Digital Media Wire | connecting people & knowledge » 2010 » September » 01

Roku Discounts Line of Broadband Video Set-tops

Mark Hefflinger — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Saratoga, Calif. - Roku, the maker of a broadband TV set-top and accompanying video distribution service, has announced a price cut on its products — just as Apple introduced a new $99 version of its Apple TV device. All three of Roku’s devices were discounted, with the basic standard-definition model Roku to now sell for $59 (down from $79). The Roku HD will now cost $69 (down from $99), while the Roku HD-XR will sell for $99 (down from $129).

Related Links:

http://www.roku.com

Electronic Arts Debuts “Madden NFL Superstars” on Facebook

Mark Hefflinger — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Redwood City, Calif. - Video game publisher Electronic Arts (NASD: ERTS) has partnered with casual games publisher Playfish to launch a new social game version of its blockbuster "Madden NFL" title for Facebook. "Madden NFL Superstars" is an NFL team manager game that lets players create fantasy teams based on 1,500 current players from all 32 NFL teams. The simulation game features virtual items that can be earned through game play or gifting, or purchased via microtransactions.

Related Links:

http://investor.ea.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=503826

http://apps.facebook.com/maddennflsuperstars

Justin.tv Releases Live Video Streaming App for Android

Mark Hefflinger — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

San Francisco - Live video streaming service Justin.tv on Wednesday released a new mobile application for the Android platform that lets users stream live video from their Android-powered smartphones. The company launched a live video app for the iPhone in March.

Related Links:

http://blog.justin.tv/justintv-android

http://tinyurl.com/29sgdc6 (NewTeeVee)

OpenFeint Debuts Cross-Platform Mobile Multiplayer Game Tools

Mark Hefflinger — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Burlingame, Calif. – Mobile social gaming firm Aurora Feint on Wednesday introduced OpenFeint PlayTime, a set of multiplayer technologies that independent developers can use to enable play between Apple iOS and Android-powered devices. The functionality will be included in the release of OpenFeint 3.0 later this year.

Related Links:

http://www.openfeint.com/developers

Target to Sell Facebook Credits Gift Cards

Mark Hefflinger — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Minneapolis – Target said on Wednesday that it will begin selling Facebook Credits gift cards in its stores next week. The company is the first brick-and-mortar retail store chain to sign on to carry the new cards, which let consumers buy digital goods in more than 15o games and applications on Facebook.

Related Links:

http://tinyurl.com/2ctpkff

Sony Updates Line of Reader E-book Devices

Mark Hefflinger — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

San Diego – Sony (NYSE: SNE) on Wednesday introduced updates to its line of Reader e-book reader devices, which are smaller and lighter than previous models, and now all sport touch-screen displays.

A new $299 Reader Daily Edition available in the U.S. now includes Wi-Fi support, along with AT&T 3G connectivity.

The $229 Reader Touch Edition features a 6-inch display, expandable memory slots, and the ability to play MP3 and AAC audio files, while the $179 Reader Pocket Edition now sports a 5-inch touch-screen display.

All three of the [...].

Qriocity

Mark Hefflinger — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Qriocity

Mark Hefflinger — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sony to Launch New iTunes Store Challenger

Mark Hefflinger — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Berlin - Timing its announcement to coincide with Apple’s (NASD: AAPL) media event on Wednesday, Sony (NYSE: SNE) unveiled plans to expand availability of its Qriocity network service platform, positioning the service as a challenger to the iTunes Store. The cloud-based service will deliver movies, music, games and e-books to Sony’s PlayStation 3 game console, Bravia TVs, Blu-ray players and personal computers.

Sony launched Qriocity in the U.S. in April, but will now expand the service into Europe.

A premium video streaming service will launch in France, Germany, Italy, [...].

WSJ: Amazon Pitching Online TV, Movie Subscription Service

Mark Hefflinger — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

New York - Amazon.com (NASD: AMZN) is pitching a Web-based video subscription service, in a bid to compete with rivals in the field such as Netflix, Hulu, Apple’s revamped iTunes with video rentals and the forthcoming Google TV service, The Wall Street Journal reported. Sources told The Journal that Amazon has in recent weeks met with NBC Universal (NYSE: GE), Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) and Viacom (NYSE: VIA) about such a service, which reportedly would focus on older, catalog titles.

One proposal would [...].