News written by Petteri Pyyny (March, 2005)

Sony's much-anticipated handheld console, PSP (PlayStation Portable) went on sale in the United States today. According to early reports, enthustiasts were queuing outside game stores across the U.S. to get the console that has already proven to be a hit in its origin country, Japan.

However, despite PSP's technical superiority, it has faced stiff competition from Nintendo DS which was launched slightly before the PSP and has been hailed due its dual-screen design and other innovative ideas (whereas PSP's strengths are with the hardware power).

First million units sold in the States will be bundled with Spider-Man 2 movie, released on Sony's proprietary UMD format that PSP uses for its games and other content. In the U.S., PSP costs appx. $250 (appx. €193).

Sony hasn't still decided an exact date for PSP's European release, but according to the company it is still "few months away".

Source: BBC

The DVD6C Licensing Group who holds most of the DVD technology's patents, has decided to reduce virtually all of its royalty fees, including the royalties collected from DVD player, DVD movie and blank DVD media manufacturers. The changes will kick in retroactively, beginning from 1st of January, 2005, for the licensees who sign the revised licensing contract with the DVD6C before June 30th.

Under the revised licensing fees, the minimum licensing fee for blank media (DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD-RAM only, DVD6C's licenses don't cover "plus" formats like DVD+R) will drop by one U.S. cent, from the current $0.075 to $0.065.

Similarly, minimum DVD player licensing fees will drop from $4.00 to $3.00 and pre-recorded DVD media (including DVD-ROM, DVD-Video and DVD-Audio discs) royalties will drop from minimum of $0.05 to $0.045. It is also interesting to note that since September, 2003 DVD6C has been the sole authority to license DVD cases as well -- one DVD case carries a minimum licensing fee of half a cent under the revised pricing structure.