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Latest by Geoff Duncan

Matsushita: Market Will Decide DVD War

Matsushita, best known for its Panasonic brand, is publicly dismissing any notion of the Blur-ray and HD DVD formats merging: "The market will decide."

X-Men Game Has Film’s Actors & Writer

Activision's forthcoming "X-Men: The Official Game" takes place between the X2 and 'X-Men: The Last Stand" movies.

Nintendo, AOL Seek First Revolutionary

Want to be the first person to play Nintendo's forthcoming Revolution console? Sign up at AOL!

NYPost: iTunes Song Prices to Stay at $.99

The New York Post reports Apple CEO Steve Jobs is winning negotiations with major music labels to keep iTunes song prices at a uniform 99 cents each.

Mobile Internet Outpacing Laptops

A new study finds what while plenty of people still access the Internet via computer, use of mobile devices to check email and surf the Web is growing fast.

March Video Game Sales Off 8 Pct

According to the NPD Group, video game sales were off by 8 percent in March, 2006, declining for the seventh straight month despite the release of the Xbox 360.

Online Ad Revenues Hit $12.5 Bln in 2005

New numbers from the Internet Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers show online ad revenue reached a record $12.5 billion, a 30 percent jump over 2004.

Sony Drops Playstaton 2 Prices 13 Pct

As anticipated, Sony today cut the U.S. prices on its aging Playstation 2 console game system from $149 to about $130, a drop of roughly 13 percent.

HP Recalls 15,700 Laptop Batteries

HP has issued a worldwide recall for about 15,700 laptop batteries sold with HP and Compaq systems.

Rotel Launches 1080p DVD Player

It might not handle HD DVD or Blu-ray, but the new high-end Rotel RDV-1092 offers 1080P scaled output, HDMI output, high-end converters, and switching power supply.

Philips Wants to Patent Must-See Ads

Electronics giant Philips has filed a patent application for technology which would prevent usera from skipping (or fast-forwarding) TV ads. Way to go!

WB Syncs ‘300’ PSP Game Launch with Movie

Warner Brothers plans to launch the video game "300: March to Glory" on PSP simultaneously with the film's release to theaters in 2007.

Yahoo Helped Jail Third Chinese Writer?

Watchdog group Reporters Without Borders says Yahoo had a hand in the imprisonment of a third Chinese dissident writer.

Americans Turn to Net for Life Decisions

A new survey shows nearly half of American Internet users used the Internet for help making major life decisions during the last two years.

Study Memory and Sleep with…Duke Nukem?

Game for the greater good! A Belgian research team has studied how sleep deprivation affects memory using MRI scans of participants playing Duke Nukem.

Superman Cast in Both Film and Game

The cast of Bryan Singer's forthcoming film Superman Returns pulled double duty to appear in EA's Superman Returns video game.

Yahoo Acquires (Most of) Meedio

Yahoo has snapped up digital-home software maker Meedio, but not its product line, presumably to bolster its own software DVR and media center efforts.

Kodak Jacks Film, Media Prices

If you won't - or can't - go digital, watch out. Rising energy and raw materials costs have caused Kodak to announce significant cost increases for its film and traditional media.

CNET Plans CNET-TV Video-on-Demand Network

CNET Networks plans to launch CNET TV, a video-on-demand network available via cable TV, TiVo, and the Internet.

AOL Partners for Chinese-Language AOL.com

AOL has partered with China's Shanghai Media Group to create a Chinese version of AOL.COM aimed at Chinese speakers in the United States.

Pro Football, Pro Poker…Now Pro Gaming!

Cable's USA Network plans to air a seven-episode series about the world of professional video gamers.

Disney Portable DVD Players Recalled

About 102,000 Disney-branded portable DVD players are being recalled because their batteries can overheat and possibly burst when recharging.

TiVo Wins $74 Mln from EchoStar

A Texas jury has awarded DVR pioneer TiVo nearly $74 million in its patent infringement suit against satellite provider EchoStar.

iPass Now Boasts 50,000 Hotspots

Wireless connectivity operator iPass has added connectivity from Swisscom and the Cloud, bringing its worldwide tally of Wi-Fi hotspots to over 50,000.

Sony Expected to Cut PS2 Prices

As the gaming world waits impatiently for Sony's Playstation 3, the company hopes to help sales figures by cutting Playstation 2 pricing.

Google Pins Up Free Calendar Service

Internet giant Google has launched a free online calendar service for sharing and scheduling events. (And this company is not a portal?)

Meet the Beatles, Online (Someday)!

One offshoot of the ongoing Apple Corps versus Apple Computer trademark infringement saga: the Beatles are getting ready to go online!

Yahoo Maps Out Travel Planning

Internet portal Yahoo upgrades its travel-oriented offerings in a challenge to dedicated travel-planning sites.

Geek Squad Hit With Restraining Order

Best Buy's Geek Squad subsidiary has been hit with a restraining order over allegations it uses pirated copies of Winternals data recovery software.

RIM Readies BlackBerry for China

Research in Motion plans to launch its addictive wireless BlackBerry devices and service in China by mid-year...but may face state-sanctioned competition.

Google Launches ‘Gu Ge’ in China

Despite state censorship and allegations the company is supporting a repressive regime, Google has enthusiastically launched "Gu Ge," its new Chinese venture.

Sony Teases Vaio RC300 Blu-ray Desktop

Like consumer Blu-Ray players, Sony's Blu-ray enabled Vaio RC300 desktop won't be available for a while...but the company still wants you to get your drool on.

BlogBurst Pushes Blogs to Traditional Media

Is your blog ready for the big time? BlogBurst's syndication service offers to put your blog entries in the pages of traditional media outlets around the world.

Half of Corporate PCs Can’t Handle Vista

A Gartner research report finds that about half of corporate PCs lack the moxie to run all the features of Microsoft's forthcoming Windows Vista.

EA Engages Battlefield 2: Modern Combat

Electronic Arts and Digital Illusions have shipped Battlefield 2: Modern Combat for the Xbox 360.

MySpace Bringing Child Safety Czar On Board

Fox is hiring a security czar from Microsoft to oversee child safety and other security efforts on the wildly popular MySpace.com and other Fox online properties.

Planet Funk to Launch Mobile-Only Single

Anglo-Italian band Planet Funk looks to launch Britain's first music single which can only be bought by cell phone.

Online Shows Get Emmy Attention

Six shows made for mobile phones, handhelds, and the Internet have been nominated in their own "nontraditional platforms" Emmy category.