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Disney Backs Sony's Blu-Ray High-Capacity DVD Disc Format

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 9, 2004 - 3:37am.
Burbank, Calif. -- The Walt Disney Company on Thursday announced its support for Sony's Blu-ray Disc format, a next-generation high-capacity DVD format that will raise the capacity of DVDs from the current 4.7GB to up to 50GB. The announcement from Disney comes a week after Toshiba said that Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal and New Line Cinema would support its competing HD DVD high-capacity disc format. Disney said its non-exclusive support for Blu-ray would result in the release of movies on Blu-ray discs from its Buena Vista Home Entertainment, which includes studios like Touchstone, Miramax, Dimension and Hollywood Pictures. Disney will also become a member of the board of directors of the Blu-ray Disc Association.
tags: Deals | Sony | Disney | Blu-ray | High-Capacity DVD Disc Format |

Amazon Launches Online DVD Rentals in U.K.

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 9, 2004 - 3:34am.
London -- Online retail giant Amazon.com on Thursday announced the launch of an online DVD rental service in the U.K., confirming the company's reported plans to enter the lucrative market that also includes Netflix, Blockbuster and Wal-Mart. The company said it currently has no plans to launch a DVD rental service in the U.S., while rival Netflix is due to launch a U.K. service yet this year. Amazon.co.uk will offer a basic service for $15.50 a month, allowing two DVDs out at a time and a total of four to be rented each month; a $19.30 per month version will allow three movies out at a time and up to six rentals per month. Subscribers will also receive 10% off DVDs purchased from Amazon. "Amazon is determined to be the best place to rent DVDs -- online or off," said Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Amazon will face competition for online DVD rentals in the U.K. from Video Island, which offers branded services through U.K. retailers including Dixons, Tesco and Microsoft's MSN, in addition to Webflix and Lovefilm.
tags: Internet | Amazon | U.K | Online DVD Rentals |

Citing Demand, Nintendo Ups DS Shipments in North America, Japan

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 9, 2004 - 3:33am.
Redmond, Wash. -- Nintendo of America announced on Thursday that, due to demand for its new DS handheld video game console, it will increase total shipments to North America by 40%, to 1.4 million units by the end of the year. The DS largely sold out of the initial 500,000 units shipped for the device's launch during its first week of availability. To date, Nintendo has sold 700,000 $149 DS units in North America and another 500,000 in Japan, for a total of 1.2 million in worldwide sales. Nintendo said it will also ship another 400,000 units in Japan. Nintendo will now ship a total of 2.8 million DS handhelds worldwide by the end of the year, and is on track to meet its projections of 5 million units sold by the end of March.
tags: Nintendo | Japan | North America | Citing Demand | DS Shipments |

Thomson Buys Digital Effects Firm Moving Picture Company for $101 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 9, 2004 - 3:29am.
Paris -- Thomson, a developer of video equipment and services for the media and entertainment industries, announced on Thursday that it has acquired digital effects post-production firm The Moving Picture Company (MPC) from British broadcaster ITV for $101.5 million. London-based MPC has worked on effects for films including "Alexander," the "Harry Potter" films, "Alien vs. Predator" and "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider," as well as commercials for Nike, Motorola and Coca-Cola. The company generated sales of $85 million over the past 12 months. Paris-based Thomson said the acquisition goes toward its renewed focus on providing services to the media and entertainment industries, adding to its visual effects offerings that include Hollywood-based Technicolor and Toronto-based VFX.
tags: Deals | VC | Thomson | Digital Effects Firm | Moving Picture Company |

Napster in Deal With Dwango Wireless to Sell Mobile Phone Ringtones

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 9, 2004 - 3:26am.
Los Angeles -- Napster announced on Thursday that it will begin selling cell phone ringtones through its digital music subscription service, through an agreement with Dwango Wireless. Napster Mobile will launch in the U.S. and Canada in 2005, offering device-targeted promotional offers that will reward ringtone purchasers with credits redeemable for song downloads from Napster's PC-based digital music service. Seattle-based Dwango Wireless, a unit of Japan's Dwango Co. Ltd., provides wireless entertainment including ringtones and games for brands including ESPN, Rolling Stone and Playboy.
tags: Deals | Napster | Musics | Mobiles | Dwango Wireless | Mobile Phone Ringtones |

U.K. Download Service Wippit Licenses Warner, Universal Songs

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 9, 2004 - 3:23am.
London -- Wippit, an independent music download service that features some peer-to-peer elements, announced that it has signed agreements to license songs from Warner Music and Universal Music, giving the company agreements with all four major record labels. Under the terms of the agreements, some songs will initially be available either only in the U.K. or only in continental Europe. London-based Wippit said the deals will increase its available library of songs to over 500,000. Neither label's songs will be available on Wippit's closed peer-to-peer file-sharing service, which only allows authorized songs to be traded among Wippit subscribers. The company also operates an a la carte paid music download service.
tags: Downloads | U.K | Warner | Musics | Universal Songs | Wippit |

European Union Boasts Largest DSL Population, Report Says

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 9, 2004 - 3:22am.
Brussels -- According to a new report by the DSL Forum, the EU has added more than 9.2 million DSL subscribers so far this year, giving it the largest regional DSL population in the world. The EU now boasts more than 26.5 million subscribers and accounts for more than 31% of the global DSL pie. The EU also accounted for 11 for the Top 20 countries in terms of DSL penetration. The Netherlands reported more than 15.5% penetration; France, 15.45%; Italy, more than 13.4%; and the U.K. -- which moved into the top 20 for the first time -- nearly 9.5%. The report also found that the 10 largest DSL population countries now account for more than 80% of the world's subscribers. Worldwide, DSL subscriptions increased by 39% over the first nine months of the year to more than 85 million, an overall increase of about 24 million.
tags: Reports | European Union | DSL Population |