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BBC to Begin Offering TV Programs in High-Definition

Authored by admin on November 10, 2005 - 8:52am.
London - The BBC plans to test high-definition delivery of its programs to cable and satellite TV providers, as well as on digital terrestrial TV, in the U.K. in mid-2006. The HDTV trial is expected to last a year; the BBC said it plans to offer all of its programming in HDTV format by 2010, when the U.K. digital TV transition will be complete. The BBC added that it hopes to offer live sporting events, such as the World Cup, in high-definition as part of the trial. "Our promise to our license payers is to give them the highest quality television, so the time is right for the BBC to get involved in high definition," BBC director of television Jana Bennett told BBC News Online. "High definition may take time to grow in Britain, but as with the other technologies we helped to build, the BBC wants to prepare now to be able to deliver the benefits of HDTV to all its license payers in the long term."

Report: 82% of U.S. Households Will Have HDTV Sets by 2010

Authored by admin on November 10, 2005 - 8:48am.
Monterey, Calif. - Some 377 million HDTV sets will be sold to U.S. consumers by 2015, and 82% of all U.S. households will have one by 2010, according to a report from market research firm Kagan Research. The firm projects that 9.1 million HDTV sets will be sold in the U.S. in 2005, up from 5.6 million in 2004 and 3.4 million in 2003. "At the end of 2004, there were 11 million HD households; each owning an average of 1.2 HD sets," said Kagan Research associate Patrick Johnson. "We project the average price of an HD set will decline some 38% by 2010, reducing the average price to $1,139. Rapid price declines, coupled with increasing levels of HD programming will drive the number of HD households to nearly 97 million in 2010, penetrating more than 82% of total television households." Kagan also estimated that subscribers to cable HDTV programming services will grow from 3.8 million in 2005 to over 30 million by 2010, when satellite HDTV subscribers will number 18 million.

Report: SonyBMG Copy-Protection Reports CDs Played, Hampers All CD Ripping

Authored by admin on November 10, 2005 - 8:41am.

San Francisco - CNET News.com reported on Wednesday that antivirus firms are preparing to offer tools designed to identify and remove CD copy-protection software installed on PCs when users play certain SonyBMG music CDs. Several antivirus firms have deemed the "rootkit," a tool often used by virus writers to cloak their malicious software deep within a computer's operating system, to be a threat because virus writers can use SonyBMG's antipiracy tool to hide their own malicious software on users' PCs. Antivirus firm Computer Associates told News.com it found further cause for concern with the controversial SonyBMG "rootkit." In addition to making it more difficult to rip SonyBMG CD tracks into unprotected digital files, the software makes itself a default media player, reports back a user's Internet address -- and which CDs are played on the computer -- and also inhibits the ripping of non-copy-protected CDs. "It will effectively insert pseudo-random noise into a file so that it becomes less listenable," Computer Associates vice president Sam Curry told News.com. "What's disturbing about this is the lack of notice, the lack of consent, and the lack of an easy removal tool." Both SonyBMG and the creator of the antipiracy tool, First 4 Internet, have posted patches that identify the software, but uninstalling the software currently requires a user to contact the label's customer service department for instructions.
http://tinyurl.com/8ce43 (CNET)
http://www.first4internet.co.uk