News written by Rich Fiscus (June, 2008)

A research paper from a team at Tohoku University in Japan has apparently found a way to increase the data density on a DVD by changing the shape of the pits. Supposedly a V shaped pit can hold more than 500 times as much data as the standard square sided pit found on a regular DVD.

While it's certainly an interesting idea, it seems like the buzz that's being generated on some tech websites is more than a little premature. To begin with it's not really a DVD and apparently can't be played on any existing hardware. That makes sense if you consider that the angle of reflection would be different.

Presumably the description of it as a DVD refers to the laser's wavelength, which could certainly make players less expensive to manufacture than Blu-ray. But that doesn't necessarily mean disc production costs, perhaps Blu-ray's biggest weakness, would be any better.

Let's say, for the sake of argument, this new technology would be cheaper to implement than Blu-ray. The studios and consumer electronics manufacturers have already decided on Blu-ray. Regardless of the technical merits of a new format it would still need hardware and content. We already have VMD as a cheaper alternative to Blu-ray and so far it looks like a nonstarter.

With the US DTV transition coming up in less than a year we've given you a number of updates about the resulting public confusion. Anyone who's followed that saga in the last several months won't be surprised to hear that the UK seems to have the same problems.

The Committee of Public Accounts, which is approximately equivalent to the US Government Accountability Office (GAO), is reporting that although broadcasters appear to be on track for digital transmissions, the two governmental agencies tasked with ensuring a smooth transition "have not taken effective action to protect consumer interests."

The report says the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform have done a poor job of educating consumers. It goes on to complain that they haven't established the kind of specific goals necessary to avoid major problems when analog TV signals are turned off. This has resulted in many people buying analog-only TVs that will require a set-top box for DTV reception.

It also criticizes both departments for pawning off their responsibilities on third parties with no real oversight to make sure public money is being used effieciently or effectively.

Xbox users have been able to move data from one hard drive to another for some time. This is extremely useful if you happen to have bought a model with a small hard drive and want to upgrade to a larger one. Unfortunately one thing missing from the process has been the ability to transfer licenses for DRM-crippled content from the Xbox Live Marketplace.

With the introduction of a new DRM transfer tool Microsoft has finally made that possible. A PC is required to initiate the transfer online, after which you can connect to Xbox Live with a new hard drive in your Xbox (or with a Xbox) and download the licenses.

Movie licenses still can't be transferred, so you'll want to make sure and watch any titles you've rented before swapping hard drives.

You can find more information about the process, including a video demonstrating the process, on Microsoft's website.

Whatever else you can say about Prince he seems to be very consistent. In the past he's been vigilant in protecting the rights granted him as a copyright holder, and even gone so far as to make up a few rights of his own. Now he's going after a record label in Norway for a 5 CD tribute recorded in honor of his 50th birthday.

C+C Records is the offending label, and they do actually seem to be in violation of copyright law. Apparently they were under the mistaken impression than since they weren't making a profit from the sale of the limited edition release no royalties were owed. While it seems likely they still owe Prince the small mechanical royalty for each song, that's not what he's after, or at least not the only thing.

Instead he's suing to have every copy of the album destroyed. It's not necessarily surprising that Prince would attempt to claim rights over his work that he just doesn't have. Previously we've told you about how he's used the DMCA to have videos removed from YouTube that were either a clear case of fair use or simply owned by someone else.

It's been nearly 3 years since the RIAA brought a copyright infringement suit against Tanya Andersen accusing her of sharing files illegally on KaZaA, and nearly a year since she was awarded lawyer fees related to the case after it was dismissed with prejudice. Recording industry lawyers characterize Ms. Andersen's claims against them as an attempt to game the system, but the facts simply aren't on their side.

What really happened should be an eye opener for anyone who believes the labels are actually looking for justice, rather than simply trying to show they can bully people because they have the resources to do so. The RIAA spent nearly two years getting through the discovery process. When the investigation was complete they actually had a weaker case than when they started, and still they claimed the moral high ground, even going so far as to assert their lack of evidence shouldn't be held against them.

A report commissioned by the e-NC Authority in North Carolina has dire warnings for the future if the US continues to fall behind other western nations in broadband internet deployment. It explains how the US has fallen behind so many other countries and characterizes it as a necessity for competing in the modern world rather than being a luxury along the lines of cable television.

"If the United States wants to preserve its high standard of living and quality of life, it must rapidly prepare its workforce to move up the value chain to knowledge-based jobs that can command the high wages that Americans have come to expect. This will require improvements in many areas, especially to our educational system and our advanced communications infrastructure," says the report.

The document proposes a remedy to the US' leadership void. It suggests the country needs a national plan to make 100Mbps internet connections available across the country by 2012, and 1Gbps connections by 2015.

Additionally it suggests that local governments be encouraged to establish their own networks if telecommunications companies don't step up to the challenge. They use the example of early deployment of electric service, when privately owned utilities didn't consider many small towns or most rural areas worth serving. Communities were forced to create public utilities of their own to fill the gap.

A California company has just successfully demonstrated new positioning technology similar to GPS, but which utilizes DVB-H mobile television broadcasts in place of GPS satellite signals. The company's name is Rosum and their technology is intended as a way to augment, or even completely replace GPS in certain applications.

The test was conducted using a DVB-H trial network in the UK belonging to National Grid Wireless. They provide infrastructure for both mobile phone and television broadcasters.

The primary advantage to Rosum's technology is its improved performance indoors compared to GPS. Since GPS was originally designed for outdoor use it doesn't always work well for applications such as tracking assets or people, where it may have to work well inside a building. This is particularly true in densely populated urban areas. TV signals, on the other hand. are designed specifically for the ability to traverse buildings, trees, and other obstacles.

DVB-H in particular is an interesting application for such technology since its primary application is in consumer devices - mostly mobile phones right now. Technology like this could help fuel sales of DVB-H enable handsets for business applications.

It looks like television shows produced by Sony Pictures may be available in a new form soon. That's because DivX, Inc, creators of the the well-known DivX video codec, have made a deal with Sony Pictues Television International (SPTI) which will allow online retailers to offer downloads in DivX format.

Although better known as the company that spread MPEG-4 video beyond the video enthusiast community with their popular codec, the DivX Certification program has been arguably a much more important development for consumers. Not only are certified DVD and media players capable of playing MPEG-4 video encoded with a wide variety of tools, they're also compatible with the company's own VOD system (and DRM), which is presumably a key factor in the deal with Sony.

Vizio has announced two new LCD HDTVs as well as a new plasma model. Each of the new 1080p TVs will feature a pair of HDMI 1.3 inputs.

The 42' SV420XVT and 47" SV470XVT LCD TVs are expected to start shipping in July and will retail for $1500 and $1900 respectively. Both have a refresh rate of 120Hz.

The 50" VP505XVT plasma TV will also be available starting in July for a price of $1700. It incorporates the Silicon Optix REON HQV video processor for deinterlacing, pulldown detection, and general picture cleanup.

Over the past two years Vizio has become a major player in the flat panel HDTV market, and is currently second only to Samsung in terms of unit sales.

Mitsubishi announce that the first model in their new LaserVue line of HDTVs will be available some time in the third quarter of this year. The LaserVue name refers to the fact that the picture is produced by actual laser beams. The first model will have a 65" screen and will be followed at some point by a 73" version.

"As a result of our majority share of the world-wide high-performance red laser market, Mitsubishi has an unparalleled, acute understanding of laser technology, and the corresponding expertise to effectively engineer laser beams to function as the ultimate light engine for this premium large screen television product," said Frank DeMartin, vice president, marketing, at Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America.

He added "Several TV manufacturers have attempted to bring laser TV to market, and have failed. Making laser TV a reality represents yet another history-making milestone in a long legacy of industry firsts for Mitsubishi."

LaserVue TVs wlll also feature a 120Hz refresh rate and support for x.v.Color.

The Entertainment Merchants Associatioon (EMA) has released its annual report on the US home entertainment sales and rental market. After last year's prediction that high definition discs would dominate the market by 2009 you might expect to see significant growth during 2007. In terms of percentage it was actually fairly impressive at more than 200% sales growth, but in terms of the total market that's not as impressive as it sounds.

According to the report HD discs still accounted for barely over $260 million in sales during 2007. By comparison standard DVD sales amounted to nearly $16 billion. The EMA's current estimate for Blu-ray is sales of $9.5 billion in 2012, when they are predicting it will account for higher sales than DVD.

Total spending for all home video, including both sales and rental of all formats was down slightly from 2006, but the news was much better for the gaming market. In stark contrast to DVD and other home video formats, spending for games saw a serious increase of 34% from 2006.

Starting last year a concert promoters at Live Nation made headlines by signing Madonna to what's become known in the music business as a 360 deal. Under the agreement Madonna shares revenue from recordings, merchandise, and concerts with Live Nation in exchange for several million dollars up front. They've since made similar 360 deals with U2 and Jay-Z. Now, for an encore, they've fired the man chiefly responsible for those deals.

Apparently Micheal Cohl, who ran the Live Nation Artist's division, was pushing to sign even more artists. That put him at odds with Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino who wanted to stick with the company's original plan to find out if the 360 deals were actually profitable before spending the additional money.

The idea behind 360 deals is a fairly obvious one for many people in the music business. Since music sales are down while concert and merchandise revenue are growing, offering a single contract that covers all of them makes more sense financially than just a recording contract on its own. The problem is that artists know that too and they're not ready to give up their more lucrative businesses without big advances.

SingleClick Systems, who already sells home network management software for consumers and small businesses, has a new product aimed at iPhone and Blackberry owners who want mobile access to the video files they have at home. Their new Remote Access software is designed to allow users to stream video from home without installing any additional software on their phones.

"SingleClick Remote Access works seamlessly with the installed software on the iPhone, as opposed to other solutions requiring the user to download a third party application which may violate their user license agreement and warranty," said Scot Zarkiewicz, CEO of SingleClick Systems. "Because SingleClick Remote Access is a dynamic software application residing on the home computer, iPhone users can safely break out of the iTunes stranglehold and stream their entire content library anywhere they happen to be."

In addition to streaming support, SingleClick Remote Access will also provide a VPN connection to access the rest of the network securely. It will be offered as a standalone product and also integrated into the company's HomeNet Manager networking software.

Nokia is leading the charge among mobile phone manufacturers and service providers to make the Symbian OS the standard in mobile devices. Nokia, who already owned 48% of Symbian Limited, is buying the remaining shares and will be moving the company to a royalty-free licensing model. At the same time they're working with AT&T, LG Electronics, Motorola, NTT DOCOMO, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments and Vodafone to establish the Symbian Foundation for the development and distribution of the OS.

By getting the backing of so many industry leaders they've virutally assured their smart phone OS of choice a place in the market for the next few years. It probably doesn't hurt that it helps established companies at the expense of newer competitors like Google's Android. Being an established platform and royalty-free arguably gives them the advantage.

Although there's been a lot of talk about siumlutanious theatrical and VOD releases for movies. Not surprisingly the big studios have been in no hurry to actually test out such a revolutionary release schedule. Now perhaps the first step in that direction is being taken by Roadside Attractions, a small studio 40% owned by Lions Gate Entertainment.

The movie is a documentary from the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young anti-war themed tour in 2006. Unlike the typical studio executive, director Neil Young is mostly concerned to get his movie in front of as many people as possible instead of pushing for the most money.

Assuming the negotiations work out the plan is to release the movie theatrically on July 25, the same day it premieres on Video On Demand services and also the Netflix streaming service.

"It's a big experiment to release this film simultaneously on all these media, with big expectations for all of them," said Howard Cohen, co-president of Roadside.

Seeing music executives with their hands in somebody else's pocket is nothing new. Still it's noteworthy when they decided to reach a little deeper, which is exactly what they're hoping to do with radio stations across the US. According to representatives of the musicFIRST coalition, which represents the RIAA and a number of songwriter groups, AM and FM broadcasters are pirates and need to pay royalties.

"It's a form of piracy, if you will, but not in the classic sense as we think of it," said Martin Machowsky, a musicFIRST spokesman. "Today we gifted them a can of herring, about their argument that they provide promotional value. We think that's a red herring. Nobody listens to the radio for the commercials."

As usual, what's really at stake is a new revenue stream. For most businesses a new revenue stream drying up means revamping the business to accomodate the new market. But in the alternate reality where the music industry exists it's all about mandatory payments. Currently the broadcasters don't pay performance royalties under the premise that they're promoting the music. In recent years that's been a sore point for music executives. With the advent of internet and satellite radio they're getting used to collecting that money for every performance.

In 2009 Sony will be experimenting with web-based video. A new title called 'Angel of Death' will first be available as a series of 8 minute segments which will later be released together on DVD.

It's hard to understand exactly what Sony is hoping to accomplish aside from convincing potential viewers to follow a trail of breadcrumbs from one website to another. It doesn't seem to have any actual commercial use.

Apparently they're planning an entire series of titles which will start on the internet and then make the leap to either DVD or TV. In order for this to work they'd have to come up with titles that will both translate to episodic delivery and be interesting enough to keep viewers looking for the next episode several weeks in a row.

Sony is the only company that owns a major movie studio and a major record labels as well as being a leading manufacturer of consumer electronics and computer hardware, and even game consoles billed as home entertainment centers. You might expect a company with a presence in nearly every phase of the production, distribution, and consumer markets to have a comprehensive system for making money from their own content.

NBC will be offering free downloads of video from the Beijing Olympics through a service from WaveExpress. Each event will separated into a separate channel, and viewers will be encouraged to subscribe to their favorite channel to receive nightly updates, delivered directly to their computers. The good news is this will be a free service. Unfortunately it will only work if you have the right version of Windows Vista.

More accurately you'll need to have one of 2 versions, either Vista Home Premium or Vista Ultimate. That's because it requires Vista's built-in Media Center software, and only those two editions have it.

Ironically the press release announcing the offering quoted Perkins Miller of NBC Sports and Olympics saying "we are committed to reaching as many viewers as possible.”

Perhaps what he meant was as many viewers as possible who have the version of Windows most convenient for us to support. Or perhaps its due to Vista's improved DRM support.

Whatever the reason, if this is NBC's idea of reaching the most viewers possible it's safe to say they've set the bar pretty low.

Since Bell Canada was accused of throttling P2P traffic back in March they have freely admitted the practice, and claimed it was necessary because of its affect on their network. In May the company defended their actions in a filing with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), as part of their public inquiry into the matter. Unfortunately the actual traffic figures in the filing were withheld from the public.

Bell Canada claimed it was vital to keep the information private to keep it out of competitors' hands. It seems that the CTRC doesn't agree. The agency's director general of competition, costing, and tariffs has sent a letter to Bell Canada instructing the company to make the data public.

"Commission staff has determined, based on all the material before it, that no specific direct harm would likely result from disclosure, or that the public interest in disclosure outweighs any specific direct harm that might result from disclosure," read the letter.

With the actual traffic data finally available to the public we'll get some actual debate about the facts of the case instead of Bell Canada's posturing. Regardless of what the facts are it's not likely to turn out well for Bell Canada.

If there's one thing that music labels still have to offer artists it's marketing. Sure it's possible to record a relatively cheap album, and with the internet it's not really necessary to put up the huge cost of CD mastering and replication. Still you have to come up with a distribution channel. Recorded music may not be a huge source of income for most acts, but it's still essential if you want to convince people to attend your concerts.

For very small acts it makes sense to give away music, and many artists are doing exactly that, often using social networking websitess like Facebook or MySpace. But what if you want to sell your music instead? Do you still need a label to make the jump from amateur to professional distribution? Not according to Ian Rogers, CEO of TopSpin.

TopSpin is building a platform for artists to use for marketing their music. Using TopSpin's technology it's possible to offer a variety of different options, from individual tracks to complete albums. A more interesting option for the bands using TopSpin right now is offering year long subscriptions. Rather than being limited to an individual work, fans who buy a subscription get access to all the tracks offered by an artist for an entire year.

Following recent interest in 3-D movies on digital cinema screens, Mitsubishi is partnering with NVIDIA and Aspen Media Products to bring 3-D home video to the living room.

"NVIDIA is extremely excited about its new relationship with Mitsubishi and Aspen Media Products, and is fully committed to bringing 3D technology to the home entertainment market," said Ujesh Desai, general manager, NVIDIA Corporation. "This is an unparalleled industry first, and we are proud to play a key role in providing a complete 3D home entertainment solution to the consumer."

Presumably the partnership will combine displays from Mitsubishi with 3-D capabilities already offered in current generation GeForce GPUs. Mitsubishi already makes HDTVs that are capable of displaying the stereoscopic images required by this technology.

Aspen Media Products is no doubt included for their experience integrating computers and consumer electronics. Many of their existing products rely on either Linux or Windows for everything from media servers to home automation.

Last week we told you about briefs filed both for and against Jammie Thomas in her quest to get a new trial for alleged copyright violations from sharing songs via P2P. In addition to the MPAA and respected copyright scholars, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has also filed a "friend of the court" brief. Not surprisingly the public interest group makes arguments specifically addressing the claim that "making available," or the mere act of sharing files on P2P, is a copyright violation.

While the MPAA's arguments largely center on the premise that the meaning of a law must be interpretted in whatever way aligns them best with treaties the US is a party to, the EFF points out a more fundamental legal principle - that of plain meaning. Plain meaning basically says if there's a clear and obvious way to interpret the wording of a law that's how it must be read.

George Van Horn, a senior analyst for IBISWorld, is predicting good news for the music industry, but not necessarily for the big labels that have dominated it for decades. In a recent report he predicts a shrinking role for labels in online music sales despite increasing legal downloads.

According to Van Horn "As the industry evolves, it is record labels that are out of step with the latest technology trends, and it's hurting their bottom line in a major way."

And the issue isn't simply one of understanding the market either. He also identifies the labels' lack of a diverse product as a liability. He says "The fact that performers make most of their money from merchandise sales and touring, rather than solely CD sales, also helps protect them somewhat, compared to the record companies which are suffering some serious losses."

But surely they the labels are still important for marketing rightt?

Not necessarily according to Van Horn, who asserts "since illegal downloads are not publicized, a new challenge for record companies lies in identifying which music is popular, discouraging companies from investing too heavily in music as a promotional tool."

The MPAA is arguing in a legal brief that plaintiffs should be allowed to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages with no proof that anyone has actually downloaded from a defendant's shared folder. The brief was filed by MPAA lawyers in Jammie Thomas' appeal of the $222,000 judgement against her for copyright infringement. Judge Michael Davis asked for public comments on whether simply making files available is a violation of The Copyright Act and the MPAA took the opportunity to put in their 2 cents worth.

Actually 2 cents may be a little generous for the MPAA's contribution. Their argument basically goes something like this, it's difficult, or maybe impossible, to prove that people are actually downloading files from someone's shared folder so the courts should just assume files are shared with the intention of distributing them illegally and rule in favor of the plaintiff.

The real problem with the MPAA's position isn't necessarily the idea that sharing files is infringement. Even some legal scholars who disagree with the "making available" as infringement argument have pointed out that copying a song to your computer for the purpose of sharing it illegally might be infringement. But that's not the same thing as no proof. It would still require the RIAA to show a defendant's intent.

The RIAA has filed a motion to dismiss what may be the most contentious file sharing case to date. In a letter to the judge the RIAA's lawyers admitted they don't believe there is any chance they will be able to positively identify the computer used to share the files in question. They're now confident it was the same PC owned by the plaintiff's daughter, which she has since gotten rid of. The letter also mentioned that they'll be filing for court sanctions against the defense for impeding discovery of this evidence earlier.

To say the case of UMG v. Lindor has been hotly contested would be an understatement at best. The defendant, Marie Lindor, owns a computer but has reportedly doesn't know enough about it to share a file. In fact the plaintiffs' investigators have officially stated that her computer wasn't the one involved in the file sharing they reported to the RIAA.

While RIAA lawyers have focused on who else may have had a computer connected to the internet through Lindor's account her lawyer, Ray Beckerman, has repeatedly attacked both the legality of the damages claimed, the lack of transparency in the investigation, and even the competence of the investigators themselves.

Last month the federal judge in the Jammie Thomas file sharing case did something you don't see very often. He admitted that he may have been wrong when he gave instructions to the jury before they began deliberating, which may lead to a new trial. In case you don't remember, the jury ruled in favor of the RIAA, who claimed that since Thomas' computer had songs shared on a P2P network she was violating the copyright holders exclusive right to distribute.

Judge Michael Davis instructed the jury that simply sharing the files would qualify as infringement, but has since discovered that this is not the generally accepted interpretation of copyright law. Now he's trying to determine whether he erred in the first trial, which ended in a judgement for $222,000 against Thomas. To his credit, rather than brushing aside the defense's argument about his interpretation of the law he's asked for outside opinions on the matter and gotten some from a group of 10 law professors who specialize in copyright law.

If you've been wondering what ever happened to France's plans for a so-called "3 strikes" law to punish file sharers repeatedly caught violating copyright law, have no fear. It's not gone, just a little behind schedule.

French Culture and Communication Minister Christine Albanel expects it to pass this fall, which is apparently they can get it in front of parliament due to a large number of bills lined up in front of it. The original plan was to put it to a vote before summer.

If you're not familiar with the controversial proposal, as originally laid out it would have required ISPs to monitor subscriber traffic for copyright infringement and send them threatening letters if caught. If someone were to be caught three times they would lose their internet connection.

The actual bill is apparently a little different, and would instead create a government agency to monitor P2P sites and catch file sharers in the act.

The law, was not only drafted by the entertainment industry, but even given an official introduction and stamp of approval at the MIDEM music industry conference in France earlier this year. In return for getting the government to prop up their outdated business model the recording industry has magnanimously agreed to work on getting rid of DRM in online music.

As if to underscore Kid Rock's statements to the BBC about record labels, members of Poison are suing Capitol Records for allegedly cheating them out of royalties through a variety of intentional miscalculations. In fact, according to the suit the band's management hasn't even been able to get Capitol to show them the records necessary to correctly calculate what they're owed.

In the suit band members claim Capitol "willfully and consistently accounted to Plaintiffs for, and paid over to Plaintiffs, substantially less money than is properly due and owing to Plaintiffs pursuant to the terms of the Recording Agreement." In other words the label intentionally cheated them out of royalties.

It also goes on to accuse Capitol representatives of lying to them, not just at the time royalties were due, but also later when they tried to audit the relevant records as allowed by their recording contract.

I can't imagine why people don't take the music industry's piracy data seriously. They seem so honest in all their othe dealings.

You can read the text of the suit in this PDF file.

It's official. Qtrax, arguably the most infamous music service ever (even before they ever offered a download) has finally launched. That's the good news. If all you were looking for is good news now would be a good time to stop reading.

The rest of the story is "launch" may be too strong a word for what Qtrax has acoomplished so far. While it's possible to find a few albums, there don't appear to be any that are complete. From what I was able to find the content appears to be solely from Universal Music Group (UMG) despite the recent announcement of a deal to offer EMI's music.

After a searching for a short time I was eventually able to find some songs to download. The process went smoothly enough until I tried to play them. The Qtrax player gave me an error saying it needed to be re-installed. Being naturally skeptical I double checked by trying to play it with Windows Media Player. It turned out I needed to upgrade Windows Media Player and install some additional hotfixes from Microsoft.

Kid Rock is part of an exclusive club whose only other members are The Beatles, Garth Brooks, and AC/DC. What do thse artists have in common? They're major artists whose music isn't sold on iTunes. In Kid Rock's case there is actually one album being sold by the online music giant, but that's just because he doesn't own the rights to it.

So why doesn't he want to sell his music on iTunes? It's simple really. He sees it as simply a continuation of the way labels have treated artists for decades. In his words, "iTunes takes the money, the record company takes the money, and they don't give it to the artists"

In a recent interview with the BBC he talked about his reaction to Atlantic Records executives asking him to take a stand against file sharing. "Wait a second," he said, "you've been stealing from the artists for years. Now you want me to stand up for you?"

"I was telling kids - download it illegally, I don't care. I want you to hear my music so I can play live."

Kaleidescape's home media servers have been a sore topic for the studios. They were the only company granted the license necessary to create a product capable of legally ripping CSS protected DVDs to store them for playback later. Unfortunately, despite the inclusion of managed copy features into the Blu-ray specs, they're not planning to have support for that format until next year. If you own one of these very expensive systems you'll have to settle for their new upscaling 1080p Player for now.

The Kaleidescape 1080p Player is a dual purpose device, capable of importing DVDs to Kaleidescape System servers and also playing them directly, making it a complete replacement for the older Movie Player 2 which upconverts to 1080i at lower quality. Another new feature includes the ability to go straight to the move on a DVD, skipping not just trailers and other content that plays before the menus, but even the menus themselves.

LCD may be the hot thing in HDTVs and projectors, but that hasn't stopped Texas Instruments (TI) from continuing to work on DLP. At the Infocomm 08 trade show in Las Vegas they showed off a 1080p DLP projector that replaces the traditional lamp with Phlatlight LED technology. Phlatlight LEDs have already been used for miniature DLP projecters, as well as both DLP and LCD HDTVs.

The projector uses Texas Instruments' new BrilliantColor chipset. They're reporting up to 30% less power consumption compared to units with lamps thanks to the LED technology from Luminus.

"DLP Products has a proven legacy of "firsts" in the market and the projectors being demonstrated this year are examples of that commitment to innovation and commitment to our customers," said Lars Yoder, vice president and business manager, TI's DLP Front Projection Business Unit. "DLP Products is proud to enable our customers, who are the leading projector manufacturers globally, to be the best."

According to a press release the first consumer models are expected to ship from "multiple DLP customers" later this year, although the only company named so far has been Optoma.

Do you use your broadband internet connection for video? If so you might partly responsible for "breaking" the internet within the next few years according to more than half of the 372 telecommunications professionals surveyed by Tellabs and research firm IDC. More than 10% think it will happen within the next 2 years.

So what's the solution? It seems that nearly half of those surveyed believe it's up to ISPs, either through traffic inspection and prioritization or simply charging more for using "excess bandwidth."

"The findings of this survey make it very plain that bandwidth is not infinite," said Lee Doyle, Group Vice President and General Manager, Network Infrastructure and Security Products and Services, IDC. "Unless there is sufficient investment into new infrastructure, the increased bandwidth demands of new advanced services could well outstrip capacity."

Dan Kelly, executive vice president of global products for Tellabs is quick to point the finger at consumers for causing the problem. He said "Internet access has become essential for millions of Americans and the appetite for bandwidth is putting pressure on service provider networks."

One of the biggest barriers to success for online TV services is that they don't really feel like TV. They might have TV shows, and even TV commercials, but that's pretty much where the similarity ends. That was true until today anyway. Now there's a new service in beta called TidalTV, and it has an interface that's remarkably TV-like.

Featuring an on-screen program guide and even on-demand programming, TidalTV should be easy to use for anybody who's used to standard cable or satellite TV. It doesn't even have a client to download and install. Just load the website and start watching programs from CBS, The Food Network, or The National Geographic channel among others.

Scott Ferber, chairman and founder of TidalTV, said, "What we love about TV is being able to ask it to entertain, educate and inform us just by sitting down and clicking through channels. TidalTV wants to provide that same potential online - for everyone from the techno-savvy Internet junkie to the novice computer user. We want to deliver the comfort, ease of use and simplicity of TV, while offering all of the control and selection that we are accustomed to on the Web. It's the best of both worlds!"

Verizon's FiOS has been marketed largely on the premise that running fiber to each building is the best way to build a network for the long term. Since the company is apparently preparing to boost the top download speed for many of their subscribers it seems somewhat odd that they're also talking about going backwards and using old fashioned copper for some new customers after 2010.

Both of those appear to be true though, and surprisingly not necessarily in conflict with each other. Although it's not official yet, Verizon is apparently on the verge of announcing that subscribers to Verizon's top service tier will see their download speeds increase from 30Mbps to 50Mbps in many of the 16 states they service.

That's the same speed already offered in a few states so it makes sense to bring it to everybody. Lower price plans are expected to see increases to 20Mbps and 10Mbps from 15 and 5 respectively.

So if they're increasing speeds what's with the talk of using copper for some future expansion? Basically it's a question of economics. So far Verizon has been able to stick with fiber because they're sticking to urban and suburban areas.

HP has expanded their MediaSmart product line with the addition of a new product called the Connect digital media receiver. Right now it's available for pre-order from Amazon.com, Best Buy, Circuit City, and NewEgg.

It isn't a receiver in the traditional sense of a home theater receiver. What a home theater receiver does for your DVD player and perhaps a cable or satellite receiver, the MediaSmart Connect does for your PC. It features standard high definition A/V outputs like HDMI and component video, allowing it to be hooked up directly to a HDTV, but gets its input from a home network.

Paired with either a computer running Windows Vista Home Premium or Ultimate it can act as a Media Center Extender. If you have Windows XP or any type of storage device with UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) support, including the HP MediaSmart Home Server, you can use the built-in MediaSmart interface instead to take advantage of your network storage.

Many companies have tried and failed to emulate YouTube's success at capturing an audience. But despite their undeniable popularity there's one thing the viral video leader has yet to accomplish. They haven't made a single penny in profit.

At the Supernova technology conference YouTube's Director of Content Partnerships Jordan Hoffner was brutally honest about obstacles to attracting sponsors.

He said "We've seen that because of the increased fragmentation of audiences, brand advertisers that we deal with - Coca-Cola, Proctor and Gamble, General Motors - feel like they're missing something. They want to know how you reach a large number of people with a small amount of money."

Maybe the larger issue is that he assumes a lack of understanding is at fault, rather than a flawed business model. Maybe a service like YouTube needs to be an add-on to another business in order to make money. Having an interesting product is great for attracting traffic, but not all traffic can drive revenue.

In the case of YouTube they seem to be running into the perception that becoming more commercial means not being YouTube any more, and maybe that's a fair criticism. If so, it means that in order to have advertising it needs to somehow blend into YouTube's existing service instead of altering the service to include advertising.

The long anticipated release of Firefox v3 came today as expected, well almost anyway. Initially there were problems caused by a massive amount of traffic. With a little bit of work the servers were feeling better and the official attempt at setting a world record was on.

Granted the record has never been attempted before, so they technically could have quit after the first download and still gotten the record, but there was a more important goal at stake. The launch of Firefox v2 saw more than a million and a half downloads on the first day. Developers were anxious to surpass that by a wide margin, and it looks like they've done exactly that.

According to an update on the Mozilla developers site, "Thanks to overwhelming demand we’ve passed through 14,000 downloads a minute! This will put us well into the tens of millions of downloads in a 24 hour period if we can sustain it. Each download is about 7MB so that’s around 13 Gigabits/s of just download traffic."

Get your own copy of Firefox 3 from one of the official download sites.

For the fiscal quarter ending May 31, Best Buy revenue was up by over a billion dollars compared to last year. Normally that would be good news, but this year it's something of a mixed blessing.

The problem isn't so much the amount of money they brought in as what was selling. While they had some success selling items like PCs and flat panel TVs, the big story was video games.

In addition to the record setting performance of Grand Theft Auto IV, increased inventory of the still popular Wii helped fuel sales.

“Gross margin should remain under pressure as the mix to gaming and PCs continue as well as increasing pressure from discounters,” Pali Capital analyst Stacey Widlitz wrote in a note to clients yesterday, before earnings were released. “We believe the competitive landscape will continue to move in the wrong direction.”

At the Home Entertainment Media Summit in Los Angeles there were a lot of bold predictions about the future of Blu-ray among entertainment industry insiders. All in all though there was apparently more heat than light.

Disney representatives in particular seem to have come wearing their rose colored glasses. Lori MacPherson, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment general manager North America predicted that by 2015 Blu-ray will account for 56% of entertainment sales, while online video will only amount to 6%. That seems confident to say the least with online video at least appearing ready to take off at any time.

Gordon Ho, representing Disney marketting was also very upbeat. He talked about the importance of BD-Live, which studios and player manufacturers are counting on to boost sales this year, but given Disney's somewhat limited view of it's possibilities (is chat really the best thing they could come up with?) it remains to be seen how much difference it will really make.

One voice of caution was that of senior analyst at NPD, Russ Crupnick. He pointed out the increased competition faced by Blu-ray from video games, and the Wii in particular. “There are people who’d be spending time with movies on a Saturday night who are now spending it with their game consoles,” said Crupnick.

It's been more than a year and a half since XM and Sirius, the only 2 companies licensed by the FCC to provide satellite radio service, filed for government permission to merge into a single company and service. It took more than a year to get approval from the Justice Department, and nearly 3 months more for FCC chairmain Kevin Martin to announce his position. Now it looks like the merger will be happening soon.

The deal, which must still be approved by the full commission, will reportedly include several concessions from the companies, including the adoption of a tiered model that allows consumers to pay for fewer channels at a lower cost and a general price freeze for the next few years. In addition 8% of all channels will be set aside for non-profit and minority channels.

By the time the matter is decided with a vote it's possible there will be more conditions attached. Both parties have already agreed to all of Chairman Martin's conditions, but the other commissioners will still have a chance to weigh in. No date has been announced for the vote.

Like many traditional news agencies, the Associated Press has made it clear they're not happy about bloggers and forum posters copying from stories they own for use in a variety of places on the internet. For some reason they apparently feel the need to make an example of one site, the Drudge Retort, by sending DMCA takedown notices for 5 different quotes. The strange thing is each of the quotes they're demanding be taken down seem to be textbook examples of fair use.

Fair use, at least in the US, has always been something of a gray area. Rather than a right unto itself, it's actually a limitation on the exclusive rights of copyright holders. Rather than being clearly defined in in a way that can be measured it's described as much by the "character" of the potentially infringing work as anything else, and primarily left to a judge to decide.

Just to show how complex an issue it can be, although the amount of text quoted can be a factor in whether something is fair use or infringement, it's possible for reproducing an entire article to be fair use, and also for a single sentence to be copyright infringement.

British Music Rights (BMR), an organization that represents British Academy of Composers & Songwriters, Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society, Music Publishers Association, and Performing Right Society. They've just published the results of a new study that looks at how young people, primarily between the ages of 14 and 25, feel about music and artists. More to the point, it discusses what these attitudes mean for those who make money from music.

The report's key findings were interesting to say the least. They definitely indicate a lot of potential for artists to make money, but don't seem to look so good for labels. On the whole, the respondents indicated that they spend money in no small part to support artists. In fact they said that 60% of their music budget was spent on live music rather than recordings.

At the same time young people value the social experience of trying out music others recommend and making their own recommendations to their peers. 4 out of 5 people indicated that they would be willing to pay to use a legal file sharing service.

But that doesn't mean they've given up on CDs. While the obvious conclusion from the siginificant drop in CD purchases over the last few years you might think young people don't place any value on the medium. Not so says the report. In fact many consider buying a CD to a better tribute to artists they prefer than downloading, even commercially.

Last week BBC writer Bill Thompson attacked the deal Virgin Media made to send out letters on bealf of the UK's equivalent of the RIAA, the British Phonographic Industry. It's part of the BPI's campaign to "educate" broadband internet users about illegal downloading. Now Geoff Taylor, head of the BPI, has published a response on the organization's website, and not surprisingly it reads a lot like a creative writing assignment.

Taylor says "Independent research has shown time after time that people who download illegally generally spend less on music than people that don’t, which undermines investment in new music."

Conveniently he doesn't provide any sources for his claim. Fortunately we have Google to help out, and wouldn't you know it, Taylor apparently has it exactly wrong. Every study done on the subject seems to reach the same conclusion, just not the one Taylor does.

They show that people who share music on P2P networks also buy music, and more of it than non-file sharers. Now it's entirely possible file sharers are buying less than they would without P2P, but that doesn't make it any less short sighted for the recording industry to go after their most loyal customers.

CreateSpace, a company owned by Amazon.com, will start selling documentaries from HBO later this month. The first offering will be 'When I Knew,' which premieres on Cinemax on June 25 and CreateSpace the next day.

Henry McGee, president of HBO Video, said in a statement, “The CreateSpace DVD-on-demand program will allow HBO to bring a selection of our highly acclaimed documentary programming to consumers in a very cost-efficient and timely manner.”

On-demand DVD burning has gotten increased attention since the DVD Copy Control Association (DVD CCA) approved the use of CSS encryption on recordable media last year. At the same time its seen little use in the real world.

Looking at the prices of the HBO movies it's not too hard to see why either. You can already order both 'When I Knew' and a second release, 'Hard Times at Douglass High: A No Child Left Behind Report Card,' already. Both are priced at $24.99, which is more than most people pay for Hollywood blockbusters as new releases.

Steve Finnigan, Chief Constable in Lancashire, England seems to have gotten himself in trouble with the Performing Right Society (PRS). Apparently there's been music playing in police stations where people can hear it, and someone at the PRS noticed that no one has paid any licensing fees for it. The PRS is responsible for collecting performance royalties on behalf of composers and publishers in the UK.

In addition to the music that allegedly plays in 34 separate police stations, they're also being accused of allowing employees to listen to it in gyms and at office parties. They've even gone so far as to use unlicensed music for entertaining the public when they get put on hold while calling in.

Since Lancashire Constabulary's head of legal services, Niamh Noone, instructed officers not to discuss what was being played with PRS representatives, the agency decided to take them to court in order to collect back royalties they believe are owed and arrange for proper licensing so that future royalties may be collected in a more timely manner.

Although PRS representatives didn't personally witness the music being played, or in fact get specifics from representatives of the Lancashire Constabulary, based on information gained from police in other areas of the country they feel confident that the violations are taking place in Lancashire. Given Ms Noone's failure to provide them with a compelling argument, or any argument for that matter, why they shouldn't be receiving royalties they're assuming that the Chief Constable agrees with their assessment.

Comcast, perhaps still in PR damage control mode, has decided to increase upstream speeds for customers with Performance and Performance Plus subscriptions. At the Performance tier upload speeds are increasing from 384kbps (kilobits per second) to 1Mbps (Megabits per second). Customers signed up for Premium Plus service will be getting a boost from 768kbps to 2Mbps. That's an increase of more than 2 and a half times in both cases.

They've also added a feature they're calling PowerBoost, which according to the company is "Comcast network technology that enables you to experience faster connection speeds while you are downloading and uploading large files to the Internet."

Mitch Bowling, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Comcast High-Speed Internet, said. “We’ve made a number of complimentary speed increases over the last few years and we focused this latest increase on upstream speeds so our customers can take even better advantage of the ever-expanding amount of interactive applications the Internet has to offer.”

Unfortunately the fine print for PowerBoost makes it appear less useful than you might think. A FAQ on the company's website says the speed increase will last for "as long as the 10MB of a file download on Comcast's 6Mbps High-Speed Internet service, and as long as 5MB of a file upload." Unless you consider 25MB files to be "large" it doesn't seem like Comcast customers will likely see it as more of a PowerBust.

TMPGEnc has long been known as a high quality MPEG-2 encoder. For a few years it was nearly the only software of its kind priced for the average consumer. What you may not be as familiar with are the MPEG-4 encoding features which have been added to recent versions of the popular TMPGEnc Xpress encoder.

Unlike their MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 encoders, which are homegrown solutions, Pegasys decided to use other companies' solutions for MPEG-4. In the case of AVC this means MainConcept software which is known for being one of only a handful of high quality encoders for the format.

Our new guide for encoding from DVD to AVC uses TMPGEnc 4 Xpress to produce high quality output suitable for playback on a computer or standalone DVD player with AVC (H.264) support.

It's no secret that the annual increase in DVD sales of just a couple years ago has vanished. As consumers have finished replacing their video tapes, new formats have become available, and HDTV broadcasts have taken off it's become harder to convince people they need a DVD. One thing that does seem to be helping is the recent trend of distributing free digital copies along with select new releases.

These copies, which have been included with movies like 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix' and 'Live Free or Die Hard,' are intended to be copied to devices ranging from PCs to iPods. Some releases have even come with copies in multiple formats to make sure there's a version supporting both Microsoft and Apple DRM.

Despite not getting a lot of publicity by the studios it seems consumers have taken notice of this feature. The results of a recent Warner Bros. survey indicated more than a third of consumers are aware of these copies. Jim Wuthrich, Senior VP of Digital Distribution for the company indicated that their second release featuring a digital copy, 'I Am Legend,' saw about 20% more people taking advantage of the feature than their first effort with the most recent Harry Potter movie.

The folks at the Digital Freedom website are hearing whispers of a new tax some RIAA lobbyists are trying to get enacted which would be applied to every internet account in the US. The so-called Piracy Tax would be used to "compensate" record labels for internet piracy.

Although this report doesn't conclusively show that the RIAA is actually working on such a proposal, they clearly started laying the groundwork for something along the same lines earlier this year.

Leaving aside the obvious issue of being innocent until proven guilty, and the fact that even the RIAA doesn't claim everyone in the US with an internet connection is using it to infringe on their copyrights, there's still the issue of calling this a tax. Last time I checked being ordered to pay money for breaking the law was called a fine, not a tax.

And then there's the issue of what rights would go along with it. If the RIAA gets to start charging what amounts to royalties on each internet account they're likely to find that people expect to get something for their money. After all royalties are for licensing content. Logically if you're paying royalties, albeit government mandated and collected royalties, that should entitle you to some copyrighted content.

After reports of supposed problems with the certification of Panasonic's new Tru2Way TVs hit the internet earlier this week Panasonic there has been growing discussion about whether the company will be able to get them on store shelves before the end of this year. In a statement sent by email to CNet the company indicates they still expect to be selling them this Christmas season.

The statement said "Panasonic's Tru2way-enabled VIERA HDTV is in the certification process at CableLabs. Panasonic expects to deliver Tru2way-enabled VIERA HDTVs to the market in time for the holiday season."

Of course saying they expect it isn't the same as actually delivering. But even if the number of problems reported on June 10 by a blogger at IP Democracy is accurate it also doesn't necessarily mean it won't be available later this year either. Of course they apparently didn't say they were expecting it for this year's holiday season.

Ray Beckerman, the attorney behind the RIAA watchdog site Recording Industry vs The People appeared to be on the verge of getting a file sharing lawsuit dismissed in federal court when the RIAA suddenly dopped the case. Initially there was a lot of speculation they feared the judge's expected decision that simply making music available by sharing via P2P doesn't infringe copyright and neither does an authorized recording industry agent downloading it. Now it looks like there was more to it than that as the suit has been re-filed with the apparent aim of getting a more favorable judge.

You see the issue isn't whether the RIAA can re-file in federal court. Since the original lawsuit was dismissed without prejudice they're within their rights to do so. What's controversial is their failure to let the courts know this was a case that had already been assigned a judge in a previous incarnation. This "oversight" allowed them to get a new judge.

In response Beckerman has told one interviewer "These people are psychos."

This September Panasonic was planning to start selling TVs equipped with the new Tru2Way technology that amounts to a more advanced alternative to CableCard. Unlike CableCard, Tru2Way makes it possible to use services like Video On Demand (VOD) without the need for a digital cable receiver. Unfortunately Panasonic seems to have hit some bumps in the road to certification for this new technology which may delay its release several months.

As part of the licensing agreement signed by Panasonic (or any other manufacturer) they must submit Tru2Way devices for testing by CableLabs, a sort of combination R&D lab and certification agency. Until they certify that the device works properly it won't be sold. That seems to be where the process is stalled right now.

According to a report on IP Democracy Panasonic's Tru2WAy equipped TVs have failed the CableLabs tests in spectacular fashion. In fact, if the report is true, it seems likely that there are so many problems it will likely delay getting the TVs to stores for several months.

Canadian Industry Minister Jim Prentice called his country's proposed new copyright law a "win-win" for consumers and copyright holders alike. It seems obvious what the copyright lobby has won, since it would make sharing copyrighted material an offense punishable by a $20,000 fine. Exactly what he thinks consumers are getting out of the deal is less clear.

To be fair the law would expressly permit time shifting, such as recording TV shows with a DVR, and format shifting like encoding songs from a CD to play on your MP3 player. Both of those could be wins for the consumer - except of course for the so-called digital lock provisions. In a nutshell they make it illegal to circumvent copy protection, similar to provisions in the United States' DMCA or various implementations of the European Union's EUCD.

In return the public wins the right to be sued for up to $500 per violation when illegal copies are made solely for private use. While that may seem more lenient than say the RIAA judgements agains US file sharers, keep in mind those violations would actually fall into the $20,000 category. Private use would include things like copying a protected CD to your own music server which can only be accessed within your house.

After nearly 3 years in development, the much anticipated release of Firefox version 3 should be available on June 17. As part of the launch the Mozilla Foundation has announced that they'll be attempting to set a world record for the most software downloads in a 24 hour period. They're also suggesting that fans of Firefox host parties celebrating the launch.

The good news for Mozilla is that they don't seem to have any competition for the record. According to the FAQ on the website created to promote the launch, "This is the first record attempt of its kind so there is no set number. We'd really like to outdo the number of Firefox 2 downloads on its launch day, which was 1.6 million. Let's shoot for 5 million--the sky is the limit!"

If you'd like a reminder on the release day you can pledge to download and they'll send you an email reminder on the day Firefox 3 launches. You can also look for launch parties at Mozilla Party Central.

Or, if you're like most people, you can just download the software.

Qtrax, which bills itelf as "The world's first free and legal P2P music download network," is scheduled to start offering downloads on June 18. You may remember that their launch in January was unique for an online music service. It featured a great deal of hype and an ad-supported client, but not a single song.

In reality the original event appeared to have been timed for maximum exposure at the annual MIDEM music industry conference in Cannes, France. Unfortunately it quickly became more notable for the company's claims they had secured contracts to provide music from every major label, which ultimately proved to be false.

This time around, however, the situation looks much better. For starters they seem to actually have some music now.

One thing that doesn't seem quite clear is where the service will be available. Although the Qtrax website has sections for various coutries, one of the major label agreements cited in ther Press section indicates that EMI songs will only be available to residents of the US and Canada. That makes sense when you consider that the only other similar service, SpiralFrog, has the same limitation.

Later this month Sony PSP owners in France will be getting access on on-demand content from the Canal Plus Group. Starting June 19 4,000 offerings from the company's CanalPlus internet-based VOD service will be available, encrypted with Sony's own DRM.

"It provides Sony with quite an appealing content proposition for their portable device, in addition to the games," said Dan Cryan of media analyst Screen Digest. "What's become clear for about every form of online content, with the exception of sport and adult, is that the PC is not a paying platform."

"But if you move it onto a device, people become more interested in handing over money," he added, citing Apple's emergence as the leading online movie and TV player for paid content.

News Corp owned BSkyB is also expected to be launching a similar service in the UK by month's end.

Last year Universal Music Group (UMG) filed a lawsuit against Troy Augusto claiming he was violating copyright law by offering promotional CDs for sale. Now a federal district court has ruled that UMG's copyright wasn't violated by the sales.

At issue is the legal force of warnings on the CDs, which were sent (free of charge) to radio stations. UMG claimed that since they weren't actually sold the first sale doctrine, which allows you to do what you please with goods you've purchased, has no application. The court ruled that the CDs are given as gifts, which in turn means the first sale doctrine does apply and UMG has no say in whether they're sold later.

The court's decision may also be important in the case of Timothy Vernor. Vernor is suing AutoCAD developer Autodesk for repeatedly interfering with his right to sell legally purchased copies of their software through eBay. Autodesk's argument has been that the licensing agreement for AutoCAD makes resale a copyright violation.

As many consumers consider the purchase of an iPhone 3G one of its perceived strengths is the use of a touchscreen interface. It's even been enough of a selling point to convince rivals like Samsung to adopt it for their own competing phones. Nokia is also planning to offer a touchscreen later this year, but what's more interesting is the scope of their plans.

Rather than sticking to the high-end models which compete with the iPhone, it seems Nokia plans to put touchscreens in phones at all price points.

"Currently, the market for touchscreen products is a niche market. We always aim for a situation where we can cover all the segments with all the options," said Senior Vice President of Nokia Markets Anssi Vanjoki. He added "We will introduce products from the very low segment to the highest one featuring this type of functionality."

Despite a drastic price reduction compared to the original, the new iPhone is still out of reach for many consumers. If Nokia is able to capture the interest of consumers who would like to own an iPhone 3G but just can't afford it there should be a lot of market potential. Of course if they're plan isn't wildly successful it could be a fairly expensive misstep.

Despite the playing field levelling capabilities provided by the internet, for most musical acts it remains a fact of life that the four major labels simply have more power than the numerous independents. When it comes to negotiating licensing deals the independents are still at a disadvantage - or at least they have been until recently.

Now independent labels have been getting organized into a new "virtual label" called Merlin. Merlin, which counts labels from around the world as members, was originally organized more than a year ago. Since then they've grown to include more than 12,000 labels, which account for around 8% of all music sold in the US. While that may not seem like very much, it's approximately equal to the market share of EMI, which is the smallest of the four majors.

According to Merlin's chairman Bob Frank, who also runs indie label KOCH Records, Merlin is "in discussions with Last.fm and MySpace as well as other major digital companies" to distribute members' music.

Disney, a studio which has been very public in their support for Blu-ray since the format was introduced, appears ready to take full advantage of the BD Live features that will finally be available in a number of new players later this year. BD Live enables web-based content to be added to Blu-ray discs. Taking advantage of such content obviously requires that your player be connected to the internet. Currently it also requires a PS3 since it's the only player compatible with Blu-ray's Profile 2.0.

Disney's first foray into web enabled Blu-ray content will be part of a special 50 anniversary edition of Sleeping Beauty. It will include a chat feature allowing viewers to connect with others watching the movie at the same time. It will also apparently require the use of a Blackberry or similar device for text entry.

“The idea of my little girl being able to experience the movie and chat in real time with her grandparents across the country is very exciting to me,” said Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment president Bob Chapek during a presentation Monday night.

EMI Music announced their choice to fill a newly created position Senior VP of Digital Strategy. What probably came as a surprise to many in the music business was their choice. Rather than hiring someone with experience in the industry they decided to bring in Second Life co-creator Cory Ondrejka.

Not only does Ondrejka lack the experience you would expect from an executive at one of the four major music labels, according to his blog he doesn't really buy music either. In fact he specifically states that he's purchased just 5 albums since 2000, and most were from the same band (Rush).

So what qualifies him to provide direction for what amounts to the future of distribution for EMI? Well if his blog is any indication he certainly understands why consumers are frustrated. His description of the hurdles he faced simply buying music on his laptop speaks volumes.

"It's like they don't want to sell me music. Then, once I did remember all the passwords I needed, I couldn't figure out whether the iTunes download was DRM free. So I went to Amazon, which was slightly easier and made it clear the download wasn't broken via DRM."

As CD sales continue to decline it's become harder and harder for brick and mortar retailers to compete with iTunes. In fact just this year Apple's online music store became the largest US music retailer. One of the few bands whose music isn't available on iTunes, AC/DC, will reportedly be selling their next CD exclusively through Wal-Mart this fall.

Although there's certainly interest in AC/DC's popular catalog of titles among online retailers, currently only Verizon is authorized to sell downloads of their music. Even if that weren't the case it's unlikely iTunes would be interested. That's because the band has so far resisted selling individual tracks, preferring to require that entire albums be downloaded instead.

While it may seem somewhat old fashioned for a band to avoid iTunes, depending on the terms of the deal it might not be as crazy as it sounds. Previously Wal-Mart has made exclusive deals to distribute music from artists like Journey and The Eagles, allowing them to bypass labels entirely and deal directly with the retailer.

If you live in the US you're hopefully already aware of the Digital TV (DTV) transition that will be occuring next February. At that time nearly all analog television broadcasts will be shut off forever, replaced by DTV signals which require an ATSC tuner, and for older TVs the use of a special converter box. But if you didn't know about it, or aren't yet prepared according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) you're not alone.

First the good news. The GAO indicates 84% of the public is aware of the transition. Unfortunately that knowledge doesn't equate to understanding what, if anything, they must do to prepare. Even among those who said they plan to take advantage of the government program which provides $40 voucher cards to consumers for purchasing converter boxes, only a third actually knew how to get them.

The outlook for people who don't need to worry about transition isn't much better either. The report states "Amongst those unaffected by the transition, 30 percent indicated they have plans to ready themselves for the transition—despite the fact that no action will be required to maintain television service."

Jenny Lai, an analyst at CLSA Emerging Markets, is predicting that the iPhone 3G's new price may result in 18 million units shipped this year.

Lai, who covers Hon Hai Precision Industry, the contractor responsible for building the Apple phones, wrote "The higher expectation on the 3G iPhone reflects attractive prices and a broader distribution channel (availability at ~70 countries)," adding "The newly added white color for the 3G iPhone also bodes well to consumers."

She indicated that if her estimates of demand are correct the phone could represent as much as 10% of 2008 revenue for Hon Hai, which is currently the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer.

She did caution that there could be supply problems when the phone launches on July 11, but indicated they should be resolved by month's end.

If Monday's announcement of the iPhone 3G's drastically reduced price was cause for celebration among consumers, the news from UK provider O2 should be equally exciting for potential customers. Rather than sticking to a price of £99 for the 8GB model or £159 for 16GB, which is what customers with either a £30 or £35 per month contract will pay, customers who sign up for more expensive plans will be able to get both at even lower prices or even free.

The deal is intended for those who choose service contracts costing either £45 or £75 each month. The £45 plans will be eligible for a free 8GB iPhone 3G or £59 for its 16GB sibling. With a £75 plan even the 16GB iPhone 3G can be had for free. All of O2's iPhone plans have a term of 18 months and feature unlimited data on their 3G network.

"With this new pricing, iPhone 3G becomes an unbeatable proposition," said Ronan Dunne, the chief executive of O2.

During his introduction of the new iPhone, Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs admitted that a high price was "the No 1 reason people didn't buy iPhones." That's been particularly true in the UK and Germany where prices had already been cut in an attempt to overcome disappointing sales.

After the official unveiling of Apple's new iPhone 3G on Monday, arguably the most interesting difference from the original was the $200 price reduction. What Steve Jobs didn't mention during his WWDC keynote address was exactly how they managed to bring costs down far enough to make the new price feasible. As it turns out the answer to that question may be bad news for those who intend to unlock the phone for use on networks where the carrier doesn't have a deal with Apple.

Perhaps even more than the technology itself, Apple's sales strategy for the original iPhone was revolutionary, if somewhat flawed. Rather than relying on service providers like AT&T to subsidize the price and provide them directly to consumers they chose to charge consumers full price. Although this allowed them to sell the phone directly at their own Apple Stores, it also made it easy to purchase it without signing up for service at the same time.

For anyone who wanted to use the phone outside the six networks officially sanctioned by Apple it made things easier. By simply buying the phone with no service they avoided the hassle (and early termination fees) typically associated with cancelling a contract.

One of the most controversial issues surrounding the iPhone since its introduction last year has been Apple's policy requiring service providers to share revenue in exchange for the privilege of selling the phone. The has led to the exclusive deals signed in each of the 6 countries where the phone is officially available. With the introduction of the iPhone 3G that appears to be changing - for new markets anyway.

A filing yesterday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission says:

"Apple has signed multi-year agreements with carriers authorizing them to distribute and provide network services for iPhones in over 70 countries. These agreements are generally not exclusive with a specific carrier, except in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Ireland, and certain other countries. Under the vast majority of these agreements, Apple will not receive follow-on revenue generating payments from carriers for the new iPhone 3G beyond the purchase of the device by carriers or a commission on sales of the device by Apple. Apple will continue to receive payments from cellular network providers related to first-generation iPhones as long as they remain active on authorized networks."

Hulu, the video site jointly owned by NBC Universal and News Corp, has added a bit of truthiness to their lineup with the addition of Comedy Central hits 'The Colbert Report' and 'The Daily Show With Jon Stewart.'

The deal with Comedy Central to provide content for Hulu is noteable for a couple of reasons. For starters it's the first time such popular content from a major network other than those owned by NBC or News Corp will be featured on the site. Although both companies have made it clear that they'd like to see other networks participate, until now it hasn't really happened. Comedy Central is part of MTV Networks, which is owned by Viacom.

The timing is also very important. Both shows are well known for their political commentary, particularly when it comes to election coverage. John Edwards even announced his candidacy for President of the United States last year on 'The Daily Show.' As the 2008 election goes into high gear it certainly seems like a major victory for Hulu that could result in a substantially increased number of viewers.

If you're interested in checking out either show on Hulu, both clips and short episodes are already available.

Over the last 2 years Vizio has become a powerful player in the HDTV market by selling low priced displays. Now it looks like some of the more established TV manufacturers have come up with a new strategy to compete with them. Last week a number of companies that hold MPEG-2 video related patents, including Mitsubishi, Samsung , and JVC, filed suit against them, claiming that Vizio owes licensing fees for components used in their TVs.

While acknowledging the use of the components, as well as the companies' right to collect patent royalties on them, Vizio claims their suppliers, the actual manufacturers of the parts, are responsible for the royalties.

"Vizio's suppliers have licenses for the MPEG-2 patents, and Vizio believes that these licenses extend to Vizio's products," the company said in a statement.

Although you might not know if from the news, Apple's new iPhone 3G wasn't the only new smartphone to be introduced on Monday. The new Samsung OMNIA runs Windows Mobile 6.1 and features a 3.2 inch wide touchscreen. Like the new iPhone it will be available in either 8GB or 16GB versions, but it also adds a microSDHC expansion slot for additional storage.

The OMNIA, which will be officially unveiled at CommunicAsia later this month in Singapore, includes a 5 Megapixel camera and GPS funtionality in addition to supporting audio and video playback in a number of formats.

Supported video formats include MPEG-4 ASP (DivX, Xvid, Nero Digital, etc,...), MPEG-4 AVC (H.264), H.263, and WMV. Audio support includes MP3, AAC, WMA, and OGG. Besides playback, it can also be used for simple video recording and editing, and even has a built-in FM radio.

In his keynote address to open Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference (WWDC) on Monday, Steve Jobs officially announced the iPhone 3G. Perhaps the most important revelation was the price, which at $199 for the entry level (8GB) model is half the original's current $399 pricetag. He indicated that the price was based on research where consumers who have so far passed on the iPhone said cost was the biggest barrier.

Not surprisingly he didn't talk about his previous prediction of 10 million iPhones sold by the end of 2008. Why is that significant? Maybe because at the current (pre-iPhone 3G) prices it appears unlikely to happen. In fact despite "selling out some number of weeks ago," Jobs said only 6 million have been sold in the approximately 11 months since the initial launch on June 29 of last year.

Jobs showed off the speed difference between the iPhone 3G's "amazingly zippy" performance on newer 3G networks, compared with the EDGE connection available to owner's of the original. The same web page that took nearly a minute to load using an EDGE connection took just over 20 seconds across 3G. He also compared it to a Nokia N95 and Treo 750, which reportedly took 33 and 34 seconds respectively to load the same page (using 3G) while delivering it in a less complete mobile format. He also pointed out that 3G speed is "actually approaching Wi-Fi."

Warner Music Group has pulled all of their music from Last.fm's "Free On-Demand" streaming service. In case you're not already familiar with the service, it allows visitors to stream tracks for free just 3 times, after which they're prompted to buy it from a retail partner such as iTunes or Amazon.com.

A statement from Last.fm's parent company CBS said "We are currently negotiating a new agreement with Warner Music Group and are working hard to build the most comprehensive music service on the Web. While we work things out, be assured that there’s more than enough music to fill a lifetime of listening on Last.fm, and we are continually adding to it."

The details of Warner's move are a little sketchy right now. If a report from one source are correct it appears that the basic problem is their insistence on making more money for each song streamed. The demands may even include a cut of ad revenue from any area of the site related to WMG music, even including pages containing discussions about their songs.

AVC video is arguably the most important video standard in use today. It can be used to produce high quality at relatively low bitrates, and is compatible with devices ranging from standalone DVD and Blu-ray players to portable media players and mobile phones.

Although there are a handful of high quality encoders which can be used to create MPEG-4 AVC video files, ease of use varies widely from one program to the next. If you've found yourself unable to convert from DVD to AVC using the many tools out there you should take a look at our new guide intended to help you Convert DVD to AVC with Nero Recode 3.

Why use Nero Recode? There are a number of possible reasons. To begin with it features what's generally considered to be among the top AVC encoders around, written by a company called Ateme. Not only does the Ateme encoder produce high quality video, it's also capable of blazing fast speed for 2 pass encoding.

Since the RIAA first begain their campaign against illegal file sharing on P2P networks there has been intense debate over the methods used to figure out who's responsible for sharing copyrighted content. Now a a report from the University of Washington may prove to be a powerful tool for those accused of such illicit behavior in fighting back against their accusers. The report, written by Michael Piatek, Tadayoshi Kohno, and Arvind Krishnamurthy and based on experiments conducted in August, 2007 and May of this year, shows that some of the agencies tasked with putting a stop to illegal file sharing are making accusations that are simply false.

The report says "Copyright holders utilize inconclusive methods for identifying infringing BitTorrent users. We were able to generate hundreds of DMCA takedown notices for machines under our control at the University of Washington that were not downloading or sharing any content"

Despite Radiohead's recent experiment with a new online distribution model for their album 'In Rainbows' and embrace of DRM-free music, they've remained one of the last holdouts when it comes to selling individual tracks instead of full albums. In fact they were so adamant about it that EMI hadn't been allowed to sell their back catalog through iTunes because the service requires that consumers be given the choice to purchase every track individually.

With the recent success of the tracks from 'In Rainbows' on iTunes the band's stance has apparently changed. On Tuesday the songs from all of the band's EMI releases were offered on iTunes for the first time as DRM-free files.

Based on numbers from Nielsen Soundscan, 106,000 digital copies of 'In Rainbows' have been sold in the US through online retailers like and Amazon.com. Meanwhile 178,000 individual songs from the release have been sold. By comparison CDs have accounted for about 420,000 copies.

Paul McGuinness, manager of rock superstars U2, is once again going after ISP's, calling them "shoplifters" and accusing them of turning a blind eye to music piracy because it makes them money by selling broadband internet subscriptions.

"Cable operators, ISPs, device manufacturers, P2P software companies -- companies that have used music to drive vast revenues from broadband subscriptions and from advertising. They would argue that they have been neutral bystanders to the spectacular devaluation of music. I don't believe that is true," said McGuinness.

You may recall that he made similar accusations earlier this year at the MIDEM music industry trade show in Cannes, France. This time around he was once again speaking to a music industry audience in Hong Kong's Music Matters conference.

McGuinness claimed that ISPs are already capable of taking action. He said "The modern history of the Internet is chockfull of examples of ISPs intervening in the traffic on their networks when it suits them,"

San Francisco's Pure Digital is introducing a new addition to their line of digital camcorders today. The ultra-compact Flip Video and Flip Ultra models have already been a big success thanks to equally compact prices of just $129 and $149 respectively. Their newest model, the Flip Mino, has a slightly higher price at $179, but an even smaller footprint, measuring just 3.94" x 1.97" x 0.63" compared to 4.17" x 2.16" x 1.25" for the Flip Ultra.

Besides boasting an even smaller size, the Mino adds an internal Lithium-Ion battery which is supposed to be good for 4 hours of use between charges. Both previous models use 2 AA batteries, with an estimated battery life of just 2 hours for typical alkalines.

Like the Flip Video and Ultra, the Mino includes software which allows video to be uploaded directly to YouTube or AOL Video after being transferred to a computer via USB cable. It also adds a similar capability for MySpace.

All of Pure Digital's camcorders encode video in MPEG-4 ASP format, which is the same standard that popular codecs like DivX and XviD are based on. At 640x480 the resolution is slightly lower than most standard definition digital camcorders, but also unlike most consumer models the video files produced are progressive rather than interlaced.

Starting this Thursday new subscribers to Time Warner Cable broadband internet service in Beaumont, Texas will be given a monthly limit on downloads. For ever Gigabyte a customer exceeds their plan's limit by they'll be charged an additional $1. In the past company representatives have indicated that the reason for the change is that just 5% of users use 50% of the available bandwidth.

"We think it's the fairest way to finance the needed investment in the infrastructure," said Kevin Leddy, Time Warner Cable's executive vice president of advanced technology.

He indicated the service will be divided into different tiers, each with its own download limits. The lowest tier will cost $29.95 a month for a maximum download speed of 768 kilobits per second and up to 5 Gigabytes total transferred. At the top end the speed will be 15 Megabits per second, with a limit of 40 Gigabytes worth of downloads.

Retail giant Wal-Mart is finally throwing their significant weight behind Blu-ray in a big way with the launch of a new ‘Hi-Def Blu-ray Experience Area' in 1200 stores where shoppers will find a bigger selection of both players and movies than were previously available.

In addition to the increased presence for the technology, Wal-Mart will be handing offering $100 gift cards with the purchase of a Blu-ray player between June 8 and June 14. During the same week they'll be featuring big discounts on select Blu-ray titles, including '3:10 to Yuma,' 'War,' 'Shooter,' '300' and 'The Fifth Element' for just $15 each.

“We are excited to be a destination for families looking to create a high quality, affordable home entertainment experience with our new, wider selection of high-def TVs, Blu-ray players and movies,” said Gary Severson, senior VP of home entertainment at Wal-Mart.

To go along with the focus on Blu-ray, the stores are also increasing their selection of HDTVs with the introduction of new models and brands.

Just a few years ago, if you had said supermarkets would be the key to success for the DVD rental market you would no doubt have gotten more than a few odd looks. Regardless, with the unprecedented success of rental kiosks from Redbox, and their apparent future as the replacement for in-store video rental departments, that's exactly what's happening. Apparently responding to that reality, kiosk operation DVDPlay has made former Safeway executive Charles T. Piper their President and Chief Operating Officer.

DVDPlay, the number 3 operator of DVD rental kiosks in the US, has big plans for a major expansion into supermarkets in 2008. The company expects to more than double the number of US kiosks they have in operation by year's end, with the vast majority ending up in Safeway and Albertson's supermarkets.

The kiosk business as a whole is expected to see significant growth in the next 2 years, with at least one analysis suggesting it will reach $800 million in 2010. That's around 3 times the current level.

After Netflix held their annual investor conference last week analysts began criticizing C.E.O. Reed Hastings' vision for the company's future. The criticism primarily centered around plans to spend as much as $70 million dollars this year to improve and market their streaming video service.

"I think the way to measure us is the number of millions of Netflix-ready devices installed in homes," Hastings told investors. "If that's a big number at the end of '09, then our strategic investment has greatly paid off. If it's a small number, you have every right to be whiny about management having wasted a lot of money."

He asked investors to be patient and allow the company to develop their new business model to replace their currently booming DVD rental operation within the next few years. A few days earlier, when meeting with analysts, Netflix CFO Barry McCarthy said of the strategy "if we fall on our face I have no doubt investors will vote us off the island."

SpiralFrog, a service offering free music downloads in the US and Canada, has announced a licensing deal with EMI to offer songs from that label for download. EMI is the second of the four major labels to offer content through the ad-supported service, which already features music from Universal Music Group. SpiralFrog plans to add more than 1 million EMI tracks over the next few weeks.

"You're going to see that users on our site are going to see a lot more content, so there's going to be far fewer searches where they won't find music they're looking for," said Joe Mohen, SpiralFrog's chairman and founder.

According to Nielsen SoundScan Universal Music and EMI accounted for nearly 40% of US album sales so far in 2008 (through May 25). The other two major labels, Sony BMG and Warner Music made up another 46%, while albums from independent labels comprised just over 14%. SpiralFrog already has deals in place with a number of independents, and according to Mohen there are plans to add the remaining two majors by year's end.

NBC is reportedly planning to officially launch their video download service, NBC Direct, some time this summer. No doubt they'd like to have it in place before new shows premiere this Fall. In preparation they've launched a new beta version of the associated player and download manager. Unfortunately, like the first version of the software released last November, there appear to be a lot of people who can't get it to work right.

The idea behind NBC Direct is fairly simple. It's a sort of web-enabled DVR which allows you to download episodes of selected NBC shows to your computer and view them for a week after they air. It's an alternative to streaming services like Hulu, which is co-owned by NBC along with News Corp. In addition to the obvious difference between downloading and streaming video there's another important distinction. Hulu has become wildly popular while NBC Direct seems better known for its bugs.

Pantel, which already produces weatherproof LCD HDTVs with 32 and 42 inch screens, is adding new models with screen sizes of 20, 52, and 65 inches. The new models will be making their debut later this month at InfoComm 2008, held in Las Vegas from June 18 - 20.

The 52 and 65 inch models feature 1080p native resolution and a 2000:1 contrast ratio. The 20" model feature a progressive resolution of 1366x768 at a contrast ratio of 700:1. The existing 32 and 42 inch models feature a native 1080i resolution and a contrast ratio of 1600:1.

Prices for the new HDTVs will range from $2,999 for the 20 inch model to $25,999 for the 65 inch version.

“Pantel Outdoor Weatherproof TVs have changed the way people entertain,” said Joe Pantel, CEO of Pantel Corp. in a press release. “With the weather being a threat to what most people can do outside to entertain, Pantel Corp. makes it easy without worry. Now, we offer even more solutions with five different screen sizes to meet the needs of nearly every application.”

Adobe Systems has announced the latest version of their Acrobat family of products for PDF creation and viewing. Version 9 of Acrobat will feature the addition of support for Flash video embedded in PDF files.

John Loiacono, senior vice president of Creative Solutions at Adobe, said in a press release “With Acrobat 9 we’ve combined the power, reach and richness of two ubiquitous technologies, Adobe Flash and PDF, to empower customers to create engaging experiences, prepare high-quality PDF files and collaborate more efficiently.”

Embedding Flash video in PDF documents will require Acrobat 9 Pro or Pro Extended. Playback will be possible across the entire family of new Acrobat products, including the free Acrobat Reader. Acrobat 9 Pro will also be included in the upcoming release of Adobe Creative Suite 3.3. Both Acrobat 9 and Creative Suite 3.3 are scheduled for a July release.

In 2005 Adobe purchased Macromedia, the creator of Flash. Since that time the format has increased in popularity, thanks in no small part to its use on websites like YouTube.