The National Consumers League is out with the results of a new study conducted by Opinion Research showing that 90% of consumers believe they should be able to back up their DVDs to a hard drive or copy them to a portable device, and they'd be willing to pay about $61 for a piece of software that helped them back up their collections. Sounds like a good business opportunity for someone like a RealNetworks...oh wait.

Round Rock, TX - Computer maker Dell is looking to enter the smartphone market with phones based on Google’s Android and Microsoft’s Windows Mobile operating systems, reports the Wall Street Journal.

As Digital Media Wire readers ready themselves for the highly anticipated Digital Music Forum East, here’s an overview of the annual MIDEM music conference that just concluded in Cannes, France. The annual music industry happening, MIDEM, is a must attend event for global players in the music business.  This year’s MIDEM attendees were welcomed by moody skies over Cannes, which were symbolic of the state of the industry overall.  Along La Croisette, rain pelted delegates darting from the Palais de Festivals to the deal making hubs of the Majestic and Carlton hotel bars.  

Wired magazine just announced their picks for top 10 technology breakthroughs of 2008, a list which includes lots of cool stuff like flexible displays and Michael Phelps high-tech Speedos. However, their top two picks can be seen as somewhat controversial: #1. Apple's App Store and #2. Google’s Android. While Apple’s App Store certainly is an improved environment for third party developers (as compared to anything the traditional mobile operators currently offer), it still represents a “walled garden” school of thought. Google’s free, open source smartphone operating system is designed to work best with Google’s web-based email, contacts and calendar programs. While both products represent steps in the right direction, it can be argued that their two top picks are designed to benefit their creators more than the consumers…

Nintendo’s Wii Console, which accounted for more than one in three games console searches in November, overtook Nintendo’s Wii Fit to become the UK’s most searched-for product in November. The company’s DS Lite was also the fastest growing console online, with six times more searches in November than October. The popular handheld is now the second most searched-for console in the UK, accounting for more than one in every four games consoles searches.

While mobile phones continue to be the most searched-for product in the UK, they have seen a 23% decrease in searches since October as consumers turn their attention to Christmas gifts such as toys, video games and games consoles.

I've been a fan of the iconic Flip camera for some time now. In my own experience, the device has single handedly unlocked the immediate power of creating video for me because it has made it a simple process. It has always been a great product. But now there are other products that offer similar features. Their groundbreaking idea of a compact video camera with popup USB connection is no longer the differentiator it once was. To take it's place, they've done something very smart with their most recent product, the Flip Mino (and Mino HD).

Last week we reported that the Nintendo Wii Fit video game is currently the most searched for product in the UK. In that post we also identified the Apple iPhone as the third most searched for product, followed by the Nokia N96 in fourth position. As the table below illustrates, during October mobile phones were the most searched for category of consumer electronic products in the UK, receiving over twice the volume of searches as video games, and three times that of computers.

Wii Fit, Nintendo’s popular video game, is currently the most searched-for product by UK Internet shoppers in the run-up to Christmas. During October there were more UK Internet searches for Wii Fit than the Nintendo Wii, the most popular product last Christmas. After Wii Fit and the Wii console, the third most searched-for gadget is the Apple iPhone.