Ed Oswald

BetaNews has learned that Microsoft plans to reissue the pink Zunes in a limited fashion by Mother's Day, with at least one retailer expecting to receive the devices within the week.

In a copy of a message sent to Best Buy stores obtained by BetaNews, the new Zunes are to first appear in the April 29 ads from the retailer. However, it seems as if the devices will be placed on shelves immediately.

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HD DVD announced it is the first of either format to reach 100,000 stand-alone players sold in the US market, saying Tuesday the price drop helped to spur sales of the product. Not included are PC or Xbox 360 drive sales.

It is said those products are also selling strongly as well, meaning the actual number of HD DVD players sold is likely significantly higher than that number. It is also the first time sales numbers on either format hardware has ever been released.

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Without subscriber revenue to depend on, AOL is looking for new avenues in which to generate cash. One of these is in entertainment, and the company announced deals on five new Web productions Tuesday.

AOL is hoping that these offerings help it generate more advertising impressions, which is now its primary source of revenue. Deals have been announced with Mark Burnett, Dreamworks, Endemol, Madison Road, Stone & Co., and Telepictures.

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After what many would have considered a lackluster launch in the US, it appears as if the PlayStation 3 is doing much better in Europe. Sony says it has sold approximately 800,000 consoles since its launch there on March 22.

Of course, this does not take into account the supply issues Sony faced with its launch in the United States.. Whereas an estimated 1 million consoles were available for the European launch, most estimates say around 200,000 consoles were shipped for the US launch.

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Game developer Red Octane admitted Monday that an update for the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero II intended to fix issues with the game instead caused some consoles to lock up.

An issue with the whammy bar in the Xplorer controller was supposed to be fixed by the patch. Instead, the patch caused system freezes and what 360 gamers call the "red ring of death," where the green ring around the power button turns red to indicate a critical error.

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Microsoft is preparing to launch Windows Live Hotmail in the United States by next month, although customers in India and Belgium will begin seeing the updates later this week, the company is expected to announce Tuesday. Other Windows Live product updates are also likely.

Various sources tell BetaNews that the upgrades won't come automatically, but rather in a gradual process over the next several weeks. Testers in France are currently receiving e-mails saying they will receive the update in several days, with a similar e-mail circulating to UK users.

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Depending on who Vonage is talking to, the message of whether or not it could implement a technology workaround to Verizon's patents was different. Now, court documents reveal there was never any workaround.

The vastly different messages put the nation's largest VoIP provider in somewhat of a hypocritical situation. While those most important to its financial health were told not to worry, its lawyers are telling the court it would take months to implement a workaround.

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Microsoft said Monday that it will sponsor a contest that asks participants to create a new television show. The winner will have his concept premiere as an exclusive TV show for Xbox Live.

The Redmond company has made a strong push to promote its Xbox 360 console as a media center rather than just a gaming console. Xbox Live now hosts some 1,500 hours of television and movie content, with plans to continue to expand that number in the coming months.

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Yahoo said Monday that it had signed an agreement with a dozen US newspaper companies to expand its newspaper content and be the exclusive provider of paid-search services as well.

In total, the deal includes 264 newspapers in 44 states, including the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Denver Post, The Houston Chronicle, San Francisco Chronicle, and the San Jose Mecury-News.

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Apple introduced a new version of its Final Cut Studio professional video production suite, as well as introducing Final Cut Server, a new product aimed at simplifying and streamlining the post-production process.

The central application in the suite is Final Cut Pro 6, which now includes the capability to add clips using almost any format without the need to transcode. Additionally, a new format called ProRes 422 will allow editors to create HD content within SD file sizes.

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Google said Monday it would sell ads across all Clear Channel radio stations in the United States. This comes amid news that Google's competitors, including Microsoft, may challenge the DoubleClick deal over antitrust concerns.

Since the inception of its radio advertising program brought about by the acquisition of dMarc Broadcasting, Google has struggled to convince station owners to allow the company to sell their advertising time. The ClearChannel deal is certainly a step in the right direction.

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Warner Music Group gave music retailer AnywhereCD mixed messages on Thursday, on one hand demanding it remove its digital music from its site, but on the other hand saying it was acceptable for the company to help rip its albums to MP3.

AnywhereCD had been selling albums in two forms, one in regular CD form, with an option to download the tracks immediately in MP3 format. Some even include the option to just download the MP3's themselves without receiving the physical CDs at a small discount.

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With the high-definition disc war still unresolved, yet another company plans to attempt to offer consumers in the United States a dual-format player by the end of this year.

Samsung, who has been one of Blu-ray's biggest proponents, announced its plans on Friday. It is the second company behind LG to develop an actual product. LG showed its drive off at CES, though it is said to lack some critical HD DVD features.

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Instead of admitting that Leopard is taking far longer to finish than it anticipated, Apple has chosen an attempt to hide behind the iPhone to mask the hypocrisy of delaying the next version of Mac OS X.

PERSPECTIVE I can no doubt hear the snickers from Redmond this very minute after reading Apple's statement regarding its delay of Mac OS X "Leopard." This comes from a company that never passed up an attempt to bash Microsoft's incessant delays of Vista at every turn.

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A study released by the Federal Trade Commission Thursday gives mixed reviews to the entertainment industry on the self-regulation of marketing violent content to children. The report is sure to reignite the years-old debate once more.

The findings show that the movie, music and video-game industries were generally complying with regulations. However, violent marketing directed at teen audiences remains substantially high.

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