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TiVo Credits DirecTV for Quicker Rise to 1 Million Subscribers

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 4, 2003 - 8:28am.
San Jose, Calif. -- TiVo, a provider of services for digital video recorders that let viewers pause and record live television, announced on Tuesday that it has surpassed one million subscribers for its service. The company credited partner DirecTV, which began selling a satellite TV receiver with TiVo for $99 in October, for helping it reach the mark before the end of the year, as was earlier expected. San Jose, Calif.-based TiVo has also licensed its technology to consumer electronics firms Toshiba and Pioneer, which are releasing DVD products that include TiVo. "Thanks to the increased growth of both our standalone subscriptions and, especially, growth with DirecTV, we have reached this milestone ahead of plan," said TiVo CEO Michael Ramsay. "We expect this momentum to continue and look forward to the biggest holiday season ever for TiVo."
tags: VC | Subscribers | TiVo | DirecTV | Quicker |

Nintendo: GameCube Price Drop Quadrupled Sales; Market Share Now 37%

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 4, 2003 - 8:28am.
Redmond, Wash. -- Nintendo of America announced on Tuesday that, since discounting the price of its GameCube video game console in the U.S. to $99 just over a month ago, sales of the product have quadrupled. The company also cites sales figures gathered from the nation's largest retailers that show the GameCube has risen from 19% to 37% of game console market share, ahead of Microsoft's Xbox. According to data from NPD Group, Nintendo GameCube sales are up 2% percent over figures from last year, while sales for Microsoft's Xbox dropped 3% and Sony's PlayStation 2 dropped 17.5%. The company also announced that on Nov. 17 it will begin selling a $99 package that includes the GameCube console and its "The Legend of Zelda Collector's Edition Bundle" -- which features the original title for NES, "Zelda II: The Adventure of Link," "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time," "The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask" and a playable demo of "The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker."
tags: Nintendo | GameCube | Market | Share | Quadrupled |

Atlantic to Offer Prerecorded Albums on Cell Phone Memory Card Format

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 4, 2003 - 8:26am.
New York -- The Atlantic Group, a record label division of Time Warner that includes Atlantic, Lava Records and Nonesuch, announced on Tuesday that it has partnered with Fearless Entertainment to begin distributing prerecorded music on the MMC (MultiMedia Card), a postage stamp-sized recordable media used in cell phones and other portable devices. Fearless Entertainment created a compilation of Atlantic and Lava artists' songs for a promotional MMC that will be distributed with new Nokia 3300 handsets. The companies will also distribute four full-length albums by the same Atlantic and Lava artists in MMC format, which will be sold exclusively at AT&T Wireless stores. The releases mark the first albums to be released by a major label using the format, which holds up to one hour of music. "With the launch of the prerecorded MMC for music releases, we are introducing another cutting- edge, high-quality digital experience which makes our artists and their music an integral part of the listener's daily life," said Lee Stimmel, senior vice president of strategic marketing and business development for Atlantic.
tags: Cell Phone | Memory Card | Albums | Atlantic | Prerecorded |

Amazon.com Removes Page Printing from Text Search Feature

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 4, 2003 - 8:26am.
Seattle -- Online retail giant Amazon.com, which last month launched a feature that enables users to search the full texts of 120,000 books it offers, and print out several pages of the actual texts, has removed the latter feature after receiving complaints from groups including the Authors Guild, the Associated Press reported. While Amazon would not confirm the feature's removal, AP said that as of Friday surfers using the "Search Inside the Book" feature were no longer able to print out samples from books. Authors Guild executive director Paul Aiken told AP that some of its 8,000 members were concerned that users may simply print out recipes and other reference materials instead of paying for the book. Amazon did say that 15 authors had requested that their works not be included in the list available titles for "Search Inside the Book."
tags: Printing | Amazon.com | Text Search |

Equity Firm Completes EMusic Buy; Will Integrate Digital Club Network

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 4, 2003 - 8:25am.
New York -- Dimensional Associates, the New York-based private equity arm of JDS Capital Management, announced on Tuesday that it has completed its acquisition of independent music download store EMusic.com from Vivendi Universal's VU Net USA. Financial terms were not disclosed. The company previously announced that it would end EMusic's practice of offering unlimited downloads from its 275,000-track library for a monthly subscription fee. Dimensional Associates said in coming weeks it will combine EMusic with its roster of live venues that webcast performances of bands, the Digital Club Network, into a new service called EMusic Live. The service will offer both live and on-demand streams of performances from clubs including the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC; the 40 Watt Club in Athens, GA; The Metro in Chicago, IL, Toad's Place in New Haven, CT and Arlene Grocery in New York.
tags: eMusic | Equity | Integrate | Digital Club Network |

Sony Releases EyeToy USB Camera Gaming Accessory for PlayStation 2

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 4, 2003 - 8:24am.
Foster City, Calif. -- Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) on Tuesday announced the North American release of its EyeToy accessory for PlayStation 2. The USB camera features motion-tracking technology that lets gamers become physically part of the game, as a live image of the player appears on the TV screen and the player must use his or her hands, head, knees and feet to interact with the game. The device, which Sony said has sold over one million units in four months in Europe, comes bundled with the game title "EyeToy: Play," was developed at the company's London studio. Foster City, Calif.-based SCEA also on Tuesday released a $30 standalone USB headset accessory for PlayStation 2, which uses Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and voice recognition technologies to enhance online and offline games. The company expects nearly 30 titles that include voice elements to be available for the holidays, including "SOCOM II: U.S. Navy SEALs," a sequel developed by Redmond, Wash.-based Zipper Interactive that was released today.
tags: Sony | PlayStation 2 | EyeToy | USB Camera |

EUniverse Raises $8 Million, Announces Departure of CEO

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 4, 2003 - 8:22am.
Los Angeles -- EUniverse, a network of entertainment-related websites and newsletters, announced that its chairman and CEO Brad Greenspan has resigned. No reason was provided, though EUniverse said company president Brett Brewer will act as CEO until a replacement can be found. Separately, the company announced that it has received $8 million in new financing from VantagePoint Venture Partners. Los Angeles-based EUniverse saw its stock delisted from the Nasdaq in light of accounting irregularities announced in September that compelled the company to restate some of its financial results.
tags: VC | CEO | EUniverse | Departure |

Westinghouse Launches Line of Digital Entertainment Devices

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 4, 2003 - 8:22am.
City of Industry, Calif. -- Westinghouse Digital Electronics, a new unit of the large electric company, announced on Tuesday its launch and plan to release a line of digital entertainment devices under the Westinghouse brand. The company will begin selling LCD TVs -- ranging in size from 15 to 30 inches -- this month through consumer electronics retailers and other resellers, "with several innovative digital entertainment product lines planned in 2004 for home, business and portable use."
tags: Digital Entertainment | Westinghouse | Line |