News written by James Delahunty (July, 2006)

Sharman Networks, owner of the Kazaa file sharing service has backed out of a libel lawsuit filed against p2pnet.net editor Jon Newton, his ISP Interserver and four p2pnet users who posted comments anonymously. However, Sharman CEO Nikki Hemming is still marching ahead in her action against Mr. Newton, his ISP and just one of the anonymous posters.

This is indeed a strange case. When it first became public, the obvious question was "What is Sharman Networks, the owner of Kazaa, thinking about that would lead it to sue a pro-P2P technology site?". Well, the company and Ms. Hemming were concerned with the P2Pnet story titled "Nikki Hemming's Money Mansion." To add to the confusion, that particular article extensively uses quotes from an Associated Press article.

The AP reported the following...

The chief executive of the company that owns the Kazaa file-sharing network on Friday denied hastily selling her multimillion dollar Sydney mansion and sending the proceeds to the tax haven of Vanuatu to make sure record company lawyers could not get their hands on it.

Japanese electronics giant Ricoh has developed a component that could bring the prospect of HD DVD and Blu-Ray compatible hardware being developed by manufacturers to life. The component in question is a diffraction plate. The component sits between the laser and the lens and adjusts the light beam so it focuses on the proper potion of the disc. The company claims it will allow both reading and writing to the disc formats.

The data layer on a Blu-ray disc resides 0.1 mm from the surface, whereas HD DVD's data layer is 0.6-mm deep. "This diffraction device is the first one that is ready for four formats, including BD and HD-DVD," claimed a Ricoh spokesman. "It will make it possible to build players and recorders ready for all formats, which will benefit consumers,"

Indeed it would benefit consumers, as the format war has put most consumers off the idea of investing in either HD DVD or Blu-ray due to fears the hardware will be obsolete in the near future. The war could be much worse than the VHS-Betamax situation, as with HD DVD and Blu-ray, you don't just keep movies in mind, you have to consider the issue even when buying a PC.

In a bid to make iPod usage safer when performing such tasks as driving or cycling, the next generation of iPods will reportedly talk to users. The device will be able to tell users what tracks and artists are coming up next, removing the need to look at the screen when changing songs. Apple will use the latest technology to turn even the most difficult artist and track names into recognizable speech.

The new feature will be crucial as the digital media player market is heating up. Apple's iPod has already slipped lately amid reports of terrible working conditions at an iPod producing factory in China. Also there has been a lot of music industry insider speculation and claims around a new device and iTunes-like software system from Microsoft (even though Microsoft has denied this so far).

Apple has refused to comment on the latest feature but a patent lodged by the company in the United States serves as proof. Users of the music players will still operate the Clickwheel as normal, but hear the names of songs and bands through their headphones. The patent reveals the idea's main purpose is to increase user safety.

"A user will have difficulty navigating the interface in 'eyes-busy' situations. Such activities include, for example, driving an automobile, exercising and crossing the street." it states. Apple has good reason to look into a feature like this as accidents have already been reportedly caused by iPod usage.

According to an article on the Swedish site, The Local, the downfall of The Pirate Bay could lie in advertisement revenue. According to Swedish prosecutors, if the site is earning money from its work, it could face tougher laws. In May, a raid on the site only managed to keep it down for a matter of days and police are still wading through the servers looking for anything they can use against the site.

According to the newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, hundreds of thousands of kronor are being made each month from advertisers. Companies are usually unwilling to advertise on BitTorrent Tracker sites but when those sites are extremely popular, one of the Internet's most popular sites in fact, that stance tends to change.

"If there is money left over, it will go to us who work at Pirate Bay as salaries," site founder Fredrik Neij said to Svenska Dagbladet on Wednesday. He added that he plans to invest money in the site to prevent police from taking it down again. Police will be looking at the book keeping and payments made with a focus on advertising revenue and taxes.

If there is one thing Sony is most definitely good at, it's causing controversy with their advertisements for the PlayStation Portable (PSP) console. You might remember, for example, how Sony came under fire for running a graffiti ad campaign. Some slammed Sony for "defacing public property". Sony also ran into trouble over advertisements in the UK. Now Sony has run into trouble in the Netherlands.

This time however, it is a little worse as accusations of racism are being thrown at the company over a particular advertisement for a new ceramic white-colored model of the PSP. Most of the ads are fine. They just include a white woman promoting the PSP console in various ways. However, many claim one particular ad shows the woman assaulting a black woman.

Specifically, on the left on the billboard there is a black woman dressed all in black. On the right there is a white woman dressed all in white. The problem people have is the fact the white woman is holding the black woman by the jaw. The ad contains the words "PlayStation Portable White Is Coming".

Gaming Industry insiders and observers are saying they expect Nintendo's next generation Wii console to hit shelves in the U.S. by October, or possibly late September. According to an analyst's note from P.J. McNealy of American Technology Research on June 21st, Nintendo appears to be already manufacturing final retail versions of the console.

Last year, Microsoft only started manufacturing the Xbox 360 console 69 days before it launched on November 22nd. This late start caused a global shortage of the console, meeting nowhere near the consumer demand. If Nintendo were to get the console out in October, it would give it a head start over Sony's PS3 which has yet to begin production.

"October is a reasonable timeframe," wrote McNealy. Even if the console doesn't launch in October, the early start to production will help the company meet consumer demands. New console launches traditionally sell out quickly. Nintendo expects to ship 6 million units by March 2007.

While it lacks the graphics improvements that the Xbox 360 and PS3 tout, the console is aimed at mainstream consumers and ignores many of the traditional improvement expectations of next generation consoles. Nintendo's President Satoru Iwata also promised to keep the price of new games for the system lower than those for PS3 and Xbox 360.

Sources close to Microsoft have told Reuters that the company will offer a digital audio and video player with wireless capabilities as soon as Christmas. One source said that the device will allow users to download music and video content "over the air", giving it at least one advantage over Apple's iPod players.

Microsoft is also apparently showing off new media software. "They're proposing an iTunes model approach," one source said. "They're now interested in controlling the whole vertical stack of technology from the device to the service to the software." He added that record companies are expecting prototypes to test in the coming weeks.

Launching an attempt by Christmas to dethrone Apple's iPod, which currently has over half the MP3 player market in the U.S. (NPD research), is vital according to analysts. Microsoft will need to copy several aspects of Apple's approach to be successful. "The success of Apple is that they've been able to create a very seamless experience", said Mike McGuire, analyst at Gartner Research. "That ability to control the hardware and software has given them an edge."