archives

o TechTV Announces Its CES "Best of Show" Winners
o Microsoft Details Japanese Xbox Pricing, Launch
o Internet Week Magazine Ceases Publication
o Digimarc Adds 7th Patent to Infringement Suit Against Rival Verance
o Briefly Noted: Consumer Electronics Assn. - Rep. Rick Boucher, Nokia -
BMG Music Publishing, Hutchison 3G U.K. - BBC Technology, Napster -
ClearCommerce, Atom Films - Sundance, Chrysler - Hypnotic Million Dollar
Film Festival, Edward Felten Q&A
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o TechTV Announces Its CES "Best of Show" Winners

Las Vegas -- Cable TV technology network TechTV announced its choices for
"Best of Show" from the Consumer Electronics Show this week in Las Vegas,
with Moxi Digital's Moxi Media Center, a networked home media server,
winning overall Best of Show. The $450 device also won TechTV's award for
best of Home Video. Sonicblue's Rio Riot, a 20GB portable MP3 player, won
for best Portable Audio and Video product. Other winners included Escient
Convergence's Fireball component MP3 server for best of Home Audio and
Echo Mobile Music's hard disk-based Music Keeper player for best of Auto,
Marine and RV products. A full list of winners and finalists, and links to
more detailed product descriptions are available from the links below.
http://www.techtv.com/freshgear/bestofces/story/0,23008,3367505,00.html
http://www.techtv.com/freshgear/bestofces/story/0,23008,3367496,00.html
http://www.ce.org
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o Microsoft Details Japanese Xbox Pricing, Launch

Redmond, Wash. -- Microsoft on Friday announced pricing and details for
the launch of its Xbox video game console in Japan. The device will begin
selling on Feb. 22 for $263, and will offer 12 game titles and a smaller
controller designed specifically for the Japanese market. The Xbox sells
for $299 in the U.S. Microsoft will also offer a limited edition Xbox in
Japan for $301 that will feature a translucent case, expansion packs for
high-definition TV and Dolby 5.1 stereo, and an engraved key chain with
serial number and Microsoft chairman Bill Gates' signature. Nintendo's
GameCube and Sony's PlayStation 2 are already on sale in Japan for $189
and $265, respectively. Microsoft plans to have 22 game titles on Japanese
retailers' shelves by March 31.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020111/sff009_1.html
http://xbox.jp
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o Internet Week Magazine Ceases Publication

Manhasset, N.Y. -- Internet Week magazine published what will be its last
edition on Jan. 7, the Associated Press reported. New York-based CMP Media
published the technology-focused weekly, which had a circulation of
275,000. It is unclear how many layoffs will result from the closing,
although the editorial staff numbered about 30. CMP Media also publishes
technology magazines including Information Week and Network Computing. A
large number of Internet and technology-related publications have shut
down in the past year, including Industry Standard and Inside magazines.
http://www.latimes.com/technology/wire/sns-ap-internet-week0111jan11.story?coll=sns%2Dap%2Dtechnology%2Dheadlines
http://www.internetweek.com
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o Digimarc Adds 7th Patent to Infringement Suit Against Rival Verance

Tualatin, Ore. -- Digital watermarking technology developer Digimarc said
that it has included a seventh patent infringement claim in its lawsuit
against rival watermarking developer Verance. Both companies develop
invisible and inaudible watermarks inserted in audio and video to track
copyrights and usage. The new charges allege that San Diego-based Verance
has infringed on Oregon-based Digimarc's "audio steganography" patent,
which concerns "techniques in which the watermark data is tailored to
local characteristics of the audio to facilitate better data hiding." The
patent also covers watermarking that survives compression processes, such
as when audio is converted to the MP3 format.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020110/100357_1.html
http://www.digimarc.com
http://www.verance.com
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o Briefly Noted:

(Las Vegas) The Consumer Electronics Association, a trade group of
electronics manufacturers, has issued a statement endorsing a letter sent
by Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) to the recording industry, informing them
that the copy-protected CDs they are beginning to release into the market
may be illegally taking away consumer rights to make copies of CDs. "Our
industry applauds Congressman Boucher for drawing attention to this
important issue," said CEA president and CEO Gary Shapiro. "We have long
been concerned that some in the recording industry may be using legitimate
concerns about piracy as a Trojan horse to undermine consumers'
established fair use and home recording rights. Introducing CDs into the
marketplace that prevent consumers from pursuing traditional fair use
purposes such as space shifting and first generation digital-to-digital
copying would be paramount to an attack on the Audio Home Recording Act of
1992, of which the RIAA and CEA were prime advocates, and on consumer
rights."
http://www.ce.org/newsroom/newsloader.asp?newsfile=8724

(Singapore) Mobile phone developer Nokia announced that it has signed a
licensing agreement with BMG Music Publishing, a division of Bertelsmann,
to use songs controlled by BMG as ringtones for cell phones sold in the
Asia-Pacific region. Included in the agreement are songs from artists in
BMG's Asian repertoire, such as Andy Lau, Cass Peng, Jacky Cheung, Eric
Moo and Stephanie Sun.
http://www.nokia.com
http://www.bmgentertainment.com/na/bmgmp.html

(London) Hutchison 3G UK, a wireless network operator that holds the
U.K.'s third-largest third-generation mobile phone license, announced that
BBC Technology will manage the production of all audio-visual content for
the service. London-based BBC Technology will process all news,
entertainment and sports content and convert it into a format that can be
sent over a wireless network to third-generation wireless devices.
http://www.bbctechnology.com/searchable/news_pr_hutchinson_content_partners.htm
http://www.hutchison3g.com

(Redwood City, Calif.) Napster announced that it will use Austin-based
ClearCommerce's transaction processing and fraud protection software to
process membership payments for its new subscription-based service.
ClearCommerce's software supports multiple currencies, enabling Napster to
eventually process international transactions.
http://www.clearcommerce.com
http://www.napster.com/preview

(Park City, Utah) Online short films site and distribution provider
AtomFilms announced on Friday its first acquisition from the Sundance Film
Festival. Seattle-based AtomFilms has signed John Krokidas' official
Sundance short "Slo-Mo" to a broad distribution deal. A preview of the
film is available at the link below.
http://atomfilms.shockwave.com/af/content/slo_mo_preview

(Auburn Hills, Mich.) Auto manufacturer Chrysler Group announced on Friday
that it is sponsoring online film site Hypnotic's Million Dollar Film
Festival contest, where an aspiring filmmaker will win the grand prize of
a $1 million feature film production deal. The resulting film will be
distributed by Universal Pictuers. For part of the contest, finalists will
live together at "the Chrysler mansion" in Los Angeles while they develop
their feature film production pitches for the competition. "The Chrysler
Million Dollar Film Festival generates original branded content while
uniquely promoting Chrysler vehicles through the filmmaking process," said
Hypnotic CEO David Bartis.
http://www.chrysler.com/inside/news/index.html
http://www.hypnotic.com

(New York) Business Week recently featured a Q&A session with Princeton
researcher and security technology expert Edward Felten, who is credited
with cracking several digital music copy-protection technologies being
considered by a recording industry group called the Secure Digital Music
Initiative (SDMI). When asked if any technology can prevent piracy, Felten
replied, "None of them prevent unauthorized distribution. All they do, at
best, is make it more difficult, more time-consuming to copy things.
You're not putting up a barrier to prevent copying but a speed bump that
will frustrate people who want to copy illegally."
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/jan2002/nf2002019_7170.htm
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