All Things Digital

The next-generation DVD format war was a costly one–for Sony (SNE). In addition to the untold funds the company spent on pro-Blu-ray propaganda, it also reportedly spent quite a bit to buy the allegiances of Hollywood.

The Toronto Globe and Mail reports that Sony paid Warner Bros. as much as $400 million to throw its support behind Blu-ray and abandon HD-DVD. An interesting little footnote to the DVD format war, since Warner’s decision all but sealed HD DVD’s fate.

So it was a reported $400 million well spent, then. For the time being, anyway. “People are saying Blu-ray won the war but who cares,” Seagate CEO Bill Watkins said last year. “The war is over physical distribution versus electrical distribution, and Blu-ray and HD lost that. In this, flash memory and hard drives are on the same side. The war is over and the physical guys lost.”

Woolworths has declared a winner in the next generation DVD format war and it’s not HD DVD. Yesterday, the British chain said it will stock only Blu-ray discs, becoming the first major retailer to drop HD DVD.

Woolworths’ decision came after it found Blu-ray movies outsold HD DVD by 10 to 1 in its 820 stores. “Sales figures clearly show that the market is moving toward one format of high-definition DVD,” said Woolworths’ DVD buyer Steven McGunigel. “The main reason is the success of Sony’s PlayStation 3 machine. Because it plays Blu-ray discs, there are over three-quarters of a million homes in the U.K. that can view the new high-definition format. There is no where near that number of HD DVD players around.”

Another nasty blow for the HD DVD, which appears to be fast losing the support of its initial backers. Last week, Warner Bros., New Line and HBO all abandoned HD DVD. And according to Variety, Universal’s exclusive commitment to HD DVD has expired. Toshiba, HD DVD’s, main backer, is soldiering on in spite of such setbacks. It’s even gone and purchased a 30-second TV spot during next week’s Super Bowl. But as Andy Parsons, senior vice president of the Blu-ray Disc Association points out, it’s no silver bullet. “I certainly admire [Toshiba’s] chutzpah,” Parsons told Home Media Magazine. “They can certainly choose to do as they please with their marketing. Running a Super Bowl ad is not likely to convince consumers that HD DVD will win the format war.”

And in the end, is this particular format war even worth worrying about? Isn’t physical media doomed? “People are saying Blu-ray won the war but who cares,” Seagate CEO Bill Watkins said earlier this year. “The war is over physical distribution versus electrical distribution, and Blu-ray and HD lost that. In this, flash memory and hard drives are on the same side. The war is over and the physical guys lost.”

Here’s a savvy way to debut your new advertising-supported music service: announce that it will offer some 25 million songs from “all the major labels,” and then hope that those labels follow your lead. And if they don’t, just hang in there until they do.

Which is essentially what Qtrax, which claims to be the world’s first free and legal peer-to-peer music service, has done. Qtrax launched over the weekend with the alleged support of EMI, Universal, Warner and Sony. Today, all four labels are saying that while they have discussed relationships with Qtrax, they have not inked any formal agreements. “EMI Music had an initial agreement with QTrax, essentially a license designed to help them experiment with this ad-supported model,” an EMI spokeswoman told Wired. “QTrax didn’t launch the service during the period of the agreement–I think we initially did this two years ago. We’re now in talks with the company about a possible new deal, but as of today, they don’t have a license with EMI Music.”

A source inside Warner told the Times Online a similar story: “Warner Music Group has not authorized the use of our content on Qtrax’s recently announced service.”

Oh, but it will. Just you wait, says Qtrax CEO Alan Klepfisz, who admits that the “ink hadn’t dried” on some of the company’s claimed deals. “We are not idiots,” he told the Times Online.”We wouldn’t have launched the service in front of the whole music industry unless we had secured its backing. We feel we have been unfairly crucified because a competitor tried to damage us. Everyone is very upset. We do have industry agreements including the major labels. Even today we are working on more deals.”

Reports of HD DVD’s death may have been exaggerated, but reports of its fast-declining health have not.

Though Paramount Pictures has denied reports that it plans to abandon the next-generation DVD format, news of an escape clause in its HD DVD contract allowing it to release films on Blu-ray has the industry wondering aloud about the format’s continued viability.

And for good reason. Earlier this week Universal’s HD DVD-exclusive contract ended. And last Friday, on the eve of the Consumer Electronics Show, Warner Bros. stunned the industry by announcing plans to end support of the format entirely in June. “[That] maybe the pivotal event that resolves the format war,” said Thomas Coughlin of Coughlin Associates. “It certainly changes the rules and the playing field. I think everyone is trying to reassess what this means–including the HD DVD guys. [If Blu-ray does come out on top] it would be poetic justice after the Betamax vs. VHS war. That time, Sony lost.”

But is it truly the format’s death knell? Ovum analyst Carl Gressum says no. “There is a lot of speculation whether this is the end of HD DVD,” he said. “It is not, but we are getting dangerously close to a ‘chapter 11’ for the group. If the other supporting studios now decide to drop HD DVD, the situation will turn dire, and HD DVD could become more of a replacement to DVD on the PC client than as a movie-distribution playback format.”

UPDATE: Universal Pictures flatly denies it’s abandoning the HD DVD format. Said Ken Graffeo, executive vice president of HD strategic marketing for Universal Studios Home Entertainment, “Contrary to unsubstantiated rumors from unnamed sources, Universal’s current plan is to continue to support the HD DVD format.”

Note: John Paczkowski is on vacation and won’t be writing or posting videos until he returns on Monday.

To keep you abreast of tech news while he’s away, we’re compiling a daily digest of 10 must-read tech stories. Our Tech 10 appears below.

1. Auction Action: Confirming the expected, Google announced today that it would indeed apply to bid for wireless spectrum in the Federal Communications Commission auction in January, writes Kevin J. Delaney in The Wall Street Journal, adding that if the search giant grabs a wireless license, it could become a provider of mobile phone and Internet services, among other things.
2. Facebook Gets a $60 Million Infusion… Hong Kong mogul Li Ka-shing has invested $60 million in Facebook, reports BoomTown’s Kara Swisher, who notes that the billionaire businessman has the right to invest another $60 million.
3. … And Pulls Back on Privacy: The social-networking site, under siege from Move.On and its own members, as well as from “Landmark Partner” Coca-Cola (which, says Louise Story of the New York Times, is holding off on participating in the social-advertising feature) has announced changes to its new Beacon ad system. Observes Om Malik: “Facebook finally backed down, more or less acquiescing to the demands of those concerned about its seemingly blatant abuse of privacy of its fast-growing user base.”
4. Rise and Fall of Motorola Magnate: Ed Zander, CEO of the electronics manufacturer whose mojo with the Razr cellphone brought the company big gains, is resigning in the face of equally disappointing declines to rival Nokia over the last year, The Wall Street Journal reports. Greg Brown, the company’s president and chief operating officer, will succeed Zander.
5. Sprint Rejects a Suitor: Sprint Nextel has turned down a $5 billion investment offer from Providence Equity Partners and SK Telecom of South Korea in exchange for sacking its management, according to the New York Times.
6. Big Brother Online: Government agencies worldwide are increasingly using the Internet to spy on and conduct cyber attacks on their enemies, according to an annual virtual criminology report by McAfee, writes Jon Brodkin of Network World, noting that the U.S. joins China as one of the biggest employers of Internet espionage.
7. Kiwi Teen in Botnet Probe: New Zealand police have held for questioning a teenager suspected of leading an international cyber-crime group, according to the BBC, which adds that the group allegedly hacked a million computers to steal millions from people’s bank accounts.
8. Publishers Want Web Respect: Launching an effort to bring them more power to say what content search companies may make available, publishers have developed a framework to inform online search engines that certain pages, directories or sites must not be indexed, reports eWeek, noting that supporters of the measure to respect copyright include the Associated Press, Reuters and the Association of American Publishers.
9. Sony Hears On-Demand Demands: Starting early next year, users of Sony’s PlayStation 3 will be able to download high-definition video to their devices, according to Variety, which adds that each download will cost about $1.85.
10. Exploding Cellphone Death Greatly Exaggerated:The Korean quarry worker whose death was blamed on an exploding cellphone was actually killed by a co-worker, who admitted he concocted the story after accidentally hitting his colleague with a drilling vehicle, the Associated Press reports.

Posted by Associate Editor John Sullivan.

Note: John Paczkowski is on vacation and won’t be writing or posting videos until he returns next Monday.

To keep you abreast of tech news while he’s away, we’re compiling a daily digest of 10 must-read tech stories. Our Tech 10 appears below.

1. Google U-Store-It: The online search leader is prepping a service enabling users to store on the company’s computers any files (text, music, video) kept on personal-computer hard drives, reports The Wall Street Journal. The password-protected system would allow Internet access to the files from any computer or mobile device.
2. Verizon Opens Wide and Says ‘Yah’: In a sign that “U.S. phone carriers’ iron grip on the wireless industry may finally be loosening,” (according to The Wall Street Journal) Verizon Wireless will open its network to wireless devices, software and applications not offered by the company. Verizon plans a conference to detail “the standards and get input from the development community” about how so-called “BYO phones” will be allowed on its network early in 2008.
3. MySpace Feeds You and Your Friends: The social-networking giant will unveil on Thursday “Friend Updates,” its news-feed feature. Michael Arrington of TechCrunch explains it all for you.
4. InterActiveCorp to Activate China Web Site: IAC/InterActiveCorp plans to invest $100 million on an Internet start-up in China, shipping its Ask.com search engine to that hot market as well, according to The Wall Street Journal.
5. Intuit Grabs Homestead: The financial software firm has paid $170 million for the small-business Web service provider, a move Eric Eldon of VentureBeat posits will help the aging Intuit “stay relevant to the growing number of businesses that rely on Web-based services.”
6. Reduce the Price, and They Will Buy: Deep discounts in its PlayStation 3 video-game console reaped high sales for Sony post-Thanksgiving. The 245% jump in North American PS3 units sold, according to Bloomberg, reflects price cuts Sony initiated to boost the console’s competitive edge against Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Nintendo’s Wii.
7. NBC Universal Sees the TiVo Light: The broadcaster announced today that it had signed a deal to become the first of the major TV networks to use TiVo’s viewership research and interactive ad products, according to The Wall Street Journal.
8. Yahoo Flubs Cyber Monday: Outages plagued the online company yesterday during heavy holiday traffic on Cyber Monday, the first Monday after Thanksgiving when many online merchants offer discounts to woo consumers. Tech Check’s Jim Goldman says Yahoo scrambled throughout the day to fix the problem, but thousands of merchants were adversely affected.
9. An End to Coal in Our Lifetime? Google is mobilizing its considerable resources to eliminate one resource: coal-generated electricity. The initiative, known as RE<C, will focus on solar, wind, geothermal and other potential breakthrough technologies. But there’s no guarantee Google’s push to develop electricity from renewable energy resources, says Doug Caverly of WebProNews“will have more luck than however many corporations and inventors have already tried their hands at this sort of thing.”
10. Tiffany Miffed at eBay: The renowned retailer of fine jewelry has accused the online auctioneer of abetting the sales of counterfeits, reports the New York Times. Tiffany’s lawsuit seeks to force eBay to change its auction procedures, which, if successful, could jeopardize eBay’s business model.

–posted by Associate Editor John Sullivan

Note: John Paczkowski is on vacation and won’t be writing or posting videos until he returns next Monday, Dec. 3.

To keep you abreast of tech news while he’s away, we’re compiling a daily digest of 10 must-read tech stories. Our Tech 10 appears below.

1. Slick Deal for Sony? A Dubai investment firm owned by the emirate’s ruler has acquired a “substantial” stake in Sony. The Wall Street Journal reports that the deal typifies the growing appetite of Middle Eastern oil producers awash in petrodollars for diversifying their investments.
2. Facebook, Political Animal: The social-networking site is jumping on the campaign bandwagon in a partnership with ABC News, the TV network announced today. Facebook members can now digitally track ABC reporters, watch videos and take part in polls, debates and even influence how the news is covered.
3. TGICM (Thank God It’s Cyber Monday): Black Friday may one day take a back seat to Cyber Monday, the Monday after Thanksgiving when online retailers entice bargain-hunters with discounts similar to those offered by offline marketers on the day after Thanksgiving, the New York Times reports.
4. But No Blues for Online Retailers on Black Friday, Either: Online spending on the day after Thanksgiving zoomed 22% compared to last year, according to comScore. That boosts the total of online purchases to more than $9 billion for the season to date, up 17% over the same period in 2006.
5. Zune Is No. 2, in a Good Way: Microsoft’s Zune posted strong Black Friday online sales, playing second fiddle only to sales of Nintendo’s Wii, according to preliminary figures released by Electronista.
6. News Corp. Aims to Serve: Online ads, that is. The media giant’s Internet division will debut an online network to sell ads across Rupert Murdoch’s many holdings (which include this site) as well as other media companies, possibly by the first half of 2008, Reuters reports.
7. Take That, Sacré Downloader! Cracking down on online piracy, the French government is proposing to pull the broadband connections of those who illegally download movies or music online, according to dBTechno News, which notes that President Nicolas Sarkozy has floated a “three strikes” policy to fight Internet pirates.
8. Hollywood Sues ‘Pirates’ Pirate: Maintaining that film piracy in China costs the U.S. movie industry hundreds of millions annually, the Motion Picture Association is suing Chinese Web site Jeboo.com for providing bootlegged copies of such movies as “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” to an Internet cafe in Shanghai. The Times Online says the MPA is seeking about $432 million in damages on behalf of five studios.



9. Look! Up in the Sky! Original Content–From China. Signaling its entry into space exploration, China today released its first picture of the moon from its Chang’e lunar probe. The photo’s “symbolic importance perhaps rivals its scientific value,” Wired reports.
10. Data Deep-Freeze? Microsoft plans to build a data facility in the Siberian city of Irkutsk, according to a report in Data Center Knowledge. The center is expected to host 10,000 servers in a region attractive to Microsoft not for its rough winters but its stable electricity supply.

–posted by Associate Editor John Sullivan

Alfred Kinsey once wrote, “The forces which bring individuals of the same species together in sexual relations may sometimes serve to bring individuals of different species together in the same types of sexual relations.” He was, of course, referring to bestiality and zoophilia.

But that was back in 1948, long before Tamagotchi and Sony’s robotic dog AIBO recalibrated the objects of human affection. And desire. Long before artificial intelligence researcher and international chess master David Levy cast a randy eye on Furby and Tickle Me Elmo and began dreaming up all the lascivious possibilities. Because, according to Levy, within a decade or so robots will be so humanlike in their appearance, functionality and expression of emotions, that we’ll be falling in love with them, having sex with them and even marrying them–Defense of Marriage Act, ahem, permitting.

“It may sound a little weird, but it isn’t,” said Levy, who explores the idea at length in his Ph.D. thesis “Intimate Relationships With Artificial Partners,” concluding that “Love and sex with robots are inevitable.”

Levy argues that there are roughly a dozen basic reasons why people fall in love, and almost all of them could apply to human-robot relationships. “For instance,” he explains, “one thing that prompts people to fall in love are similarities in personality and knowledge, and all of this is programmable. Another reason people are more likely to fall in love is if they know the other person likes them, and that’s programmable too.”

Sounds like a possible new story arc for “Tell Me You Love Me” …

And what of the consummation vows and the marital bed? The human-robot sexual relationship? Silicone “love dolls” have already done some of the heavy lifting there. And there are folks hard at work developing the technology that may someday make coitus roboticus a real possibility. Consider this patent for “Simulated Human Interaction Systems”:

In a simplified form the mannequin or doll could be replaced with devices being artificial versions of human body parts used in sexual activities, for example artificial male or female genitalia as well as or replaced by devices for use in simulating oral sexual activities.

“Most preferably, however, the invention is applied using a mannequin or doll and preferably sensors are provided to be responsive to touch to various portions of the doll, whereby the control system can cause the visual output to correspond but in addition sensors responsive to movement, temperature and pressure and motion can be provided to initiate a physical reaction in the mannequin.”

(Above image courtesy Worth1000.com)

Sony ATRAC is at long last joining Betamax, MiniDisc, Sony Dynamic Digital Sound, HiFD, (pause for breath) Multi-Media Compact Disc, Memory Stick and Super Audio CD in the company’s Museum of Failed Formats.

After an overlong and unsuccessful campaign to spread adoption of ATRAC, Sony is scrapping the proprietary audio format. This morning the company said it would close its CONNECT digital music store and forthcoming Walkman digital media players will support formats that consumers actually use like Windows Media Audio, along with MP3 and AAC (or advanced audio coding). “Customers don’t want to be locked into one service, consumers are demanding choice in music,” said Jeffrey Van Ede, Sony Europe audio marketing VP. “There has been a fundamental shift in legal downloading, and that is toward DRM-free music.”

And what of those few Sony customers who actually own ATRAC music? For them the company’s offering an MP3 Conversion Tool and some advice that CONNECT users have been likely following for some time now: “For your purchased music from CONNECT, you can burn it to audio CD and rerip it into MP3 format to continue enjoying it for personal use.”

Note: John Paczkowski is on vacation and won’t be writing or posting videos until he returns Monday.

To keep you abreast of tech news while he’s away, we’re compiling a daily digest of 10 must-read tech stories. We’re calling it the Tech 10 and it appears below.

1. Music to their ears: SoundExchange, the recording-industry group that has been in a protracted battle with Internet radio companies, has reached a deal with them on royalties. The Associated Press reports that SoundExchange would cap fees at $50,000 a year for Webcasters offering more than 100 channels–down considerably from the much higher per-channel tax it had sought to impose.
2. Playing catch-up with YouTube, Yahoo plans to revamp its video portal. Miguel Helft of the New York Times writes that Yahoo will consolidate the Internet site’s somewhat messy video interface into a more interactive one enabling users to view and share videos and compile playlists. Of the plans, Helft quotes Mike Folgner, general manager of Yahoo Video: “We’re going to make it a more cohesive experience. Video is going to be everywhere on Yahoo.”



3. A teenage hacker from New Jersey has picked the lock that links the iPhone to AT&T. According to the Associated Press, 17-year-old George Hotz, using a complicated procedure involving both software and soldering, unlocked an iPhone from AT&T and was using it on T-Mobile’s network, freeing the handheld for calls overseas using carriers outside the U.S. After announcing the feat on his blog, Hotz put the reconfigured iPhone (pictured, left) up for sale on eBay.
4. Google goes Gotham? Bloomberg is reporting that the Internet search titan is in talks to provide online transit guides in New York City and environs. The guides, which are already available in more than a dozen cities, including Dallas and San Diego, show how to navigate transportation systems and could greatly expand Google’s revenue from ad sales to restaurants, hotels and other businesses that serve the nine million commuters in metropolitan New York.
5. IBM may take elements of its Jazz collaboration software open source. According to IDG News Service, the tech giant is considering open-sourcing some of the lowest layers of the framework, which makes software development easier, so people could “build on the kernel,” said a member of the Jazz management committee.
6. Sweet juice: Sony has developed a battery that uses sugar as an energy source. TMCnet reports that test cells of the battery have 50 milliwatts, so far the world’s highest electrical output for the so-called passive bio batteries. Sony engineers proved they work by putting four together to power a Walkman.
7. And in an industry where power is everything, Via Technologies has produced a processor that consumes a maximum of one watt of electricity. Reporting on the development, PC World notes that the Eden ULV chip will be used in mobile devices and embedded applications.
8. Manhunt 2, the sequel to Rockstar Games’ eponymous video-game gorefest, got a break in the form of a less-severe rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board. According to CNET blog Crave, the board changed the rating from “adults only” (the equivalent of an NC-17 for video games) to an M-for-mature after Rockstar eliminated some ultraviolent content. The new rating means that companies like Sony and Microsoft will allow the game to run on their players, clearing the way for sales pegged to Halloween.
9. Decrying its role in “promoting” child prostitution, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin is calling on online classified-ad service Craigslist to police itself better, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. In a letter sent this week, Franklin asked the Web site to toughen warnings for personal ads and pages that offer erotic services and to delete postings advertising sexual services for sale. An Atlanta vice officer claims that Craigslist and similar Web sites facilitate 85% of the sexual trysts men in Atlanta make with underage youths.
10. News this week of a study that linked gender with color preference prompted Shiny Shiny (the self-described “girl’s guide to gadgets”) to assemble a selection of pink laptops. We eyed the Hello Kitty model (pictured here) and concurred that this was indeed a laptop that only a girl (of either sex) could love.

–posted by Associate Editor John Sullivan

Note: John Paczkowski is on vacation and won’t be writing or posting videos until he returns Monday.

To keep you abreast of tech news while he’s away, we’re compiling a daily digest of 10 must-read tech stories. We’re calling it the Tech 10 and it appears below.

1. Getting to know you: Facebook is developing targeted ads based on the information that users of the social-networking site reveal about themselves. Quoting anonymous sources at the company, The Wall Street Journal says the advertising system is at an early, changeable stage, but Facebook hopes to launch a basic version late this fall.
2. It looks like Apple will turbocharge its iPods with the Mac OS. According to AppleInsider, the upgraded digital music players will debut at a media event next month and are part of the computer maker’s master plan to create devices around its legendary operating-system software.
3. Dude, where’s my YouTube? Initial response to ads overlaid on downloaded videos from the popular online site is overwhelmingly negative, Computerworld reports, noting that the comments on a YouTube feedback blog could be summarized by the one-word review of a user from Oro Valley, Ariz.: “Yuck.”
4. Hoping to shore up anemic sales of its PlayStation consoles in the face of competition from Microsoft and Nintendo, Sony said it will market a recording-transfer device (pictured here) in Europe enabling users to record TV programs on their PlayStation 3 video-game consoles for transfer to the PlayStation Portable. According to the Associated Press, the new gadget, dubbed PlayTV, will give game consumers an additional function for their PlayStations beyond playing video games.
5. Too hot to handle? Microsoft announced that it’s offering a free retrofit to the Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel after reports from a number of users that smoke issued from the device when used on AC/DC power, according to PC World. The retrofit comes six weeks after it extended the Xbox warranty for “flashing lights of death” failures–and took an earnings hit of $1.15 billion for the anticipated repair bill.
6. Paper trail, indeed. Many iPhone customers are irked over the book-sized bills they are getting from wireless provider AT&T, reports the New York Times. The bills itemize all phone calls, as well as every text message and online data transfer. In response, AT&T announced that beginning Sept. 28, customers would get summarized bills removing the wireless detail.
7. Microsoft and Nokia won’t sit back and watch while the iPhone marches through Europe, apparently. The companies are joining forces to put Windows Live services on selected Nokia S60 handhelds, reports IDG News Service. Customers in 9 countries in Europe and two in the Middle East will be first to get the services, including Hotmail and Live Messenger. A Microsoft spokesman couldn’t say when the functions would be available for cellphones in the United States, however.
8. Speaking of teaming up, MTV and MySpace are collaborating on a series of one-on-one dialogues with the major Democratic and Republican presidential candidates. CNNMoney.com reports that the hourlong events will be streamed live on MTV.com and MySpaceTV throughout the fall on college campuses.
9. Palm’s Foleo computer, first exhibited at this year’s D Conference, is having trouble leaving the gate, writes Tech Trader Daily, quoting a Deutsche Bank analyst who disclosed that the debut in stores of the stripped-down laptop scheduled for this week “was delayed after software bugs were detected. … Palm now expects the device will ship in late September/early October.”
10. Playboy Enterprises is, uh, unveiling Playboy U, a social-networking site targeted exclusively at college students. The move online by the granddaddy of the skin rags, says the Associated Press, is an attempt to capitalize on the Playboy brand as the 54-year-old magazine continues to lose money and readers. The site is modeled after Facebook and MySpace, with users allowed to “friend” other college students. Although there will be no nudie shots, users will be able to discourse on such topics as how many sex partners they’ve had or what they think of penis enlargement.

–posted by Associate Editor John Sullivan