Marc Policani's Digital Media Blog: News (Financial Markets / Politics / Law)

Superman Carries a Super-Price Tag

Fri, 23 Sep 2005 16:12:55 GMT

Superman Returns, under the directorship of Bryan Singer, could carry a history-making price tag.

According to News.com: "The revisioned Superman tale, filming at Sydney's Fox Studios, could well be the most expensive film of all time ... director Bryan Singer acknowledged its budget is approaching $326 million -- that would top 'Titanic's $250 million and 'Waterworld's $225 million." | News.com

Archbishop hits out at web-based media 'nonsense'

Thu, 16 Jun 2005 15:16:02 GMT

In an interesting piece for the Times Online, Ruth Gledhill writes, "The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has criticised the new web-based media for “paranoid fantasy, self-indulgent nonsense and dangerous bigotry”. He described the atmosphere on the world wide web as a free-for-all that was “close to that of unpoliced conversation”.

In a lecture to media professionals, politicians and church leaders at Lambeth Palace in London last night, Dr Williams wondered whether a balance could be struck between the professionalism of the classical media and the relative disorder of online communication." [ more... ]

Big Brother Tries to Muscle ISPs

Tue, 31 May 2005 15:05:48 GMT

"The Bush administration asked a federal appeals court Friday to restore its ability to compel Internet service providers to turn over information about their customers or subscribers as part of its fight against terrorism.

The legal filing with the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in New York comes amid a debate in Congress over renewal of the Patriot Act and whether to expand the FBI's power to seek records without the approval of a judge or grand jury.

U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero of New York last year blocked the government from conducting secret searches of communications records, saying the law that authorized them wrongly barred legal challenges and imposed a gag order on affected businesses.

The ruling came in a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union and an internet access firm that received a national security letter from the FBI demanding records. The identity of the firm remains secret." [ more... ]

InterVideo WinDVD Installations Increase to 125 Million

Mon, 09 May 2005 15:12:33 GMT

InterVideo, Inc. , announced today that more than 125 million copies of WinDVD, have been sold worldwide since its first release in 1999, making it the world's most popular software solution for watching DVDs on a PC. [ more... ]

Loudeye Announces First Quarter 2005 Financial Results

Wed, 04 May 2005 14:53:26 GMT

Loudeye Corp. (Nasdaq: LOUD - News), today announced preliminary financial results for the first quarter 2005. Loudeye currently anticipates that revenue for the full-year 2005 will be approximately $35 million. [ more... ]

NAB 2005 Notables, Episode 2

Mon, 25 Apr 2005 14:41:47 GMT

As the smoke clears from NAB 2005, it’s time to reflect on what has happened in this the liveliest NAB convention in recent memory. Perhaps the highlights of the show were the introduction of competing HDV camcorders , along with editing systems to go with them. The pervasive mission throughout the convention, on every floor and in countless display areas seemed to be connected in one way or another to high definition television .

Apple called 2005 “The year of HD,” saying that besides just feeling it in their bones, they pointed out there are 16 million households with HDTV sets driving the exodus from the confines of standard definition. Also fanning the flames is the new HDV format, which is arguably the most popular HD format ever introduced—Apple supported this assertion with the fact that 37,000 HDV products have been sold as of March, 2005. Enabling the HDV format from Apple is its native HDV support in Final Cut Pro 5.0, which works with long-gop MPEG 2 and supports both 1080i/60 and 720p/30 formats. In the evangelical demo, Apple’s hyper-enthusiastic demo artists showed Final Cut Pro 5.0 previewing all kinds of HDV effects and transitions in real time. Chanting the slogan “edit anything, wait for nothing,” later in the backroom reporters noticed that there is rendering involved if you want to actually play out all these wonderful edits, effects and filters to HDV tape or anything else, for that matter. So just like it was a decade ago, real time means different things to different people. Even so, Apple’s Dynamic RT Extreme technology was able to play back all kinds of effects, while smartly dropping the frame rate and image quality for previews as the layers got thicker. [ more... ]

MPAA Under Investigation for Illegal NYPD Payoffs

Mon, 25 Apr 2005 14:30:12 GMT

An anonymous reader writes, "The New York Post is reporting that two NYPD officers are being investigated for taking illegal payoffs from the MPAA for busting sellers of pirated DVDs. According to the article, MPAA investigators would tell the cops where pirated movies were being sold, which is perfectly legal, but, after the bust, they'd give them several hundred dollars in gratuities, which is illegal." [ more... ]

Support grows for handheld TV

Mon, 25 Apr 2005 14:15:06 GMT

Television took another step toward the mobile handheld market at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) conference in Las Vegas when a handful of industry players announced their support for the Digital Video Broadcast – Handheld (DVB-H) standard. [ more... ]

House OKs Family Copyright Bill

Thu, 21 Apr 2005 01:42:28 GMT

"The House of Representatives passed copyright legislation on Tuesday that would dole out criminal penalties to those who make unauthorized recordings of films in movie theaters.

The Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2005 (HR357) also would permit technologies that allow users to skip objectionable content in movies viewed at home.

The bill passed by voice vote and now heads to the president, who is expected to sign it into law. An identical bill (S167) already passed in the Senate earlier this year.

"We're thrilled that it passed," said Bill Aho, CEO of ClearPlay, a company that sells software enabling parents to skip over the sex and violence in Hollywood DVDs. "I think it's a great bill for families. I think it's great for parents and I think it's great for the technology sector."

People should be allowed to use technology to watch movies "their way" in their own home, he said.

ClearPlay and other similar services were sued by the movie studios, the Director's Guild of America and 13 individual directors for copyright violations and for altering their work. The technology companies filed a motion for summary judgment and were awaiting a ruling in the 10th District Court in Colorado.

The technology company plans to introduce two new DVD machines with filtering capabilities this summer. Aho said that ClearPlay looks forward to integrating its technology into more devices.

"We have multiple companies that we've been talking to that have been waiting for resolution (on the lawsuit)," Aho said." [ more... ]

Go to Prison (for up to three years) for File-sharing

Wed, 20 Apr 2005 15:27:06 GMT

Cnet is running an article about the prison terms for file-swappers. With the new biil that was approved by Congress on Tuesday if you share just one copy of a movie (even if you made a hard duplicate to share with a pal) you are going off to prison with potential fines up to $250,000. Current law gives criminal penalties of up to three years in prison for "the reproduction or distribution of 10 or more copies or phonorecords of one or more copyrighted works, which have a total retail value of $2,500 or more." | Source: Tech info Blog

Multimedia Software in a Changing Market: Q&A with CyberLink CEO Alice Chang

Fri, 15 Apr 2005 16:07:54 GMT

"PC hardware and components suppliers are now involved in a rapid re-orientation towards consumer electronics, where it’s hoped that the Media Center PC will give a much-needed boost to the global IT industry. The media PC will be the center, so the thinking goes, of a complete multimedia environment, the digital home. Large flat-panel displays, digital imaging, wireless networking and multi-channel audio will all play their part. But so also will multimedia software, which will enable the authoring and the editing of video, not simply its playback, along with slideshow and album functionality for still photos." [ more... ]

Mac, iPod sales bring Apple record earnings

Fri, 15 Apr 2005 15:02:46 GMT

On Wednesday Apple Computer Inc. reported, "record quarterly earnings and revenue on significant increases in Macintosh computer and iPod digital media player shipments.

The Cupertino, California-based company posted a net profit of US$290 million, or $0.34 per share for its fiscal 2005 second quarter, which ended March 26. That compares with earnings of $46 million, or $0.06 per share, in the year-earlier period, the company said in a statement.

In the second quarter, Apple shipped 1.07 million Macintosh computers and 5.31 million iPod players, it said. That's up 43 percent year-on-year in computer shipments and up 558 percent on the iPods, according to Apple." [ more... ]

Media Excel to Showcase H.264 Video Solutions for IPTV Including Industry's First MPEG-2 to H.264 Real-Time Transcoder

Fri, 15 Apr 2005 14:29:03 GMT

Media Excel has released a Press Release stating that they are announcing, "a new product line targeted at the IPTV and digital home markets; all new products will be showcased at NAB in Las Vegas April 16th - 21st, booth #SL 5826. Visitors will experience live demos of end to end IPTV Solutions for Live Broadcast, Video-on-Demand (VoD), IP-Set-top boxes and mobile devices powered by Media Excel's SoftStream® products based on advanced compression standards such as H.264.

With today's announcement, the company is expanding the SoftStream® product line to include software and hardware compression, streaming, and decoding technologies. "SoftStream® is Media Excel's product line for end to end IPTV deployments, which is the culmination of Media Excel's in-house development of advanced software compression and streaming technologies combined with our experience from live IPTV deployments in America, Europe, and Asia for major telecommunications companies," said Thanasis Iatrou, the company's President." [ more... ]

Mac, iPod sales bring Apple record earnings

Wed, 13 Apr 2005 22:45:04 GMT

"Apple Computer (Profile, Products, Articles) reported record quarterly earnings and revenue on significant increases in Macintosh computer and iPod digital media player shipments.

The Cupertino, California-based company posted a net profit of $290 million, or $0.34 per share for its fiscal 2005 second quarter, which ended March 26. That compares with earnings of $46 million, or $0.06 per share, in the year-earlier period, the company said in a statement.

Revenue for the quarter hit $3.24 billion, up 70 percent from $1.9 billion in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 40 percent of Apple's revenue in the quarter, the company said." [ more... ]

The results are records in both earnings and revenue, Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs said in the statement."

Infrastructure Upgrades Are the Order of the Day in Broadcast/Network Digital Video Recorder Markets

Wed, 13 Apr 2005 19:55:27 GMT

Significant improvements to existing broadcast/network digital video recorders are necessary for applications such as video on demand , near VOD , and high definition transmissions to take off. [ more... ]

NAB Tech 2005

Tue, 12 Apr 2005 23:50:36 GMT

Digital Video Editing reports that, "It really doesn’t matter whether you’re working in SD or HD, audio or video, 2K or 4K or somewhere in between; these are interesting times. The recent avalanche of innovation, including HDV cameras, tapeless acquisition, and high-res digital finishing, has raised entirely new questions. This year NAB will be a showcase for answers — native HD editing, faster graphics hardware, high-capacity storage solutions, and at least the first tentative steps toward mandating standards in metadata starting at the beginning of the signal path." [ more... ]

I-Level loses BT account after Orange win

Mon, 11 Apr 2005 14:33:15 GMT

In an article for Netimperative, Robin Langford reports that, "Interactive agency I-Level will no longer handle BT’s digital media account, after winning a similar contract with rival Orange.

The move means BT’s lucrative digital media account, estimated to be worth more than £5m, is now up for grabs amongst rival agencies.

BT and I-Level have agreed to go separate ways after the agency won the digital media account for Orange, which represents a potential conflict of interest with the BT account.

Mobile operator Orange, owned by France Telecom, is deemed to be a direct competitor to the telco. BT re-entered the mobile market last year, in partnership with Vodafone to offer mobile connections to BT customers.

I-Level inherits the Orange digital media account from agency Initiative Media, with the task of driving online sales for the mobile operator. The account is estimated to be worth around £8m." [ more... ]

Telstra's trifecta to save $500m

Mon, 11 Apr 2005 14:30:37 GMT

Australian IT is carrying an article by Chris Jenkins and Michael Sainsbury reporting that, "TELSTRA is banking on its Broadband Multi-Service project to save $500 million over five years and deliver the so-called "triple play" of voice, video and data services to residential customers via a single broadband connection, according to sources within the company.

The project, which is designed to give the company an "aggregation layer" for a range of broadband network types, is a key plank of Telstra's overall Future Network strategy.

"The objective is to provide economical, simplified and ubiquitous access to all customers across all Telstra broadband network assets, regardless of the delivery medium," a request for information issued to suppliers earlier obtained by The Australian said.

As part of its multibillion-dollar Future Network strategy, Telstra is also considering expanding the number of suppliers of broadband infrastructure.

Low-cost Chinese makers Huawei and ZTE are the contenders most likely to join Alcatel and NEC as Telstra's DSLAM suppliers, observers said.

Such a move would help Telstra defend its broadband operations against emerging threats from Optus and a range of smaller players that are installing their own DSL equipment, freeing themselves from having to buy services wholesale from Telstra." [ more... ]

Valley firms eager to sell 'arms' to both cable, telco rivals

Mon, 11 Apr 2005 14:00:43 GMT

"As telephone and cable TV companies battle to be America's information and entertainment providers, Silicon Valley companies are becoming self-described "arms merchants," selling to both sides in the ongoing war.

Cable companies are advancing on phone company turf by delivering voice services over cable lines. And phone companies are invading cable company territory by delivering TV programs over phone lines.

The arms merchants to these battling behemoths are the smaller companies that sell network equipment, software and system integration services. They were among the exhibitors during the National Cable Television Association convention held April 3-5 at San Francisco's Moscone Center.

While some of these companies got their start selling either to the cable industry or to telco companies, many are now pursuing both markets. While they theoretically can double their business pursuing both markets, their long-term success depends on how well cable and telcos pursue their rival's core business, analysts say, and which technology partners they choose to help them do that." [ more... ]

Icahn Thratens Blue Takeover; Decries Failed Merger With Hollywood

Fri, 08 Apr 2005 02:57:33 GMT

Living up to his reputation as a fearsome corporate raider, Carl Icahn struck against Blockbuster on Thursday, vowing to nominate his own slate of directors at the company's upcoming annual meeting and threatening a complete takeover of the retailer if his demands aren't met.

In a letter sent to Blockbuster chairman-CEO John Antioco, disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Icahn excoriated Blockbuster management for mishandling the failed acquisition of Hollywood Entertainment. He also accused the company of going on a "spending spree" in pursuit of dubious new business plans.

The letter took dead aim at Antioco, calling his recently reported pay package "unconscionable" and finding fault in "the way you are running the company."

The letter put forth a plan of action for Blockbuster's May 11 annual meeting. But it only hinted at areas of appeasement such as sweetened shareholder dividends. [ more... ]

Google Adds Satellite Imagery to Maps

Tue, 05 Apr 2005 18:39:00 GMT

Google quietly updated its Maps service late Monday to include [color] satellite imagery, a first in the industry. With images provided by DigitalGlobe and EarthSat, users can now zoom in on homes and businesses across the United States and Canada, even charting out directions over actual streets.

The latest update to Google Maps comes only two months after Google launched the service, in a similarly silent fashion.

Much of Google Maps remains the same - just with detailed pictures from high-tech satellites instead of standard map graphics. Maps can be dragged to view adjacent areas, which means users do not have click and wait for graphics to reload. Zooming is also instantaneous with the help of a slider placed atop the map.

A check of certain areas by BetaNews found that the images appear to be mostly accurate. For example, lower Manhattan was updated fairly recently, noted by color differences in the images. [ more... ]

Mark Cuban to fund Grokster vs. MGM case.

Sun, 27 Mar 2005 15:14:42 GMT

Deadric writes "According to Mark Cuban's latest blog entry, he will help fund the Grokster vs. MGM case, which threatens to destroy the Betamax shield."

Appeal Filed in Apple Trade Secret Case

Wed, 23 Mar 2005 22:05:02 GMT

BetaNews reports that, “The EFF has appealed a court ruling issued earlier this month that would force Web sites to hand over their sources to Apple. California Superior Court Judge James Kleinberg ruled that journalist protections not apply to the sites, as trade secrets were revealed in violation of state law.”

Utah Governor Signs Harmful Materials Bill

Wed, 23 Mar 2005 16:06:46 GMT

It appears that House bill 260 has been signed into law by Utah's governor. The bill creates a list of websites that are not 'safe for children' and forces ISPs to block these sites for customers that do not wish to view such content. According to the terms of this new bill, content providers who host or create content in Utah for profit must now rate their websites so that ISPs can block access to them or face 3rd degree felony charges.

Microsoft could be about to pull out of cable news network MSNBC, according to a report.

Fri, 04 Mar 2005 21:25:04 GMT

According to a article posted on cnet News.com, "Microsoft and NBC, joint owners of the network and its companion news portal, are in "advanced discussions" over the sale of the software giant's stake to NBC, according to The New York Post.

Under the potential deal, NBC would take sole control of the news company, with Microsoft having rights to use some of its online news content, according to the paper.

Microsoft's involvement in the venture, which cost it an initial investment of about $250 million, has never seen the hoped-for returns. The channel, which was created in 1996, saw its first quarterly profit last year."

MSN Music and MediaBay Make Historic Shows From Golden Age of Radio Available for Download Online for First Time

Fri, 04 Mar 2005 20:44:44 GMT

A recent Microsoft PressPass article reports that “More than 1,400 programs from the Golden Age of Radio are available for download for the first time thanks to an exclusive alliance between MSN® Music and MediaBay Inc., with its extraordinary RadioClassics catalog. The shows from RadioClassics, which are available for download from MSN Music (http://music.msn.com) in the United States, include classic dramas, mysteries, detective stories, comedies, westerns, science fiction and adventure stories from the 1930s to the 1960s. The catalog features timeless programs such as "The War of the Worlds," "The Adventures of Superman," "Gunsmoke," "The Shadow" (75th Anniversary) and "The Jack Benny Show." Most shows are 30 minutes in length, and most will cost 99 cents (U.S.) to download.”

Is surround sound the future, or another Betamax?

Tue, 01 Mar 2005 00:37:40 GMT

John Borland a Staff Writer at CNET News.com writes “Record labels have been trying to sell high-definition recordings--the audio equivalent of HDTV (high-definition television)--for several years, but with little success. The market has been hampered by the presence of two incompatible formats: Sony's Super Audio CD (SACD), and DVD audio (DVD-A). Analysts say the conflict has kept many consumers wary of upgrading, fearful of picking a soon-obsolete technology.”

Movielink signs up with Blinkx

Tue, 01 Mar 2005 00:31:27 GMT

Stefanie Olsen, a Staff Writer for CNET News.com writes: “Video-on-demand service Movielink said Monday that it has struck a deal with Blinkx, a desktop video search engine. Through the deal, Movielink will allow Blinkx users to search for film titles, watch movie trailers and rent downloadable feature-length movies. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Movielink, based in Los Angeles, is a joint venture of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal Studios and Warner Bros. San Francisco-based Blinkx, which launched last year, offers a downloadable application that lets people search content on their desktop, the Web and thousands of hours of TV content.”

Top music labels try to raise prices for downloads

Mon, 28 Feb 2005 15:44:51 GMT

Financial Times reports: "Some leading music labels are in talks with online retailers to raise wholesale prices for digital music downloads in an attempt to capitalise on burgeoning demand for legal online music.

The moves, which suggest the labels want a bigger slice of the fledgling market's spoils, has angered Steve Jobs, the Apple Computer chief executive behind the iTunes online music store.

But music executives expressed caution about their ability to push through unilateral price increases. Among the biggest groups, Universal Music and Sony BMG are known to be particularly reluctant to disrupt the market for downloads.

One top label said it would not raise wholesale prices now because the market was not yet mature enough for an increase. The three other music labels - which also include EMI and Warner - refused to comment."

Microsoft customers evaluate European sanctions

Fri, 25 Feb 2005 15:40:20 GMT

cnet News reports: "Microsoft customers and competitors will tell the European Commission within 10 days if the software giant's latest offer to comply with sanctions is acceptable to them, a Commission spokesman said on Friday.

...

Nearly one year ago the European Commission found that Microsoft violated antitrust laws and fined it 497 million euros, or about $600 million.

It also required Microsoft to offer a version of Windows without audiovisual software and to provide information about protocols so that makers of rival servers can compete."

Netflix Pioneers Industry To Get Left in the Dust?

Wed, 23 Feb 2005 04:38:25 GMT

prostoalex writes "The New York Times profiles Netflix, the company that pioneered subscription-based DVD plans where a disc is sent via postal service and no late fee is charged. It describes the company from May 1998, when it originally launched the Web site as a DVD-by-mail rental service (with late fees). Interesting factoids: Netflix operates 30 centers around the country and 11% of San Francisco residents subscribe to the service. Turns out, the company is not really afraid of Blockbuster, Wal-mart and Amazon moving into their markets, but they do consider on-demand Internet-download services to be a threat to their business model."

Court Says FCC Out-of-Bounds With Digital TV

Tue, 22 Feb 2005 23:49:12 GMT

USA4034 writes "A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday stated that regulators had overstepped their authority by imposing a rule designed to limit the copying of digital television programs." From the article: "The FCC rule aims to limit people from sending copies of digital television programs over the Internet. The FCC has said copyright protections are needed to help speed the adoption of digital television."