News written by Andre Yoskowitz (January, 2009)

After seeing the bill pass unanimously in the Senate but then fail to pass in the House of Representatives, the Obama administration has said that the anticipated delay of the digital TV transition has passed the Senate again and is expected to pass in the House as well.

"We anticipate that the House will pass a delay on DTV until June 12," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs added.

The transition, making digital TV signals mandatory for those without cable or satellite subscriptions, was scheduled to occur on February 17th.

The current administration believes a delay is necessary as many households that still receive analog signals are not prepared for the transition.

Swiss authorities announced today that they had found a large marijuana plantation while using Google Earth, the extremely popular free satellite mapping software.

The discovery was part of an ongoing investigation that has so far led to the arrest of 16 people and the seizure of 1.2 tons of marijuana with a street value of $2.5 million USD. Cash and other valuables were seized as well with a value of over $800,000 USD.

The head of Zurich police's specialist narcotics unit, Norbert Klossner, said the field was in the northeastern canton (state) of Thurgau. The plantation is about 7500 square meters and was hidden inside a larger field of corn.

"It was an interesting chance discovery," said Klossner.

The 16 suspects have allegedly sold 7.7 tons of marijuana since 2004, making an average of 6 million Swiss francs a year.

Ireland's largest ISP Eircom has settled with the Big 4 labels EMI, Sony, Universal and Warner, and has agreed to disconnect customers who download unauthorized music.

The ISP was sued in March by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and the record labels wanted Eircom to "install software from a U.S. firm to detect the 'fingerprint' of copyrighted music files being sent on its network."

Eircom instead agreed to disconnect users using a "three strikes you're out" rule, giving two email warnings before shutting off their Internet connection. No "footprint" software will be used by the ISP itself.

IRMA will forward the IP addresses of alleged pirates to the ISP which will then be in charge of sending out warning emails.

"High Court proceedings ... have been settled on an amicable basis with both sides expressing satisfaction with the outcome," Eircom said.

"The record companies have agreed that they will take all necessary steps to put similar agreements in place with all other Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Ireland."

According to PG.biz, Apple is set to add a "premium games section" to the App Store which will offer games for the iPhone and the iPod Touch for about $19.99 USD.

The section will be open to a restricted number of large publishers such as Electronics Arts, and would set the iPhone apart in the smartphone market as a "serious gaming" handheld.

Most games in the App Store currently come from low budget publishers or casual coders, and many sell for 99 cents to $9.99 USD. Apple recently noted that the store had hit a half billion downloads and was home to 15,000 applications.

Apple has not confirmed the report, and neither has any large publisher, but PocketGamer believes Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) would be a likely launch date.

We will keep you updated.

According to a WSJ report, Dell may be preparing to move into the mobile phone business; as soon as next month.

The report says a group of engineers have been working on a phone based on the Android operating system for over a year now, and on a phone based on Windows Mobile for over six months.

Dell will be focusing on the increasingly crowded smartphone market, currently led by Apple, RIM and Palm and their two devices will likely be a touchscreen phone and one with a slide out QWERTY keyboard.

A Dell spokesperson added "We haven't committed to anything," and can still drop all plans for the phone.

Michael Dell, CEO of the company, has been rumored to be interested in creating smartphones since at least last year but so far nothing has come of the efforts.

Microsoft has confirmed a new Xbox 360 Pro bundle for Europe today that will play to one of the system's biggest strengths, its blockbuster Halo franchise.

Beginning on February 29th the new "Best of Halo" Xbox 360 Pro Bundle will go on sale around Europe with “Halo Wars”, "Halo 3", and an Xbox 360 Pro video game system plus a wireless controller. The suggested retail price is €269.

The "Halo" franchise, now in its fourth installment, is a billion dollar franchise and is an Xbox exclusive. Halo 3, released last year, made over $300 million USD in sales in its first week of release and was even blamed for Hollywood's poor showing in October.

The bundle will be available in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Slovakia, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Republic of Hungary, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Sony's gaming division, dubbed the PlayStation Division, was hit hard for the quarter ended December 31st, 2008, with operating revenue down over 30 percent year-on-year to $4.32 billion USD.

In a hardware sales comparison, PS3 sales were 4.46 million, down 44,000 units, and PSP handheld sales were down 68,000 units to 5.08 million units. The PS2 saw the hardest hit, understandably, with sales dropping over 60 percent to 2.52 million.

The company blamed the global recession for the decline in hardware and software sales and also noted that the Yen's appreciation against the Euro played a role as well.

Some good news did slip through however, as Sony noted that PS3 software sales were up significantly year-on-year from 26 million to 41 million units.

According to their latest earnings report, Nintendo is cutting their profit forecast by 33 percent for fiscal 2009, surprising many analysts and casual gamers alike.

It is clear to anyone who reads AfterDawn daily or reads the newspapers that the Nintendo Wii is the top selling console, by far, and supply always appears to be low while demand never diminishes. Their previous Q3 earnings results showed that sales were up 21 percent year-on-year from 2007.

In regards to the earnings report, Hiroshi Kamide, a KBC Financial Products analyst added: "Today’s revision suggests that the roaring pace of Wii growth that we’ve seen until now may be over. Perhaps something big has gone wrong, and that people are not buying the machines."

Comcast has announced the launch of a new VOD service that will offer unlimited Disney Family Movies for $5.99 per month.

All Comcast cable subscribers now have access to the service, which offers 20 hours of content every month, 10 full feature length films and two short programs.

The feature films, such as "Treasure Planet" and "The Parent Trap" will remain in rotation for one month. New titles will be added every week.

“For just $5.99 a month, we’re offering unlimited viewing of 10 classic Disney movies whenever you want,” added Derek Harrar, senior VP and general manager of video services for Comcast. “Kids’ and family programming continues to be one of our top ‘On Demand’ categories, and we are thrilled to continue delivering the best quality content with Disney.”

Dan Cohen, executive VP of pay TV and new media at Disney-ABC Domestic Television, concluded, “The addition of this one-of-a-kind, family-friendly service is a wonderful complement to the company’s video-on-demand initiatives.”

Last month we reported that the RIAA was set to stop lawsuits, and would instead pressure ISPs to send warnings to alleged pirates eventually shutting down service to those that received three warnings.

According to sources talking to CNet, AT&T and Comcast appear to be the first ISPs to willingly join the RIAA's monitoring program and begin sending warnings to alleged pirates as the RIAA demands. After a few warnings, the ISPs will wither throttle the user's bandwidth or permanently disconnect them.

The agreements have not been signed yet, and the ISPs do still have time to withdraw, notes the sources. It appears the last speed bump before the contracts get signed is over compensation for the ISPs for customers who get their Internet taken away.

Four unnamed providers specifically noted that they were worried about being known collaborators with the RIAA, which would cause obvious customer defections and "negative press."

According to Pocket-Lint, Skype will be announcing a new version of its popular VoIP software next month at the Mobile World Congress.

The company added that the launch will include "new versions of Skype for various operating systems used in the mobile space", alongside "partnerships with major handset and mobile technology vendors".

Those words have left many believing that Skype will be launching a dedicated iPhone application as well as updated Windows Mobile 6.5 software. Skype for the RIM Blackberry Storm is also expected.

Just a few weeks back, Skype introduced Skype Lite that works on Android devices such as the G1 and other Java-enabled phones.

Last month we reported that DivX 7 was coming and the updated product has finally arrived.

From the official site: DivX® 7 for Windows is a free download that provides everything you need to enjoy high-quality digital videos on your computer, including HD H.264 (.mkv) videos with AAC audio and videos created using all previous versions of DivX technology. You can also play your DivX files (.divx, .avi) on millions of DivX Certified® devices today. Look for DivX Plus™ HD Certified devices later this year that will support playback of all DivX and DivX Plus files, as well as .mkv (H.264/AAC) videos from the Internet.

According to "sources" that have contacted IGN, the eventual PSP 2 handheld will have dual thumbsticks, touch screen interface, the removal of UMD, and other hardware improvements.

The "credible sources" added the PSP 2 "will feature a widescreen multi-touch interface comparable to that of the iPhone for both in-game control and menu navigation."

Sony representatives have declined any comment on the rumor ("We can't comment on rumors or speculation,") but the increase in rumors has flared since CES.

The original PSP has been updated twice over its lifespan, but only with small hardware revisions, mainly making the system lighter and thinner.

Last week we reported that Microsoft Zune revenue had fallen over $100 million USD year-on-year from 2007.

Microsoft has now spoken out about the numbers and says that the huge drop in revenue was "unexpected."

Zune Director of Marketing Adam Sohn, when asked what factors led to the decline, added:

"Some of them are environmental. Everyone knows that the economy is not what it was a year ago, and that is hurting some folks. We are in a position where the category is also shrinking. So I think those are things that affected everybody's sales, including Apple."

Sohn also noted that the software giant did not use aggressive marketing with their third generation Zune devices. Many consumers will argue that there was in fact, no marketing to speak of.

The director did add that new Zune products were coming soon, and that development was "fast and furious."

"Every time anything comes up, there is a set of people who pull a Chicken Little and say, 'The sky is falling. Zune is dead,'" Sohn noted. "The fact is we are on track to deliver the next generation of Zune innovation in software and hardware."

Apple, despite a reported 15 percent decline sales, continues to dominate the MP3 player market with a hefty 70 percent market share. Most reports show Microsoft as having 3-5 percent market share.

According to a The Telegraph report, the Communication Minister in the UK, Lord Carter, is looking to add a "universal levy" to every broadband user's monthly bill that will help compensate "film and music companies for their losses from illegal downloads."

Carter also says that "the entertainment industry - which has lobbied for the fee to be introduced - estimates it will lose £1 billion over the next five years due to piracy".

Sources quoted by the report say however that the plan will not be introduced this year, as there is fear it will slow "universal broadband" adoption "by 2012."

It may not be happening soon, but it appears if Lord Carter and the entertainment industry have their way, every UK resident with cable or DSL Internet will be paying extra every month to compensate for "billions" of dollars in piracy losses faced by the film and music industries.

Just three days after it was decided a vote was necessary, the US Senate has voted unanimously to delay the upcoming mandatory transition from analog signals to digital signals.

The new transition date is set for June 12th, moving four months back from its original February 17th date. The proposal now moves to Congress and could be passed as soon as tomorrow morning.

President Obama backed the proposal fully, noting that America was still not ready for the transition and that a February transition date would cause more problems than it would solve.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the group in charge of coupons for converter boxes that allow analog signal users to receive digital broadcasts, says they have exceeded their $1.34 billion USD funding limit. 3 million Americans remain on waiting lists for the coupons.

Following Apple's Q1 fiscal earnings report last week, it was made clear that the iPhone continues to be a huge seller, selling 4,363,000 units for the period, an 88 percent growth year-on-year.

Total iPhone sales for 2008 now stand at 13.7 million.

Apple began selling its first generation iPhone in fiscal 2007 and then the iPhone 3G in July 2008. The company now offers the media device in over 70 countries and explained that that in its first quarter of availability, 6.9 million units were sold.

CEO Steve Jobs added that company was doing well despite the global economic downturn and expects the company to continue to succeed in the future. “Even in these economically challenging times, we are incredibly pleased to report our best quarterly revenue and earnings in Apple history—surpassing $10 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time ever.”

Disney has announced that the animated hit Bolt will be released on Blu-ray two days before the standard DVD release, hopefully giving the HD version a jump start in sales.

The studio has not given official release dates for either version, but many believe it will be March 22nd and the 24th, respectively.

“This should give some incentive to Blu-ray fans,” added a studio exec, “this is not a strategy that will happen with every title.”

Another studio source added that the decision may cause confusion among consumers who still do not understand Blu-ray for the most part.

“Disney’s thought process is that, if we let the Blu-ray out a few days early, people will buy the Blu-ray instead of the DVD,” noted that source. “It gives Blu-ray a headstart. But there will be retailers who don’t know what’s coming out when. [Some] will probably break street date on the standard DVD.”

After making a lot of their popular video clips available online, Monty Python has seen a DVD sales increase of over 23,000 percent.

“We’re letting you see absolutely everything for free. So there! But we want something in return. None of your driveling, mindless comments. Instead, we want you to click on the links, buy our movies & TV shows and soften our pain and disgust at being ripped off all these years,” said the group when the clips went up.

As of yesterday, Monty Python's DVDs had jumped up to the top of Amazon’s Movies & TV bestsellers list.

You can view the clips here: MontyPython YouTube Channel

Who says free is always bad?

When Apple introduced its multi-touch user interface on the iPhone in 2007, CEO Steve Jobs made it very clear that the technology was patented.

It appears a rival smartphone maker, Palm, has finally replicated the multi-touch interface, and comments from Apple are suggesting a lawsuit is coming.

COO Tim Cook said: "We like competition as long as they don't rip off our IP (intellectual property).And if they do, we're going to go after anybody that does."

"I don't want to talk about any specific company. I'm just making a general statement that we think competition is good. It makes us all better. And we are ready to suit up and go against anyone. However, we will not stand for having our IP ripped off. And we will use whatever weapons that we have at our disposal. I don't know that I can be any more clear than that."

Four convicted uploaders from the now defunct torrent tracker OiNK have been sentenced to community service today, and forced to pay all court costs incurred.

The founder and administrator of the site, Alan Ellis, and one other uploader are still awaiting a jury trial.

The site was taken down in late 2007 under Operation Ark Royal brought forward by UK and Dutch police. Ellis is under arrest for conspiracy to defraud, while the uploaders were charged with copyright infringement for uploading music.

Torretnfreak adds that "Steven Diprose was sentenced to 180 hours community service, and has to pay £378 in Court costs. Michael Myers was ordered to pay a £500 fine. Mark Tugwell has to undertake 100 hours community service and has to pay £378 Court costs. The fourth uploader, James Garner was sentenced to 50 hours community service and also has to pay £378 Court costs."

The senators involved with the upcoming mandatory transition to Digital TV signals from analog signals in the US have agreed to a bill that would delay the transition to June 12th from February 17th. The legislation will go to vote next week, with some expecting as early as Monday.

The delay will give the Commerce Committee more time to get funds for coupons for converter boxes that allow analog signal users to receive digital broadcasts, free of charge.

The postponement has the backing of new President Barack Obama after it was concluded most consumers are still not prepared despite, literally, years of television ads from the government and cable companies looking to get new subscribers.

"The shameful truth is that we are not poised to do this transition right," added Sen. John D. Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), chairman of the Commerce Committee, "We are only weeks away from doing it dreadfully wrong -- and leaving consumers with the consequences."

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the group in charge of the coupons, says they have exceeded their $1.34 billion USD funding limit. 3 million Americans remain on waiting lists for the coupons.

According to Q4 2008 filings with the SEC, Microsoft Zune revenue has fallen over $100 million USD year-on-year from 2007, confirming that Zune sales continue to struggle mightily.

The rest of the division, Microsoft Entertainment and Devices, brought in $151 million USD profit, on the back of strong Xbox 360 sales.

The revenue number represents a a 54 percent drop year on year, and has led analysts to believe that the device may be on its way out, despite the recent release of 3rd generation flash models.

To date there have only been 3.2 million Zune units sold compared to Apple's 170 million iPod sales.

Nokia has announced that they have shipped their millionth Nokia 5800 XpressMusic handset, the company's first mass market touch screen device. The phone is also notable for its Comes With Music service which allows for unlimited music downloads for one year.

The phone went up for sale originally in October of last year, and promptly sold out in regions such as Hong Kong and Russia. The device recently went on sale in the UK, and retailers had lines of potential buyers waiting.

"The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic has been received very positively and this milestone is just further proof that people all over the world want a device that is not only a great music experience, but also makes the most of touch screen technology," noted Jo Harlow, Vice President, Nokia.

The device is touchscreen and can be considered more of music player than a phone. Its dual speakers face outwards and there is a 3.5mm headphone jack, two features not found on many phones. Also included are 81 MB of on-board memory and a large 8GB microSD card as well as a guitar pick stylus.

Microsoft has announced the launch of MSN Mobile Music in the UK, a service that will allow users to buy and download music directly to their mobile phones.

However, going against the trend, Microsoft has added crippling DRM to the tracks, as well as raised the price to above even what Apple charges on iTunes.

In an interview with PCPro, Hugh Griffiths, Head of Mobile at Microsoft UK answered a few tough questions as to why Microsoft made such an anti-consumer service.

From the interview:

With the likes of iTunes and Amazon offering DRM-free music that you can play on any device, why would anyone choose the MSN Mobile service?

There may well be people who just want to listen to the track on their mobile alone.

They can do that with iTunes and Amazon.

We will see what the outcome of this is. We'll see whether customers find it an acceptable proposition or not. We've been encouraged by the results in the first couple of weeks. It's ultimately down to consumer choice. We'd like to have offered a fuller service, we weren't in a position to do so for a number of reasons.

VUDU has announced the launch of an application for the iPhone/iPod Touch, dubbed VUDU Movie Catalog, which will allow users to browse through VUDU's extensive movie library and rent or purchase films on the go. All media will then be automatically downloaded to their VUDU box for use.

The program is available free, now, through the Apple App Store.

VUDU has over 13,000 films and TV shows and the actual box "contains four video outputs, HDMI version 1.1, component, composite, and S-Video, which can be used to display a variety of resolutions such as 480i/p, 720p, 1080i, and 1080p/24. On top of the movie and show selection, VUDU also comes with millions of internet titles users can choose from."

Picture thanks to source:

Following the bankruptcy and liquidation of the large US retailer Circuit City, its Canadian counterpart The Source is going up for auction, and could be purchased by Best Buy.

There are currently 765 The Source stores and each is going up for auction.

There has not been an official list of potential buyers released, but the stores should be sold by Monday.

If Best Buy were to purchase any of the stores, it would be most of the smaller sized stores which can then be turned into Best Buy Mobile stores which specialize in mobile phones.

Apple has updated their popular Quicktime media player, patching critical security flaws as well as tweaking the software to accept more file formats.

Version 7.6, available now for Mac and Windows users, fixes seven "critical" bugs, each of which would have allowed remote installation of unauthorized software on your computer.

The exploits would trick users into visiting a "malicious Web site" or to play a media file with malicious code. None of the exploits were publicly known before the release today of the update.

InfoWorld adds that "the 7.6 update also includes some performance enhancements for H.2640-encoded and Motion JPEG media files, as well as some audio tweaks for AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) and MPEG video files. The update also improves compatibility with iChat and Photo Booth."

The Italian Ministry of Culture seems to be following in the footsteps of the French government, and is preparing to overhaul its intellectual property rights to include a 'three strikes' (you're out) model for suspected pirates.

Minister of Culture Sandro Bondi added that the intellectual property laws will be updated and be based on the current French model, thanks to a cooperation deal with French officials.

Some of Italy's current laws date back to the 19th century, and Bondi noted that film piracy is more "severe" in the region than in most of Western Europe.

The Italian government has pegged confronting piracy as a top priority and has been discussing methods since early 2008.

According to the analyst firm Venture Beat, the Nintendo Wii is well on its way to passing the Sony PlayStation 2 as the most successful console of all time, and should do so by 2014.

The PlayStation 2 has sold roughly 140 million consoles over its lifespan but the firm is predicting the Wii will hit 154 million units sold by 2014.

Comparatively, for its first 26 months of availability in the US, the Wii is leading the PS2 by 10 percent; 17.5 million units sold to 15.9. Overall the Wii has sold over 40 million consoles worldwide.

The report also noted that the current-generation Sony PlayStation 3 has sold 7 million units in the US so far, comparable to the initial sales of the Gamecube. The PS3 is expected to have a much longer lifespan however.

Sony has released the latest firmware update for the PlayStation 3 gaming console, updating some media capabilities.

The update, version 2.60's, "key feature is a new Photo Gallery application, which delivers a suite of tools for sorting through and displaying your digital photo collection. Digital pictures can be organized in groups according to various criteria, including the camera used to take the photos, the event date and time, colors in the photos, as well as the number, ages, or facial expressions of the people pictured. You can also create slideshows set to music and build photo playlists with an easy-to-use interface. The Photo Gallery application will need to be installed separately from the XMB after you update your PS3’s firmware. To install the Photo Gallery application, go to the Photo section on the XMB, select Photo Gallery and press the X button.

The 2.60 update also includes:

* Guest access to PlayStation Store – This enables non-PlayStation Network members to browse through the storefront to check out the latest games, demos, videos, etc.
* DivX 3.11 support – Videos in this format can now be played on PS3."

LG has showed off two new plasma HDTVs dubbed the Xcanvas bobos 42PQ60D and 50PQ60D. The larger model boasts an unprecedented 1,000,000,000:1 contrast ratio and a 600Hz refresh rate.

Both models have built-in USB ports that allow users to playback many file types including WMV and DivX videos.

According to the source, "speakers are built into either TV, each of which is just over 3 inches thick. For efficient energy use, an ambient light sensor will dim the backlight of each set as conditions dictate, and the feature is said to reduce as much as 60 percent of a conventional plasma HDTV's energy use."

The TVs are set for release in Korea beginning mid-February with prices equivalent to $1,022 and $1,460 USD, respectively. There was no word on whether the TVs will have North American or European releases.

Sega has announced they have signed a digital distribution deal with GamersGate, allowing many of the Japanese publisher's PC titles to be available through the popular GamersGate portal.

The first games available will be Universe at War: Earth Assault and Football Manager 2009, two popular back catalog titles. Titles such as Condemned, Rome: Total War and OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast are set to hit the service soon as well.

"We look forward to welcoming such a well-established and celebrated partner to our growing online portfolio," noted GamersGate CEO Theodore Bergquist. "With the addition of Sega’s excellent portfolio of games, GamersGate further strengthens its position as a leading digital download portal."

Nokia has announced plans to bring their popular Comes With Music service to Australia and Singapore in the next couple of months, with other markets being eyed for the rest of 2009.

Company head of entertainment and communities, Tero Ojanpera, added: “In 2009 we will also be looking at the United States and Latin America. That’s the plan.”

For the near future however, Ojanpera says European expansion is most likely.

The company calls the service "a revolutionary program that enables people to buy a Nokia device with a year of unlimited access to millions of tracks from a range of great artists - past, present and future. Once the year is complete, customers can keep all their music without having to worry about it disappearing when their subscription is over."

At an interview at the Game Business Law summit this past week, Valve director of business development and legal affairs Jason Holtman spoke out about the company's thoughts on piracy, surprisingly calling pirates "underserved customers."

"There's a big business feeling that there's piracy, pirates are underserved customers."

"When you think about it that way, you think, 'Oh my gosh, I can do some interesting things and make some interesting money off of it.'"

"We take all of our games day-and-date to Russia," Holtman added. "The reason people pirated things in Russia is because Russians are reading magazines and watching television. They say 'Man, I want to play that game so bad,' but the publishers respond 'you can play that game in six months...maybe.' "

Holtman also noted, correctly, that publishers normally only care about the west leaving eastern nations with no real other alternative but piracy. That being said, Valve products are launched in Russia, in Russian, on the same day they hit North American shelves. After doing so, the company "found that our piracy rates dropped off significantly."

According to GFI head of international licensing and acquisition, Inna Bukatina, Nintendo continues to "struggle" in the Russian market despite being the clear leader in every other market.

"Firstly people in Russia prefer products that are more universal, that can be used for a number of different purposes. For example, a PlayStation 3 or PlayStation Portable can be used for games, or films, and so on."

"But the Wii is only for games, and for very specific kinds of games. The gaming society in Russia is pretty young, and I remember when Nintendo attempted to attract more people from older demographics - they put on their last slide a babushka, an old woman, in a headscarf sitting in the countryside and playing on a DS... but actually it's very hard to see that really happening in Russia," Bukatina says. Read more...

According to a new survey by music consultancy Music Ally, many users would completely disregard warning letters from ISPs threatening to shut off their Internet for piracy offenses.

The survey was given to US, UK and French citizens, and published by the research firm The Leading Question.

The study also shows that most consumers would prefer to download music legally from their ISPs rather then from their mobile carriers or from their cable providers.

46 percent of those studied chose their ISP as the "ideal music provider" compared to 10 percent who chose their cable or satellite TV company, and 5 percent who chose their mobile operator. An even smaller number, 3 percent, chose handset manufacturers such as Nokia or Apple as their preferred provider.

"ISPs need to find new added value offerings as their core service of offering access to the Internet becomes increasingly commoditised," noted Tim Walker, CEO of The Leading Question, on Music Ally's Website. Read more...

According to a US government official, the mandatory transition from analog to digital TV signals could be delayed for up to four months.

The changeover date is set for February 17th but John Podesta, co-chairman of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's transition team, noted that the incoming President supports the delay. The new changeover date would be June 12th, an almost four month delay.

The proposal for the delay, brought forward by Senator Rockefeller IV of Virgina, could go to vote this week.

The proposal comes at a time where the government has been said to be running low on money to supply $40 USD coupons that help subsidize the cost of DTV converter boxes.

According to MobileToday, Sony Ericsson has been planning a PSP phone for some time but has been refused the use of the PlayStation brand, killing the phone off.

The brand was refused by Sony, after the handset maker presented a pitch to the board last year. Sources confide that the refusal has caused a fallout between Sony and Ericsson, threatening the mobile phone joint venture.

Sony did note that they intend to license a PlayStation brand phone, if and when the company makes phones independently, seemingly asking for the end of the joint venture.

A Sony Ericsson spokeswoman ‘could not comment on what Sony has or hasn’t said’. She also added: "In the past, we have been keen that our product proposition lives up to brand promise, and we feel at the moment the technical specs are not high enough to put such a prestigious brand on a phone."

Blockbuster has announced they will be teaming up with online movie service CinemaNow in an effort to deliver digital movies to Internet-connected TVs, Internet-enabled Blu-ray players and mobile phones in the future.

The agreement will allow Blockbuster to compete with its giant rival Netflix which has been adding its "Watch Instantly" streaming library to many providers including the Xbox 360 and Blu-ray players from LG and Samsung.

The new service is dubbed Blockbuster Powered by CinemaNow, and will debut on a number of devices during the Q3 of this year.

“What this partnership is about is providing a branded entertainment option to get consumers their content into the boxes that surround them without having to get them to organize it themselves,” Blockbuster senior VP of digital entertainment Kevin Lewis added.

According to a draft report by Lord Carter of the UK, ministers in the region plan to pass regulation that would force ISPs to inform customers that they are suspected of illegally downloading movies and music and should stop.

The service providers would also be required to collect data on repeat offenders which then must be turned over to copyright holders or the record labels if they need them.

A new regulating body called the Rights Agency would be created from levies given by the trade groups and the ISPs and will be in charge of the "new code of conduct."

The report also notes that the government sees this action as the 'preferred solution' and that the ISPs, as well as the music and film industries have failed to sort out their own problems in a timely matter.

Apparently the proposals have already gained “widespread support.”

In 2002, the retail giant Wal-Mart decided to launch an online DVD rental business, in an effort to rival Netflix. However, Netflix did what it has to all its other competition and practically drove the startup out of business.

By 2005 Wal-Mart decided it was a waste of money and let Netflix take over its DVD rental operation while Netflix would promote Wal-Mart's in-store DVD movie sales.

This week though, that decision is back in the news as a lawsuit has been filed against both companies accusing them of "conspiring to create a monopoly for online video rentals." The "collusion" has led to higher prices for consumers, alleges the suit.

The deal between the companies also "enabled Netflix to maintain monopoly power and led Blockbuster Inc. to raise subscription rental prices by $3 to meet Netflix's higher prices."

Sony Europe has sued the UK-based company Datel over an accessory that allows gamers to run pirated games and homebrew software on their PSP-3000.

Unlike previous hardware models, the PSP-3000 has been harder to crack and Datel began advertising the Lite Blue Tool last month which is a battery-attached way to open the PSP up to homebrew.

The accessory has not been released yet, and Datel noted "that orders for the Lite Blue Tool could not be fulfilled due to legal action by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe".

Sony added however, that PSP hacking has been 'trending downwards' since the release of the 3000 model late last year.

According to a new report by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), 95 percent of all online music downloads are in fact unauthorized and can be considered piracy.

The trade group notes that piracy is "its biggest challenge" as it leaves artists and record companies without royalty payments.

The report noted that worldwide music revenue shrank by 7 percent last year but did add that digital downloads continued strong growth.

The IFPI says over 40 billion music files were shared "illegally" over the past year in comparison to the 1.4 billion tracks purchased legally via iTunes, Amazon MP3 and other online shops.

John Kennedy, the CEO of the IFPI, added:

"There is a momentous debate going on about the environment on which our business, and all the people working in it, depends.

"Governments are beginning to accept that, in the debate over 'free content' and engaging ISPs in protecting intellectual property rights, doing nothing is not an option if there is to be a future for commercial digital content."

Apple has announced that there are now over 15,000 applications available to iPhone and iPod Touch users through the App Store and that there have been just over 500 million downloads from the store since its introduction late last year.

Just last month the company confided they had 10,000 applications available and 300 million downloads from the store.

According to Jeff Holden, CEO of Pelago, 17 million iPhone owners have downloaded as many applications/software as 1.6 billion non-iPhone owners meaning Apple's creation is a smashing hit that it showing no signs of slowing down.

Circuit City has begun liquidation sales at its remaining 567 U.S. stores, meaning the company will not be coming out of bankruptcy as hoped.

Last month, the giant retailer, which employs over 30,000 US workers, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after suppliers cut off most credit.

The company estimated its remaining inventory at $1.3 billion and said creditors will receive 70.5 percent of all revenue from the liquidation. Stockholders will get nothing.

The liquidation sales will end on March 31st when the company completely goes out of business.

“Regrettably for the more than 30,000 employees of Circuit City and our loyal customers, we were unable to reach an agreement with our creditors and lenders,” James A. Marcum, the current CEO added.

According to a new post on the official blog, YouTube is making its content available on Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii consoles, allowing gamers to watch their favorite videos from their TVs with ease.

The service will come through YouTube TV which is currently in its beta phase but will allow users to customize the content to suit their personal tastes and the TV they are using.

The full post says:

"Have you ever wanted to just sit on your couch and watch YouTube on your TV? Well, now that's possible via YouTube for Television, initially available through the Sony PS3 and Nintendo Wii game consoles at www.youtube.com/tv. Currently in beta, the TV Website offers a dynamic, lean-back, 10-foot television viewing experience through a streamlined interface that enables you to discover, watch and share YouTube videos on any TV screen with just a few quick clicks of your remote control. With enlarged text and simplified navigation, it makes watching YouTube on your TV as easy and intuitive as possible. Optional auto-play capability enables users to view related videos sequentially, emulating a traditional television experience. The TV Website is available internationally across 22 geographies and in over 12 languages. Read more...

CBS has boosted their TV.com lineup this week, adding the popular Showtime hits Dexter and Californication to its free streaming library.

There was no word on how many episodes would be added, and for how long, but most likely they will include the first season of each show and some of the recent episodes, all for free with ad-supports.

In an effort to compete with the very popular Hulu streaming website, the site was given an overhaul last month with a new design and tons of new premium content ranging from "24" to "Alfred Hitchcock Presents."

The NYTimes reported that they expect CBS, the conglomerate which owns the site, to announce major deals with PBS, Sony, MGM and Endemol as soon as Monday.

Microsoft is now boasting that its Xbox 360 gaming console had its "best ever" Christmas sales in Europe, pushing overall sales in the region to just over 8 million consoles.

Unit sales were almost double year-on-year and Microsoft also noted that they are leading the Sony PlayStation 3 by over one million units.

"2008 saw us grow faster than any of our competitors and we over-achieved in sales during the crucial Christmas selling period," added Chris Lewis, regional VP of Microsoft's Xbox business in Europe.

"With eight million consoles sold since we launched, and consistently out-selling PlayStation 3 in EMEA, we're poised to build on this success in 2009.

"This success was only possible through our partnerships with retail and with publishers, with whom we’ve worked closely to build a strong ecosystem in the region and to bring value to our shared customer base."

"As we move into 2009 and an uncertain economic climate, we continue to be committed to offering the right blend of gaming and entertainment experiences at the right price," concluded Lewis.

Dolby Laboratories, the company best known for its audio technologies, has proposed a new 3-D video technology for Blu-ray movies, following recent proposals from Panasonic and Philips.

The company will give a "first peek" of the technology at the upcoming CES show.

According to CDRInfo, "the technology, which uses a checkerboard pixel pattern similar to techniques employed in current 3-D-ready digital TVs from Mitsubishi and Samsung, can be used with active or passive 3-D glasses. It would work on any 3-D enabled TV with a standard Blu-ray player."

There was no word on when Dolby would release any consumer products using the 3-D technology.

AsianWeek, a newspaper for Asian-Americans, has become the largest US paper to drop its print editions to move to online only.

The 30-year old paper has a circulation of roughly 60,000 and will go online only beginning on Monday.

AsianWeek president and editor James Fang wrote in a letter to all readers that, "There are fewer major newspapers, fewer newspaper readers and fewer newspaper advertisers than ever before. Asian Pacific Americans have led the way in the digital revolution, migrating away from print media and into receiving their news and information electronically."

"To reflect these changing times, AsianWeek will cease regular newspaper publication immediately. We will continue to publish online and in special newspaper editions."

Yesterday we reported unconfirmed reports that the RIAA had fired their "investigative arm", MediaSentry.

Today the WSJ has confirmed that notion and says the trade group will replace MediaSentry with DtecNet Software ApS, a group it used before hiring MS.

MediaSentry was in charge of collecting evidence to be used against alleged pirates during a lawsuit brought on by the RIAA. Since 2002, over 35,000 lawsuits were brought against P2P users.

MediaSentry has been at the center of controversy for months now and has even been accused of investigating without a license, performing illegal searches and taps, and even destroying evidence.

On January 1st the iconic cartoon character Popeye the Sailor Man became public domain in the EU, following the EU law that restricts copyrights of authors for only 70 years after their death.

Elzie Segar, the creator of the beloved character died in late 1938.

The 'Popeye industry' generates $2.5 billion USD in annual sales and merchandise comes in the form of books, toys, computer games, canned spinach and even a fast-food chain. Being public domain means that anyone can sell Popeye drawings merchandise, with no worries of needing authorization for being responsible for royalties.

It is important to note that the character is only public domain in the EU, and is still protected in the US until 2024, 95 years after the creator's death. The Popeye trademark however, is a separate entity and is owned by the Hearst Corporation which should should protect the brand very aggressively.

Adds Mark Owen, an intellectual property specialist at the law firm Harbottle & Lewis: “The Segar drawings are out of copyright, so anyone could put those on T-shirts, posters and cards and create a thriving business. If you sold a Popeye toy or Popeye spinach can, you could be infringing the trademark.”

According to Slyck, the newsgroup server Astraweb has increased its retention to 270 days, hopping over Giganews on its way to being the newsgroup provider with the longest retention.

"Astraweb is pleased to announce that we have just completed an infrastructure upgrade to increase our retention and improve our network. Our retention is currently growing towards 270 days from 160 days."

When the provider will actually hit 270 is still in question though, and whether Giganews will respond is kind is a more important question. On Christmas, Giganews confided they were in the midst of a massive upgrade themselves and that new retention times would be "well beyond 240 days."

Giganews currently costs $30 USD a month while Astraweb only cost $15.

Following last week's decision that it would stop lawsuits, and instead pressure ISPs, the RIAA appears to be on the verge of cutting ties with MediaSentry, their unethical "investigative arm."

There is no cause for celebration here however, as the rumor has it that they will be replacing the "watchdog" company with a similar one, such as BayTSP.

Although unconfirmed by MediaSentry or the record industry, the decision to drop MediaSentry should help the trade group retain any integrity it has left. MediaSentry has been at the center of controversy for months now and has even been accused of investigating without a license, performing illegal searches and taps, and even destroying evidence.

According to year-end figures provided by Nielsen, it appears that the Sony PlayStation 2 remains the most played video game console, by far. In fact, in terms of "overall usage minutes", the PS2 accounted for just under 32 percent of the total.

Following in the list was the Microsoft Xbox 360 at 17.2 percent and the Nintendo Wii at 13.4 percent. The PlayStation 3 improved to 7.3 percent but somewhat surprisingly, lost to the original Xbox, which managed 9.7 percent of the total.

The PS2's lead diminished significantly from 2007's 42 percent of the total, but understandably so considering Sony has moved all their efforts to the next-gen PS3.

Disney has announced that they have dropped the third Chronicles of Narnia film after deciding that co-producing and distributing the film, entitled "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader," would prove too costly given the economic downturn.

The decision will leave the production company Walden Media on its own looking for a new partner to release the third film.

The new movie would have had a budget of over $200 million USD but its box office return was uncertain given the current climate and the diminished returns of the second movie in the franchise. The first film, "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," grossed $745 million USD worldwide but its sequel, "Prince Caspian" only made $418 million worldwide.

For the time being, it is being reported that 20th Century Fox is a possibility to back the new movie, however they will require a tighter budget.

For a good opinion piece on why Disney is making a terrible mistake, read here: A 'Chronicles of Narnia' voyage Disney should take

According to Nielsen SoundScan year-end figures, CD sales fell 20 percent for the year 2008, while digital sales grew 27 percent.

Physical CDs still remain the most profitable media for recorded music, and account for 85 percent of overall album sales.

Over 1 billion digital tracks were sold in 2008, while 362.6 million physical CDs were sold for the year.

Even more disheartening for the record industry is the fact that for the period of September 30th-December 31st, CD sales declined the most. That period is usually the most important time of the year for sales, due to the holidays.

According to new figures from Net Applications, Internet Explorer lost more browser market share in the month of December as minority browsers continue to slowly grow in popularity.

Firefox jumped to 21.34 percent, Apple's Safari pressed on to 7.93 percent, and Google's Chrome browser shifted moved to 1.04 percent share, marking the first time the browser has hit the 1 percent milestone.

Internet Explorer dropped to 68.15 percent share and remains the clear market leader thanks to coming pre-installed in every Windows computer. The browser has lost a massive amount of market share however since it hit its peak in 2003 at 94.43 percent. Even at the beginning of 2008 IE was cited as having just over 77 percent of market share.

Beginning on December 31st, 30GB Microsoft Zunes around the world began freezing up and complaints flooded in from worried users who were concerned their media device was broken.

The software giant looked into the problem and concluded that the problem stemmed from 2008 being a leap year. The Zune's internal clock had failed to switch over to the new year, and the software bug caused the devices to lock up.

The problem was 'fixed' however yesterday when Microsoft advised all Zune users to let the battery of their device drain out and then turn it on after 7 am on Thursday.

"Wait until the battery is empty and the screen goes black," the company said, "Then power up the devices, but only after 7 a.m. Eastern time on New Year's Day Thursday. No other action is required."

Users may have to re-sync their devices completely today however, to restore any DRM files that come with
copyright-protected songs.

11 pirates, considered the "world's biggest" software pirates, have been sentenced to jail time today by the Futian People's Court in Shenzhen, China.

The group were 'ringleaders' in a counterfeiting syndicate that specialized in 'high-quality' fake Microsoft software. It is estimated that the pirates manufactured over $2 billion USD worth of counterfeits.

The sentences, the longest ever for intellectual property crimes in China, ranged from 1 year to 6.5.

The counterfeits were found in 36 separate countries on five continents and were produced in at least 11 languages.

The Chinese Public Security Bureau (PSB) was responsible for tracking down the pirates and the bureau claims "tens of thousands" of buyers verified the software was fake using Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage.

Yesterday we reported that conglomerate Viacom was threatening to pull 19 channels from Time Warner systems if the cable company refused to give higher fees for use of the channels.

A few of the affected networks would have been powerhouses such as Nickelodeon, MTV, VH1, Comedy Central and Spike TV. In all, the 19 channels accounted for 25 percent of total cable network viewers at any given time.

The two companies have come to a resolution however: "We are pleased that our customers will continue to be able to watch the programming they enjoy on MTV Networks," responded Glenn Britt, CEO of Time Warner Cable."We are sorry they had to endure a day of public disagreement as we worked through this negotiation."

Viacom had claimed that it's "average daily license fee was 65 percent lower than that of networks run by The Walt Disney Co., News Corp.'s Fox, Time Warner Inc.'s Turner Broadcasting System and Discovery Communications Inc," despite bringing in much more viewers.

Although reviews remain mixed for the time being, the Dev-Team has released a beta iPhone 3G unlock application that will work on phones using jailbroken firmware version 2.2.

Dubbed yellowsn0w, the application will allow users to unlock the phone for use with any GSM sim card.

More information from the Dev-Team can be found here: Dev-Team Blog

A full guide can be found here: How to Unlock the iPhone 3G

Many are reporting trouble unlocking the phone using the application, but be noted it is a beta and a more stable application should be available soon.