Latest news

Sharp will release its first two Freeview HD set-top receivers in the UK over the coming weeks. First though, it will release a new Freeview DVR (standard-definition) receiver that uses USB-connected storage to make it easier to transfer recorded Freeview content to a computer (but unfortunately will not play back content from a computer).

The Sharp TU-T1UR has three USB 2.0 ports on the front of the box for use with external hard driver, flash drives or SD card adapters. It connects to a standard definition television through SCART, Composite cables or through HDMI (even though the box is not HD). It features a typical eight-day programming guide and standard DVR recording and scheduling features.

China Mobile has announced plans to invest billions of dollars in a Chinese bank as part of a broader plan to develop mobile phone-based banking and business services for end users. The company will pay out 39.8 billion yuan ($5.8 billion) to gain 20 percent of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank.

Mobile phone companies and service operators globally are looking to the high levels of mobile phone use as an untapped instrument for financial transactions and other business uses. Of the between 6 and 7 billion people on earth, it is estimated that around 1 billion have some kind of bank account.

Nokia is one company that has seen huge potential to turn mobile phones into tools for financial transactions with Nokia Money. In some countries, such as Finland, using mobile phones to pay for certain services like public transport, or to pay for a car wash or soft drink from a dispenser, is fairly common practice.

China Mobile and the Shanghai Pudong Development Bank will work together to develop mobile phone services such as customer payments and money transfers and other e-commerce solutions.

The United States is considering whether it can mount a legal challenge against Chinese Internet restrictions that it claims hurt U.S. companies such as Google Inc. in the Chinese market. U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk revealed Washington's consideration on Tuesday, but added that direct talks with Beijing could yield faster results.

"We are still dialoguing not just with Google, but with other Internet providers, to make sure we fully understand what is happening in China," Kirk said in remarks at the National Press Club. The case would be the first of its kind taken up by the WTO if it is to go ahead. Such a case has been pushed by free speech groups within the United States, such as the First Amendment Coalition, for years.

The case of Internet censorship has come to the limelight again this year since Google threatened to leave the Chinese market. While having to comply with strict Chinese censorship regulations, Google was also targeted by hackers in the country. The attacks were aimed at Google's valuable source codes and other property, and also the e-mail accounts of human rights activists in China.

Record company EMI has found itself the target of legal action from Pink Floyd in a dispute over royalty payments and technicalities of how music is sold to consumers in a digital form. Having being outsold only by the Beatles, Pink Floyd has been signed to EMI for 40 years now.

The artists are disputing how royalty payments and the marketing of their music are calculated in modern industry. It also objects to how EMI can "unbundle" their albums - or in other words sell any individual tracks from any Pink Floyd albums over the Internet without selling the full album.

Pink Floyd's lawyer, Robert Howe, told the High Court in London that EMI is violating a contractual clause that "expressly prohibits" unbundling of tracks for individual sale from Pink Floyd albums, which include The Wall and The Dark Side of the Moon.

EMI disputes that it is violating the clause, saying that it only applies to a "physical product" and does not apply for digital sales made on the Internet. Howe disagrees, saying that EMI's position makes no commercial sense, and is clearly contradicted by the conditions used in the agreement with EMI.

According to comments made by Mindy Mount, CFO of Microsoft's Entertainment & Devices division, the games industry can expect to see Microsoft's full line-up of Project Natal titles at this year's E3 event. She said that the company's best designers are working on the platform currently.

Microsoft's Robbie Bach also claimed in January this year that 70-80 percent of game publishers are committed to releasing Natal titles. With Microsoft's first party developers having shrunk in recent years, the size of a full first party line-up is hard to estimate. Reports are that Rare is one developer heavily involved with Natal.

Lionhead Studios are implementing features of Natal into the Fable III title, and smaller first party developer such as Shawnpoint Studios and BigPark reportedly have developments for Natal too.

"We have very strong first and third-party developer support for [Natal]," said Mount. "Needless to say, we're putting some of our best people on coming up with great game ideas for this, and we're going to have some great stuff."

Sony Corp. and Samsung Electronics have announced plans to introduce 3D televisions in the coming months. Both companies are betting that 3D televisions will increase revenues as more high-profile titles such as Alice in Wonderland and Avatar hit theaters. Sony also plans to release 3D game titles for the PlayStation 3 (PS3) console in time for its 3D launch in June.

Panasonic Corp., the world's fourth largest flat-panel television maker, has teamed up with Best Buy in the United States to promote its line-up of 3D televisions. Best Buy stores will set up viewing areas for customers to sample the 3D TVs, and Panasonic has an ambitious goal of selling 500,000 units in the fiscal year starting April.

Samsung, the industry leader, will sell 46-inch and 55-inch 3D televisions (LCD) in the United States this month, and will add more models to its line-up over the coming months. "It will likely be ardent game players who will first buy 3D TVs as an early adopter," said analyst Alex Oh of Hanwha Securities in Seoul.

Sony Computer Entertainment America has announced today that they have signed deals to offer HD digital downloads and rentals from all the major movie studios via the PlayStation Network (PSN), the first platform to do so.

"Securing high definition content from these studios is another significant milestone further validating PlayStation Network as a complete entertainment network in the home. PlayStation Network is the first and only service to deliver high definition home entertainment from all six major studios, directly to consumers for download," added Peter Dille, senior vice president, marketing and PlayStation Network, SCEA. "PlayStation Network continues to offer the most comprehensive catalogue of HD movies to PlayStation Network members that realize the wide-ranging entertainment power of the PS3 system."

Currently the films are only available to United States gamers, but should hit the UK, France, Germany and Spain "soon."

According to FBR Capital analyst Craig Berger, Apple is prepared to build 5 million iPads for the first half of 2010, a higher estimate then most previous analysis.

Says Berger in an investment note: "We believe various news articles and competitor notes calling for a build delay were just false alarms."

Additionally, Berger gave estimates for other Apple devices, including iPods and Mac notebooks.

The analyst expects builds of 9.3 million iPods for the March quarter, 1.7 million notebooks and 1 million desktops.

The iPad has an April 3rd release date for models with only Wi-Fi support. 3G versions are expected in the coming months.

An analytics firm, the Strategy Analytics Connected Home Devices (SACHD) has released a forecasting report that says the Sony PlayStation 3 will eventually outsell the Xbox 360 and the Wii, on route to 127 million units sold.

The "Taming the Waves: Games Console Life Cycles and Platform Competition," report says that Sony's PS3 will surpass the Wii eventually despite a giant gap now, as the firm believes the PS3 will still be a viable platform for at least five years after the Wii is replaced.

Overall, SACHD sees 103 million units sold for the Wii, and 127 million for the PS3. They did not offer a prediction for the Xbox 360.

Just one day after Apple unveiled their first iPad commercial during the Academy Awards, HP is fighting back, releasing a few videos that show off the powerful features of the upcoming Slate tablet.

The Windows 7-based tablet was first shown off at the CES event earlier this year, and should be Apple's biggest rival when it is released.

"With this Slate product, you're getting a full Web browsing experience in the palm of your hand," says Phil McKinney, vice president and CTO for HP's personal systems group (PSG). "No watered-down Internet, no sacrifices."

The Slate runs Flash no problem, unlike the iPad, which is looking like it will never have Flash support.

Venezuela's Hugo Chavez has signed into effect a new anti-violent video game law that makes it a crime to import "violent" video games, with offenders being forced to pay a heavy fine or even spend up to five years in prison.

Gamethirst has translated the "Ley para la Prohibición de Videojuegos Bélicos y Juguetes Bélicos" (Law for the banning of violent video games and toys) and posted it (reposted here):

1. Violent video games: Video games or programs that can be use on personal computers, arcade systems, video game consoles, portable devices or mobile telephones, or any other electronic or telephonic device, that contain information or images that promote or incite violence and the use of weapons.

2. Violent toys: Objects or instruments that in form mimic any kind of weapon used by the National Bolivarian Armed Forces, weapons of war used by any other nation, citizen or state security forces, as well as those that, though not promoting war, establish the kind of game that stimulates aggressiveness or violence.

Article 13. Those who in any way promote the purchase or use of violent toys or video games as defined by this law will be punished with a fine of between 2,000 and 4,000 tax units.

America's largest carrier, Verizon Wireless, has announced they have signed a deal with the NFL to stream live football games via the RedZone Channel over mobile phones.

The deal will last for the next four seasons, and will begin with the NFL draft in April.

Although unconfirmed, the deal is said to have been priced at $720 million.

The NFL has never had a deal of this caliber, preferring to broadcast games on TV, on CBS, FOX, and ESPN. Verizon continues to look at ways of bringing in new revenue, as the mobile phone market is near saturation in the United States.

Although completely unconfirmed, TechArp is reporting that Windows 7 Service Pack 1 is coming in the Q4 2010.

TechArp has been spot on for past service pack releases, dating back to the XP days, so the new report is speculation, but at least worth listening to.

In January, rumors began swirling of an upcoming SP1, but Microsoft responded: "There is currently no news around this at the moment."

Vista saw its SP1 released 14 months after release, and that OS was debateably one of Microsoft's worse. After SP1 is released, Microsoft is expected to see a bump in sales, as corporations normally wait until after the first service pack release to migrate to a new operating system.

According to a new WSJ report, Google has teamed up with the Dish Network to create an Android-based set-top box that will be used to stream YouTube and other videos to HDTVs.

The set-top will be operated with a keyboard, making for easier searches.

Additionally to YouTube, the deal will allow for searches of video content from Dish as well, and the ability to create video playlists. The Journal also notes that Google has been working on the box since last year, and that it still may not ever get released, as it is not top priority for the search giant.

Dish Network has 14 million subscribers.

It is unclear how Google will price the box, and whether ad revenue will subsidize the price.

Ubisoft has confirmed that their DRM servers remained under attack until earlier today, thanks to a DDoS attack.

Yesterday we reported that Ubi's servers were down, meaning legitimate buyers of their games could no longer play the game, since the "always connected" DRM could not connect.

Read the original Tweet: "Our servers are under attack again. Some gamers are experiencing trouble signing in. We're working on it and will keep you posted"

Today, the company says the servers are back online: "Login servers were partially reestablished at 10pm CET and fully restored at 1am CET. The attack affected only those trying to login"

Ubi's "always connected" DRM means gamers must be connected to the Internet at all times, so the game can authenticate. If you are ever kicked off the Internet, even for a second (or Ubi's servers are down), you are brought back to the main menu, losing any progress you made in the game since your last save.