25 most recent entries:
RIAA suit against MP3tunes' CEO gets dismissed (Oct 05 2008 21:15 GMT)
New York District Judge William H. Pauley III has dismissed the RIAA's copyright infringment lawsuit against MP3Tunes' CEO Michael Robertson but has said the lawsuit against the company itself will go on as planned. The lawsuit, brought forward by the RIAA on behalf of EMI and 14 other labels claims that MP3Tunes "infringed on copyrights as it offers an online music storage service, allowing users to upload their music collections and access them from virtually anywhere." Robertson is quick to point out that much larger corporations offer the same exact service as his company does and that "MP3Tunes was targeted because of its comparatively small size, ensuring EMI an easier victory that would then be used to shut down similar services and cripple consumers’ rights." A few notable examples of other similar services are AOL’s Xdrive, Microsoft’s Skydrive and BT’s The Vault.
Warner tries to curb Korean piracy (Oct 05 2008 20:47 GMT)
Warner Bros. has announced that they will be upping efforts to curb piracy in South Korea by releasing their movies on demand at least two weeks before official DVD release dates. The experimental move, according to Thomas Gewecke, president of Warner Bros. Digital Distribution, is a chance to see if the move will curb Internet piracy at all in a country where almost everyone has broadband Internet. "Korea is the ideal market for us to expand our digital distribution strategy," Gewecke said.
Vudu launches HDX high-definition format (Oct 05 2008 20:37 GMT)
Vudu has officially announced that it will be rolling out films in a new high-definition format, dubbed HDX which the company claims is the best looking format yet for content delivered via the web, TV or cable VOD. The launch will have 50 films available in the format, which plays back in full HD 1080p resolution. A few of the releases include the new hits The Spiderwick Chronicles, In Bruges, Speed Racer and a few classics such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Chinatown. All Vudu users can watch the content via a purchased set-top box and although Vudu admits Blu-ray will offer a superior video and audio experience, HDX will trump any current HD service. Although the company did not say how large the file sizes were on average, they did say HDX delivery would take about 4 hours per film for the average user.
Japanese videogame sales fall sharply (Oct 05 2008 20:16 GMT)
Enterbrain has released the videogame sales figures for the first six months of the fiscal year in Japan and it appears that sales have slowed greatly, falling over 20 percent year on year. The sales data is for the period of March 31, 2008 through September 28, 2008 and despite the sharp fall the Sony PlayStation Portable handheld was the biggest seller, beating out its biggest rival the Nintendo DS Lite handheld. According to Kotaku, the figures look like the following: • Hardware: Nintendo DS (DS and DS Lite) First half of the year:
British pop stars want more power in the digital age of music (Oct 04 2008 22:28 GMT)
This morning 60 of Britain's largest pop stars announced they are forming the Featured Artists' Coalition , a group that will seek out greater control of the artists' music in the digital age. Robbie Williams, Radiohead, the Verve and Kaiser Chiefs are just some of the members included in the Featured Artists' Coalition. In a claim that many artists have been making for years, the group says it wants the artists to actually retain control over their music instead of the record labels having those rights. The group claims that artists are usually left out of the cut when their songs are distributed digitally, whether it be online or through mobile services. "It is time for artists to have a strong collective voice to stand up for their interests," said Brian Message, co-manager of Radiohead and the singer Kate Nash.
Xbox 360 outsells PS3 in Japan for September (Oct 04 2008 22:08 GMT)
According to the latest figures from Enterbrain, the Microsoft Xbox 360 has outsold its rival the Sony PlayStation 3 in Japan for the month of September marking the first time the console has ever outsold Sony on its home turf. The strong sales came mostly after Microsoft slashed the prices of its console across the board and for the month Microsoft sold 53,547 units compared to Sony's 33,071 units. The Wii continued to be a strong seller and moved more than both its rivals did combined for the month, selling 109,548 units. Although the race between the 360 and the PS3 is normally very close in North America, the race has never been close in Japan with Microsoft lagging far behind. In an effort to spur sales worldwide, Microsoft slashed the prices of each model of the 360, to 19,800 yen for the Arcade model, 28,000 yen for the Premium model and 39,800 yen for the Elite model.
Nokia's 'Comes With Music' adds EMI catalog (Oct 04 2008 20:37 GMT)
EMI has announced that they have joined Nokia's "Comes With Music" unlimited mobile download service, meaning that each of the Big 4 record labels is now on board for the launch of the service this month. Universal Music Group, Sony BMG and Warner Music Group have all been signed for some time now, as well as a ton of indie labels. Buyers of a few models of Nokia handsets will receive the service for free for one year in which they are allowed to download unlimited music for the year and then keep the music forever. The service is free because the phones with it will sell at a premium.Permalink | Comments
Netflix 'Watch Instantly' finally available for Mac users (Oct 04 2008 20:13 GMT)
Netflix has said that its large streaming "Watch Instantly" service is now finally available for Mac users, a feature many subscribers have been hoping for for some time. The statement is from the official Netflix blog which also noted the previously posted Starz content deal. That deal added another 2500 movies and TV episodes to the services' library. The giant rental company already has a catalog of over 12,000 movies and TV shows available through its streaming service but has been making deals at a rapid clip as of late. Netflix has over 100,000 titles available on DVD however so the gap is still huge between the content formats.
'Lord of the Rings' finally headed to Blu-ray (Oct 04 2008 19:38 GMT)
In more news that bodes well for the future of the Blu-ray format, Warner has revealed that at least the first installment of the blockbuster trilogy The Lord of the Rings is finally headed to Blu-ray, and it is "coming soon". The revelation came as part of an insert added into the new 'Poltergeist' Blu-ray Disc that shows what "Collector's Editions" of BDs are coming as well as movies that are "Coming Soon." A few other notable movies shown on the insert are "Shawshank Redemption", "The Notebook", "The Wizard of Oz" and "Rush Hour" among others. Industry sources have also noted that the entire trilogy is headed to Blu-ray in 2009, although there was no word on whether the first editions sold would be theatrical cuts or extended cuts. The news follows on the footsteps of Iron Man breaking BD sales records in just 3 days and word that the Dark Knight is coming to Blu-ray in two editions and with tons of BD-Live features.
No DSi in North America until at least April 2009 (Oct 03 2008 22:47 GMT)
Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has noted that American fans hoping to get their hands on the newly released Nintendo DSi will have to wait until at least April 2009. Fils-Aime also said he expect consumers to continue buying up DS Lite handhelds and hopes that they will choose to upgrade later. "All through the Americas we continue to have great momentum on DS Lite and so for us we have a huge opportunity, much more consumers who want the original DS Lite, and so it will be for us a fantastic opportunity in our next fiscal," noted Fils-Aime. "The critical decision for those consumers is how long do you wait? We haven't announced a launch date, and really for us it's going to be in our next fiscal, so certainly, after April – that's a long time to wait for a consumer who will be bypassing new titles like Chrono Trigger.
iTunes remains open, rates stay the same (Oct 03 2008 22:23 GMT)
On Monday we reported that Apple was threatening to close down iTunes if the Copyright Royalty Board voted to raise digital music distribution royalty fees. It appears however that fans of the iTunes store need not worry as the vote has come through and the rates will remain unchanged, at least for the near future. The rate hike talk will be re-voted on in 2012, but for the time being everyone seems happy with the decision including the record labels and the Digital Media Association, the group of which most online music retailers including Apple and Amazon are a part of. Jonathan Potter, the Association’s executive director, added "that the decision to keep the rates at the same level will significantly help digital services and retailers in their quests to innovate and grow over the next several years."Permalink | Comments
'Iron Man' is already highest selling BD title, ever (Oct 03 2008 22:06 GMT)
Although we wont have the official numbers until Tuesday, Iron Man director Jon Favreau has confirmed that the blockbuster film is already the highest selling Blu-ray title of all-time, despite the fact that it was only released on September 30th. Favreau made the announcement during an interview with 'shock jock' Howard Stern on Stern's radio show on Sirius XM. The new fact is not very surprising considering how well the film did in theaters and the fact that the film's BD-Live servers could not handle the demand put on them in the first days after the BD's release. You can hear the audio below: Permalink | Comments
Kid Rock's digital catalog goes exclusive on Rhapsody (Oct 03 2008 21:53 GMT)
Online music service Rhapsody has announced that the popular musician Kid Rock has chosen the platform as the exclusive online venue for his music, snubbing the market share leader iTunes in the process. The musician's music has never been legally available digitally but as of today his entire catalog will be available for purchase and streaming through the subscription service. Kid Rock has always shown his distaste for the iTunes store, despite the fact that it is the clear market leader for digital downloads. In June, Rock even went as far as to tell kids to pirate his music as much as they want. "I was telling kids - download it illegally, I don't care.
Nokia launches the 'Tube' XpressMusic 5800 (Oct 02 2008 21:18 GMT)
Although Nokia continues to struggle for market share in the US, sales overseas continue to grow and today the handset maker announced the launch of the Nokia XpressMusic 5800 , nicknamed "the Tube", in what should be their largest release of the year. The 5800 launches alongside the release of Nokia's "Comes with Music" unlimited music download service and uses a Symbian S60 interface that Nokia has been demoing since last year. 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.
'Iron Man' BD-Live servers could not handle demand (Oct 02 2008 18:54 GMT)
Iron Man, the Paramount blockbuster, has been selling very well on both standard DVD and Blu-ray since its release on September 30th but many Blu-ray buyers have been having problems over the last two days when trying to access the BD-Live features of the disc. Paramount has issued a statement however, and it seems that the demand was higher than the studio had anticipated and the servers had been overloaded. "The Iron Man Blu-ray went on sale Tuesday and due to the overwhelming popularity of the release an unprecedented demand was placed on the BD-Live connection. The disc represents a truly state-of-the art Blu-ray presentation with a first of its kind BD-Live application. As such, the heavy amount of traffic strained the servers due to so many people heading to the same destination.
New Wii with hard drive, HD coming in 2011? (Oct 02 2008 05:44 GMT)
According to a new report from What They Play, Nintendo is intent on making a "true" next-gen console but is going to ride the commercial success of the Wii for as long as possible. Citing insider sources, the report says the upgraded Wii will keep current motion-based gameplay but will add processing and graphics power that can drive HD support. The new console would also include a hard drive, acknowledging the main problem gamers have had with the Wii. The console will also have backwards-compatibility for Wii games and should also be compatible with Virtual Console games. The report also says the console would include a new GPU from AMD and a new CPU from IBM, both of which will include provisions to play Wii software without the need for emulation.
Netflix announces deal with Starz (Oct 02 2008 04:36 GMT)
Netflix has announced another partnership, this time with Starz Entertainment, that will bring 2500 movies, TV shows and concerts to the rental company's "Watch Instantly" streaming service. The giant rental company already has a catalog of over 12,000 movies and TV shows available through its streaming service but has been making deals at a rapid clip as of late. Netflix has over 100,000 titles available on DVD however so the gap is still huge between the content formats. The deals also mean that the company will remain relevant if the world ever moves to digital downloads and streaming and away from DVD rentals, just like the migration from VHS to DVD a decade ago. Starz says the deal will give Netflix viewers a chance to view the movies online alot earlier than they would otherwise be able to.
iTunes Store to close down? (Oct 01 2008 17:47 GMT)
Apple has threatened to close down its iTunes store if proposed royalty rate increases for digital music sales pass tomorrow. The Copyright Royalty Board is set to meet tomorrow to vote on whether to increase royalties 66 percent, to 15 cents a track from the current 9. The rise would either have to paid by Apple, the record labels or the consumer. Apple is completely against the rate hike and has said it will close down the store rather than absorb the hike or raise the price of a track to over 99 cents. Eddy Cue, the vice president for iTunes, said this to the Board at the Library of Congress.
Dell begins pre-loading movies on new PCs (Sep 30 2008 17:56 GMT)
PC giant Dell has announced that it will begin pre-loading movies on some of its new PCs. Beginning with the blockbuster hit Iron Man, Inspiron 1525 notebooks and XPS 420/630 can optionally have a digital copy already installed on the PC when you purchase it. The digital copy will also come with bonus special features. The company says you cannot burn the copies to DVD but you can share them around a network using a Windows Media Extender such as the Xbox 360. Dell says it will have titles from all studios but will focus only on blockbusters or classic movies rather than offer an entire catalog.
RealNetworks sues Hollywood over RealDVD (Sep 30 2008 17:32 GMT)
Earlier this month we reported that a legal DVD ripping application was coming from RealNetworks by the end of the month. The software, RealDVD, has now successfully launched today and with the launch RealNetworks has also announced they have filed a lawsuit against the major Hollywood studios hoping to have the court rule that the program "fully complies with the DVD Copy Control Association's license agreement." The suit names the DVD Copy Control Association, Inc., Disney, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, and Twentieth Century Fox among others. RealNetworks claims that the software "allows consumers to securely store, manage and play their DVDs on their computers" and "does not enable users to distribute copies of their DVDs.
Xbox 360 outselling PS3 two-to-one, says Microsoft (Sep 30 2008 16:57 GMT)
Microsoft has made a statement saying that since they cut the price across the board for their Xbox 360 console, the system has been outselling its rival, the Sony PlayStation 3, by a two-to-one ratio. Figures from Chart Track seem to back up that statement, saying sale are up 215 percent since the price cut was announced in Europe. "This data shows that the Xbox 360 trajectory continues upwards, and not just in the UK," added Chris Lewis, VP of Xbox in Europe. "We've seen uplift in all countries in Europe and are confident that even at this rate of growth we can keep retail satisfied with a steady supply of consoles throughout the Christmas season." The company did not however, go into detailed units sales for the last month.
'Jasper' Xbox 360s begin shipping? (Sep 30 2008 16:21 GMT)
According to the Xbox 360 DVD Drive Database, the new 'Jasper' Xbox 360s have begun shipping as of August in the UK and in the US. The 'Jasper' hardware revision is the shrinking of the GPU from a 90nm chip to a 65nm chip which the company hopes will keep the system cooler and significantly reduce the now infamous 'red ring of death', the sign that your 360 needs to be replaced. Overall, Microsoft has spent $1 billion USD in replacing 360s that have failed (mainly from overheating) which has dipped into profits the software maker is making on the console. The database says the Arcade model is shipping with the Jasper revisions in the UK, the US and other countries around Europe. A new update marked this week shows the Elite model shipping to the US with the Jasper revisions.
'Dark Knight' goes BD-Live (Sep 30 2008 06:10 GMT)
While we don't normally post simple Blu-ray or DVD releases, it is clear that the blockbuster smash The Dark Knight is going to be the biggest Blu-ray release of the year and possibly the biggest Blu-ray release to date, so we felt it was important to write on Warner Bro's announcement that the film will be the studio's first BD-Live capable release when it hits stores on December 9th. According to HDDigest, there will be a standard release and a "limited edition release" and that the "tech specs for the standard version include the 153-minute feature film spread across a BD-50 dual-layer disc with 1080p/VC-1 video (2.40:1) and English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround audio.
Internet Radio saved? (Sep 30 2008 02:27 GMT)
The House of Representatives has unanimously passed the bill that will greenlight an agreement between Internet Radio companies and SoundExchange, the nonprofit organization that collects royalties for the record labels and the RIAA. In March 2007 the federal Copyright Royalty Board negotiated new royalty rates for digital broadcasters that would have increased the rates to levels where the Internet Radio companies could no longer stay in business. Recently however, before the new rates come into effect, the two sides have been negotiating a deal and the deal seems imminent. There is however, one problem, and that is the fact that Congress is preparing to adjourn until the elections and "because Internet radio companies operate under a government license, any final agreement needs congressional authorization." The new bill that passed means the sides can continue negotiatons until February 15th of next year and makes sure that any deal agreed upon while Congress is in recess is legally binding.
Norway to sue Apple in hopes of opening up FairPlay DRM (Sep 30 2008 01:46 GMT)
Norway Consumer Ombudsman Bjorn Erik Thon, after two years of being at odds with Apple, is now bringing his case to the Norwegian Market Council, hoping the council will force the company to remove its FairPlay DRM and allow users to play back their iTunes-purchased music on players other than the iPod. "The Ombudsman demands that the consumers themselves should be able to choose what music device they would like to use to listen to music bought from the iTunes Store," he said. Thon adds that Apple uses the DRM to "dictate" what hardware the music is played back on. "As of today, the only portable players able to play files downloaded from iTunes are Apples own iPods," read his original complaint from 2006. Since 2006 Thon admits that Apple has made some progress, but that it is not enough and Apple has until November 3rd or he will sue them.
|
