such as cropping, compression and scaling.
Polk Audio has added some decent features to its I-Sonic Entertainment System 2 system, including an iPod dock and a new "iTunes tagging" system that works with HD Radio. While listening to a HD Radio broadcast, a user must only hit the Tag button on the device for it to download all the information on the song currently being played and upload the information to a connected iPod.
The next time the iPod is synced with iTunes, a playlist will automatically be created that consists of all the tagged songs so the user can now sample or buy them. The device also features video output that works with the video iPod models. The device will go on sale next month with a hefty price tag of $500.
The I-Sonic Entertainment System 2 has had some feature cut from its predecessor, which costs $100 more, including a CD / DVD player and XM Satellite Radio support.
Along with eventIS, Philips has successfully completed testing of 3D video-on-demand (VoD) using eventIS metadata systems and Philips 3D displays. This proves that the new 3D video format, based on 2D-plus-depth, can easily be integrated into existing media distribution and management systems such as video-on-demand via cable, satellite, Internet or terrestrial broadcasting.
3D-TV could become the next big thing in television, showing the world as it really is and making content richer, more immersive, and more exciting for the viewer. Recent developments in 3D screens has scraped the need for special glasses to view the content. Earlier this year Deutsche Telekom and Philips demonstrated interactive 3D applications like movies, home shopping and online games.
In the IBC demo, eventIS make use of a library that consists of 3D animated, stereoscopic and 2D-to-3D converted videos. eventIS metadata management systems are used by major European VoD operators. They automate the complete VoD flow from subscriber requests, to video assets management and monetization.
"Easy distribution of any 3D content over existing infrastructures will be a key success factor for 3D-TV," says Jos Swillens, CEO of Philips 3D Solutions. "The 3D format known as 2D-plus-depth is now standardized in MPEG, and offers the flexibility to deliver a high-quality 3D viewing experience with minimal bandwidth requirements."
Broadcom Corporation has announced that its highly integrated Blu-ray and HD DVD system-on-a-chip (SoC) has been selected by Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. to power the dual format BD-UP5000 Duo high definition (HD) player. The Broadcom BCM7440's multiple processor cores fully support both Blu-ray and HD DVD standards in a single SoC, including support for next generation interactive technologies (i.e. BD-Java and HDi) that are being incorporated into Hollywood's latest title releases.
"Together with Broadcom, Samsung Electronics has now created the world's best performing dual format high definition DVD player available in the market today," said Dr. D.H. Shin, Senior Vice President of the Digital AV Division at Samsung Electronics. "Using Broadcom's BCM7440 SoC, our BD-UP5000 Duo HD Player delivers the ultimate high definition experience for both Blu-ray and HD DVD formats."
"Powered by the BCM7440, Samsung's new Duo HD player eliminates consumer confusion by allowing them to enjoy all the latest HD movie titles," said Peter Besen, Vice President of Broadcom's Consumer Electronics line of business. "By supporting both HD DVD and Blu-ray at the highest performance levels, Samsung's BD-UP5000 Duo HD player brings us one step closer to ending the format war."
Pace Micro Technology plc and CacheLogic have demonstrated how assisted P2P delivery networks could change the way consumers access content, including payTV, in the future. The companies showed how Pace broadband-enabled set-top boxes can form a P2P infrastructure via the Internet to store, distribute and access content both securely and quickly.
Assisted by CacheLogic servers, this P2P infrastructure will enable operators to provide a wider range of on-demand content and services to their subscribers, including 'long tail' or niche content. By exploiting the storage available across all PVR users on a network, it is possible to make a huge number of titles available to end users without the expense of maintaining a large central server base.
At IBC 2007, Pace will demonstrate a prototype to the industry, using a standard Pace digital satellite PVR with an Ethernet port, allowing access to content delivered via the Internet. The PVR has a fully functional Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) to search and select content for viewing and downloading.
When Apple Inc. announced support to create custom ringtones for the iPhone using iTunes this week, the company was referring literally only to songs from the iTunes music store. An update that the company put out attempted to block users from using free custom ringtones and syncing them with an iPhone. However, it wasn't long until a workaround was found (convert free audio clip to AAC, rename to .m4r and play with iTunes).
However, users reported that after installing the iTunes 7.4.1 update, this workaround no longer worked, meaning Apple deliberately has tried to block it. A post on Engadget however, showed that after repeating the older steps like before, and renaming the .m4r file to .m4a, when plugging in an iPhone the file will be added to your syncable ringtones list without an error message it had been showing before.
Getting ringtones from the iTunes store costs 99c.
Apple is apparently considering a cut in TV show download prices. Sources familiar with their proposal have said Apple is informing television networks that they'd like to cut prices on most television episodes to the same $0.99 price most of their songs sell for.
In a recent and very public recent dispute with NBC Universal that included sales rights for television shows, Apple claimed that the studio wanted to increase prices while NBC said they simply didn't want a flat rate. Apple has been very clear in the past that they believe simple pricing is an important part of the iTunes business model.
Apple's insistence on any particular price model raises the question of how good an idea it is for a seller to dictate price to producers. Certainly a better deal for consumers may be one result, which is what Apple is betting on. However, it's also undeniable that not everything carries equal value to viewers. If other studios decide to follow NBC Universal's lead in taking their business, and content, to other outlets, Apple may have to compromise more on pricing.
The idea of across the board price cuts surely doesn't sit well with studio executives, but a reasonably simple two or three tiered price structure, allowing popular shows to sell for as much as, or more than they do currently might net more interest in the lowered prices among studio executives.
New Media Enterprises (NME) is betting on the cost effectiveness of red laser video players to beat both HD DVD and Blu-ray in the next-generation format wars, and they're backing it up with a format called Versatile Multilayer Disc. At the CEDIA show this week in Denver, Colorado they showed off HD VMD, which puts high definition video on a VMD disc.
Unlike HD DVD and Blu-ray, which rely on the blue lasers to put more data on each layer of an optical disc, VMD simply adds more layers to reach up to 30GB on a single sided disc. That's the same capacity as a dual layer HD DVD disc, and HD VMD's 40Mbps maximum bitrate falls in between HD DVD and Blu-ray.
By choosing to push current generation technology further instead of leaving it behind, NME has come up with a format that's much cheaper to produce, and therefore for consumers to buy. In fact, the first generation players are expected to retail for as low as $150, or half what the lowest priced blue laser players cost right now.
At that price, HD VMD has another big advantage. The players should be priced reasonably enough for people who aren't going to take advantage of the format for a while, and will primarily use it for watching standard DVDs.
Broadcast International is holding public demonstrations of its new encoding solution, developed in collaboration with IBM, at the IBC exposition in Amsterdam, September 7th - September 11th, 2007. The encoder features BI's patented CodecSyscompression technology on the IBM BladeCenter QS20 "Cell Blade." The combination of these technologies improves performance and reduces costs associated with video compression, while delivering live HD video at less than half the bandwidth normally required.
"We expect to cause quite a stir at IBC when we show pre-encoded HD streams at under 3Mbs, as well as real-time HD encoding at similarly remarkable bandwidths," said Rod Tiede, Broadcast International CEO. "That’s the capability we gain by putting our CodecSys multi-codec encoding software on IBM’s Cell/B.E. multi-core processing hardware; the two technologies are ideally suited to each other. In addition to significantly increased processing power, the IBM platform is highly scalable and programmable, which enables users to customize and upgrade in a way that has never before been possible."
At CEDIA, Samsung revealed some more details about its upcoming Blu-ray and HD DVD stand-alone player than we have previously reported. The BD-UP5000 fully supports both next-generation formats including their interactive technologies, HDi and BD-J. The player is fully capable of full HD 1080p output at 24fps (if supported by display) for both formats.
A great selling point is the inclusion of HQV video processing, which improves the quality not only of HD content, but also standard DVDs. The player has on-board decoders for Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby TrueHD and is firmware upgradeable to support DTS-HD High Resolution and DTS-HD Master Audio. It sports a HDMI 1.3 output and an Ethernet port.
ABC Television will be making four shows produced by Warner Bros. available on the network's web-based media player.
Shows the network produces for itself are already featured on ad supported site. It was the first broadcast network to make its prime time shows available this way.
The deal gives ABC rights to stream episodes from the Warner shows "Men in Trees", "Notes from the Underbelly", "Big Shots", and "Pushing Daisies," keeping all the ad revenue for themselves. After the initial year, Warner can stream programs from the previous year themselves, in addition to distributing them on other media like DVD.
Episodes will be available on ABC's site for up to four weeks after airing on the network.
After success in Canada, Italy, Japan and even somewhat in the US, the MPAA is continuing its world tour and moving on to the UK where it will try to convince legislators to criminalize the camming of movies while they are in theaters.
The main aim of the tour is to make camming a more serious offense than it currently is (misdemeanor/civil offense) and pave the way for stronger punishments that will keep the offender in jail for years instead of days or months.
MPAA head Dan Glickman is in the UK talking to UK film minister Margaret Hodge and representatives from the UK Film Council in which he hopes to persuade them to make the laws more severe.
Although, most regulars of Afterdawn know that the MPAA time after time makes up figures, and has even compared pirates to terrorists, their tour has been successful so far, with legislations going through around the world making cammers into criminals.
Microsoft has big hopes for the future of VC-1 video. In a press release today they highlighted some products based on their VC-1 Encoder software development kit (SDK).
VC-1 has been hailed by many early adopters of next-generation video formats (Blu-ray and HD DVD) for delivering high image quality at a small file size, the lack of third party encoding tools has limited its use beyond those two media.
The products mentioned range from Memory-Tech Digital Movie Factory Pro HD for creating HD DVDs with VC-1 video to multiple format tools to Anystream Agility to prepare video in multiple formats for nearly any format, including broadcast.
The VC-1Codec was originally developed as Microsoft was trying to break into high definition home theater. Since then, the company has been successful in getting it included as a mandatory format (meaning every player must be capable of playing it) for HD DVD and Blu-ray. The next market they want to conquer seems to be IPTV.
Integra, which is known for selling high-end audio/video equipment, announced this week that it will release a HD DVD player by the end of the year, joining many other third party companies planning to unveil HD DVD hardware this year. Integra's HD DVD player will support full HD 1080p video playback at 24fps (for compatible displays). It also includes a built-in HQV Reon VX processor and an Ethernet port.
It will, however, be one of the most expensive players of the 2007 line-up, expected to retail for around $1,100. It will have a series of high-end DACs for custom home automation and analog A/V connections. HD DVD's rival, Blu-ray, looks to be the better performing format for the time being and many third party companies have come forward with plans for Blu-ray players.
Sony's own Blu-ray equipment accounts for more than 90% of Blu-ray stand-alone player sales, according to Home Media. More than half a dozen companies will put out HD DVD players this year, with Venturer gaining interest in its upcoming HD DVD player, rumored to be around $200 or less.
Apple Inc. has issued an update that addresses a vulnerability discovered in its iTunes multimedia software. The company has patched both Windows and Mac operating systems' version of the iTunes software. The iTunes v7.4 update adds support for using purchased music as ringtones and to buy songs wirelessly using iPhone or the recently unveiled iPod Touch.
The update also addresses a serious security vulnerability however, that could lead to a specially crafted music file crashing or giving an attacker control over a victims PC or Mac. "A buffer overflow exists in iTunes when processing album cover art," the company stated. "By enticing a user to open a maliciously crafted music file, an attacker may trigger the overflow which may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution."
Apple has issued more than 100 patches for ts Mac OS X operating system and applications this year and the iPhone received its first security patch in July. Apple credited iSEC Partners with the discovery of the latest iTunes vulnerability.
The European Commission will hold hearings with Apple Inc. and several major record companies this month, addressing the EC's concerns over unfair pricing schemes and sales practices of the iTunes music store in Europe. The hearings will not directly lead to a decision in the ongoing investigation. They will be held from September 19th through 20th.
After being accused of pressuring Apple into a country-by-country pricing scheme in Europe, the big four major record companies, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, EMI Group and Sony BMG will also be joining Apple in the hearings. Due to confidential agreements the four different labels have with Apple, the hearings are closed to the public and each will be meeting with the EC separately.
Users of iTunes in Europe can purchase songs from the store intended to be used in their country, a policy that is enforced by requiring the use of locally-issued credit cards. The real problem however is that the price of music downloads varies depending on what country you are purchasing in, which the EC claims violates European antitrust laws.
When Debbie Foster ultimately triumphed in a copyright infringement case brought against her by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), she was awarded attorneys' fees. After exhausting any other options, the RIAA gave Foster a check for $68,685.23 on August 30th, but Foster did not consider the case closed there.
She filed a motion to amend the attorneys' fees award over the amount paid and the method of payment. The RIAA did in fact pay in full up to the time that the fees were awarded but neglected to include fees incurred by Foster's attorney pertaining to a hearing on July 5th and didn't include the interest that had accrued since the date of the award.
Marilyn Barringer-Thomson, Foster's attorney, was displeased with the method of payment by check also. By providing a written check made out to Debbie Foster, bank policy of placing a hold on checks would deny immediate access to the funds. Usually funds would be electronically transfered to the accounts of those in line for payments.
The RIAA countered by filing a motion to deem the judgment satisfied, believing since it paid up in full, the case is closed. Speaking to Ars Technica, an RIAA spokesperson said that Foster's filing mistakes the facts and misconstrues the judgment in this case.
A Florida man is suing Apple for violating the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act by putting technical restrictions on iPods that he claims unfairly restrict competition. Frederick Black is upset that he can't use his iPod with online retailers other than iTunes or easily transfer content purchased from iTunes to other devices.
He's hoping to get his suit certified as a class action, which would include all Florida residents who purchased either an iPod or songs from iTunes since 2001. Apple faces a similar suit in Federal court in California, which they've tried unsuccessfully to have dismissed.
According to Black's suit Apple restricts the use of iTunes digital media to the iPod or iTunes software. So if the iPod is lost or breaks, the suit says, a consumer "is forced to repurchase an iPod" or "lose the use of the iTunes content."
The suit adds that Apple "has attempted to maintain monopoly power,""has the power to control prices," and "has been able to exclude competition."
At the heart of the issue is something that affects consumers every day, and not just Apple's customers. The real question centers around the relationship betwen technology and the law. Regardless of whether DRM is an effective deterrent against piracy, it's clearly effective against the exercise of fair use rights. In the case of the iPod it also appears to be effective in making Apple the 800 pound gorilla of the music download industry.
Universal Music Group is suing viral video site operator Veoh Networks for copyright infringement.
The suit, which is similar to those YouTube is currently defending itself against, has a somewhat unique twist. Less than two months ago Veoh Networks filed a suit of their own against Universal. That suit claimed the music giant had sent letters threatening legal action over copyright infringement, but included no specific details to back up that claim. Veoh's suit was intended as a pre-emptive strike to force Universal to back down.
At the time there was speculation that Universal was really looking for a licensing deal similar to the one they worked out with YouTube. Much like the situation with Veoh, in that case Universal filed a lawsuit, but then they dropped the suit after coming reaching an agreement on licensing. It's even possible this tactic may have gotten them more favorable terms, with the lawsuit hanging over YouTube's head being a good reason to come to agreement or else.
While Universal's new suit calls Veoh "a massive copyright infringer that has built its business on the back of others' intellectual property," it's possible that the music company's lack of specifics to the video site may be their undoing.
The US Justice Department suddenly feels the need to weigh in on the net neutrality debate. In short, they're against it.
In comments submitted to the Federal Communications Commision in that agency's official discussions, the DoJ said net neutrality "could deter broadband Internet providers from upgrading and expanding their networks to reach more Americans." This raises many questions, not the least of which is whether this is a false crisis caused by greedy ISPs marketing their networks beyond capacity.
As broadband connections become the norm among residential broadband customers, those customers want to make use of applications like Streaming video - the same applications broadband internet providers use as selling points. But the fact is many ISPs don't have enough available throughput to handle a large percentage of their customers streaming reasonable qualtiy video. Another fact is that most people are paying for a maximum speed that their connection may not actually achieve.
In order for large scale consumption of high quality video and audio to become a reality it's fair to assess whether existing internet connections are capable of handling it. It's also fair to ask what needs to be done to get the network ready. But painting ISP's as victims of greedy internet companies is simply ludicrous.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs has publically apologized to all early adopters of the iPhone and offered a $100 Apple credit to all customers who purchased the phone before the price was dropped $200 yesterday for both models of the phone.
There was outrage after the announcement of the price drop was made, and Jobs acknowledged that he and the company had received hundreds to thousands of complaints via e-mail.
Jobs also added that "the technology road is bumpy," and that those that pay top dollar to be early adopters will always be angry when the price drops later. "This is life in the technology lane," Jobs said.
The CEO seems to have had a change of heart since yesterday when he told an interviewer for USA Today that "iPhone owners who bought their device that morning should go back to where they bought it and talk to them. If they bought it a month ago, well, that's what happens in technology."
In the latest open letter his sentiments have changed however, saying that although they lowered the price the company still needs to "do the right thing for our valued iPhone customers."
"(W)e need to do a better job taking care of our early iPhone customers as we aggressively go after new ones with a lower price," he said. "Our early customers trusted us, and we must live up to that trust with our actions in moments like these."
The HD DVD camp is putting on a smile at the current CEDIA and is more than happy to point out all the advantages that they hope will help them win the next-gen format war.
According to the HD DVD Promotional Group, despite lagging in disc sales and overall players (PlayStation 3 included), four of the top five PC notebook manufacturers are in support of HD DVD. Additionally, the group believes third generation players coming soon from Toshiba will give the format "undeniable momentum" going into the holiday season.
And they do have a point. The new high-end HD-A35, which will be released at $499 USD, will be as expensive as the lowest priced Blu-ray standalone player, the low-end Sony BDP-S300. There has even been reports that a Canadian manufacturer will begin selling $199 USD low-end HD DVD players before the holidays.
To help gain added momentum, HD DVD has recently signed a marketing agreement with NBC Universal which will place 30 second ads promoting the format on air during the very popular "Sunday Night Football" broadcasts.
The group also said 125 new titles were planned for the fourth quarter of 2007 and that it would be offering a firmware update to all second-generation player owners that would give them 1080/24p capabilities.
LightScribe Direct Disc Labeling has announced enhancements that reduce graininess and improve fine detail reproduction for LightScribe's DVD / CD labeling. The results are instantly visible on photos, graphics and text on Lightscribe CDs and DVDs. The enhanced image quality is available immediately through a free upgrade of the LightScribe system software and requires no additional changes to customers' systems or new hardware and media.
LightScribe customers will experience the image quality improvement when they update to the latest version of the LightScribe system software, available for download on www.lightscribe.com.
"Enhancing image quality demonstrates LightScribe's ongoing commitment to improving the customer experience," said Kent Henscheid, marketing manager for LightScribe. "With the new system software enhancements, customers can now burn LightScribe CDs and DVDs with even better results."
Adobe Systems Incorporated has announced Audition 3, a new major release for its professional audio production software. Adobe Audition 3 is designed to give audio professionals like sound designers, recording and mastering engineers, and musicians a flexible production toolkit for recording, mixing, editing, and mastering audio. New features include VSTi virtual instrument support with MIDI piano roll, enhanced spectral editing options, fast fade and crossfade controls, and advanced multi-core support.
"Adobe Audition 3 is packed with new features for all types of users," said Hart Shafer, senior product manager at Adobe. "In addition to concentrating on delivering new creative capabilities and unmatched editing tools, we've turbo-charged performance and ensured time-saving features are integrated into the product. That means our customers can spend less time working in the software and more time creating the perfect sound."
With new support for VSTi virtual instruments and MIDI piano roll style editing, combined with sophisticated audio and mixing tools, Adobe Audition 3 provides more creative power for audio production. New effects like the Analog Delay, Convolution Reverb, and Tube-modeled Compressor provide new sonic options, while the Guitar Suite adds analog-modeled effects to dry guitar tracks. Radius time stretching, from industry-leader iZotope, allows users to accurately change tempo and pitch independently.
Sonic Solutions' Roxio division has launched Easy Media Creator 10, an upgrade to the company's suite of digital media applications that enables consumers to turn their photos, video and music into impressive multi-media projects that can be shared on CD, DVD, the Web, or a range of mobile devices. Easy Media Creator 10 is fully Windows Vista certified and boasts a new Aero interface.
The company claims the interface makes it easier than ever for consumers to manage their digital content from one project to the next, whether it is burning a DVD or uploading videos to YouTube. "We are pleased to have a working relationship with Roxio, a global provider of digital media software," said Dave Wascha, director of marketing for Windows Vista at Microsoft Corp.
He added: "Microsoft recognizes Sonic's commitment to delivering quality solutions that enhance our users’ experience with Windows Vista." Roxio Easy Media Creator 10 will be available in retail stores worldwide this month and is available today directly from Roxio at www.roxio.com for $99.99 USD.
The International recording industry has welcomed a Swedish report calling for Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to take more of an active role in the fight against rampant Internet piracy. Swedish Justice Department investigator Cecilia Renfors presented the report at the request of Sweden's Justice Minister. It proposes that ISPs be forced by law to terminate the contracts of users that repeatedly infringe copyright.
Of course, the obligation would be enforced through the courts by rights holders. "It is proposed that the law be amended so that Internet Service Providers can be ordered, under penalty of a fine, to take action such as terminating the contract of a subscriber to prevent continued infringement using the Internet Service Provider's services" a Swedish Ministry of Justice press release states.
Sweden, which is home to the Pirate Bay, reportedly has a very large number of file sharers. Sweden's Justice Minister is keen to improve the country's intellectual property laws and promote the development of consumer-friendly legal services for access to music and film online.
"This is a clear call for ISPs to take more responsibility in curbing copyright infringement on their networks, and it comes from a country that is on the very front line in the fight to protect music and films from internet piracy. We wholeheartedly endorse the recommendation and hope it will be taken very seriously in Sweden and further afield,"John Kennedy, Chairman and CEO of IFPI, said.
Yesterday, during a presentation at CEDIA,Sony inadvertantly let it slip that Blu-ray disc sales were slipping and that in April HD DVD sales were actually tied with Blu-ray sales.
The chart at right, presented by Sony, was aimed to show Blu-ray's superiority but instead showed a more interesting trend, the fact that both formats have had declining sales since December. Blu-ray however, is dropping more sharply.
What does these facts mean in the long run? Hard to tell now, but it does seem that more and more consumers are waiting until prices drop or there is one clear cut format winner. We will see how new players and wider selection of HD movies will play into the stats but for the time being, both formats are losing.
At the CEDIA (Custom Electronics Design and Intallation Association) Expo Toshiba is announcing two new 1080p LCD televisions, as well as third generation HD DVD players.
The new 40" and 46" TVs, set to be shipped this month, are intended to be a step below Toshiba's Cinema Series. The pair should fit into more spaces with smaller bezel dimensions than the company's predecesors.
The 46-inch model is about an inch wider than a typical 42-inch LCD and shorter. The 40-inch model offers the same width as Toshiba’s 37-inch model (37.7 inches wide), meaning it will fit most armoires designed for 37-inch TVs, said Scott Ramirez, Toshiba TV group marketing VP. The side bezel Frame is less than an inch wide, whereas the standard frame is about twice that size, he said.
Ramirez indicates many consumers are looking for televisions they can fit into existing spaces, and current models aren't suitable for the job.
They also showed off their recently announced line of third generation HD DVD players. They range in price from $299 to $499 and include support for HDi networking, an HD DVD feature intended to link players to websites through interactive movie and menu content.
California state Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has appealed a decision made last month by a federal judge that declared a law banning the sale of violent video games to minors unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Ronald Whyte said in his ruling last month that there was no evidence to support claims that violent video games have a more harmful effect on minors than depictions of violence in TV shows and films.
However, Schwarzenegger, who is infamous for his roles in many violent movies, believes that violent video games should be for adults only. "Many studies show the link between playing ultra-violent video games and violent behavior. We have a responsibility to our kids and our communities to protect against the effects of games that depict ultra-violent actions," Schwarzenegger said in a statement.
He added: "We protect our children from buying inappropriate movies and ought to be able to protect them from buying inappropriate video games as well."
Starbucks Corp and Apple Inc. have announced that through an agreement, iPod users will be able to access the new iTunes Wi-Fi music store and purchase songs in Starbucks' coffee shops. The service will debut in 600 different Starbucks stores in New York and Seattle on October 2nd. "We know a lot of people are going to be very happy with this new combination of coffee and iPods," Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs said.
Jobs said that both companies have been working on the deal for over two years now. Through the deal, Starbucks hopes to boost its sales and also its stake in the music business. Users with a new iPod Touch, an iPhone or a laptop running iTunes can access the free Wifi to browse the iTunes store.
While navigating through the iTunes store, customers will be able to see what song is currently being played in the Starbucks store they are in and can purchase it easily. Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz said it was "mutually beneficial to both Apple and Starbucks." He hopes the deal brings new customers to Starbucks.
"It is highly relevant and very cool for young people to buy these new devices, and certainly we recognize that demographic and age profile is younger than our core customer," Schultz said.
The cable television industry wants to assure their customers that their TVs will continue to work after the 2009 mandatory switch to digital television.
In an attempt to get the message to consumers they're using a $200 million ad campaign featuring four spots that will be aired not only on cable networks, but also traditional broadcast television.
Actually cable customers aren't the group that should be most concerned with the transition to all digital signals. According to a 2005 Government Accountability Office, 21 million households get their television signal over the air, rather than through cable television or satellite.
Kyle McSlarrow, president and CEO of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, said cable subscribers will not be affected, including those who subscribe to analog rather than the more expensive digital service.
Cable companies are not currently under any requirement to continue analog service after the digital transition, but the FCC may change that in a vote scheduled for Tuesday.
People watching SDTV, the standard analog signal most common right now, from an over the air signal will be forced to either purchase a converter box of some kind or a new digital television.
Those engineers out of Redmond over at Microsoft have announced the release of a new range of extenders which will increase the amount of video formats that Windows Vista can broadcast throughout your home.
With the expectation of companies such as Cisco, D-Link and Niveus to unleash set-top boxes next month that are capable of accepting a stream of video from a Windows Media Center PC running on at home network. Users of the Vista Home Premium or Ultimate versions will be able to stream the previously unsupported DivX and XviD file formats to any television through a wired or wireless network.
These new extenders will be capable of delivering DRM encoded files over an 802.11n network for display in protected high-definition.
Microsoft hopes this move will revitalize customer interest in the Windows Media Extender services they provide as currently the only one making any big waves is the extender built into the Xbox 360 which is estimated to have sold some 10 million units.
In the opening of the 2007 CEDIA show, plasma television giant Panasonic announced that it is launching two new and more affordable 1080p plasma television sets to the masses. The TH-42PZ77 and the TH-50PZ77, 42-inch and 50-inch respectively are set to ship this month with a suggested retail price of $1799.95 and $2799.95.
Panasonic claims that the addition of these two new PZ77 based televisions give consumers the choice of even more high-definition plasma televisions capable of broadcasting in the highest possible Resolution to date, thereby expanding their already deep grasp on the plasma HDTV market. These two sets join the 700 and 750 series sets that all share features such as SD memory card slots so consumers can view pictures and video from their cameras in beautiful 1080p.
"CEDIA is the perfect environment to introduce Panasonic's expanded line of 1080p Plasmas," stated Dennis Eppel, Vice President, Panasonic Display Company. "Custom installers are a very important part of our business and with this in mind we are confident that the depth and outstanding picture quality of Panasonic's Plasmas will meet and exceed the installer's requirements. In the end, Panasonic's commitment to providing the highest quality ensures that we will continue to meet consumer desire for a High-Definition lifestyle."
Wednesday a new Internet based Video On Demand (VOD) service called Vudu was launched. The service will offer over 5,000 movies from both major studios and independent filmmakers.
Customers must buy a Vudu set-top box, which is used to store the downloaded movies, which will include Dreamgirls and 300.
"Vudu is being introduced in an area that's had some tough history," said Kurt Scherf, analyst at Parks Associates. "It's been clear that the movie-on-demand model via the Internet has so far underperformed Hollywood studios expectations."
They aren't the first company to try making money at VOD, but others haven't seen a great deal of success. Just last year one big name, Movielink, was sold to Blockbuster, and may eventually become just an extension of the brick and mortar chain's internet rental service.
Vudu's set-top box model may be more successful simply based on consumer comfort. Delivery aside, the technology seems more DVR-like than the early services. Although other manufacturers like Apple (Apple TV) and Microsoft (Xbox Live) are already offering downloaded content, both are really marketed around proprietary devices (the iPod and Xbox 360) instead of just a television.
Sony is making a case for Blu-ray at the CEDIA (Custom Electronics Design and Installation Association) Expo in Denver, Colorado this week.
The company unveiled two BD players and a 200 disc BD server product that can also burn 25GB Blu-ray discs.
The HES-V1000, which should be available this fall for a suggested retail price of $3,500. Besides holding 200 discs and a burner, it will also include a 500GB hard drive for storing music, photos, and even video.
It also has an ethernet connection and shares the XMB (Xross Media Bar) interface with the Playstation3 and PSP consoles. It can even stream to other devices, including the PS3.
Even though the price isn't within reach of many consumers, it seems to be a good fit with Sony's apparent goal to be the center of your living room.
Other products presented include Bravia SXRD projectors and the BDP-2000ES Blu-ray player with that supports 1080p and 24fps output.
Pioneer will be releasing a third generation BD (Blu-ray) player in October, for a suggested retail price of $1,000.
The BDP-95FD improves upon earlier incarnations of Pioneer players with the inclusion of the audio technology DTS-HD.
Other than the inclusion of DTS-HD, the unit will be very similar to their second generation DBP-94HD, including the expected price. The older model already includes 1080p playback at 24fps plus internal decoding of Dolby TrueHD.
Although Pioneer has yet to drop any of their BD player prices below $1,000, the company's management believes this is a good niche market for them.
“It’s definitely more expensive than the competition, but we are delivering a player that is delivering an uncompromised experience,” said Chris Walker, Pioneer’s senior manager of product planning and marketing. “In the past, our players were superior in picture quality, and now we can really say the same about the audio experience. We are giving you exactly what the director wanted you to experience from the picture and now audio standpoint.”
Eli El of Blue Island, IL was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for participating in a conspiracy to distribute pirated software on the internet.
In May El plead guilty to one count of conpiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement for helping distribute around 20,000 copyrighted works online.
So far Operation Safehaven, a 15 month investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has managed to get 12 convictions, including that of El, from the execution of more than 20 search warrants across the country according to the Department of Justice.
The U.S. Attorney's Office reports that El and his associates were active in the warez scene, and had privileged acces to a number of FTP servers hosting pirated software. They say in return for uploading illegal software he was allowed to download software pirated by other members of the warez group.
Over the next five years Linux is expected to be the fastest growing smartphone OS according to research firm ABI Research.
According to a study, Linux will have a compound annual growth raite of more than 75% by 2012.
"We were very aware that the growth in mobile for Linux was huge, but we didn't know it was so astronomic," said Amanda McPherson, marketing director for the Linux Foundation. "These are very encouraging numbers."
"These are very encouraging numbers." Why Linux has drawn significant support from the community of handset manufacturers can be explained on several fronts, McPherson said.
As mobile devices include more and more powerful applications, having one or more standard platforms for them to run on seems essential. Developing applications for things like media delivery almost requires that devices be compatible with each other. It's hard to imagine a more robust environment than Linux for them to use.
If this study is correct, we may see a software boom for such devices. That would ultimately be good for consumers, as well as potentially creating a new software market that would also be good for technology related industries.
Sony announced today that the much awaited slimmer and lighter PSP-2000 model would be available for sale in North America.
However, Sony did say that only one of the three new PSP bundles would be available, the limited-edition Daxter PSP Entertainment Pack with a $199.99 USD pricetag.
Included in the package are the new "ice silver" colored Slim PSP, the game "Daxter", "Family Guy – The Freakin' Sweet Collection" on UMD and a 1GB Memory Stick PRO Duo.
"PSP sales have soared since we introduced the $169.99 price point in April, and that momentum will only continue with the launch of the newly designed PSP, which has generated strong interest among consumers since we announced it at E3," said Jack Tretton, president and CEO, SCEA. "With our growing software library, which includes more than 140 new releases in the pipeline this fiscal year, the PSP platform is poised for significant growth. The Daxter Entertainment Pack offers a great opportunity for consumers to jump in to PlayStation Portable experience with content that demonstrates the multi-functionality of the system, all for a great value."
Alongside the launch are a few accessories for the new, updated design, most notably component or composite video out cables to output video from the PSP to any TV.
With the introduction of its new iPod Touch that has wireless capabilities, Apple also announced today that it would be starting an iTunes WiFi Music Store which would allow users to purchase and download songs directly to the Touch.
Apple also said the service will soon be available for the iPhone which also received a $200 USD price cut. Apple did not say exactly when the iPhone update was coming but did say that it would be provided later this month.
The large coffee chain Starbucks could prove to be a godsend for those with the Touch or iPhone as the users will be able to see the songs that are playing in the stores and download them using a special Starbucks section that will appear. There is also an option to see the last 10 tracks played in case you missed a title.
Apple Inc. has unveiled brand new iPods including a new version of the iPod Nano and a touch-screen iPod based on the iPhone design. The brand new iPod touch features wireless Internet access and a web browser, but obviously no cell phone capabilities. The new iPod Nano brings video playback.
The company is also offering new versions of its normal iPod, dubbed iPod classic, with up to 160GB storage space. The ability to browse through music in "cover flow" has also been added to iPod from iPhone.
Another major announcement was also made concerning the iPhone. Apple CEO Steve Jobs revealed that the company was on track to sell 1 million units by the end of September, and to make the iPhone more affordable and more competitive, the company has slashed the price of the 8GB model from $599 to $399, a very significant price drop.
ABC's Good Morning America is trying out a new model to expand their show. A week before NBC rival Today expands from three to four hours, Good Morning America is adding an hour to their show. The catch is you may not be able to see it.
Although the ABC News Now service is available as a cable channel in a tiny percentage of US homes, most would have to get it from their broadband internet or mobile phone provider.
ABC's dilemna is a product of their own success. Since "Live with Regis and Kelly", which immediately follows Good Morning America, is a successful show there was no way to add the additional hour of programming on the television network.
By moving the extra hour to a less traditional outlet like ABC News Now, they may have inadvertantly found a new distribution model. Supplementing a free product with paid "extras" may be a good way to get additional revenue from popular shows.
Of course, it may be that there isn't enough interest in their news service for this move to have an impact on consumers.
Today Microsoft will be releasing Silverlight 1.0. Silverlight is the web video plug-in they hope will compete with Adobe's Flash.
"We're finally shipping the plug-in," said Parimal Desphande, group product manager for the User Experience Platform and Tools team at Microsoft
They're also planning to participate in a Novell project to port Sliverlight to Linux. Moonlight 1.0, as the project has been dubbed, should be done within six months according to Miguel de Icaza, vice president of the developer platform at Novell.
"We will be distributing Moonlight for all the major distributions and provide both packages in RPM and DEB [distribution] forms as well as having a Mozilla-based installer for those not familiar with the packaging system in Linux," de Icaza said.
An upgrade to version 1.1 is already in the works for the fledgling software. While the initial 1.0 release focuses on delivering content to the user's computer, the next release is expected to include more interactive features and .NET development.
According to Desphande, the list of Silverlight supporters includes World Wrestling Entertainment, Entertainment Tonight, Break.com, and the Home Shopping Network.
LG Electronics of South Korea has introduced a new version of its combination HD DVD / Blu-ray player called the BH200. The new model adds features to the existing BH100, while also sporting a slightly lower price.
LG's earlier hybrid player, introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, was criticized for not offering enough features, like high-definition interaction, which enables additional interactivity with HD DVD discs. The HDi is included in the BH200. A similar feature of Blu-ray, BD-Java was similarly added to the new model.
The player, expected in October in the United States, will also to be competing with Samsung for the dual format player market. Samsung is expected to be releasing their own dual format player in time for this year's Christmas shopping season.
One problem both companies face is competition from lower cost single format players. It's cheaper to buy both an HD DVD and Blu-ray player than a single hybrid from LG, and the slight price drop for the BH200 doesn't look like it will be changing things much.
Recently appointed as co-chairman of Columbia Records, Rick Rubin, who has worked with the likes of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beastie Boys and L.L. Cool J, had some words for the recording industry. In statements made in the New York Times, Rubin talks about the effects of iPods and digital music on the industry as a whole. "Columbia is stuck in the dark ages," Rubin told the Times.
"I have great confidence that we will have the best record company in the industry, but the reality is, in today's world, weti might have the best dinosaur. Until a new model is agreed upon and rolling, we can be the best at the existing paradigm, but until the paradigm shifts, it's going to be a declining business. This model is done," he said.
An example of a model that he proposed was giving consumers access to music from cars, TV sets, cell phones or anything possible, for a monthly fee of around $20. So basically, Rubin is talking about a kind of "MP3 locker", a concept pushed for a long time by Michael Robertson's MP3Tunes (and past service MP3.com)
Rubin's suggestions would make music devices such as Apple's iPod obsolete as a main medium to enjoy music. The same arcle that quotes Rubin claims that Columbia is considering approaching artists for a cut of up to 50% of revenue from touring, merchandise and from the Internet. Performers have typically been allowed to keep revenue from touring and merchandise while the label gets the biggest cut of a CD sale.
Sony has quietly released a small update for the PlayStation 3 (PS3) console that improves backwards compatibility with PlayStation 2 (PS2) titles. "New for 1.92: Playability status with the PS3 system has changed for some PlayStation 2 format titles. To check on the latest status, visit the search site for compatible titles (coming soon)," the PlayStation 3 update page reads.
A search of an updated backwards compatibility site returns different results based on which hardware model of PlayStation 3. The 60GB version and 80GB versions of the PS3 in the United States include different hardware. The 80GB version has had its PS2 hardware stripped, meaning it depends on software updates to maintain a level of backwards compatibility with older titles.
Microsoft Corp. has dropped the price of its Zune music player on Wednesday, no doubt aimed at making ripples while Apple is expected to announce updates to its iPod line-up. The price of a Zune has been dropped from $249 to $199. The gadget offers limited Wifi capabilities and features a 30GB HDD, 3" display and an FM tuner. It is available in many different colours including White, Brown, Black, Baby Pink and Watermelon Red.
There has also been releases of two Zunes based on the mega-popular Halo franchise and just 100 pink Zunes that were made available during the initial rollout of the music player. Like many others in the market, Microsoft generally failed to crack the dominance of the iPod. In fact, interest in Zune has been so poor at times that the announcement of a price drop is probably nothing new for many consumers.
Many retailers have been selling the Zune for around $199 for months already and Woot.com was recently selling the white Zune for just $149.
According to research data from iSuppli, July was a very strong month for Apple Inc.'s iPhone. Even though the company has not reached 1 million sales as quickly as some analysts were predicting, it still accounted for 1.8% of all handsets sales in July. Don't be fooled by the seemingly low percentage, it may have been enough for the iPhone to outsell all Smartphones like BlackBerrys, the Palm Portfolio and anything on offer from companies like Nokia and Motorola.
iSuppli considers the iPhone to be a "crossover" phone, not a smartphone, because it lacks official support for third-party software. "This is a remarkable accomplishment for Apple, considering that July marked the first full month of sales for the iPhone," wrote iSuppli in a statement. The firm was impressed with Apple's strong numbers when faced with the offerings of its competitors.
However, the true test for the iPhone's appeal will come in the following months and next few years. iSuppli believes that Apple will sell 4.5 million iPhones by the end of 2007, which is an ambitious figure. Even Apple itself expects to reach 1 million by the end of September, so selling 3.5 million more in the fourth quarter would be no easy task. All eyes will be on Apple's next major announcement tomorrow for further insight.
A Jerusalem-based company wants to solve your craving for higher-than-Blu-ray capacities on discs the size of DVDs within the next few years. Mempile has developed a disc around the same size as a standard DVD disc (although a little bit thicker) which it says could store up to 1TB of data, or up to 5TB when the move is made to blue lasers after it reaches its red laser goals. For comparison, a dual-layer Blu-ray disc stores 50GB, HD DVD can reach 30GB and the standard DVD stores up to 8.5GB.
The 1TB of data would be stored on 200 layers of 5GB each, but do not think of the layers as being the same as layers in today's widely available optical discs. Mempile's solid discs use a specially developed variant of the polymer polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)—a mixture of Perspex, Lucite, and Plexiglass—known as ePMMA. In DVD and Blu-ray, layers are stacked and stuck together.
Mempiles discs are comprised instead of "virtual layers" and during recording a photochemical reaction is used to modify the plastic, writing a "1" or leaves it unchanged to represent a "0". This 3D approach allows for much higher data storage than the 2D used by DVD technology. Right now, the technology is limited to "write-once" but the company hopes that read/write drives will be available in the future.
French company Thomson acquired Anaheim California's SynCast Corporation - a distributor of online movies and music - in an effort to become a major player in the world of online media.
Thomson is trying to take advantage of the increased digitization of traditional film processes, all the way from pre-production to digital delivery. The company would like to make their Technicolor division, best known for their pioneering work on the color film format bearing the same name, into a giant in the digital video world.
For two decades, starting in the mid-1930s, the Technicolor process was the standard for color film, but their current business model is built increasingly around helping filmmakers solve problems with digital solutions. They already have many production and (digital) theatrical distribution services, so getting into the world of online distribution seems like a logical move.
The new system, which officially begins today, "allows studios to distribute their content faster," says Chris Carey, chief technology officer at Technicolor. Acquiring SyncCast which delivers content on behalf of online retailers such as Microsoft's Xbox Live Video Marketplace, will help Technicolor bolster its offerings in consumer-targeted businesses.
Details on the new iPod models Apple is expected to unveil this week are being kept secret, but analysts believe they'll be announcing a model with a large touchscreen.
There has been speculation that the announcements could also include iPods that can download music wirelessly, or even the availability of The Beatles catalog on iTunes.
As companies like NBC Universal put more effort and money into finding (or building) alternatives to the online music leader, it's more important than ever for the iPod to keep moving forward. Last quarter iPod sales accounted for nearly 30% of Apple's revenue. They currently make up 7 out of 10 digital media players fols in the United States.
"Competitors seem to always be chasing the last generation of Apple products. It makes it very difficult for competitors to make a dent against Apple in this space," said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst with market research firm Gartner.
New models are expected to reach store shelves in time for the holiday shopping season.
In recent months Apple's iTunes service has been under heavy attack, both from rival media providers and content creators. Content owners like NBC Universal are looking to price their products variably, depending on consumer interest, while other major players like Sony and Wal-Mart are interested in getting some of Apple's download business.
Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV is developing a personalized video recorder application that automatically learns a viewers' preferences and creates a channel based on them. The company is showing of a prototype application at the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin. The application, which is intended for use with a PC or in a set-top box, could eventually compete with the offerings from TiVo Inc.
The best new feature that Philips is developing, is the system's ability to monitor a user's viewing habits and create personalized channels, using an algorithm developed by the company itself. "The set-up is really easy," said Jeroen Cappendijk, business development manager of Philips' Personal TV Channel product. "You just create a channel and select a program. The system monitors your zapping habits and automatically refines your channel."
The software will also perform the intelligent feature for multiple users in the same household. TiVo has a similar system called TiVo Suggestions, but it requires that a user mark programs it likes and it determines other shows they might like based on those tastes, like many retail websites that make suggestions based on your purchase history.
A spokesman for Microsoft said on Tuesday that it's "not unreasonable" for the company to sell a mobile phone with the features of a Zune built in to compete with Apple's iPhone.
In light of Apple's relative success with the iPhone, there may be a huge market for phones with integrated mobile media players, but that doesn't necessarily mean a Zune based device would be a success. To date, the Zune hasn't had anything resembling the success of the iPod, so there's no reason to assume it would be a strong selling point for other devices.
So far Microsoft's mobile phone business has revolved around convincing handset manufacturers to use their Windows Mobile software, but that focus may be changing.
"It wouldn't be unreasonable to think at some point there might some integrated thing," Mindy Mount, chief financial officer of Microsoft's entertainment and devices division, told investors at Citigroup's global technology conference.
When the Zune was released last year the official stance was that a phone was definitely being planned, but earlier this year CEO Steve Ballmer stated that they would never try to create a Zune phone. He did, however suggest that similar functionality might be added to the Windows Mobile platform.
Netflix announced that the number of viewings of movies from the company's Watch Now service have greatly increased since it was rolled out to customers around the beginnining of the year.
Watch Now is a streaming service intended to compte with rival rental company Blockbuster. Last year Blockbuster introduced online rental plans that enabled customers to return movies directly to their brick and mortar stores across the US. This has proved to be the most competition Netflix has had since their inception 10 years ago.
Netflix customers automatically receive one hour per month of Watch Now streaming for every dollar they pay for their rental plans. Additional hours can be purchased for a fee. Movies can't be saved to the customer's hard drive for later viewing, and while they claim to offer video up to DVD quality, in order to take advantage of that quality requires a lot of sustained bandwidth (at least 3Mbps according to the Netflix website).
Despite the increase in streaming, it's still a very small portion of the company's business.
NBC Universal has made a deal with Amazon.com to sell television show downloads on the online retailer's website.
The move comes just days after the latest round of NBC Universal's very public fight with Apple over iTunes pricing. Universal wants Apple to adopt a variable pricing model while Apple says they want to keep things as simple as possible for consumers. Last Thursday the two sides failed to come to terms on a new contract with Apple to distribute content.
Amazon's deal, which will allow them to sell downloads of NBC television shows through their Unbox download service, includes such shows as "The Office", "Heroes", and "30 Rock". The price will be the same $1.99 they sold for on iTunes.
Last week Apple claimed that a new contract from Universal would have required them to pay twice as much (wholesale) as their previous agreement, and forced them to raise prices. NBC has denied these claims since they became public last week.
Regarding the Amazon.com deal, Jean-Briac Perrette, president, NBC Universal Digital Distribution said "We're excited to be working with a partner that understands the wholesale and retail relationship and will work with us on creative packaging of content."
After becoming infamous for piracy busts in Malaysia and elsewhere around Asia, the DVD sniffing dogs Lucky and Flo have finally hit the United States, home of the MPAA.
Credited with the bust of three operations in Queens, New York, Lucky and Flo helped with the seizure of thousands of pirated DVDs and the arrest of the operators of the retail outlets.
District Attorney Brown said, "For the first time in the United States, specially trained DVD sniffing dogs have actively participated in a criminal investigation aimed at combating DVD piracy. The dogs passed with flying colors by successfully ferreting out hidden contraband at a number of locations. Man's best friend has become a DVD counterfeiter's worst nightmare as we now welcome this latest weapon into our law enforcement anti-piracy arsenal."
"The MPAA has a multi-pronged approach to fighting piracy, including public outreach and enforcement. And since last year we've added two more very talented crime fighters to our arsenal, Lucky and Flo, the world's first DVD-sniffing canines," said John Malcolm, Executive VP and Director of Worldwide Anti-Piracy Operations for the MPAA.
Confirmed at the IFA, but not officially by Microsoft, the HD DVD camp has selected the Xbox 360 add-on as one of a group of HD DVD players or drives that will see a small price drop in Europe.
The price drop on the drive will be 20 Euros, for a new price of EUR 179.
The announcement, although official, does not include a statement from Microsoft which should make one in the coming days. Many expect a price drop in the UK when Microsoft does make their announcement.
At the IFA show in berlin, Toshiba unveiled its latest external HD DVD writer and Super-Multi drives for the PC. As of now, the drives are lacking of interesting names and are known only as HD DVD-Writer and HD DVD Super-Multi.
With the exception of the names, the drives are actually pretty impressive. They are very slim, 128 by 126 by just 13mm, and the "HD DVD-Writer supports CD, DVD+/-RW, HD DVD-ROM, and single and double-layer HD DVD-R formats. The HD DVD Super-Multi supports all of the above except HD DVD-R."
Each of the drives can easily connect to your PC or laptop and can upscale standard definition DVDs. They are currently available in the UK for £200.
CNN has looked into the claims of a group of anonymous software developers that plan to release iPhone unlocking software into the wild. The software, they claim, can let the iPhone break-away from the AT&T network in the United States, opening it up to T-Mobile there or providers in other territories. CNN Los Angeles software consultant Brett Schulte, decided to test out the iPhone unlocking software, and demonstrated it for CNN.
"It's completely software hacked," Schulte said after getting an iPhone to work with a T-Mobile SIM card. "There's no case opening required. It's not required to do any kind of disassembly." It took about two minutes to unlock the iPhone. The developers did not give their last name to CNN, because they didn't want to be hounded.
An Apple spokesperson refused to comment, while AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel said, "When you sign up, you're signing a two-year contract. You're obligated to pay the bill." He also said, "when people buy the iPhone it's clear from our materials it's designed to operate exclusively on AT&T."
The developers of the unlocking software recently created iPhoneSIMfree.com and plan to begin selling the software. Two members of the group who identified themselves as "John" and "Liu," told CNN that six people on three continents worked to unlock the iPhone as a hobby. "I'm not in America and I can't use it," said Liu. "It's not fair."
The new slim and lite version of Sony's PlayStation Portable (PSP) handheld console is set to roll out in the UK, but with two new features being absent. Of course, the P2P is still slimmer than the original PSP, but when it launches in shops on September 14th, its video output capabilities will be temporarily useless. While the PSP will be technically able to connect to a TV, the cables that make it possible will be absent.
The new version of the PSP addresses demand from owners who would like to watch their games and movies on a TV instead of the small PSP screen. PSP gaming on a TV, connected up with a special cable, was demonstrated at E3 this year and is probably the most wanted new feature. However, the cable won't be available in the UK on launch day and there are no indications as to when it will be, a spokesman for national retail chain GAME told GamesRadar.
Additionally, onbly the black model of the slimmer PSP will be available, while the new colours, ceramic white and ice silver, will not initially be available either. There is no doubt that British PSP fans will be hoping these reports are inaccurate or there has been a big mix up somewhere.
According to a new survey from ipoque, a German traffic management and analysis firm, P2P traffic is responsible for between 50% and 90% of all Internet traffic currently. These are preliminary results and the final survey results will be presented at the Emerging Technology Conference at MIT later this month. Leading the way in traffic consumption unsurprisingly is BitTorrent.
According to the data, BitTorrent has overtaken the eDonkley2000 network as the P2P protocol of choice. During the last year, BitTorrent accounted for between 50% and 75% of all Internet traffic, while eD2K respresented between 5% and 50%. The wide variations in percentage is due to local preference. For example, in some parts of the world eDonkey2000 is still by far the prefered protocol.
However, ipoque's data contradicts figures released by Ellacoya Networks, a company that makes deep packet inspection gear. Ellacoya said in June that P2P is only responsible for 37% of all Internet traffic, compared with 46% for all HTTP traffic. Interestingly, one third of the HTTP traffic was from video sharing sites like YouTube.
Whichever figures are more accurate, both illustrate the increasingly strong demand for video content on the Internet, which has been recognized as a serious problem by Internet service providers around the world, forcing them to look into traffic shaping methods.
Sony is interested in the market for movie downloads, according to some company officials. Such a service would put Sony in direct competition with Apple Inc.'s iTunes, and would also pit Sony's recently announced new Walkman player against Apple's iPod for video playback. "Music and video downloading has been available through networks, and we are looking into the area as a possible business," said Sony spokesman Shigenori Yoshida.
Sony struggled to compete with Apple in digital music, watching sales of its Walkman players sink in comparison to constant strong sales for the iPod. Sony's Connect music service also couldn't compete with Apple's iTunes, which has sold over 3 billion legal downloads since it was launched, solidifying its position as the market leader.
Last week, Sony showed off a new video-capable Walkman player that comes with Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Media Player 11 that is capable of managing digital libraries. The player can playback both MPEG-4 SP and H.264 video content. The company also announced that its Connect music stores using its failed proprietary ATRAC format would be phased out by March 2008.
Last week, Universal Studios launched a new HD DVD promotional web site. Dubbed Universal Studios Home Entertainment Hi Def, it promises exclusive web-enabled content. It is designed to be an extensive resource for Universal customers who have bought HD DVD titles. Right now the site includes a FAQ covering the format's current interactive features, some technical support and previews of upcoming releases.
However, most of the sections that look like they will be promising are still "Under Construction". Among them are "U-Shop," which will apparently offer customers exclusive products as they watch the movies, "Best Buddies," a "MyScenes" feature and a dedicated "Download Center".
Universal has also promised that registered users of the site will have access to excluding official content including latest movie trailers and other material.
Late last week, Sony responded to demand by restocking the 60GB version of the PlayStation 3 (PS3) console on the Internet. After completely selling out its online supply, the company decided to replenish stock at Sonystyle.com. The price of the 60GB version of the PS3 was dropped to $499 but the unit is to be completely replaced by a newer 80GB model.
Sony's Dave Karraker said previously that there was no 60GB inventory remaining in in SCEA warehouses as they had all been shipped to retailers. Karraker also remarked that the US$599 80GB PS3 bundle may be reduced down to $499 once the complete supply of the 60GB version sells out.
Sony's PlayStation 3 (PS3) console has been trailing the success of the Nintendo Wii console, mainly due to the units high price. Sony has backed the price of its console and is still confident that in the coming years, it will take the lead and eventually the PlayStation brand will take the generation for the third time running.
These are not easy days for TiVo Inc. The company is still struggling to add subscribers and has been hurt by miscalculations of its HDTV products' popularity in the quarter ending July 31st. It's cable partners are also still lacking in fulfilling their promises to the company. Comcast announced it would put TiVo on some of its set top boxes two years ago, but to this day there still has not been a single commercial rollout.
In a conference call, TiVo CEO Tom Rogers tried to calm concerns about those delays, saying that Comcast was ready to rollout commercially in the next four weeks in portions of Massachusetts and New Hampshire including Boston. However, the worst news for the company has been the loss of 145,000 customers in the quarter.
To make it worse, it is losing customers from those with the standalone box, its most profitable segment. It was the first decline the company suffered in its history. The company also underestimated the popularity of its new HDTV DVRs, causing it to take a $11.2 million writedown for leftover models of its standard DVR still in its inventories.
Another investigation has been launched into the alleged trade of child pornography by users of The Pirate Bay website. However, it is important to note that prosecutor Cathrine Rudström told Swedish news site The Local that, "The Pirate Bay are not suspects." Instead the police are hoping the popular BitTorrenttracker will co-operate with the investigation and hand over IP address info for the traders.
While some at the Pirate Bay were aware of the content being traded for about two weeks, a moderator Himod, refused to remove it on the site's forum. "I don't give a shit if you folks are upset," he said. "Me and the other moderators job are NOT to have an opinion about if it is immoral or not."
While the Pirate Bay administration have said that such material would be removed as fast as possible on notification, which did happen a few times, the site also boasts a no-censor policy and argues that it is impossible to track 600,000 torrents.
Sites like The Pirate Bay, which completely despise the idea of censorship, are easily abused services when it comes to this kind of material.
Nintendo Co Ltd's home console, Wii, stayed well ahead in Japan in August, but its lead narrowed for the second consecutive month. The company managed to move 245,653 units during the month, still far ahead of Sony's PlayStation 3 (PS3), which sold 81,541 units, game magazine publisher Enterbrain said. Microsoft's Xbox 360 sold 11,288 units during the month.
In June the Wii sold 6 times more units than Sony's PS3, and 4 times more in July. The huge gap is helped by the sharp difference in price between a PlayStation 3 and a Wii, as the PS3 has a lot of powerful hardware under the hood including a Blu-ray disc drive and Cell processor.
To increase demand for the console, the PS3 will see a stronger game line-up for the vital fourth quarter, which include anticipated titles like the new Gran Turismo.
According to plasma manufacturers at the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin, the technology is still capable of being a contender in the HDTV market.
Research firm iSuppli says LCD TVs outsold plasma by a 4:1 margin last year, and that margin should jump to 7:1 this year.
Matsushita'sPanasonic TVs are the best selling in the world, and they're confident they can compete with LCD technology through improving quality, decreasing power consumption, and lowering the price.
Hiro Wada of Panasonic believes that plasma televisions can maintain a market share of at least 30% of flat-screen TVs larger than 37".
"We have a chance because demand for bigger screens is increasing," Wada told Reuters in an interview at IFA. He said Matsushita, which is investing $1.5 billion in a plasma panel factory in Japan.
He points out that while LCD technology has been available commercially for more than 30 years, plasma technology has only been around for 10. Panasonic believes that enough improvements can be made to plasma to make it worth staying number 1 in the market.
Wada also said Panasonic aimed to reduce the power consumption of its sets by about 20 percent per year.
Manufacturers of Plasma TVs have told Reuters at IFA in Berlin that they plan to stand by the technology even as liquid-crystal display (LCD) TVs keep getting more popular. While plasma TVs generally do well in larger sizes, LCD has slowly been catching up. In 2006, four times more LCD TVs were sold than Plasma TVs, and iSuppli predicts LCD will be selling 7 times more units this year.
Matsushita, with the world's best selling brand for Plasma TVs, Panasonic, believes it can fight off competition from LCD TVs by simply improving plasma technology. Specifically, the company is aiming to improve power efficiency, and cut the price. Hiro Wada, who is in charge of planning for visual products and display devices at Panasonic said he expected plasma to keep 30% of the market for TVs 37-inches or more in the medium term.
"We have a chance because demand for bigger screens is increasing," Wada said. Matsushita is investing $1.5 billion in a plasma panel factory in Japan, aiming to stay on top of the market. Wada also noted that while LCD technology is 30 years old, Plasma is only 10 years old and has plenty of room for improvement. Panasonic plans to reduce the power consumption of its sets by about 20% per year.
Vringo, a startup launched last year, wants to help you send video to your friends' phones.
The service works by offering free memberships to the Vringo community. A small piece of software must be installed on the phone that will receive the video. The caller, who must also be a Vringo member, pays to send a video. The idea is similar to sending a link to a video clip via email, except that the recipient doesn't need a computer.
Eventually Vringo would like to move beyond sharing viral video clips between friends. Advertisers are becoming interested in alternate ways to deliver marketing to consumers. In one conceivable scenario, video could be sent with accompanying ad content. Another possibility is getting advertisers to directly compensate consumers (in free talk time for example) for sharing their ads with friends through Vringo.
Vringo currently allows clips to be sent for free, but some time in 2008 they plan to start commercial operations. Prices haven't been released at this point.
Creating a device that should rival the Apple TV, DivX and D-Link have signed an agreement that will bring the first DivX Connected device to consumers.
In all reality, the new player is almost identical to the Apple TV in its ability to stream music, movies and other content from a PC to the TV. The one significant difference is that the new player will allow for HD-quality content to be streamed while the Apple TV does not.
The system, the DSM-330 DivX Connected HD Media Player is expected to be released in countries around Europe in the upcoming months.
"The device allows users to directly control their media via a remote control and deliver high-definition videos, photos, music and Internet services directly to the TV" says Dailytech.
DivX recently had beta testing on its GejBox media device, and the box featured "HDMI, S-video, composite, SCART, optical and coxial digital audio outputs with Ethernet and wireless connectivity." The new device is the next evolvement of the GejBox.
"The availability of low cost wireless networks for the home combined with the proliferation of digital devices has made the digital home a reality for many families. The DSM-330 DivX Connected HD Media Player will make it easy for everyone to share their digital content via their home's most established entertainment centre - the television," said Andrew Mulholland, D-Link Marketing Manager.
While politicians trade attacks on Chinese copyright enforcement for political capital with lobbiests, they seem to miss the closest parallel to China's current IP enforcement issues - 19th century United States.
Last month, US Representative Frank Wolf publicly attacked China, saying that the United States "must be vigilant about protecting the values we hold dear" in the face of China's depredations.
However, if anyone wonders what motivates Chinese business men and government officials they need look no further than the United States of the 19th century. At that time the US wasn't a dominant trading power, and many companies relied on outright piracy of the intellectual property of European companies.
At that time, business regulation was a haphazard affair consisting primarily of state and local laws. Enforcement of trade related laws was all but impossible in some areas.
America's counterfeit goods industry was so prolific it prompted one newspaper at the time to print "We have 'Paris hats' made in New York, 'London Gin' and 'London Porter' that never was in a ship's hold, 'Superfine French paper' made in Massachusetts."
If the Chinese intend to participate in the global economy, and by all indications that's exactly what they want, they'll eventually need to find a place in the IP landscape. The question is whether, like the US before them, they'll be forced to fall into line with regard to intellectual property laws, or whether they'll have some voice in reforming what many westerners see as an increasingly anachronistic system.
One quarter of the population of Los Angeles County knowingly purchase, or otherwise acquired illegal goods in the last year based on a recent Gallup poll commisioned by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
One major difference between this survey and many others was the focus on consumer attitudes. According to the report, consumers who buy counterfeit goods or illegally copy CDs and DVDs feel that they're commiting victimless crimes. As P2P file sharing and bootleg movies and music from Asia become more common, the people participating in these forms of intellectual property infringement don't feel that they've really done anything wrong.
"The study confirmed what we already knew: That the buying of these products is widespread and is viewed as a victimless crime," said Caroline Joiner, executive director of the chamber's global anti-counterfeiting and piracy initiative.
Los Angeles County's 25% reported piracy rate is higher than the nationwide average of 20% found in a similar study last year.
Most of the purchases were DVDs and audio CDs, with other items including clothing bags, shoes, software, and even shampoo.
Opponents of a patent reform movement in the U.S. government have decided to appeal to the Democrats in power by getting the backing of labor unions - traditional Democratic supporters.
The AFL-CIO, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), and United Steelworkers have all sent letters to lawmakers opposing the two patent reform bills currently being considered in Washington. The hope is that hearing from labor union representatives will get Democratic lawmakers' attention and convince them not to pass either one into law.
However, large tech companies are exerting pressure to get some kind of patent reform. In recent years many industry leaders have practically been held hostage by company's that are essentially nothing but holding companies for patents. Extremely vague patents and lack of technical expertise among patent judges are often cited as obstacles to the introduction of new technology
Leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives have targeted patent reform for passage by the end of the year.
"I think the momentum exists for this thing to move forward," said Joshua Ackil, vice president of government relations for tech trade group the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI). "As folks [in Congress] dive in a little deeper on this issue, they will come around and understand how important patent reform is to the tech sector."
NBC Universal recently announced that it would be removing its content from Apple Inc.'s iTunes download store in December after failing to reach an agreement about DRM and variable pricing. Afterwards, Apple put out a press release in which it stated that NBC was asking for double the wholesale price, which would in turn make NBC's videos about $4.99 each for iTunes customers. Apple also decided that the content will be removed this month and not in December.
However, Cory Shields, EVP Communications of NBC Universal, has contradicted Apple's press release in a statement. "We never asked to double the wholesale price for our TV shows. In fact, our negotiations were centered on our request for flexibility in wholesale pricing, including the ability to package shows together in ways that could make our content even more attractive for consumers," he said.
He also stated that NBC will in fact keep its shows on iTunes until December, which is odd since it appears NBC is making Apple's decision. Of course, NBC may have some protection against being dropped from the store before it wants to under contract. Shields also took a shot at Apple's infamous "iTunes-iPod" tie, linking it with Apple's pricing strategy.
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Australia are under pressure recently by both the music industry and the government to filter/block illegal downloads and pornography. The Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) presented a plan in which ISPs in the country would cut off "repeat offenders", but the Internet providers have some major concerns about it.
While the ISPs say that they respect content providers and condemn piracy (as an illegal use of their networks), they don't want to become an enforcement agency for content providers. The IIA sent a letter to the Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA), its Music Industry Piracy Investigations (MIPI) arm and AFACT highlighting several problems with the proposal.
The ISPs believe that the Australian court system is adequate for the enforcement needs of copyright owners. Also, they are not in a position to judge when provided with an IP address from an organization like AFACT whether the subscriber is guilty of infringement or not. The IIA believes that a court must make a finding of infringement before a subscriber could be labeled as a repeat offender.
"The distinction between an infringer and an alleged infringer has been raised as an important legal standard which ought not be undermined by us," argues the letter. AFACT does not see it that way of course. "It's a very simple, reasonable, cost effective, practical thing for them to do," AFACT executive director Adrianne Pecotic told The Sydney Morning Herald.
DivX, Inc. and Aricent announced a partnership for porting and optimizing DivX video products onto various mobile platforms for device manufacturers worldwide. This partnership will ultimately enable consumers to view high-quality DivX videos from the PC or the Internet on a wide variety of mobile devices. Aricent develops multimedia applications and technologies for mobile phone OEMs including Motorola, Samsung and LG.
Over 100 million certified devices from major consumer electronics manufacturers currently support DivX technology, including DVD players, digital still cameras and a wide variety of portable products. By offering a DivX technology solution to mobile handset manufacturers, Aricent will allow its clients' mobile products to support the high-quality playback of DivX video files.
"By focusing exclusively on communications software, Aricent strives to provide the greatest depth and breadth of services and products to meet our clients' needs," said Deepak Mehrotra, Vice President, Mobile Terminals, Aricent. "We are excited to be working with DivX to provide a solution for seamless mobilization of high-quality video content across multiple interoperable consumer electronic device platforms."
Samsung Electronics Co. LTD and Sony Corp. will invest further in their joint LCD venture, S-LCD Corporation, which was formed in April 2004. According to a Samsung executive, the pair will invest further to meet rising demands for large sized flat-screen televisions. "Both sides reached a consensus on the joint investment and working-level officials are now discussing details such as the timing and amount of the investment,"Yeong Duk Cho, vice president of Samsung's LCD business said.
The joint venture has just started shipments of LCD sets from an eight-generation production line, and the plan for further investment would see a second eighth-generation production line being produced. Such a line is capable of producing panels larger than 50-inches in size. "It took a couple of months for Sony to decide on its investment in the first 8G (eighth generation) line. I believe it'll take a similar period of time for Sony to make a decision on this," Cho said.
Considering the recent plans from Sharp Corp. to invest $3 billion in the construction of an LCD plant using tenth-generation technology, and now possible impending further investment for S-LCD Corp, the industry appears to be very confident about market demand for LCD in the coming years. A plant like that which Sharp envisions could output 60-inch or larger LCD panels.
Daewoo has shown off its first Blu-ray Disc player, the slim blue-hued DBP-1000, at the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin. The company said that the player supports the full Blu-ray specification, even the ability to access BD Live online content and present picture-in-picture material. It fully supports Blu-ray interactivity features.
Early Blu-ray players lacked support for many of these features because the specification had yet to be completed. The new Daewoo player provides full 1080p HD content through its HDMI output and has the ability to upscale standard definition DVD to Full HD resolution. As a nice extra bonus, the player support DivX content too.
Sony will release the next version of its award-winning nonlinear editing (NLE) digital video software, Vegas Pro 8, this month. The powerful software package provides professional editors with precise control over complex DV, HDV and XDCAM projects through powerful tools for editing material shot in multi-camera environments. Sony Vegas Pro 8 will be available from September 10th.
"Vegas Pro 8 solves many of the technical challenges creative professionals are currently facing as they are tasked with producing content for platforms as varied as the mobile screen to high definition, broadcast-quality video," said Dave Chaimson, vice president of marketing for Sony Creative Software.
He continued: "Equipped with a new 32-bit floating point video engine, Vegas Pro 8 delivers increased quality and accuracy of final output while handling a 10-bit serial digital interface (SDI) at full capacity, which is used for transmission of uncompressed, unencrypted digital video signals."
Vegas Pro 8 is fully Vista-compatible and expertly delivers broadcast-ready, high definition content through its flexible user interface and extensive professional toolset. Vegas Pro 8 now features a ProType titler for superior vector-based title generation and automation.
While libraries have the demand you'd expect for major studio releases, they're also finding that niche markets can be very popular among patrons.
David Callahan, principal librarian of the Media Center at New York’s Donnell Library in Manhattan, says that theatrical box office doesn’t often reflect the demand at a library. Indie titles have a longer shelf life, Callahan says.
“With independent, esoteric stuff by filmmakers like [Jim] Jarmusch, [Hal] Hartley and Todd Haynes, the audience is not as big, but the titles are always in circulation.”
Libraries are also finding that topics of literary interest can find their audience there. “Instead of requesting a book on historical events like Vietnam or the Holocaust, we find that patrons ask if there are any movies on the topic,” says Kathleen Sullivan, collection development coordinator of the Phoenix Public Library.
Despite a lot of interest in home video from many libraries, neither high definition video format, Blu-ray or HD DVD, is showing any real demand from library patrons. This shouldn't be surprising as the type of people most likely to have either format at this point probably are probably buying or renting discs.
Despite concerns about the extent of piracy, the movie business has pulled in record revenues this summer, earning more than $4 billion in box revenues in the US alone.
Media by Numbers, which tracks such things, estimates that the industry will rake in $4.15 billion by the end of Labor Day. That's despite record-high average ticket prices of $6.85, up $0.30 from a year ago. That's even despite claims that piracy is on the rise, and it's harming the industry.
As you may recall, the movie business has been publicly obsessed with piracy since 2005, when US box office revenues dropped 5.7 percent in a single year. To hear Hollywood tell it, piracy sapped that revenue straight out of the industry, and the industry has focused on little since.
The extent of the studios' concern is easy to gauge: just look at the MPAA homepage. Nearly every featured item on the home page (apart from a box allowing visitors to type in their favorite movie) concerns piracy. The three stories currently showing under "news and issues"? They're all about piracy. The four boxes beneath the "Magic of the Movies" picture? They're all about piracy. Parental resources? It's about... oh, never mind.
After announcing the venture months ago and NBC shutting down another web venture with some of their local affiliates, the video site News Corp. and NBC Universal hope will be a YouTube killer finally got a name: Hulu.
The name selection -- which is surfacing five months after the media giants announced the venture -- is marketable for multiple reasons, said Jason Kilar, the company's CEO. "Objectively, Hulu is short, easy to spell, easy to pronounce, and rhymes with itself."
The site's launch is behind schedule, with a "private beta" launch expected in October. It was originally expected to be running some time this summer.
"Our hope is that Hulu will embody our -- admittedly ambitious -- never-ending mission, which is to help you find and enjoy the world's premier content when, where and how you want it," Kilar added.
Currently, site visitors can see a sample of content that will be available after the launch and they're signing people up for beta testing.
Sony has a new PC designed to be the center of a hi-def multimedia entertainment system.
The Sony Vaio LT HD PC/TV is designed to serve as a "computer entertainment center," said Sony. In addition to powerful computing capability, the new unit can serve as a high-definition television tuner and as a high-definition Blu-ray disc player.
Multiple configurations of the unit will be available, ranging from an entry level model without basic hi-def support to one with a Blu-ray optical recorder.
The Blu-ray version, expected to cost nearly $3,000 and will have the capacity to not only playback Blu-ray movies, but also record up to 50GB of content onto recordable Blu-ray media.
By adding a CableCARD, users can also get access to cable TV. No option to add these cards is available from the factory, however.
Next week Apple is expectd to introduce new versions of the industry leading iPod mobile media players.
According to analysts this move is a sign that the company is concentrating on its core business, and hasn't gotten too distracted with the amount of buzz the iPhone's release generated earlier this year.
This follows last month's announcement of an updated iMac desktop computer, adding features and introducing lower priced models.
Apple, in an emailed invitation, would only reveal that it has scheduled the media event for Wednesday in San Francisco.
According to Goldman Sachs analyst David Bailey -- and several Apple fan sites -- the new iPods would be the first to be based on a version of Apple's homegrown computer operating system. They will be about an inch shorter and will be capable of storing more digital media, according to Apple fan sites.
One major source of speculation is whether there will be new models introduced with touch screen technology - similar to the screens on iPhones.
HD DVD vendors are dropping prices to heat up competition with the rival Blu-ray disc optical format in Europe. The HD DVD Promotional Group said on Friday that European consumers could expect to find a range of entry-level players priced around the €300 mark. The announcement was made by the HD DVD Promotional Group at a news conference held at the IFA international consumer electronics show in Berlin.
According to Oliver Van Wynendaele, a manager in Toshiba's HD DVD group, the new prices are nearly half of what many entry models already cost in Europe. Venturer Electronics, a CE company based in Canada, will launch its SHD-7000 player at around €300 next month, while Toshiba will offer its HD-EP30 model for around €350 (and will also include five free discs), Van Wynendaele said.
Additionally, Toshiba will begin loading its notebook PCs with HD DVD drives in the fourth quarter, according to Yoshihide Fujii, the company's corporate senior vice president.
ArcSoft has announced that its ArcSoft Digital Theatre 2, which supports both HD DVD and Blu-ray, now takes advantage of the PureVideo HD technology found in the NVIDIAGeForce 7 and 8 Series of GPUs, including the latest GeForce 8400, GeForce 8500, and GeForce 8600 GPUs. NVIDIA PureVideo HD technology is a combination of high-definition movie decode acceleration and post-processing, HDCP circuitry, and integration with high-definition movie players like Digital Theatre.
PureVideo claims to deliver the ultimate Blu-ray and HD DVD movie experience on PCs and notebook computers. "We are delighted to be working together with NVIDIA to provide high definition video solutions," said Michael Downs, ArcSoft Vice President of Marketing and Business Development. "Through our collaboration, we have been able to take advantage of unique features within the NVIDIA hardware to improve video performance and quality, as well as implement new security features required by the Blu-ray and HD DVD formats."
LG Electronics has announced the launch of DivX-certified Time Machine TV Series both in Plasma and LCD models. Joining over 90 million DivX Certified devices in offering superior visual quality and support for the full range of DivX video content, LG's DivX-certified Time Machine TV Series is now available in Europe, China and throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
LG's DivX-certified Time Machine TV Series includes three LCD models – the 47LB5RE, 42LB5RT, 37LB4RT –and two plasma models, the 50PB4RT and 42PB4RT. They deliver remarkable image and audio quality for digital content using much less bandwidth than regular analog devices. The series features a built-in 80 gigabyte hard disc drive for Time Shift function and recording, USB 2.0 port for backing up recorded content and MP3, JPEG and DivX playback capability.
The TVs also include a simultaneous watch-and-record function. "We are very excited about the launch of the DivX-certified Time Machine TV Series," said HeeWon Kwon, Executive Vice President of LG Electronics. "At LG, we're very committed to giving users what they want. The ability to transfer media seamlessly from the PC to the living room while preserving the kind of high-quality, cinematic experience that consumers demand is a key product differentiator among digital televisions."
Last week, Victorian police raided the home of a 30 year old man in South East Melbourne and seized 2,000 pirated DVD discs and computer equipment allegedly used to manufacture illegal discs. The man was operating several websites based in the United States and Germany, selling music videos, movies and games to customers in Australia and overseas, claiming they were "original".
Among the movies seized were Transformers and Die Hard 4.0, which have not been released on DVD (or any other release outside theaters) yet, and the music seized included U2 and AC/DC. The Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) and Music Industry Piracy Investigations (MIPI) (and arm of the ARIA) ran the investigation that led to the raid.
"With the assistance of the Victorian Police, copyright owners have shut down this illegal website and intend to bring the operator before the courts," said Sabiene Heindl, General Manager of MIPI. "Internet-based music piracy is a crime that can be detected and has consequences. Illegal operators can’t hide just because they are using the internet as their marketplace."
At the IFA consumer electronics event in Berlin this year, LG Electronics and DisplayLink have shown off, and announced the European availability of the new FlatronWide L206WU. It is a USB-connected computer monitor compatible with Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system. The 20-inch monitor features high-performance HD graphics display over a standard USB 2.0 link.
Enabled by the DisplayLink DL-160 network display chip, the monitor also offers wide-screen resolution (1680x1050) for full-screen display of rich graphics and playback of widescreen video. With a multi-port USB hub built into the display, up to three LG FlatronWide monitors can be connected together to a single PC, while consuming only one USB 2.0 port on the computer. Future improvements will enable up to six monitors to be connected to a single PC over USB 2.0.
"LG is proving that multiple monitors can make a big difference in the computing experience of a PC user and that it doesn't have to be expensive or complicated," said Morris Lee, Global Monitor Marketing Team Leader for LG Electronics. "Being at IFA gives us a very high-profile European launching pad for this very unique product."
According to the online edition of the New York Post, Internet retail giant, Amazon.com, is to enter the music download service in mid-September. The website cites a source close to the situation in its report. Amazon's intentions to launch a music download store (without Digital Rights Management (DRM) software) were announced by the company back in May of this year.
Back then, Amazon said the new service will offer million of tracks from 12,000 record labels including EMI. The service will sell MP3 downloads and will compete directly with Apple Inc.'s successful iTunes download store, which has sold more than 3 billion music downloads since it opened its doors, solidifying its position as a heavyweight in the evolving market.
Amazon, of course, is one of the world's most used websites and retailers. It's new download service will benefit from its millions of customers and considering it too offers a video download service (Unbox), it should be a credible challenge to the dominance of iTunes.
Under a new deal between 20th Century Fox and Microsoft, the first two seasons of animated hit "Family Guy" will be available as downloads for the Xbox 360 from Microsoft's Xbox Live service starting on Monday.
Since Fox doesn't have any kind of general agreement with Microsoft for their content, "Family Guy" will be the first product from the studio to be available on Xbox Live. It's something of a coup for the Redmond, Washington company since iTunes has yet to reach a deal to get the show.
Xbox 360 owners will be able to purchase each of the episodes from the first two seasons as well as the straight-to-DVD film "Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story" for 160 Microsoft points, or about $2, which is comparable with the pricing of TV episodes on iTunes and other VOD platforms.
Xbox Live is clearly a key part of Microsoft's strategy for making the Xbox 360 a contender in the console gaming market. While Sony is betting on the inclusion of a Blu-ray drive for entertainment possibillities, Xbox Live provides content online that comes from such companies as Warner Bros., Paramount, the Walt Disney Co., New Line, Lionsgate, Miramax, MTV, Turner Broadcasting and the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Demonoid is finally back online after a week of downtime in which rumors swirled that the tracker was taken down by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA). Although the rumors proved to be somewhat true, the tracker and website are still being hosted on a Canadian ISP but now must block all Canadian traffic.
Many savvy and paranoid 
Dreamworks Animation has announced the specs for the upcoming "Shrek the Third" HD DVD and it includes a few never-before-seen features including "branching 
