Broadcasters Announce DTV Ad Campaign
Broadcasters are preparing a $700 million ad blitz to raise awareness of the switch from analog to digital television amid criticisms that too little of the public is aware of the change.
Some members of Congress claim that the government and broadcasters have done little to warn people of the switch that occurs on February 17, 2009. In what could be seen as a preemptive strike prior to hearings on the subject, the broadcast industry has announced an expansive ad campaign to promote the switch.
US Airways Taps Paypal for Airfare Purchases
American airline US Airways said Tuesday that it will begin to accept PayPal as a form of payment when purchasing tickets through its Web site.
The company said that the the ability to purchase airfare using the online payment service was a popular request among its customers. In addition, the company will also promote PayPal through the "travel tools" section of its Web site.
First DVD to Ship with WMV File for PC, Portables
While the fourth "Die Hard" DVD may seem like an unlikely place to set a historical milestone in the movie industry, Yippee Kay-yay. 20th Century Fox said Tuesday that a special edition version of "Live Free or Die Hard" will include a Windows Media Video file that can be copied to a PC or portable video player.
The WMV file reportedly has no DRM, however the user will be required to input a 16-digit code before the DVD software will unlock and copy it. Called "Digital Copy," the feature will be available on future Fox DVDs, although no specific titles were announced. Warner Home Video plans a similar capability for "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," which goes on sale in December.
MySpace Gets Signed by Sony BMG
MySpace today announced a new licensing agreement with Sony BMG Music Entertainment that shares revenues gained from sponsorship and advertising, and lets the site post video and audio content from the label's artists.
Sony BMG, one of the big five record labels, encompasses a tremendous amount of music, with over 60 labels under its banner including such groups as RCA, Arista, Columbia, Epic, Jive, and Rough Trade.
Google Launches New Copyright Protection on YouTube
Google is making efforts to allay criticism over its YouTube video site by implementing new video identification that would help to find copyrighted content.
As in the past, the Mountain View, Calif. search company is framing its fight against copyrighted work on its site as going "above and beyond our legal responsibilities." Google itself will not use the application to identify videos: rather, the content owners need to use it themselves.
How Verizon Turned Over Surveillance Documents Without Court Order
Of the three major telecommunications companies sent questionnaires two weeks ago by leaders of the US House Committee on Energy and Commerce, only Verizon answered in detail, with AT&T and Qwest citing pending lawsuits as their reason for declining. Those questionnaires were intended to determine these companies' understanding of federal law as it was explained to them, and how they believe they're complying with the law, in cases where national security officials seek private customer data without a court order.
Currently, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act permits information from communications of non-US citizens to be collected without court order. However, in recent years, the Dept. of Justice and the National Security Agency have made numerous requests for customer data citing FISA as legal foundation, even though the citizenship status of individuals being investigated is unclear.
40GB PlayStation 3 Coming to US?
While Sony is remaining cagey about whether it will bring the 40GB PlayStation 3 to the United States, Target appears to have let the cat out of the bag. The company's inventory systems are reporting the lower-cost model will arrive on October 28 with a price tag of $399 USD.
Sony has already launched the 40GB PS3 in Europe and Japan, which will replace the phased out 60GB model. The company hopes the lower $399 price will drive sales by those who aren't willing to pony up $599 for the high-end model. But the low cost comes with a big caveat: the 40GB PS3 does not offer backward compatibility for PS2 games, nor the memory card port.
iTunes Lowers Price of DRM-Free Tracks
Apple has silently dropped the price of its DRM-free iTunes Plus tracks, which come as 256kbps AAC. Instead of $1.29, the tracks will cost the same as standard songs with DRM: 99-cents. The move is seemingly in response to Amazon's launch of its DRM-free music store that sells 256kbps MP3s for between 89 cents to 99 cents each.
Although the iTunes Plus songs were individually $1.29, Apple usually sold full iTunes Plus albums at the same price as their DRM counterpart. The company is expected to make an official announcement Wednesday, along with bulking up its DRM-free offering with additional independent labels.
Napster Refocuses on Web, Drops Software
Napster announced today that it plans to relaunch its Web-based platform, which allows subscribers access to their music from anywhere, shifting the focus of the service away from its standalone software.
Most subscribers currently use Napster's desktop application to access the music database. The Web-based model will allow users more freedom to stream their tracks anywhere they are connected to the Internet.
Apple Set to Ship Leopard October 26
Apple has finally set a date for the next release of its Mac OS X operating system, said to include some 300 new features.
Mac OS X 10.5 "Leopard" will go on sale through Apple retail stores and resellers on October 26 at 6:00pm local time. Additionally, the company will accept pre-orders for the new OS beginning Tuesday.
Microsoft Drops South Korea Antitrust Appeal
Possibly sensing that it would be an uphill battle, Microsoft said Tuesday that it planned to drop its appeal of an anti-trust ruling in South Korea.
The Redmond company had lost a similar appeal in Europe in mid-September. A request to dismiss its appeal was sent to the Seoul High Court last week.
Switzerland: Superior Voting Security?
Hitachi Scrambles to Prove It Can Beat Fujitsu to 1 Terabit HDDs
In its regular prediction of future milestones at the opening of a major annual magnetic recording conference in Tokyo, Hitachi raised the bar yet again: This time, the company is promising to reach the one terabit per square inch milestone commercially by 2011. First, that might be too late to beat its competition; second, Hitachi may have to show more proof it can reach that goal even that soon.
The goal is a fairly simple one, and sometimes it has to be simple in order for engineers to be able to fathom all that's required of them bending the laws of physics to reach it. In the case of magnetic disk drive technologies, the problem is being able to store data magnetically in a space smaller than electrons themselves should typically allow for.
Alltel, T-Mobile, Palm Lose Most from iPhone
Broadcom Chipset Could Boost US 3G Adoption by 2009
Just as in the microcomputer industry, the key to widespread dissemination of a design is mass production of its underlying technology. Standard chipsets are what make varieties of motherboards possible; and in the mobile phone realm, where form factors are much smaller, miniaturization demands that more basic features get crammed onto a single chip.
Today, Broadcom announced it appears to have overcome the myriad of timing issues associated with such amalgamation, and has begun sampling a system-on-a-chip (SoC) that combines all the underlying communication features phone manufacturers demand along with HSDPA/HSUPA high-speed data transfer.
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