NBCU: We Made Only $15 Million Off iTunes
No doubt in an effort to build up its own recently launched Hulu service, NBC Universal chief Jeff Zucker criticized Apple yet again over its unwillingness to work with the company.
At a Syracuse University benefit, Zucker claimed that NBCU had only made $15 million off of its video deal with iTunes, and said it was unfair that Apple had made millions off of iPod sales and was not sharing any of the revenues with content providers.
HD DVD Player Drops Below $200
Despite the fanfare, the battle for control over the next-generation DVD market is still inconsequential; the DVD version of Transformers sold 43 times more copies than the HD DVD version, which was the best selling title thus far. But that could change this holiday with players finally dropping below $200.
Circuit City and Wal-Mart are now selling the Toshiba A2 -- a second-generation HD DVD player -- for $198, over $100 off its original price of $299. The A2 only offers 1080i output, but most new televisions can do 1080i-to-1080p conversions better than players anyway, and firmware upgrades keep it as up to date as current Toshiba HD DVD players.
Consumer-created Xbox Live Betas Playable Now
Perhaps it's a bit unusual to be thinking of the Frito-Lay Company as a software developer. But since it officially issued a challenge for developers to create an Xbox Live game that "brings to life the bold spirit of the Doritos brand" was issued, five contest finalists have been working with professional development teams since August to realize their visions.
Available at the Doritos Web Site through November 18, these preliminary versions are playable and subject to user voting to determine the game that will be developed into a full Xbox Live arcade game for release next summer. Once chosen, the release candidate will be finalized at NinjaBee development studio, which is responsible for the current Xbox Live titles Cloning Clyde, Outpost Kaloki X, and Band of Bugs.
$100 Laptop Goes on Sale for $200
Another Muni-WiFi Deal Ends as AT&T, St. Louis Part Ways
As first reported by reporter Tim Logan of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, AT&T has called off its ambitious plans to roll out free municipal WiFi service over a 62-square-mile area covering St. Louis County. While AT&T had been wrestling with the problem of how to build a business model around this lucrative service, what may have ended up scuttling the deal was an unforeseen technical difficulty.
"City hereby authorizes Company to place System Equipment on City Property," reads part of the agreement reached between the City of St. Louis and AT&T last February, "all as further provided in the Pole Attachment Standards Document. Company shall use and access City Property in such manner as not to interfere with other services provided from or on such City Property."
UK Gets New Skype Cell Phone
Another episode in the continuing saga of Skype getting better in "the rest of the world" first, UK-based mobile carrier 3 has introduced the Skypephone, the market's first cellular device designed around the free peer-to-peer telephone service.
Skype is ideally suited for those who frequently make international calls, and fans of the service consider it a smart and urbane alternative to shelling out huge sums to a phone company. The wired handsets and WiFi phones of recent past, however, have not exactly meshed with the image of the classy, jet-setting Skype user.
Oracle Drops Bid for BEA Systems
Oracle said Sunday that it was dropping its effort to acquire BEA Systems over disagreements surrounding the valuation of the company.
BEA had insisted on a valuation of about $8.2 billion, or about $21 per share. This was significantly higher than Oracle's offer of $17 per share, which comes out to about $6.7 billion.
Apple Puts Limits on iPhone Sales
In a move aimed squarely at reining in the growing "unlocking" market, Apple last week placed new restrictions on the sales of its popular iPhone.
The company estimates about 250,000 of the 1.4 million Phones it has sold since its launch in June have been sold to people who intend to unlock the device. Apparently, the company has some concerns that these sales could hurt availability for legitimate buyers.
California Settlement Enables Sprint Customers to Unlock CDMA Phones
As part of a settlement in a class-action settlement announced over the weekend, customers of Sprint Nextel's CDMA service in California and parts of Florida will be given the code and instructions needed for them to unlock their phones from the Sprint network.
The extent to which Sprint plans to share unlocking code with its customers is in question, however, as different press sources have given conflicting information. BetaNews awaits clarification directly from Sprint representatives on this issue, and we'll give it to you the moment we have it.
Hulu Adds Partners, Launches Private Beta
NBC Universal and News Corp.'s long-awaited video service finally went into private beta on Monday, as the company announced two new partners.
Hulu signed on both Sony Pictures Television and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios to offer their programming beside homegrown NBC and Fox content. The service was made to a small group of testers on Monday as well.
Acer Seeks 12% Market Share in 2008
Acer's acquisition of Gateway has had a definite impact on its overall market share, its chairman said Friday, and forecasted the manufacturer would be able to ship 25 percent more computers in 2008. The boost should allow the company to claim an 11 to 12 percent share during the next year. Analysts have said that Acer likely took over the third spot behind HP and Dell from Lenovo following the deal.
Third quarter profits at the company surged 58 percent behind strong demand for its laptops and growth in emerging markets. Acer expects its fourth quarter numbers to be equally as good, as it hasn't seen any slowdown in demand for its products. Fourth quarter shipments of Acer products are expected to be 10 percent above third quarter numbers, the company said in a conference call.
Can Vista Be Credited With Microsoft's Stellar Q1 Gains?
It was indeed an astounding quarter for Microsoft, with operating income having grown last quarter at an annual rate of 32%. A big part of that growth is attributable to Windows Vista. But does the fact that customers are adopting it truly signal that customers are embracing it? Yesterday, the company's chief financial executives offered some very revealing data.
What recession? Since Chris Liddell's arrival as Microsoft's Chief Financial Officer, the company's timing and execution have been impeccable. He has five business divisions whose books he manages, but the weight of capital expenditures in the revenue of at least two divisions have been more than offset by gains in the other three that help Microsoft to cruise right along.
Can Microsoft Make Vista More Compelling?
Although Windows Vista has been on sale for nearly nine months, Microsoft has yet to seriously market the operating system, letting a certain rival control public mind share on a number of fronts. That's all about to change, as the Redmond company attempts to make Vista more compelling to consumers.
At an event in New York City this week timed to coincide with Apple's launch of Leopard, Microsoft executives invited members of the consumer press from all over the world to see why they should pay attention to -- and write about -- Vista this holiday season.
BitTorrent Site Promises to Bring Back OiNK
The Pirate Bay said Friday that it was working on bringing back OiNK, a BitTorrent tracker that featured music files from "hundreds of thousands" of music albums.
OiNK was taken down on October 23 by police in the Netherlands and Britain in conjunction with the IFPI and BPI, and a message on the site's front page indicates that an investigation was ongoing into the "identities and activities" of its users.
Senate Passes Moratorium on Internet Taxes Until 2014
After an amendment offered by Sen. John Sununu (R - N.H.) made it feasible to extend a four-year extension on the existing ban on Internet-related taxes to seven years, the US Senate yesterday passed the Internet Tax Freedom Act Amendments Act of 2007, reportedly by another overwhelmingly positive vote.
The existing federal moratorium on any state or federal tax on Internet use was set to expire next Thursday, after which time legislators were worried that states could be gearing up to create new broadband usage taxes that could be applied to users' ISP bills.
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