News written by James Delahunty (February, 2008)

According to data reported by research firm Nielsen Online, the video habits of women suggest a bias towards big network television content that is available on the Internet, while men seem to prefer the amateurish short video clips found on YouTube-like sites. The data also suggests that both types of videos are watched mostly at radically different times of the day.

Women in the 18 to 34 year old range are twice as likely as men to watch streaming video on broadcast network TV sites. Most the network TV viewing happens during the lunch hours, or between noon and 2pm. Men are two and a half times more likely to spend their time watching content on sites like YouTube, and this viewing is done mostly anywhere between 10pm and 6am.

The data was sourced from Nielsen Online's new VideoCensus service. It comes after analysts at comScore revealed that the Hollywood writers strike had driven a YouTube-led record month for video viewing. 141 million Internet users in America watched content from sites like YouTube, MySpace, Veoh and Break.com during December.

According to market research firm In-Stat, over 400,000 of Apple's iPhone product are being used with the China Mobile provider despite the lack of availability of iPhone in China and breakdown of talks between the two companies. The company sold 3.7 million iPhones in 2007, and there was a noticeable gap between the number of units sold and those that were activated by providers in the U.S. and Europe that Apple holds exclusive deals with.

Apple has fought off iPhone unlocking as well as it can but it has been turned into a business for entrepreneurs and an ongoing challenge for intelligent developers and hackers. The lucrative revenue sharing deals Apple has signed with providers do not apply if devices are unlocked to use other networks.

At least it does highlight the demand for the iPhone among China's massive population. Apple's talk breakdown with China Mobile was downplayed by CEO Steve Jobs, who claims there was only ever really one meeting. The iPhone is poised to make its Asian debut in 2008 officially.

A self described web Personal Video Recorder (PVR) that allowed users to record from 12 different UK channels appears to have been forced to close its doors. TVCatchup.com which had a tagline "never miss a show again" allowed members set the service to record programmes for them up to 7 days in advance. Afterwards, users could watch the programmes for up to 60 days, or another user could "loan" a recording that another member forgot to set.

Each user had a limit of 10GB worth of recording. However, the legal status of the site has been in question for some time now. The operators maintained that TVCatchup was nothing more than another kind of PVR and so should have the same legal status. The BBC did not agree.

"We are not aware of TVCatchup having approached us, nor have we given our permission for them to make BBC programmes available to the public on this basis," a spokesman told the Guardian in December. "We do not accept all of the assumptions and assertions that they have made in their terms of service, and will be looking into this further."

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The European Commission is set to consult over the current copyright levy systems in place in many EU states. Copyright levies can apply to anything from blank CDs and DVDs to MP3 players and forms of storage. It is a surcharge on the price of an item based on certain criteria. This revenue is collected and then distributed to artists thought to be victims of music and video piracy.

The problem with the levies is the assumption that all of these items purchased will be used for private copying. Charlie McCreevy, EC Internal Markets Commissioner said that while the EU wouldn't scrap the idea of compensating artists for this copying, there is a problem with the wide diversity of implementation throughout the EU states.

"I hope this new round of consultations can lead to solutions being found to the discrepancies that the diverse application of these levies have led to," he said. "There can be no question of calling into doubt the entitlement of rights holders to compensation for private copying. At the same time there is a need to look at how the levies are applied in practice."

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According to a TV industry source, the commercial arm of the BBC will begin adding downloadable video content to Apple Inc.'s iTunes multimedia store. The Register says a source informed them that BBC Worldwide's digital media director Simon Danker informed the company's third-party production partners about the deal with Apple.

BBC Worldwide is an attempt by the BBC to increase revenue by selling rights to TV shows internationally to add to the money collected from TV licenses. The BBC iPlayer allows UK residents to watch TV shows for free up to seven days after they have aired on television, and it has been indicated that iPlayer support will be going to Apple TV soon.

Next year, BBC Worldwide, ITV and Channel 4 are set to launch Project Kangaroo, a joint on-demand video streaming service. It is not clear whether the BBC content going to iTunes will be available worldwide or just in the UK.

Earlier this month, Plextor Europe announced the upcoming availability of its new Blu-ray burning / HD DVD reading optical drive that uses the faster SATA interface. The Plextor PX-B920SA (pictured below) is capable of writing Blu-ray discs at 4X speed and also offers the disc-labeling Lightscribe technology.

"Plextor has developed its second Blu-ray drive to be faster, dual-format, as it reads HD-DVD discs, and utilizes the SATA interface. Plextor has a long history in providing premium, high reliability optical drives and the new PX-B920SA sets the standard again," Rudy de Meirsman, Sales & Marketing Manager of Plextor Europe, said.

Having been developed to strict environmental and recycling standards, the Plextor PX-B920SA meets EU RoHS (restriction of hazardous substances) and WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) directives. The Plextor PX-B920SA will be available from end of February 2008 at Plextor's network of dealers. It is covered by Plextor's Fast Warranty Service (2-year warranty in the EU, Norway and Switzerland (Collect & Return); other countries 1-year carry-in).

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Panasonic USA has revealed the release date details for its upcoming 32GB SD High Capacity (SDHC) Memory Card, suggestion for use with camcorders that utilize the AVCHD format. In April 2008, new SDHC Memory Card, RP-SDV32GU1K, will be launched and is advertised as being able to record up to 12 hours of High Definition video content, depending on the camcorder and the resolution and bitrate settings.

Panasonic recently released the HDC-SD9 camcorder, which is suggested for use with the new 32GB card. Using the HDC-SD9, up to 12 hours of content can be recorded at 1440 x 1080i video in HE mode, or approximately four hours of video content at 1920 x 1080i in HA mode. With the Class 6 speed of the 32GB SDHC card, transfer speeds up to 20MB/s are possible.

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The Motion Picture Association (MPA) has targeted Shenzhen Xunlei Networking Technology (Xunlei), a popular peer-to-peer file sharing service operator in China with copyright infringement lawsuits. The action was taken by all six members of the MPA. The companies are seeking damages and legal fees in excess of 7 million renminbi (US$975,000) in the cases, as well as a public admission of copyright infringement.

The MPA also expects that Xunlei pledge to refrain from future copyright infringement activities. The company offers downloads of the popular Thunder5 and WebThunder file sharing software from its official web site. The movie studios claim the software is responsible for the distribution and sharing of hundreds of movie titles including Spiderman 3, War of the Worlds and Miami Vice, without authorization.

The plaintiffs include Twentieth Century Fox International, Sony Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Buena Vista International, Universal International Films and Warner Bros. Pictures International. Last year, Internet search and services giant Google made a $5 million investment in Xunlei in exchange for a 4% stake in the company.

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According to market research commission by iSuppli, Nintendo's Wii console will reach 18 million sales globally by the end of 2008, jumping from its 2007 figure of 18 million. If iSuppli's figures are correct, it would put a decent gap between the Wii console and the projected 25.7 million units for the Xbox 360 console (by end of 2008).

The Wii is no stranger to popularity, being present in 3.2 million homes by the end of 2006 and then jumping to 18 million a year later. According to iSuppli however, the Xbox 360 managed to retain a lead as the console in most homes by the end of 2007 with 18.2 million units.

Suffering from a shaky first year in the generation, the PlayStation 3 (PS3) lagged behind at 10.3 million by the end of 2007, having sold 1.8 million in its short time on the market at the end of 2006. iSuppli's report did not mention any other games hardware.

The report cited the low price of the Wii console, bundled with its ability to attract more than traditional gamers and its innovative gameplay as the reasons for its predicted continued success. It is competing with two systems that have focused more on high-performance hardware to produce the generation's best GFX experience and also double as home entertainment hubs amongst more attractive features.

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The Software & Information Industry Association (SIAA) has named several eBay sellers in lawsuits aimed at discouraging the sale of pirate software on the Internet auction giant. The nine lawsuits were filed on behalf of Symantec and Adobe Systems in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. It marks the latest action by the SIIA in its war on auction-site piracy initiated two years ago.

"Our goal is to give illegal software sellers a rude awakening, so that unsuspecting software buyers and legitimate sellers are protected. For too long, auction sellers have been able to sell pirated software while risking only the removal of their auction. SIIA has upped the ante by bringing those who pirate software to justice in court," said Keith Kupferschmid, senior vice president of SIIA's anti-piracy division.

These nine lawsuits mark the most agressive action taken by SIIA since its auction site program began. The organization monitors auction sites and identifies individuals selling software items without authorization. Along with pirates, the group has also targeted sellers of OEM software. In the conclusion of the Symantec et al. v. Chan et al. case last year, SIIA collected $205,000. The suit involved the sale of OEM, unbundled, counterfeit and software that was not authorized for sale.

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European internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy has indicated he will propose longer copyright terms for recordings in the European Union, stating he wanted to bring "fairness" into the equation. The record industry has been seeking longer copyright terms in the EU for some time now, complaining that the terms are much shorter than those provided in other major markets.

While performers and producers of music tracks enjoy 95 years of protection in the United States, the term in the European Union sits at 50 years. The position taken by those seeking a longer term claims there is no justification for this difference, especially at a time when the Internet is a promising new platform to market early recordings.

"This is great news for thousands of musicians and we are especially delighted that the Commission has acted to benefit session musicians. We are indebted to our friends and colleagues across the music industry for their ongoing support in achieving this most welcome of outcomes. This is a clear sign that the music community working together has a powerful voice," John F Smith, President, International Federation of Musicians (FIM), said.