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ArchivesPeer-to-Peer Veterans iMesh Launch Secure, Paid File-Sharing ServiceAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on October 25, 2005 - 7:10am.
New York - Peer-to-peer music file-sharing service iMesh on Tuesday became the first of its breed to migrate from an unauthorized network, targeted by recording industry lawsuits, into a fully-licensed, for-pay file-sharing service. The Israel-based developers of iMesh were sued by the major record labels for copyright infringement, and in July 2004 settled the lawsuit and pledged to develop a secure, for-pay file-sharing service. The company at the time paid $4.1 million to the labels, in exchange for an agreement to allow the free iMesh to continue operating while the new service was created, CNET News.com reported. The beta version of iMesh 6.0 offers file-swappers a selection of some 15 million tracks from both the iMesh and Gnutella peer-to-peer networks, 2 million of which are authorized tracks from major and independent labels, and public domain content. Tracks not licensed for downloading will be blocked from users' computers by filtering software. Following a free trial, users will pay $6.95 per month for an ad-free service that allows tethered downloads and includes many social networking features. The company told CNET News.com that a future version will also allow songs to be transferred to some Windows-compatible portable players. A similar paid file-sharing service called Mashboxx is also slated to launch in the fall.
WSJ: Google Confirms Testing New Online Auction ServiceAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on October 25, 2005 - 7:07am.
Mountain View, Calif. - Fueling speculation that it plans to go head to head with online auction giant eBay, Google on Tuesday confirmed that it is testing a new service that will allow users to list their items for sale online, The Wall Street Journal's online edition reported. In a statement, the company described the service, to be known as Google Base, as "an early-stage test of a product that enables content owners to easily send their content to Google," but declined to go into further detail. Screenshots of the service, however, appeared on several blogs, including one shot of a form for listing information such as the price of the item, as well as a place to insert photos. Google earlier this year said that it plans to launch an online payments service, as well.
Apple Launches iTunes Store in Australia; Sony BMG Songs AbsentAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on October 25, 2005 - 7:05am.
Sydney - Apple on Tuesday launched its iTunes Music Store in Australia, offering a catalog of one million songs, although notably absent were tracks from major record label Sony BMG. "We are working with Sony and we know their artists would like to be a part of the launch and we hope they will join us," Apple iTunes vice president Eddy Cue told ZDNet Australia. The store is selling songs for about $1.27 and videos for about $2.56. The iTunes store's major competition in Australia will be the BigPond Music service offered by Aussie telco Telstra, which supports downloads to Windows-compatible devices, but not to the iPod.
Hong Kong BitTorrent User Convicted of Copyright InfringementAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on October 25, 2005 - 7:03am.
Hong Kong - In the world's first copyright infringement case involving the BitTorrenet peer-to-peer file-sharing network, a Hong Kong man has been convicted of copyright infringement for uploading several movies to the Internet, according to a report in The China Post. Thirty-eight year-old Chan Nai-Ming was arrested in January on charges he offered films including "Daredevil," Miss Congeniality" and "Red Planet" on BitTorrent. Chan pleaded not guilty, but was convicted on Monday after a four-day trial; he will be sentenced on Nov. 7. A customs spokesman told The China Post that the department was "delighted" with the outcome, and that it has seen a "sharp fall" in the use of BitTorrent to upload movies since the case.
Report: Global Video Game Market to Hit Record $58.4 Billion in 2007Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 25, 2005 - 7:01am.
London - The release of next-generation video game consoles yet this year and early next year will spur the global games market to a record high of $58.4 billion in 2007, according to a report from U.K.-based market research firm Informa. The games industry will generate $35.3 billion in 2005, a 5.3% increase over 2004, the firm predicted, with the console games industry representing half of games revenue worldwide. Console hardware sales are expected to grow from $3.9 billion in 2005 to $5.8 billion in 2010, while games for the consoles will generate $13 billion this year and $17.2 billion in 2010. "We still anticipate the PS3 to take the largest share in the next wave of consoles, but it will not have such an easy time of it this time around. The Xbox 360 will benefit from first-mover advantage and Nintendo has already revealed some interesting ideas for its Revolution concept," said Informa's Zenobia Talati, co-author of the report. Informa also projects the fast-growing mobile games sector to generate $2.6 billion in 2005, growing to $11 billion by 2010.
Iranians Angry Over U.S. "Assault on Iran" Video GameAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on October 25, 2005 - 6:58am.
Tehran, Iran - An Iranian state newspaper has criticized an American video game that lets gamers play as U.S. Special Forces searching for and destroying underground Iranian nuclear facilities, Reuters reported. "Americans have a deep craving for an attack against Iran, but they are going to have to settle for this make-believe assault," wrote the Kayhan daily, whose editor is appointed directly by Iran's Supreme Leader. "Assault on Iran" is a mission within New York-based developer Kuma Reality Games' "Kuma War" title, which also includes missions featuring real-world conflicts that have taken place in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Korea; one called "John Kerry's Silver Star" even re-creates the U.S. Senator and Vietnam veteran's swift boat campaign. "The controversy does surprise me. I just didn't expect that there were people from Iran who were going to become aware of it," Kuma CEO Keith Halper told Reuters. Halper said the game has been downloaded thousands of times from inside Iran, and that he has received around 300 e-mails from Iran concerning the game.
Disney Launches Revamped Movies.com WebsiteAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on October 25, 2005 - 6:56am.
North Hollywood, Calif. - The Walt Disney Internet Group on Tuesday launched a revamped version of its Movies.com website, adding more Hollywood news and other content in a bid to make the site a more popular destination for moviegoers. The company said Movies.com editor Lew Harris, a former senior editor of US Weekly and founding editor-in-chief of E! Online, has hired entertainment and gossip writer Jeanne Wolf to pen a Hollywood column. Originally launched in 2000, the site will now publish more breaking Hollywood news, in addition to more extensive entertainment industry coverage, while continuing to offer features like Ebert & Roeper movie reviews, and previews of new release from Statler and Waldorf, the cynical balcony critics seen on The Muppet Show.
U.K. Online Game Developer Jagex Gets Investment from InsightAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on October 25, 2005 - 6:54am.
London - Jagex, a developer and publisher of massively multiplayer online games, announced on Tuesday that it has received an undisclosed equity investment from Insight Venture Partners. U.K.-based Jagex operates the online game "RuneScape," which currently claims 3.5 million active players and 500,000 paying subscribers; other Jagex titles include "Meltdown" and "SlimeWar," and a number of free-to-play mini-games. The company will use the funds to expand its games into non-English-language markets, and for ongoing development of "RuneScape" and other titles.
Regional Telco to Launch First HDTV Over IPTV ServiceAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on October 25, 2005 - 6:52am.
Roseville, Calif. - A regional independent telecommunications firm has announced plans to launch the nation's first HDTV service to be delivered over an Internet-based (IPTV) network. Roseville, Calif.-based SureWest Communications said the service, slated to launch commercially next month, will pass more than 80,000 homes in Northern California and offer 15 of 260 channels in high-definition, in addition to broadband Internet and telephone service. "Using IP technology over our fiber-optic network offers the potential for increased clarity to the HD experience and will allow SureWest to offer a variety of emerging video products, while maintaining the area's fastest high-speed Internet service," said SureWest chief technology officer Bill DeMuth.
Sirius Satellite Radio to Launch Bruce Springsteen ChannelAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on October 25, 2005 - 6:50am.
New York - Sirius Satellite Radio, a provider of subscription radio programming, said on Tuesday that it will launch E Street Radio, a channel devoted to the music of Bruce Springsteen, on Nov. 1. The launch coincides with the reissue of Springsteen's "Born to Run" album; the channel will be offered on Sirius through Jan. 31, 2006.
Blinkx Web Video Index to Include Akimbo ContentAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on October 25, 2005 - 6:49am.
San Francisco - Blinkx, a searchable index of Web video, announced on Tuesday that it has partnered with Akimbo, a provider of video-on-demand programming. Under the deal, Blinkx will index all of Akimbo's video-on-demand content, enabling Akimbo subscribers to search Blinkx and send programming they find to their Akimbo Player or any Microsoft Windows Media Center 2005 PC. Akimbo's library includes over 5,200 titles from 80 different providers.
The Orchard Distributes Chinese-Label Tracks on iTunesAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on October 25, 2005 - 6:47am.
New York - The Orchard, a digital distributor of independent-label music, announced on Tuesday that it has begun offering thousands of tracks from 20 of China's biggest music labels for sale through Apple's iTunes Store. Song available include the current top-selling paid song download in China, "Mouse Loves Rice."
Hurray, Baidu Offer Chinese Song Exclusively Via Mobile, WebAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on October 25, 2005 - 6:45am.
Beijing - Hurray Holding Co., a Chinese mobile entertainment publisher, announced on Tuesday that it has partnered with Chinese search engine Baidu, to jointly release the latest single from Chinese pop star Chen Hao, which will not be released on CD, through Baidu's digital music service and Hurray's mobile platforms. Hurray said it has also licensed additional songs from Chen Hao's album for mobile distribution.
Chinese Developer Shanda to Launch U.N.'s "Food Force" Online GameAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on October 25, 2005 - 6:43am.
Shanghai - Chinese game developer Shanda Interactive Entertainment said on Tuesday that it has partnered with the U.N. World Food Program to create a Chinese version of "Food Force," a free educational video game aimed at teaching children about the fight against world hunger. Since releasing the English-language version of "Food Force" online in April 2005, the U.N. said the site has received over 10 million views.
Activision Ships "Call of Duty 2," "Shrek Super Slam"Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 25, 2005 - 6:42am.
Santa Monica, Calif. - Activision on Tuesday shipped "Call of Duty 2" for the PC, the sequel in its popular WWII franchise created by developer Infinity Ward. A version for Xbox 360 will also be released on Nov. 15. Separately, the company said it released "Shrek SuperSlam" for PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS. The game was developed for consoles by Shaba Games, for the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS by Amaze Entertainment/Griptonite Games and for the PC by Lti Gray Matter.
Electronic Arts Releases "Battlefield 2: Modern Combat"Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 25, 2005 - 6:40am.
Redwood City, Calif. - Electronic Arts and Swedish developer Digital Illusions on Tuesday announced the release of their "Battlefield 2: Modern Combat" title for PlayStation 2 and Xbox. Developed jointly by Digital Illusions and EA's UK studio, the title features a multiplayer mode for up to 24 players.
Namco Ships "SoulCalibur III," Details "Curious George" TitleAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on October 25, 2005 - 6:37am.
Santa Clara, Calif. - Japanese game developer Namco on Tuesday shipped its "SoulCalibur III" title for PlayStation 2 to retailers. Separately, the company said it plans to release a title based on Universal Pictures' animated film, "Curious George," for PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Game Boy Advance and the PC in February 2006. Namco said Monkey Bar Games is creating the console and PC versions of the game, while Torus Games is developing versions for handhelds.
2K Games Releases "Sid Meier's Civilization IV" for PCAuthored by Mark Hefflinger on October 25, 2005 - 6:35am.
New York - 2K Games, a unit of video game publisher Take-Two Interactive, announced on Tuesday the release of its "Sid Meier's Civilization IV" PC game. The game is the latest installment in the six million unit-selling "Civilization" franchise, developed by Meier's Firaxis Games studio.
2K Sports Signs Marvin Williams, Roy Williams for "College Hoops 2K6"Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 25, 2005 - 6:33am.
New York - Take-Two Interactive's 2K Sports unit said that it has signed Univ. of North Carolina star forward Marvin Williams and men's basketball head coach Roy Williams to serve as spokesman and appear on the cover of its "College Hoops 2K6." The game is scheduled for release in the fall for PlayStation 2, Xbox and Xbox 360.
Bandai Games Ships "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex"Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 25, 2005 - 6:31am.
Cypress, Calif. - Japanese developer Bandai Games on Tuesday shipped its "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" title for Sony PSP to retailers. The game is based on the popular Japanese anime films created by Mamoru Oshii, which were first distributed in the U.S. in 1995.
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