Top Stories
o WSJ: Microsoft to Acquire In-Game Ad Firm Massive for Up to $400 Million
o Senate Bill Would Limit Satellite Radio Recording Capabilities
o Electronic Arts to Pay Programmers $14.9 Million in Overtime Settlement
o Matsushita Exec: "Market Will Decide Winner" of DVD Format War
o Video Game League Gets AMD Sponsorship; 2006 Season to Launch in August
o Yahoo Offers Free PC Digital Video Recorder Software
o Report: Online Gamers in China Will Number 61 Million by 2010
o Study: Only 6% of DVR Owner TV Viewing is Time-Shifted
o Mercora to Power User-Created Streaming Radio Stations for NME, Tiscali
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Briefly Noted
o Warner to Release First HD DVD/Standard DVD Combo Disc on May 9
o Yahoo Launches New Internet Voice Services with AT&T
o AT&T to Offer Starz Vongo VOD Service to Broadband Subscribers
o Photobucket Launches Free Video Hosting Service
o Digital Rum to Power iTV E-Commerce Service for U.K.'s Sky
o Satellite Firm SES ASTRA Introduces Bluetooth Interactive TV Technology
o TiVo Names Matthew Zinn Chief Privacy Officer
o Groove Mobile Names Eric Giler Chairman and CEO
o TV Guide Adds Section on Downloadable TV Shows
o Korean Online Games Firm Webzen Announces E3 Lineup
o ArenaNet Releases "Guild Wars Factions" Online Game
o Buena Vista Games to Publish Four Titles From Japan's Q Entertainment
o Double Fusion to Provide In-Game Ads for Trilogy Studios
o Game Trust Launches Social Networking Features
o Zoi Interactive Technologies to Acquire Tournament Games
o Atari to Ship "HOT PXL" Mini-Game Compilation in the Fall
o Hands-On Mobile Releases "The Incredible Hulk: Rampage" Mobile Game
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New York - The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that Microsoft plans to acquire Massive Incorporated, the developer of an in-game advertising network, for between $200 million and $400 million. Neither company would comment for The Journal's story. New York-based Massive spent three years developing its technology, which allows advertisers to insert virtual billboards and other elements directly into video games. The company has partnered with video game developers and publishers including THQ, Atari, 2K Sports, Ubisoft, Konami, Sony Online Entertainment and Vivendi Universal Games. Massive's advertising clients have included Coca-Cola and Honda.
http://tinyurl.com/osllk
http://www.massiveincorporated.com
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o Senate Bill Would Limit Satellite Radio Recording Capabilities

Washington - A bipartisan bill introduced in the U.S. Senate would limit the recording capabilities of satellite radio receivers, and compel satellite radio firms to further compensate record labels. The "Perform Act," backed by Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), in addition to the Recording Industry Association of America and other copyright holders, targets satellite radios from XM and Sirius that let users record copies of songs and other programming. "Digital sales are finally replacing physical losses," RIAA CEO Mitch Bainwol told Reuters. "If someone gets a distribution right without paying for it, that blows a hole in the digital marketplace." The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) is opposed to the measure, as is a splinter group called the Home Recording Rights Coalition (HRRC). "The legislation would take away the longstanding rights of consumers to enjoy the benefits and flexibility of digital technology," said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the CEA and chairman of the HRRC. "Indeed, it would undo decades of progress. If the bill were enacted, recording onto digital memory chips would be less useful to consumers than recording onto magnetic tape was 40 years ago."
http://tinyurl.com/obafm (Hollywood Reporter)
http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/04/26/1611603.htm
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o Electronic Arts to Pay Programmers $14.9 Million in Overtime Settlement

Redwood City, Calif. - Video game publisher Electronic Arts has announced it will pay $14.9 million to settle a class action suit brought against it by current and former computer programmers. The programmers, all from the company's California studios, had sued for overtime pay. Under the settlement, all of their claims will be dismissed, and any unclaimed funds will go to the Ronald McDonald House Charities, as well as to establish scholarships at five universities, including Stanford, for female and minority students interested in studying interactive entertainment. The settlement still must be approved by San Mateo County Superior Court.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/060425/20060425006281.html?.v=1
http://www.ea.com
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o Matsushita Exec: "Market Will Decide Winner" of DVD Format War

Tokyo - The two dueling camps behind the Blu-ray and HD DVD next-generation DVD formats, which had been in intermittent discussions toward combining their technologies and avoiding a format war, have now abandoned any hope of an agreement, Reuters reported. "We are not talking and we will not talk," Kazuhiro Tsuga, an executive officer at consumer electronics firm and Blu-ray supporter Matsushita, told Reuters. "The market will decide the winner." Consumers will now have to decide whether to purchase a Blu-ray player, developed by Sony, or one of Toshiba's HD DVD players -- despite the fact that some studios have not announced plans to release movies on one format or the other. The situation is reminiscent of the "format war" between VHS and Beta that confronted the home video market in the 1980's.
http://tinyurl.com/zfb9t (Reuters)
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o Video Game League Gets AMD Sponsorship; 2006 Season to Launch in August

Dallas - The Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL), a tournament circuit for pro video game players, announced on Wednesday that chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has signed on as the worldwide lead title sponsor of the league. The CPL ended a similar relationship with Intel in February, saying then that it would not again this year be giving away $1 million in prize money to pro gamers at stops in nine countries. While some outlets recently reported the CPL 2006 season had been cancelled, CPL CEO Angel Munoz said on Wednesday that the league will announce details of its 2006 season in June. This year's season will feature stops in nine countries, and run from August through a televised winter championships event in Dallas in December; the league announced earlier this week that BenQ signed on to sponsor the Dallas event, and will provide 160 LCD monitors. The most significant change from last year's season will be the absence of $50,000 in prize money up for grabs at each tour stop.
http://www.thecpl.com
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4938352.stm
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o Yahoo Offers Free PC Digital Video Recorder Software

Sunnyvale, Calif. - Yahoo on Wednesday introduced software that will enable consumers to turn their regular PC with a TV tuner card into a digital video recorder. The free Yahoo Go for TV application, launched in a beta version today, also requires 20GB of hard drive space and the purchase of a remote control and several cables for connecting a TV to a PC. In addition to recording TV shows, the software also lets users access music and photos from a PC on their televisions.
http://tinyurl.com/gbm7q (CNET)
http://go.connect.yahoo.com/go/tv
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o Report: Online Gamers in China Will Number 61 Million by 2010

Scottsdale, Ariz. - China will claim 61 million online gamers in 2010, up from 25.5 million in 2005, the result of tacit government approval and the popularity of online games among Chinese Internet users, according to a report from market research firm In-Stat. "As of 2005, there were 16 million paid online game players," said In-Stat analyst Anty Zheng. "The increased rate of online gamers is bigger than that of Chinese 'netizens' since online gaming, as one of the most widely used online services, will become more and more popular in the coming years." One impediment noted by In-Stat is a new government policy that requires playing time in Internet cafes be limited to four hours per player. The report says that among online game operators, Shanda, NetEase, The9 and KingSoft together account for 80% of the market, although there were more than 300 online gaming companies in China as of 2005. Unfortunately for these firms, despite the rapid growth of the industry less than 15% of them were profitable last year.
http://www.instat.com/catalog/Ccatalogue.asp?id=240
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o Study: Only 6% of DVR Owner TV Viewing is Time-Shifted

Ringwood, N.J. - A recent survey of digital video recorder (DVR) owners found that only about one-fourth (24%) actually watched time-shifted TV in an average week, and that time-shifted programming accounted for only 6% of an average week of TV viewing. The report from the Total TV Audience Monitor, a measurement service supported by firms including ABC, Fox, ESPN and the NFL, found that DVR owners watch an average of 29.25 hours of TV a week, and only 1.7 of these are time-shifted -- with the remainder of programming viewed at regularly scheduled broadcast times. The study also notes that 17% of adults (36 million) now report owning a DVR, up from 11% in 2004, which Total TV attributes to deployment of set-tops with built-in DVR functionality.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060426/nyw022.html?.v=54
http://www.totaltvmonitor.com
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o Mercora to Power User-Created Streaming Radio Stations for NME, Tiscali

Santa Clara, Calif. - Mercora, a provider of peer-to-peer streaming Internet radio networks, on Wednesday announced partnerships with U.K. music magazine NME and Italian Internet service provider Tiscali to launch co-branded Mercora radio station offerings for their customers. The services will provide NME.com visitors and Tiscali subscribers in the U.K. and Italy with the ability to create their own Internet radio stations featuring their own music collections, as well as browse and listen to their friends' stations. Both services will be offered for free to NME and Tiscali customers. Santa Clara, Calif.-based Mercora's peer-to-peer streaming radio network boasts 3 million tracks and over 100,000 channels available at any time.
http://www.transworldnews.com/NewsStory.aspx?storyid=8024&ret=Default.aspx
http://www.transworldnews.com/NewsStory.aspx?storyid=8023&ret=Default.aspx
http://www.nme.com
http://jukebox.tiscali.it
http://www.mercora.com

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o Warner to Release First HD DVD/Standard DVD Combo Disc on May 9

Burbank, Calif. - Warner Home Video said on Wednesday that it plans to release the first title that features HD DVD content on one side of the disc and standard DVD content on the other on May 9. The combo format DVD, director Rob Reiner's "Rumor Has It," will sell for $39.99. Warner also announced three new HD DVD titles: "Goodfellas" and "Swordfish," due for release on May 2, and "Training Day," which will ship on May 9.
http://tinyurl.com/ndat7
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o Yahoo Launches New Internet Voice Services with AT&T

Sunnyvale, Calif. - Further expanding their relationship, Yahoo and telecommunications giant AT&T on Wednesday launched new Internet-based voice communications services, including a co-branded version of Yahoo's instant messenger with voice. The services offer consumers enhanced PC-based calling capabilities for both making phone calls, depending on the combination of services purchased. The two companies already team to offer high-speed Internet services.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/060426/20060426005390.html?.v=1
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o AT&T to Offer Starz Vongo VOD Service to Broadband Subscribers

San Antonio, Texas - AT&T announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with cable TV network Starz Entertainment Group, to offer Starz's Vongo Internet-based video-on-demand service to customers of AT&T's high-speed Internet service. The companies will offer AT&T's 7.4 million broadband subscribers a 14-day free trial of Vongo, which offers 1,500 movies and video selections in addition to a live streaming Starz TV channel for $9.99 per month. The service lets users watch movies on a PC, their televisions and some portable media devices.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/060426/20060426005349.html?.v=2
http://www.starz.com
http://www.vongo.com 
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o Photobucket Launches Free Video Hosting Service

Palo Alto, Calif. - hotobucket, the provider of a free image hosting service popular with the 64 million members of the MySpace social networking site, announced on Wednesday that it has expanded its offering to include video hosting and sharing services. Photobucket Video will offer users 1GB of free video storage, and up to 5GB with a premium account. The company claims 15 million registered members, and serves over 50 billion image requests per month.
http://blog.photobucket.com/archives/2006/03/video_released.html
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o Digital Rum to Power iTV E-Commerce Service for U.K.'s Sky

London - Digital Rum announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with U.K. satellite TV operator Sky to provide technology that will let Sky subscribers purchase goods and services through Sky Net, the broadcaster's new interactive TV e-commerce portal. Digital Rum's technology allows viewers to pay for goods and services either via their TV or mobile phone. Under the deal, Digital Rum will also secure retail, travel, content and entertainment partners for the service, available in 8 million U.K. homes.
http://tinyurl.com/s5lbh
http://www.digitalum.com
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o Satellite Firm SES ASTRA Introduces Bluetooth Interactive TV Technology

Betzdorf, Germany - Satellite operator SES ASTRA on Wednesday introduced a new interactive TV mobile phone service that utilizes Bluetooth wireless technology. The Blucom service, available to broadcasters in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, will allow for the transfer of broadcast data from the Internet or a Bluetooth-enabled TV receiver to a mobile phone, using text messages as a return path.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/060426/20060426005819.html?.v=1
http://www.ses-astra.com
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o TiVo Names Matthew Zinn Chief Privacy Officer

Alviso, Calif. - TiVo announced on Wednesday that it has promoted Matthew Zinn to the position of senior vice president, general counsel, secretary and chief privacy officer. Zinn joined the company in 2000 as the digital video recorder maker's chief legal officer.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060426/sfw069.html?.v=49
http://www.tivo.com
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o Groove Mobile Names Eric Giler Chairman and CEO

Andover, Mass. - Groove Mobile, a provider of branded mobile music download services for wireless carriers, announced on Wednesday that it has named Eric Giler as chairman and chief executive officer. Previously, Giler founded and was president and CEO of Brooktrout, a supplier of advanced hardware and software that he sold in 2005. Massachusetts-based Groove Mobile, which recently raised $8.5 million in venture capital, counts Sprint and wireless carriers in Canada, the U.K., Europe and Asia among its customers.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060426/law060.html?.v=52
http://www.groovemobile.com
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o TV Guide Adds Section on Downloadable TV Shows

New York - Gemstar-TV Guide International's TV Guide magazine announced on Wednesday that it plans to launch a new weekly column called "Downloads," which will feature information on the TV shows available for download or online viewing each week. "Since television programs are increasingly available and delivered to viewers in many different ways, we wanted to take the lead in providing our readers -- all enthusiastic television viewers -- the information they need to maximize their viewing experience, wherever that experience may take place," said TV Guide editor-in-chief Ian Birch.
http://tinyurl.com/q3g4y
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o Korean Online Games Firm Webzen Announces E3 Lineup

Los Angeles - Korean online game developer Webzen on Wednesday announced the roster of titles it will preview at next month's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles. The company will bring its massively multiplayer PC titles "Soul of the Ultimate Nation" and "Project Wiki," in addition to "Huxley," a multiplayer game that will be available both for the PC and Xbox 360. The company recently established North American operations in Los Angeles.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/060426/20060426005823.html?.v=1
http://www.webzen.com
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o ArenaNet Releases "Guild Wars Factions" Online Game

Bellevue, Wash. - Video game developer ArenaNet and publishing partner NCsoft on Wednesday announced the release of their "Guild Wars Factions" massively multiplayer online game. Those who pre-ordered the game, a sequel to ArenaNet's popular "Guild Wars," will have exclusive access to the online game for 24 hours, beginning at midnight.
http://tinyurl.com/qckxo
http://www.plaync.com
http://www.arena.net
http://www.guildwars.com
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o Buena Vista Games to Publish Four Titles From Japan's Q Entertainment

Burbank, Calif. - Disney's Buena Vista Games announced on Wednesday that that it has signed an agreement with Tokyo-based developer Q Entertainment, to publish four new titles in all regions except Asia. Under the deal, Buena Vista will publish Q's "Lumines Plus" for PlayStation 2; "Lumines II" and "Every Extend Extra" for PSP; and "Meteos: Disney Edition" for the Nintendo DS.
http://tinyurl.com/jfa7v
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o Double Fusion to Provide In-Game Ads for Trilogy Studios

San Francisco - Double Fusion, a provider of in-game advertising technology and services, announced on Wednesday that it has signed a multi-year deal with independent game developer Trilogy Studios. Under the agreement, Double Fusion will facilitate advertising and product placement for Trilogy's first title. The studio was founded by developers who worked on games including "Medal of Honor," "The Chronicles of Riddick" and "The Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth".
http://www.doublefusion.com
http://www.trilogystudios.com
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o Game Trust Launches Social Networking Features

New York - Game Trust, an infrastructure provider for online casual PC games, announced on Wednesday that it has added social networking features, as well as universal chat, a free instant messenger application and buddy lists in the latest release of its Game Frame service. Available across 65 game titles on sites including MiniClip.com and Shockwave.com, the service will allow players to create their own Game Frame personal profile sites, and interact with one another even when not engaged in gameplay.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060426/nyw110.html?.v=52
http://www.gametrust.com
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o Zoi Interactive Technologies to Acquire Tournament Games

Las Vegas - Zoi Interactive Technologies, a developer of advergames and other consumer entertainment applications, announced on Wednesday that it plans to acquire Tournament Games, an operator online skill game tournaments. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Founded in 1997, Tournament Games generated over $3 million in tournament entry fees in 2005.
http://tinyurl.com/p6ngc
http://www.zoitec.com
http://www.tournamentgames.com 
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o Atari to Ship "HOT PXL" Mini-Game Compilation in the Fall

New York - Atari said that it plans to release "HOT PXL," a collection of over 200 mini-games for the Sony PSP, during the fall of 2006. The game will utilize the PSP's ability to download new content through an online interface.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060426/clw500a.html?.v=1
http://www.hotpxl.com
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o Hands-On Mobile Releases "The Incredible Hulk: Rampage" Mobile Game

San Francisco - Mobile entertainment publisher Hands-On Mobile (formerly Mforma) on Wednesday announced the release of "The Incredible Hulk: Rampage," a mobile game based on the Marvel Comics character.
http://tinyurl.com/zhhn7
http://www.marvelmobile.com
http://www.handson.com

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