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DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE -- January 9, 2003
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o Consumer Electronics Sales $96.2 Billion in 2002; '03 Sales Seen As Flat
o Sony Says 5 Million PlayStations, 400,000 Network Adapters Sold In '02
o Interactive TV Firm OpenTV Wins Summary Judgments Against Rival Liberate
o Clear Channel Puts Webcasting Costs On Stations; 150 Cease Streams
o Delaware Supreme Court Invalidates Additions to Liquid Audio Board
o RealNetworks Introduces Digital Rights Management Software for Helix
o AOL Time Warner Likely to Spin Off Cable Operations
o IBM Offers New Supercomputing-on-Demand Services
o XM Satellite Radio Hits 360,000 Subscribers
> DMW Publications: Special Rates for DMW Subscribers
o Briefly Noted: Macrovision - MontaVista Software, Sirius Satellite
Radio, Charter - Sony's Passage, Activision - Marvel Comics, Sprint PCS -
Bandai - kids' games, U.K. digital radio sales, Alpine - 16GB car
receiver, Pioneer DigitaLibrary, HP Digital Media Receiver, Charter - MSN,
Metal Images - Academy Award
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o Consumer Electronics Sales $96.2 Billion in 2002; '03 Sales Seen As Flat
Las Vegas -- Sales of consumer electronics are projected to rise 3.5
percent in 2003, reaching a record $99.5 billion, according the Consumer
Electronics Association (CEA), a trade group of device manufacturers. 2002
sales were estimated at $96.2 billion -- a slight increase from CEA's
initial 2002 projection made in January 2002 -- and represented a 3.7
percent increase over 2001's sales figures. DVD player sales reached 17.6
million units, up 39 percent over 2002; CEA predicts a 14 percent increase
in 2003, reaching 20.1 million units on dollar sales of $2.6 billion.
Additionally, the group reported that 2.68 million digital TVs were sold
in 2002, and expects 3.8 million to be sold in 2003. Sales of MP3 players
totaled 1.7 million, a 56 percent increase over 2001, and are expected to
rise another 26 percent to 2.1 million units for 2003. "The future of our
industry is bright, even as some individual companies face challenges"
said CEA chief executive Gary Shapiro. "Twenty years ago our industry
sales were $14.1 billion. In 2003, we will be close to $100 billion in
sales. Despite economic uncertainties, consumers are finding compelling
reasons to upgrade from analog to new digital products."
http://www.ce.org/press_room/press_release_detail.asp?id=10138
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o Sony Says 5 Million PlayStations, 400,000 Network Adapters Sold In '02
Foster City, Calif. -- Sony Computer Entertainment America on Thursday
announced that it sold 5 million PlayStation video game consoles in 2002,
a 25 percent increase over sales for 2001. More than 4 million of these
were sold during November and December 2002, accounting for $2 billion in
revenue and representing a 46 percent increase over 2001 PlayStation 2
holiday sales. As of November 2002, 45 million PlayStation 2 games had
been sold worldwide, according to data from NPDFunworld. Sony also said
that sales of its Network Adapter, which enables online gaming for
PlayStation 2, reached 400,000 units as of Dec. 30, nearly doubling
Microsoft's reported sales of 250,000 Xbox Live kits.
http://www.us.playstation.com
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o Interactive TV Firm OpenTV Wins Summary Judgments Against Rival Liberate
Mountain View, Calif. -- OpenTV, a provider of interactive TV software and
services, announced on Thursday that the U.S. District Court for the
Northern District of California granted it two motions for summary
judgment in its patent litigation with rival Liberate Technologies. The
court dismissed Liberate's claim that OpenTV induced infringement of a
Liberate patent, and also dismissed Liberate's defense to OpenTV's claims
of patent infringement, in which Liberate argued that OpenTV was
"precluded from asserting infringement of OpenTV patents by virtue of its
alleged participation in an industry standards body with compulsory
licensing obligations." One claim of patent infringement remains against
OpenTV, for which it has also filed for summary judgment to dismiss; a
scheduling conference for future hearings is set for Jan. 30.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030109/90445_1.html
http://www.opentv.com
http://www.liberate.com
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o Clear Channel Puts Webcasting Costs On Stations; 150 Cease Streams
San Francisco -- Radio broadcasting giant Clear Channel last week changed
its budgeting policies so that costs associated with simulcasting a
station's signal on the Internet would move to each individual station,
prompting about 150 of 200 existing Clear Channel Web stations to cease
streaming, Wired News reported. The shutoffs follow hundreds of channels
that stopped streaming over the past year in light of the royalty rate
dispute that would have put many of them out of business due to financial
strain, as well as a controversy over actors' payments for advertisements
simulcasted online. "Right now, in any given city, less than half the
[terrestrial] stations will broadcast on the Internet," Kurt Hanson, a
radio consultant and newsletter editor, told Wired News. "Two years ago,
it was probably getting to two-thirds or better."
http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,57134,00.html
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o Delaware Supreme Court Invalidates Additions to Liquid Audio Board
Redwood City, Calif. -- Liquid Audio, the beleaguered digital music
distribution technology provider, announced that the Delaware Supreme
Court has invalidated the August 2002 appointment of two directors to its
board, including current chairman James Somes. The enlarged board voted
last month voted to dissolve the company, in the aftermath of a failed
merger with Alliance Entertainment, which was opposed by shareholders.
Liquid Audio co-founder and CEO Gerry Kearby resigned in November. "With
this important issue resolved, we will work with the remaining directors
of Liquid Audio to pursue the best interests of the Company and all its
stockholders," said James Mitarotonda, president and CEO of MM Companies
and board member of Liquid Audio.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030109/phth036_1.html
http://www.liquidaudio.com
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o RealNetworks Introduces Digital Rights Management Software for Helix
Las Vegas -- RealNetworks, a developer of media delivery technologies,
announced on Thursday the release of digital rights management software
for its open-source, Helix DNA media delivery platform. The software,
available now in beta and in a final version in the second quarter, will
allow content owners and consumer electronics manufacturers to deliver
secured media to PCs, home appliances, and mobile terminals. The software
will enable digital rights management to be embedded into media in formats
including RealAudio, RealVideo, MPEG-4, MP3, H.263 video, and AAC and
Narrowband AMR audio. Among those endorsing the security software are Sony
Pictures Digital Entertainment, cable TV video-on-demand channel Starz On
Demand, major record label EMI Recorded Music, Internet-based
video-on-demand site Movielink, and Triggerstreet.com, actor Kevin
Spacey's new online community for amateur filmmakers.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030109/sfw100_1.html
http://www.realnetworks.com/info/helixdrm
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o AOL Time Warner Likely to Spin Off Cable Operations
Dulles, Va. -- America Online parent AOL Time Warner on Thursday said that
it would likely spin off its cable television operations through an
initial public offering in the second quarter, Reuters reported. The media
giant began the complicated process last summer, unraveling a complex deal
under which its entertainment assets were held jointly with AT&T and
Comcast. Following the IPO, AOL Time Warner is expected to own about 70
percent of Time Warner Cable. The spin off is seen as a way for the
company to simplify its balance sheet.
http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/030109/media_aoltimewarner_ipo_4.html
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o IBM Offers New Supercomputing-on-Demand Services
Research Triangle Park, N.C. -- IBM on Thursday announced the introduction
of a new service that offers access to supercomputing on a pay-per-use
basis. The company said that it is targeting sectors that need
supercomputing capabilities on a sporadic basis, including petroleum,
digital media and life science businesses. "For example in Hollywood,
studios need massive supercomputing power to render animation used in
movies. Once the film is complete, the need goes away," IBM said.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030109/92008_1.html
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o XM Satellite Radio Hits 360,000 Subscribers
Las Vegas -- XM Satellite Radio, a provider of satellite-delivered digital
radio programming, announced on Thursday that it has now signed up a total
of 360,000 subscribers, adding 145,000 in the fourth quarter of 2002. The
company attributed the increase to partnerships with auto manufacturers as
well as its launch into the home audio market with a standalone receiver.
Last week, Washington-based XM announced a total of $450 million in new
financing, part from new investors and partly due to the deferral of loan
payments due to General Motors. "XM expects a very strong 2003, with new
subscribers approximately triple those obtained in 2002", said XM CEO Hugh
Panero. "By year-end 2003, XM will have crossed the one million subscriber
mark and be firmly established as a mass- market product." Separately,
Toyota announced that it will offer XM receivers in its new youth-oriented
Scion model.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030108/dcw020_1.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030109/nyth050_1.html
http://www.xmradio.com
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Briefly Noted:
(Santa Clara, Calif.) Macrovision, a developer of copy-protection and
rights management technologies for audio and video, announced on Thursday
that its MacroSafe digital rights management software is now compatible
with software developer MontaVista's version of Linux for consumer
electronics devices. The agreement will enable manufacturers of set-top
boxes, PDAs and portable entertainment devices that run MontaVista Linux
to offer content providers the security provided by Macrovision's
software.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030109/90279_1.html
http://www.macrovision.com
http://www.mvista.com
(Las Vegas) Sirius Satellite Radio, a provider of satellite-delivered
digital radio programming, announced a new program for unsigned artists,
WAGS Recordings. The program will seek out unsigned artists, invite them
to play live on Sirius Radio, and record performances for release on CD
compilations. Separately, New York-based Sirius announced the first
demonstration of delivery of a live video broadcast over its satellite
distribution system, which it said could eventually enable delivery of
video to its subscribers and an expansion of in-car video beyond VHS and
DVD.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030108/nyw038_1.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030108/nyw033_1.html
http://www.siriusradio.com
(St. Louis) Cable TV operator Charter Communications on Thursday announced
a licensing agreement with Sony for the company's Passage technology,
which allows set-top receiver, network and headend equipment from
different companies to work together on existing digital cable television
networks. Financial terms were not disclosed. St. Louis-based Charter said
the Sony technology could result in increased competition among set-top
manufacturers, resulting in lower prices, more features and the ability
for consumers to use the same set-top in different cities.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030109/90233_1.html
http://www.sony.com/passage
(Santa Monica, Calif.) Game developer Activision said on Thursday that it
has extended its current video game licensing agreements with Marvel
Enterprises, which publishes comic books including "Spider-Man," "X-Men,"
"Fantastic Four" and "Iron Man," through 2009. Under the terms, Santa
Monica-based Activision also receives the exclusive rights to create
titles based on movies or TV series developed from Marvel comics, and is
currently working on "X2: Wolverine's Revenge," to be released in
conjunction with the "X-Men" movie sequel.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030108/law098_1.html
http://www.activision.com
(Las Vegas) Wireless network operator Sprint PCS on Thursday announced
that it will offer titles created by Japanese game developer Bandai to its
PCS Vision subscribers. Titles covered by the deal include "Gundam Space
Assault," "Snowboarding" and "Hare Hockey." Additionally, Sprint announced
the launch of a wireless games section targeted specifically at children.
Games developed by Disney Mobile and Bandai, among others, will be offered
in three categories: ages 2-4; 4-6; and 6 and over.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030109/cgth002_1.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030109/cgth003_1.html
http://www.bandai.com
http://www.pcsvision.com
(London) Christmas sales of digital radio sets in 2002 more than doubled,
resulting in total U.K. digital radio ownership of 135,000, the Digital
Radio Development Bureau reported. Sales of digital radios have been
driven by the introduction of lower-priced sets and the launch of new
digital radio stations.
http://biz.yahoo.com/djus/030109/0614000205_1.html
(Torrance, Calif.) Car audio manufacturer Alpine on Thursday introduced an
in-dash, 16GB hard disk drive-based car stereo. The HDA-5460's removable
disk drive can be loaded via a USB connection with up to 3,000 MP3, WMA or
.WAV files. Torrance, Calif.-based Alpine did not provide pricing
information for the product, which will be released this summer.
http://www.alpine-usa.com
(Las Vegas) Consumer electronics firm Pioneer announced on Thursday that
its DigitaLibrary, which allows users to distribute multimedia content
including music, video, photos and Internet content, wirelessly or through
wired connections throughout the home, will be available in May. The
DL-1000-S 80GB server component will sell for $1,200, while the DL-500AV,
a receiver needed to stream content from the server to another room in the
house, will sell for $900.
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com
(Palo Alto, Calif.) PC and device maker HP on Thursday announced its HP
Digital Media Receiver 5000, a device that connects to a PC and allows for
wired or wireless viewing and playback of digital pictures and music files
on a TV or home stereo. Both versions ship with a remote control and will
become available in the spring. The wired, Ethernet version of the product
will sell for $199, while the combined Ethernet and wireless 802.11b home
network version will sell for $299.
http://www.hp.com/go/digitalmediareceiver
(St. Louis) Cable TV operator Charter Communications announced an
agreement with Microsoft's MSN, to create a co-branded version of MSN 8
that will be offered to Charter's broadband Internet subscribers. Charter
Pipeline subscribers will be able to purchase the new service for an
additional $9.95 a month, giving them access to the content and new
features of the MSN 8 service.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030109/90288_1.html
http://www.charter.msn.com
(Berlin) Software firm Mental Images announced on Thursday that it has
received a technical Academy Award for its Mental Ray rendering software,
used to "translate" 3D scene data into humanly visible, realistic images
in motion picture production. Originally released by Berlin-based Mental
Images in 1989, the software has been used in over 100 films including
"Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones," "The Matrix Reloaded" and
"The Matrix Revolutions," and "Spider-Man."
http://www.mentalimages.com
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