Starz content now available on iTunes
Starz has announced it is now offering its TV series on Apple’s iTunes platform, marking the second time a premium network has offered its programming on the platform.
Marc DeBevoise, Senior Vice President of business development and strategy for Starz, made the announcement yesterday at the Future of Television West conference in Hollywood. Starz’ shows “Head Case” and “Hollywood residential” are the only two current series available on iTunes.
Anonymous sources have cited that the BBC is planning to make a similar move this week but it is not certain if the shows will be for the UK only or will also be available on iTunes in Canada and the US.
200k DSi units available at Japanese launch
Nintendo has noted that they had shipped about 200,000 DSi units in anticipation of the Japanese launch of the console on Saturday.
The updated handheld is selling for JPY 18,900, the equivalent of $179 USD in the country.
The DSi features two cameras, improved audio functionality, a built-in web browser and an SD memory card slot along side a slightly larger screen.
Nintendo also added that they would be shipping another 100,000 units during the course of the week.
The company recently added that the handheld would hit North American and European markets in August 2009.
Netflix streaming service for Macs goes beta
Netflix has announced the public beta of its streaming movie player for Mac computers, marking the first time Mac users can use the company’s extensive “Watch Instantly” library.
Users can now opt-in to try out the player as long they have Microsoft’s Silverlight animation plug-in.
Mac users will have access to over 12,000 titles and the company says they will continue to add more content on a daily basis. The program will become available outside of the beta stage by Christmas.
There is some DRM in the beta however which will limit the number of authorized devices to six, and each device must have Silverlight installed.
MPAA: Court rules against Chinese DVD player manufacturer
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has announced that once again a court has ruled against a DVD player manufacturer for violations of the Content Scrambling System (CSS) agreement. The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California ruled that the plaintiffs are allowed to review and test any new or re-engineered product incorporating the copy protection technology before it can make it to market.
The court issues a permanent injunction banning Gowell Electronics Ltd. from violating the CSS license agreement. It is the result of lawsuit brought against the company in June by the MPAA alleging breach of contract and it is the ninth case in which a court has sided with the MPAA members in preventing future violations of the CSS license.
The MPAA estimates that it loses $11 billion per year from the sale of pirated goods and illegal copying. CSS is a (weak) prevention against copying that was beaten a decade ago and is present on pretty much all retail DVDs on the market.
MTV, MySpace hook up with Auditude to make money from pirate video
MySpace.com and Viacom’s MTV have hooked up with Auditude as part of its quest to create revenue streams from online video piracy. Nowadays, Internet video piracy doesn’t just exist on BitTorrent sites or P2P networks. User-driven sites like YouTube and MySpace are packed full of videos published without authorization, providing easy access to the content and little or no control to owner of the content.
That’s where Auditude comes in. Auditude, theoretically, through partnerships with online social networking sites and content providers, gives another option besides removal; gaining advertising revenue. On the surface this sounds like a logical and professional move for content distributors to take. It can provide revenue with little or no extra work put in by the content companies. The work to get the content online is taken care of by the user and the bandwidth costs are covered by the service involved.
However, what it does take away from the content companies is a level of control. One thing that most content providers always want control of, is the distribution of its copyrighted works. Apple’s iTunes service sold billions of legal downloads after launching in an era of rampant music piracy, yet the control it demands over aspects of distribution has caused serious tension between the company and record labels.
Gaining partnerships like MySpace and MTV shows some confidence in the idea however, but whether or not Hollywood studios would embrace the service with open arms is not a question easily answered. Auditude’s technology is now being used by MySpace and will give Viacom the opportunity to place advertisements beside content from MTV published by users of MySpace.
Giant Interactive begins Blu-ray production
DVD producer Giant Interactive has announced it has moved into Blu-ray production, noting its first two releases will be A&E Video’s Universe: The Complete Season 1 and Paul McCartney: The Space Within Us, both set for release on November 18th.
The studio noted the recent hiring of executive producer Jeffrey Eagle and director of digital operations Jay Chumley who will now be in charge of Blu-ray.
Eagle is best known for his work as creative director for Herzog-Cowen Entertainment where he worked on Pirates of the Caribbean, and other media.
Chumley used to work for LaserPacific and 1K Studios, and worked on hit DVDs such as Lord of the Rings and Sex and the City box sets.
The studio will work with Walt Disney Studios, Lionsgate, ABC Family, Starz Entertainment, HBO and CBS.
RIM sued for patent infringement
Mformation Technologies has announced they are suing BlackBerry maker Research In Motion over patent infringement. Mformation is a handset management software firm.
The firm says RIM has infringed two patents with its BlackBerry smartphone and its management software. There was no other details on what was being infringed or what Mformation was hoping to get out of the suit.
“After refusing to license Mformation’s disclosed systems and software, RIM modified its BlackBerry software to include Mformation’s patented systems and methods of remote management,” Mformation said.
“Mformation provides mobile device management solutions to mobile operators and enterprises around the globe. We firmly believe in the importance and value of innovation, and have invested significantly for many years in developing our industry leading device management technology. We are also committed to protecting our intellectual property as it is a core asset of our business when absolutely necessary,” said Mark Edwards, Mformation’s Chief Executive Officer.
Using leaked NXE will disconnect you from Live until November 19th
Last month we reported that the New Xbox Experience dashboard update was headed to Xbox 360 gamers on November 19th.
However, like most media content, the NXE has been leaked online and has seen thousands of downloads already. If you download it though hoping to be the first person on your block to do so, you are in for an unwanted surprise though. Any user trying to log into Xbox Live while running the leaked NXE will be blocked from XBL until November 19th.
Although unconfirmed, you also run the risk of being blocked from XBL permanently, in the same boat as users using flashed firmwares and copied games.
If you are really that excited for NXE, I think it pays to wait the almost three weeks for it.
THX chief says war victory came too late for Blu-ray
THX chief scientist Laurie Fincham has been quoted as saying that despite its victory over HD DVD, Blu-ray will not become the next standard in the home entertainment market.
“Personally, I think it’s too late for Blu-ray. I think consumers will only become interested in replacing DVD when HD movies becomes available on flash memory. Do we really need another spinning format?” Fincham is quoted in the Home Cinema Choice Magazine.
“In the future I want to be able to carry four to five movies around with me in a wallet, or walk into a store and have someone copy me a movie to a USB device. Stores will like that idea, because it’s all about having zero inventory. I don’t want to take up shelf space with dozens of HD movies.”
“By the time Blu-ray really finds a mass market, we will have 128GB cards. I would guess that getting studios to supply movies on media cards, or offer downloads, will be a lot easier than getting them to sign up to support a disc format,” he concluded.
Motorola splitting off its cell phone business
Motorola has announced that it will be splitting off its mobile phone business into a seperate company by 2009.
The move is seen as a way to acquiesce to the demands of major investor Carl Icahn and the split will leave Motorola as a company that makes TV set-top boxes, wireless equipment, public-safety radios and bar-code scanners.
Motorola CEO Greg Brown has this to say about the latest move. “The decision will provide improved flexibility, more tailored capital structures, and increased management focus - as well as more targeted investment opportunities for our shareholders.”
“Clearly there’s a lot more work to be done,” Brown added. “It will be a product-led recovery. We’re taking steps now to ensure and solidify that direction.”
