Comcast: 42% of digital subscribers use high-def, DV-R
At CES 2008 last month, it was surprising to see Comcast as a brand being tossed around with the likes of Matsushita, Motorola, and Sony. Now it's time to see if its video-on-demand strategy is starting to pay off.
Comcast today reported substantial increases in revenue and income in 2007, crediting this growth to a combination of acquisitions and operating results. Although the cable provider's growth in broadband and digital voice subscriberships slowed at the end of the year, Comcast also saw progress in areas such as high-definition (HD) TV and video on demand (VoD), where it is making new investments, including with respect to a project dubbed Infinity.
Sun expands its catalog of pay-by-the-hour service apps
To help companies and universities looking for computing power on an as-needed basis, Sun Microsystems today added 14 new applications and services to its Network.com Application Catalog.
Network.com's Sun Grid Compute Utility is a service for companies and universities who don't have the resources or don't want to spend large amounts of money to create a new data infrastructure just for limited-use applications. Rather than force customers down that path, Sun charges users of Network.com $1 per CPU hour used, on a strictly pay-per-use basis with no long-term contract necessary.
EC commissioner proposes doubling terms of performers' copyright
"Oldies" music remains popular among many generations, which could present a window of opportunity for record companies in Europe to take advantage of royalties terms expiring after 50 years. Today, the EC may be looking to shut that window.
While US lawmakers continue to debate whether terrestrial radio stations should, for the first time in their history, pay royalties to performers of the music they play, in Europe, performers have always gotten some kind of a cut, especially from countries where public radio is subsidized through licenses. This morning, the popular European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, Charlie McCreevy, proposed extending the term of copyright for performers appearing in recorded music from 50 to 95 years.
Google updates its Android SDK
Google released on Wednesday an updated version of its Android SDK, including a new user interface that separates it from Apple's iPhone, and layout animations for iPhones.
Initial betas of the SDK included a user interface that many commented was quite similar to that of the iPhone. With this update, m5-rc14, the UI is beginning to take on a look of its own.
Cell phone games could get Wii-like controls
Gesturetek, the company whose technology was licensed to make the mildly successful PlayStation EyeToy, as well as the Xbox 360 Live Camera, is expanding its controller vision (no pun intended) beyond console-based games.
The company's FunCam doesn't venture too far from territory it's covered before. Gesturetek couples a camera with a projector, resulting in a portable dedicated game which can be re-purposed to behave as an interactive advertising solution.
Macrovision's software arm to become stand-alone company
What originally appeared to be a move by Macrovision to build a rights protection empire surprisingly appears to have lost an essential element: its PC software.
Today, private equity firm Thoma Cressey Bravo has announced that it will be purchasing Macrovision's Software Business unit for approximately $200 million cash. The group owns more than 10 software companies, which specialize in enterprise management and planning solutions, supply chain software and business data systems.
VoIP phone offers WiMAX connectivity
Three companies are set to use the backdrop of the 2008 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona to debut a device that can use WiMAX technology to make calls.
The device has been co-developed by Tokyo-based companies NetIndex and Kaga Electronics, and Israel company Runcom. The phone is fully complaint with WiMAX, and will provide full VoIP functionality.
Could video-on-demand overtake HD discs by 2011?
According to analysts, just three years from now, 129 million people worldwide will be subscribing to Direct-to-Home Video, most likely with high definition. Will HD optical drives plummet into a niche market along the way?
The ongoing battle between the rivaling Blu-ray and HD DVD formats for high-definition optical drives keeps capturing huge attention, even though the combined Blu-ray and HD DVD market today only consists of a few million units sold, give or take a few depending on who is doing the counting.
OSU thought it already turned over defendants' IDs to RIAA
The unfortunate combination of an attachment error and a week-long sickness by the school's attorney gave the appearance that the school was ignoring a court order, according to an admission made by a university official to BetaNews.
Multiple press and Internet sources reported throughout the week that Oklahoma State University has been attempting to stonewall the Recording Industry Association of America by refusing to turn over a list of students' names suspected of trading in unlicensed files. Those students are currently listed as anonymous "John Does" in a federal court trial brought forth by RIAA members.
Struggling Alcatel-Lucent to handle AT&T's 3G expansion
Quickly following up the announcement made earlier this month that AT&T would be expanding its 3G network by 80 cities to nearly 350 US Markets, Alcatel-Lucent announced today that it will be in charge of supplying it.
To facilitate AT&T's network growth, Alcatel-Lucent will provide its UMTS/HSDPA Distributed Node B solution, which allows less intrusive 3G radio deployments to be placed in more locations.
Nintendo looks to address game piracy issues worldwide
Nintendo of America has asked the office of the US Trade Representative to begin pressuring foreign governments to crack down on counterfeit material.
Using an process called a "Special 301," Nintendo filed its complaint with the USTR. Through that method, the agency opens up the process to the public for comment in order to pinpoint areas of concern.
Google makes move into Chinese digital music
Although it is not confirmed, Google has entered into a joint venture with Top100.cn, which will allow Internet users to download licensed music for free.
Top100 already provides a for-pay music download service in China which also offers free streaming. It was founded with 20 million yuan in start-up capital from Chinese basketball star Yao ming, Yao's agent Zhang Mingji, and businessman Ge Chen. It is unclear what will happen to this service when Google steps in.
Yahoo's Yang holds firm on resisting Microsoft
Experimenting with capitalization (in more ways than one), Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang wrote his company's shareholders to explain why he believes Microsoft isn't assessing Yahoo's value fairly.
Yahoo has one of the world's most recognized brands, it has partners whose contributions can't be matched, and it has a tremendously positive cash flow, and it has a world-class search engine infrastructure, argued CEO Jerry Yang in a widely distributed letter to Yahoo shareholders yesterday afternoon. All four of these factors would be diluted if the company were simply to be absorbed as another of Microsoft's brands, he directly implied, referring to Microsoft only in his opening paragraphs.
Microsoft: 'We misjudged demand' for Xbox 360
Microsoft admitted Wednesday that it sales for its flagship Xbox 360 game console were in fact so strong that it hasn't been able to maintain inventory levels.
Redmond may be playing the expectations game as NPD data listing monthly console sales is due shortly, and may show some weakness due to these supply problems. Microsoft's game marketing chief Jeff Bell said it could have an impact on its sales.
Google partners with calendaring tool for its online apps
In a move to draw small business users away from services such as Microsoft Outlook and Exchange, Google today announced the TimeBridge collaborative calendar tool will be made compatible with Google Enterprise Professional.
Google Enterprise Professional program is a service designed to let business employees collaborate on projects together regardless of where they are. The TimeBridge partnership will also carry over to Google Apps, its online applications suite.
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