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13 Aug 2009 21:45:18 GMT

Following in the footsteps of Fox and Universal, Warner Entertainment has apparently decided to deny DVD rental kiosk operator Redbox access to new releases until a month after traditional brick and mortar stores get them. Home Media Magazine is reporting that Warner Home Video has revised the terms of their wholesaler agreements to forbid sales to any kiosk operator. Instead those companies will be forced to cut deals directly with WHV. This would allow them to require a 28 day waiting period as part of any agreement made directly with them. While this move may prove advantageous to Redbox in their lawsuits against Universal and Fox, in which they are making antitrust claims, the effect on Warner Home Video revenue may be a much bigger problem for the studio. Warner's plan can only succeed if consumers are choosing kiosks because of the movies they have rather than for reasons of convenience. They are clearly presuming people who currently rent from Redbox when they leave a store or fast food restaurant would go out of their way to rent a movie somewhere else instead of choosing a different movie. It seems at least as likely that kiosks are a major factor in the continued success of DVD rentals while sales fall. The situation is somewhat reminiscent of that faced by music labels during the early days of commercial music downloads. Initially the labels insisted the music be sold on their terms, requiring DRM which clearly annoyed consumers. After years of claiming that selling DRM-free music costs them money because it can be shared freely on P2P networks they were eventually forced to admit restricting consumers was the real problem. In the intervening time they lost millions of sales to their own business model. Instead of restricting how the movie can be played these studios are trying to force consumers to rent from outlets of their choosing. The theory is that people aren't buying movies because because kiosks don't offer that option. The most obvious problem with this reasoning is the huge number of Redbox kiosks found in Wal-Marts across the US. And Wal-Mart most certainly does sell plenty of DVDs.

13 Aug 2009 14:31:00 EST

With its shapely curves and dramatic paintwork, the Ripple LOOK makes a wonderful first impression. Though not a candidate for being either the smallest or thinnest mini PC around, it's definitely one of the best looking nettops we've seen. Specs are par for the course -- dual core Atom 330, 2GB RAM, 320GB storage and Intel GMA950 graphics -- but you really don't buy devices like these for their power. Then again, we won't be buying this at all unless it does the unthinkable and finds a reseller outside Korea, where the lucky locals can have it for $321. A couple more glamor shots await after the break to soothe your heavy heart.Continue reading Ripple unleashes dashingly handsome LOOK on unsuspecting nettop crowd DesktopsRipple unleashes dashingly handsome LOOK on unsuspecting nettop crowd originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

13 Aug 2009 00:12:00 GMT

The UK's first Pirate Party has officially registered as a political party, meaning it can now raise funds and push its candidates in the next general election. The Party hopes to emulate the same popularity as the Swedish Pirate Party has gotten, largely due to the attention surrounding the Pirate Bay. "Getting to this stage has been a long process, we've had to elect officers, raise funds, fill out forms, meet with some (very helpful) people at the Electoral Commission, and learn far more about electoral law and the special party funding rules that apply to Gibraltar than any same person would ever want to," a site announcement reads. "Now the party can really start. It's time for us to tell the world that we exist, to recruit members, raise funds and gear up to fight the General Election. The officers and web team have built the framework that the party needs to get going, now it's time for YOU to make things happen. "Join the party, tell the media about the party,tell your friends about the party, take part in policy and news debates on the forum, join our Facebook group, donate or set up a regular payment to provide financial support, set up a branch in your constituency, school or workplace, join the specialist workings groups for members with key skills like lawyers and journalists and volunteer to take part in canvassing and campaigning in your constituency at the general election..." More information for UK users: http://www.pirateparty.org.uk

13 Aug 2009 00:29:26 GMT

Redbox, a DVD rental Kiosk service that operates 17,900 kiosks in the U.S., has filed a lawsuit against 20th Century Fox for attempting to delay new releases from its machines. Fox, like Universal before it, believe that Redbox' $1 rental fee and $7 DVD sales seriously undervalue the product, and will do damage to DVD sales by diverting consumers away from stores like Blockbuster where they are surrounded by new DVDs to buy. The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Delaware. Redbox had previously sued Universal for the same tactics and is awaiting a decision. The Fox lawsuit accuses the studio of violating antitrust laws by reducing consumer choice in the marketplace, as well as increasing prices that consumers must pay. Not all studios feel the same way as Fox and Universal however. Sony Pictures reached a deal with Redbox to offer Sony titles for rental, as long as Redbox destroyed the rental DVDs instead of selling them when their rental life is over. Lions Gate Entertainment Group also agreed on Tuesday to make its films available to Redbox immediately. Universal and Fox are attempting to delay new releases from reaching the kiosks, anticipating that DVD sales will be lost, by pressuring distributors to wait a number of weeks before selling to Redbox. However, Redbox customers won't have noticed a difference most likely, because the company paid a premium cost and bought new DVDs from retailers instead, hitting the company's profit margins but maintaining supply.

13 Aug 2009 04:51:46 GMT

In a giant decision today, a federal district court judge has ruled against Microsoft, and told the software company it must stop selling the extremely popular Word word processing software in the United States. The victor company, i4i, has only 30 employees but claims Microsoft violated a patent pertaining to Extensible Markup Language (XML). The judge agreed. Microsoft has 60 days to appeal, or cease selling Word, a key component of the Office bundle. The company was also fined $290 million USD. Microsoft says Office accounts for over $3 billion USD in sales per year. "It's not a question of fear or pride or anything else," added Loudon Owen, i4i chairman, via USA Today. "We're very respectful of Microsoft, but when you're in the right you have to persevere." Microsoft will obviously appeal. "We are disappointed by the court's ruling," says Microsoft spokesman Kevin Kutz. "We believe the evidence clearly demonstrated that we do not infringe and that the i4i patent is invalid." i4i has the patent for "customized XML," which has been the default format for Word files since the 2007 edition. If the ruling stands, Microsoft would not be allowed to sell the 2003 or 2007 editions.

13 Aug 2009 00:32:00 EST

Say what you will about AMD, but don't you dare call it lazy. Within a matter of weeks, the outfit has launched a 2GB FirePro for um, pros, a 785G integrated chip for laypeople and now a new Phenom II X4 for the gamers in attendance. The all new Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition is the "highest clocked quad-core processor for desktop PCs," checking in with a stock frequency of 3.4GHz and support for DDR3 and AMD OverDrive 3.0. Based on the Dragon platform, the chip is actually identical to the 955 it replaces at the top save for the clock speed, and during the collective web's testing, it easily outpaced every other AMD option out there. Unfortunately, it still couldn't put the hurt on a smattering of Intel chips, with the Core 2 Extreme QX9770 and Core i7 920 besting it in all but a few tests. All told, the chip was found to be an incremental (albeit fun) update, but given that it's currently priced between Intel's Core 2 Quad Q9550 ($219) and the aforesaid Core i7 920 ($279), it's not a clear-cut bargain at $245. Still, give it a lil' shelf time, let the MSRP sink and it just might be worth another look in due time. - HotHardware review - Tom's Hardware review - Anandtech's review - PC Perspective's review - Elite Bastards review - Neoseeker review

12 Aug 2009 07:49:22 GMT

According to Chinese site 163.com, and reported in English by TechCrunch, Dell is set to launch a China-only mobile phone soon, using the Android platform, and dubbed the mini3i. The device will be distributed through China Mobile, and should launch later this week. The mini31, known as an Ophone, is expected to be one of a few similar devices, coming from HTC, Lenovo and Dell and each using Android operating systems. Ophones use TD-SCDMA (Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access), China's 3G equivalent, meaning importing the phones to the EU or US will not be worth it if you need data.

12 Aug 2009 19:58:53 GMT

Jon Lech Johansen, known notoriously as “DVD Jon” for his work in cracking the CSS encryption on DVDs, had received a subpoena this week as part of the Apple iTunes anti-trust case. The subpoena was sent so everyone involved can gather any relevant documents that Johansen may still have, says Electronista. DVD Jon has been asked to "provide any communications with Apple regarding his efforts to make iPods inter-operable with content purchased outside of iTunes, along with discussions relating to syncing iTunes purchases with non-Apple media players." More specifically, the subpoena asks for any documents involving the FairPlay DRM scheme. DVD Jon created software that circumvents FairPlay as well as Windows Media protection, using the legal method of re-encoding the song on the fly in its original program, removing the DRM.

12 Aug 2009 20:47:28 GMT

Last week we reported that Microsoft was planning to kill off the Xbox 360 Pro model, while at the same time lowering the price of the larger capacity Elite model. Today, Kotaku is reporting that rumor is indeed fact, and a Meijer catalog leak shows the Elite seeing a price drop on August 30th, alongside the imminent phase out of the Pro model. The Elite will see its price drop to $299, leaving only two options on the market, the $199 HDD-less Arcade model and the now $300, 120GB HDD Elite. Of course, "Microsoft does not comment on rumors or speculation," but we know better already. Pic via Kotaku:

12 Aug 2009 21:18:49 GMT

Frederick Wood, of Seattle, has been convicted and sentenced to 39 months in prison in prison this week for using the infamous P2P client Limewire to steal personal information from over 100 unsuspecting sharers. Kathryn Warma, assistant U.S. attorney in the Computer Hacking and Internet Crimes Unit of the U.S. Attorney's Office says the identify theft is very common, but not to many people know it exists. Wood, says Warma, would type keywords such as "tax return" or "bank account" into the Limewire search box which allowed him to download files with that type of personal information from shared folders of naive or unsuspecting Limewire users. The convicted felon also searched specifically for college financial aid forms, says PCWorld, which include "exhaustive personal and financial information about the family." Wood would then use the info to open accounts, receive credit cards, and make purchases in their names. "Many of the victims are parents who don't realize that Limewire is on their home computer," added Warma. Wood was originally arrested for fraud, after selling a Mac computer on Craigslist, but giving the buyer a box that included no computer but instead a book and a vase in the shape and weight of a mac. The victim then set up a similar deal as a police sting and Wood was arrested on the spot for selling an empty box to a police officer. While searching Wood's computer, authorities found tax returns, bank statements and other personal info from over 120 victims from across the US. Wood also apparently had ties to Gregory Kopiloff, the first man to be convicted in the US for using P2P to steal identities. Kopiloff is currently serving four years in prison.

12 Aug 2009 23:28:06 GMT

A federal Judge has stung RealNetworks badly by issuing a preliminary injunction preventing the company from selling its RealDVD software, which costs $30 a pop. Additionally, the company's prototype DVD player, Facet, will now also be blocked from sale. RealDVD allowed consumers to make copies of their DVDs onto their computers, while Facet is a HDD-equipped DVD player. The company has maintained that the software is entirely legal. This case became important because it can answer the question of whether consumers in the U.S. are allowed to make copies of their DVD movies. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) regards Facet and RealDVD as tools of piracy that could cost the industry a lot of money, and claimed they were illegal under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Real argued that because it has licensed Content Scrambling System (CSS) from the DVD Copy Control Association (DVD-CCA), that its software and prototype DVD player do not break provisions surrounding the circumvention of copy protection, disregarding ARccOS and RipGuard. "RealDVD makes a permanent copy of copyrighted DVD content," U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Patel wrote in her decision, "and by doing so breaches its License Agreement with the DVD Copy Control Association ... and circumvents a technological measure that effectively controls access to or copying of the Studios' copyrighted content on DVDs." Real, of course, said it was very disappointed with the Judge's decision. The MPAA on the other hand called it a victory for the creators and producers of movies and TV shows. Whether or not Real will continue this fight remains to be seen, as the company has spent over $6 million defending its RealDVD software already.

12 Aug 2009 23:45:54 GMT

Intel has licensed Scalable Link Interface (SLI) technology from Nvidia for use with its new Nehalem processors and chipsets. Intel Nehalem is the successor to the Core microarchitecture, and uses a 45-nanometer manufacturing method. The first processor released using the architecture is Intel's Core i7. Intel has licensed the SLI technology from Nvidia in order to add improved support for multiple graphics processors to its Nehalem processors and chipsets in high-end gaming machines. The licensing however, does not include next-generation products being developed by Intel that incorporate a CPU and graphics technology on a single chip. The company has also been improving the graphics capabilities in its chipsets, cutting into Nvidia's market in PCs. In response, Nvidia is pushing its own chipsets to compete with Intel. The SLI technology, which enables a motherboard to support as many as three Nvidia Geforce cards, has also been recently licensed by motherboard manufacturers including Asus, EVGA, Gigabyte and MSI.

12 Aug 2009 23:57:47 GMT

The Free60 Project - which aims to open up the Xbox 360 to homebrew to the same degree as the original Xbox (or as close as can be achieved) - has warned those who have not already gotten the Tuesday Xbox 360 update to avoid the update altogether. There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, its the first Xbox 360 update to overwrite the first stage bootloader of the system. Any failure when this process is under-way could badly damage an Xbox 360, according to Free60. The second reason is Microsoft's intention for doing this. According to Free60, a vulnerability exists which can be used to boot Linux, or other operating systems, on the Xbox 360 console, and that this hack will be released very soon. The Tuesday update fixes the vulnerability. Here is the full Free60 take on the update... On Tuesday, Microsoft has released an Xbox 360 software update that overwrites the first stage bootloader of the system. Although there have been numerous software updates for Microsoft's gaming console in the past, this is the first one to overwrite the vital boot block. Any failure while updating this will break the Xbox 360 beyond repair. Statistics from other systems have shown that about one in a thousand bootloader updates goes wrong, and unless Microsoft has a novel solution to this problem, this puts tens of thousands of Xboxes at risk. It seems that this update is being done to fix a vulnerability already known to the Free60 Project. This vulnerability has been successfully exploited to run arbitrary code, and a complete end user compatible hack has been in development for some time and is planned to be released on free60.org shortly. It will allow users to take back control of their Xboxes and run arbitrary code like homebrew applications or Linux right after turning on the console and without the need of a modchip, finally opening up the Xbox 360 to a level of hacking as the original Xbox. Because of the dangerousness of the update and the homebrew lockout, the Free60 Project advises all Xbox 360 users to not update their systems to the latest software version. The Project website at http://free60.org/ will provide the latest information on this ongoing topic, including the final hack software. Free60 (www.free60.org) is a project that aims to enable Xbox 360 users to run homebrew applications and operating systems like Linux on their consoles. The effort is headed by Felix Domke and Michael Steil, who have a background in dbox2, Xbox and GameCube hacking, and who have spoken at various conferences about their findings. Two years ago, Free60 released a hack that allowed arbitrary code execution using a game ("King Kong Hack") as well as an adapted version of Linux, but this possibility has been disabled by Microsoft in subsequent updates of the Xbox 360 software. Felix and Michael have repeatedly argued that game console manufacturers should open up their platforms to Linux and homebrew, similar to what Sony has done with the PlayStation 3.This will be an interesting development to follow. Just to add an interesting video to this news item, for those who have never seen it before, here is the Google Tech Talk on "The Xbox 360 Security System and its Weaknesses"

12 Aug 2009 12:04:00 EST

, It's been nary a fortnight since Amazon started taking pre-orders for Snow Leopard and now, according to the kids at Mac4Ever, a handful of "reliable sources" (their words, not ours) have stepped forward to proclaim that the OS has gone golden, meaning that this final iteration (reported as build 10A432, for those of you keeping track) is the one that will hit the stores in September. Additionally, MacRumors reports that in the time since this little bomb dropped benchmarks for the build have popped up -- and quickly disappeared -- at the Geekbench database. Make of all this what you will, dear readers. [Via MacRumors] Desktops, LaptopsSnow Leopard build 10A432 goes 'Golden Master,' mischievous sources claim originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

12 Aug 2009 17:01:00 EST

Desktops, Media PCsLenovo debuts "fit anywhere" Q700 home entertainment PC originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Aug 2009 17:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

12 Aug 2009 20:56:00 EST

Sure, it's not as sleek as some of the other options out there, but the specs of this HP Pavilion Elite e9110t desktop, for the $649.99 asking price, are pretty stunning: a 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Quad processor, NVIDIA GeForce G210, 6GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive , 802.11n, Blu-ray player, and a free Windows 7 upgrade when it finally launches. Offer ends this Saturday, August 15th, but if you're interests have piqued and your wallet has giving the go-ahead, dealnews has all the details and pertinent coupon codes. [Via CNET] DesktopsHP Pavilion Elite makes an offer you (probably) can't refuse: Blu-ray, Win 7, quad-core CPU for $650 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Aug 2009 20:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

12 Aug 2009 05:33:42 GMT

According to new Nielsen data, gamers spent the most time in history this June playing video games, with the Sony PlayStation 2 taking the lead for most minutes. Playtime was up 21 percent year-on-year, and the PS2 regained the top spot from the Xbox 360. Average playing time was 768 minutes for June, or about 25.6 minutes per day. The 360 has been on the rise since last year, at the expense of the Wii, but the giant console base of the PS2 is hard to beat. In terms of gender, the Wii is on top by far for women, with 360 on top for male gamers.

11 Aug 2009 22:50:35 GMT

Sharp Corporation will introduce 13 new models of its AQUOS DX Series LCD TV with a built-in Blu-ray Disc recorder. They will come in a variety of 26-, 32-, 40-, 46- and 52-inch sizes. This second edition of the DX Series brings more advanced functions such as even better images and ease-of-use. The recording function is improved with the 7X extended HD video recording (7X mode), which allows extended recording time while retaining the same exact full-HD quality as the original high-definition broadcast. This second edition of the DX Series brings more advanced functions such as even better images and ease-of-use. With the New Motion Guide, users can be watching TV while selecting another program on TV or the Internet, or a program recorded on Blu-ray Disc.

11 Aug 2009 23:00:16 GMT

U.S. market research firm Strategy Analytics (SA) is reporting that two of South Korea's top consumer electronics manufacturers have captured almost half of the North American mobile handset market in Q2 2009. It reports that Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. had a combined market share of 47.3 percent during the quarter in North America. Samsung sold more units than LG, with a total of 11.7 million Samsung handsets being sold in the United States and Canada during the quarter. This converts into about 24.7 percent of the market share in the region. LG manufacturers handsets sold 10.7 million units in the region during the quarter, representing about 22.6 percent of the market. In contrast to these figures, Nokia Corp., the Finland-based handset maker that dominates the global market outright, captured just 6.8 percent of the market, down from 7.9 percent in Q1 2009. The success of the Samsung and LG phones is attributed to both companies stepping up efforts in the region to provide a diverse range of products.

11 Aug 2009 23:09:23 GMT

Amazon and other sources are now displaying the price you will have to pay if you are interested in investing in one of Microsoft's Zune HD portable media players. Amazon has the Zune EHD-00001 HD 16GB Video MP3 Player priced at $219.99, and the Zune HD 32GB Video MP3 Player (Platinum) priced at $289.99. It's unclear how much the players will cost in the UK and other European countries in the event of a launch, but $220 is roughly £133/€155 and $290 is roughly £175/€204. The Zune HD features a 3.5-inch Organic Light-emmiting Diode (OLED) screen in a 16:9 display aspect ratio. The Zune HD, which also features a HDMI port and a HD Radio receiver, is expected to become available in North America next month, with Amazon not revealing any launch date for the products (but of course, Amazon U.S. has market both models as available for pre-order).

11 Aug 2009 23:29:47 GMT

In a recent interview, John Carmack of id Software, touched briefly on the next generation of gaming systems that will replace the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 (PS3) consoles. The interview, with Polish site CD-Action, is primarily about id Software's upcoming shooter Rage, but it is the few words he dedicated to the next-generation of gaming that had caught the interview in tech site's radar. "The whole jockeying for who's gonna release next gen console first is very interesting and really divorced from the technical side of things. Whether Sony wants to try and jump the gun to, you know, to prevent the same kind of 360 lag from happening to them again seems likely. As developers, we would really like to see this generation stretch as long as possible, you know, we'd like to see it be quite a few more years before a next-gen console comes out, but I suspect someone will wind up shipping something earlier rather than later," Carmack says. So from his own observation, it's clear that it is only based on what he thinks might happen and that there is nothing to suggest that PS4 is in-bound in the near-future (relative to console's life-time), but it does hit on something. The Xbox 360 had a year on the market over the PS3, and its not hard to see that this extra time came as something of an advantage in terms of unit sales - arguably not in terms of hardware failures. In the previous generation, Microsoft was late to the game with the original Xbox console too, but there were many other reasons why it didn't gain more ground on the PS2 than it did to take additionally into account. The question remains however just how much each company's intention to beat the other to the market next time will affect the duration of the current generation.

11 Aug 2009 23:38:39 GMT

Netflix has revealed that it will hold a second challenge to improve the movie recommendation systems offered by the service to its customer. The revelation came from chief product officer, Neil Hunt, even before the company has announced the winner of the $1 million prize for the first challenge. The contest was launched in 2006 by the DVD rental giant, aimed at improving predictions of titles customers might be interested in by 10 percent. Contestants from 186 countries, amounting to 51,000 people, decided to give it a shot. Right now, two teams called BellKor's Pragmatic Chaos and The Ensemble top the leader board with The Ensemble just edging Bellkor's with 10.10 percent compared to 10.09 percent. The winner will be announced in late September when Netflix will announce the details of the second competition. "While the first contest has been remarkable, we think Netflix Prize 2 will be more challenging, more fun, and even more useful to the field," Hunt wrote.

11 Aug 2009 06:48:00 EST

In a presumed effort to shake up the Japanese wireless industry and provide consumers with 3G-equipped PCs that aren't tied to multi-year contracts, Hewlett-Packard has quietly announced a deal with Japan Communications that will allow its machines to be sold with SIM cards that can be used on a pay-as-you-go basis. For those unaware, JCI leases network space from NTT DoCoMo, and as part of the agreement, HP will not only get to choose which devices can connect, but it'll get to keep a nice slice of the mobile data revenue as well. Here's the crazy part: the initial wave of netbooks will be sold for between $50 and $100 sans contract. That's about what users pay in America now for subsidized WWAN-ready netbooks, but there's a two-year contract tagging along. If all goes well, we could even see full-sized laptops, smartphones and digital cameras hop on the same bandwagon, but for now, we'll be keenly watching how brisk sales are when things kick off next month. Desktops, Laptops, Tablet PCs, Wireless, InternetHP to sell contract-free, WWAN-equipped PCs in Japan originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Aug 2009 06:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.