DCD Business Report articles from August 2004

DCD Business Report archives from August 2004

RealNetworks: Consumer Champion Or Industry Agitator?
August 2, 2004... Can a media technology company bring a product to market that knowingly co-opts the proprietary technology applications of another? According to Apple, that is exactly what RealNetworks is doing with its Harmony digital music technology and...

Digital Music Sales Could Hit $1.7 Billion By 2009.(Brief Article)
August 2, 2004... JupiterResearch revealed in its latest music forecast presented last week at the Jupiter Plug.IN Conference & Expo 2004, that digital music sales will more than double compared to last year, reaching more than $270 million in 2004, and will...

DRM Issues Headline Industry Discussions.
August 2, 2004... "Interoperability, ease of use and meeting fair use expectations are the key digital rights management (DRM) issues for consumers and content providers," states Bill Rosenblatt, founder and president of GiantSteps Media Technology Strategies...

Opponents Of Induce Act Have Their Say In Court.
August 2, 2004... The Senate Judiciary Committee heard debate on the controversial Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act or "Induce Act" last month, which according to some industry groups has the potential to shut down peer-to-peer networks and outlaw other...

Data Filter.( Virgin Electronics)
August 2, 2004... What's Happening: Virgin Electronics, a new consumer electronics development unit of Virgin Group, opened its offices in Silicon Valley and launched its first product, the silver-dollar sized Virgin Electronics Wearable 128MB MP3 Player. The...

Consumers Identify Favored Hardware/Electronics Brands.
August 2, 2004... In the July 5, 2004 issue of DCD Business Report we reported about an Ipsos-Insight survey that confirmed consumer interest in the home electronics media hub concept. (See "Survey Finds Consumer Interest in Media Hub Concept.") The report...

Akimbo To Launch Unique Internet TV Service This Summer.
August 2, 2004... In a business dominated by big media companies and technology giants, sometimes it's the entrepreneurial innovator, with an eye on a niche market and a pocketful of strong investors, who makes it to the finish line first. Founded in August...

Media Delivery Demands Encourage Storage Developments.
August 2, 2004... The data capacity demands of personal multimedia devices as well as those of networked server operations by new media technology applications has encouraged the development of increasingly higher density storage media. As well, the demands of...

Litigation & Legislation: New Tools Of The Tech-Industry Titans.
August 16, 2004... As new technology developments continue to emerge in the contentdelivery industry, challenges to traditional business models and existing market relationships will persist. In some areas, such as optical-disc format development, new technology...

Broadcast Flag Moves Ahead As FCC Approves DRM Schemes.(Federal Communications Commission)
August 16, 2004... Earlier this month, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved several digital content-protection technologies that meet requirements for anti-piracy systems that fall within the digital "broadcast flag" category. Hewlett-Packard...

Virgin Files Complaint Over Apple iPod Compatibility.(Brief Article)
August 16, 2004... Highlighting the difficulties caused when DRM technologies prohibit interoperability, Apple was hit yet again with an attack on its refusal to license its FairPlay DRM technology. The French online music unit of Virgin --Virgin Mega -- filed a...

Study Reveals Full-Motion Video Increases Ad Recall.(Networked video advertising )
August 16, 2004... Delivering advertising content to large video screens in shopping malls is becoming big business for content-delivery service providers, according to a new study released this month by Arbitron and commissioned by CoolSign Mall Network. ...

Data Filter.
August 16, 2004... What's Happening: Loudeye Corp., a developer of B2B digital media infrastructure applications, entered into a multi-year agreement with the Multimedia Business Group of Nokia to develop an advanced wireless digital music platform for mobile...

20 Top-Selling DVD Titles (week ending August 8).(Illustration)
August 16, 2004... DVD title releases continue to remain a mix of recent hit movies, collectors' sets and TV series. Special and extended editions of hit movies are becoming increasingly popular as more Hollywood studios plan in advance for extra materials that...

Consumer Electronics Association Sales To Dealers of Selected Home Video Products.(Brief Article)
August 16, 2004... As 2004 moves along, the consumer trend toward digital television purchases indeed has picked up momentum. HDTV and digital cable services are becoming more commonplace, and consumers are learning quickly how to use digital recording devices...

Consumer Electronics Association Sales To Dealers of Selected Home Video Products.(Illustration)
August 16, 2004... Week 30 Ending July 30, 2004 2004 2003 Percent Change Analog Direct View Televisions 474,093 400,088 18.50% Analog TV/VCR Combinations 26,888 108,357 -75.20% Analog TV/DVD1 ...

The Switch to VoIP.(Brief Article)
August 16, 2004... A recent Ipsos-Insight survey, conducted by the Cable, Media, Entertainment Research division of the consumer market research company, indicates that one out of every five Internet users (20 percent) surveyed say they are likely to subscribe to...

Convergence Sets The Stage For Deluxe Acquisitions.
August 16, 2004... The digital-content-delivery industry is in a state of flux. Where once vertical industries served the many facets of the media-production chain from content creation through to distribution and delivery, digital technology convergence has...

Disney Enters The World Of Personal Computing.
August 16, 2004... Who says technology can't be fun? And who says it has to be made seriously and only for adults? "Peter Pan," you say. Well, not exactly... Putting a spin on the concept of convergence as computer manufacturers have entered the digital...

Computer Giants Play 'King Of The Hill' Over Online Music.
August 30, 2004... Nowhere is the music sales competition more prevalent than in the race between several major computer software and hardware companies--Microsoft, Apple, RealNetworks, and more recently, Hewlett-Packard (HP)--as they attempt to attract a growing...

Should Copyright Law Be Revised? Some Say 'Yes'.
August 30, 2004... As the heated debate between content holders and new digital media technology providers continues in the courts, the press, at industry events and even in corporate board rooms, the foundational elements that once identified copyright ownership...

Justice Dept. Takes First Criminal Action Against P2P Networks.
August 30, 2004... On Wednesday, August 25, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) initiated its first criminal enforcememnt action against P2P copyright piracy of movies, software, games, and music. Six search warrants were used at five residences and one Internet...

MPAA Sues DVD Chip Makers.(Brief Article)
August 30, 2004... Not yet fully engaged in anti-piracy activities against online movie file-sharers, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is currently focused on international DVD piracy and those companies it claims are engaged in developing...

Subscription Services Over IP Report Highlights.
August 30, 2004... A recent report from In-Stat/MDR--"Consumer Video Subscription Services Over IP Networks"-- reveals that the worldwide value of consumer-oriented video subscription services delivered via the Internet will grow to more than $4.6 billion in...

Selected Video Products Year to Date Sales.(Brief Article)
August 30, 2004... Selected Video Products Year to Date Sales 2004 2003 % Change Analog Direct View Televisions 11,439,292 11,518,682 -0.7 Analog TV/VCR Combinations 936,338 1,803,131 -48.1 Analog...

20 Top-Selling DVD Titles (Week ending August 22).
August 30, 2004... 20 Top-Selling DVD Titles (Week ending August 22) Weeks Last This On Label Week Week Title 3 Disney 1 1 KILL BILL-VOL. 2 1 Warner --- 2 TAKING LIVES (UNRATED) 1 ...

Discovery Acquisition Cycle Expands Delivery Options.
August 30, 2004... Cable TV network operator Discovery Communications, of Silver Spring, Md., which owns The Discovery Channel, acquired two educational publishing companies this month, Rainbow Educational Media (Raleigh, North Carolina) and AIMS Multimedia...

H.264 Codec &DSP Technology Mark The Future Of HD VOD.(video on demand)(W&W Communications, Inc.)
August 30, 2004... W&W Communications, Inc. (WWComs), of Sunnyvale, Calif., has developed a new H.264 Baseline Profile codec (BC-264) for IP-based video conferencing, IP-based videophones, smart phones and mobile devices. The new codec is one of the first to...

Data Filter.(Cdigix)
August 30, 2004... What's Happening: Cdigix, headquartered in Englewood, Colo., a provider of digital entertainment and educational media for colleges, has signed agreements with six schools to provide downloadable music, video-on-demand and educational media...