iTunes

THE GAO released a study yesterday finding that the FCC has “no comprehensive plan” in place for the upcoming transition to all-digital television. The report claims there is a risk of inadequate funding for converter boxes and potential failure to properly inform citizens of the end of analog. In related news, the NTIA announced that Continue Reading →

APPLE has removed all NBC content from iTunes. The contract between the two parties has expired and no new agreement is in place. NBC content accounted for 30% of iTunes TV show sales. AOL has canceled its paid download service and partnered with AMAZON Unbox for digital download sales. Unbox content has been given its Continue Reading →

NBC is in talks to acquire Quarterlife, the “TV-quality” series that debuts this Sunday on MySpace. The pending deal has been spurred by the Writers Guild strike and may bring the show to NBC as early as February. Quarterlife is currently scheduled to run for 36 eight-minute episodes online. Show creator Marshall Herskovitz recently expressed Continue Reading →

One of my seriously Mac-addicted staff members stood in the rain last Friday night to get us a five-pack of the Apple’s new Leopard operating system. Being only slightly less addicted, I set aside 40 minutes circa 8:30am Saturday morning to do the install. I stopped for the day about 11:30pm — this is my Continue Reading →

GOOGLE will announce plans for Google-powered phones within the next two weeks according to The Wall Street Journal. The company has been approaching handset makers and aims to bring the phones to market by mid-2008. Google will offer an open operating system that encourages developers to create innovative new applications for phones and aims to Continue Reading →

COMCAST is drawing heat for allegedly inhibiting access to BitTorrent. The Associated Press claims that the provider “actively interferes” with P2P file-sharing services to reduce network traffic. Comcast denies the claim, saying they do not block access to any sites, applications or services. However a nation-wide test found that Comcast consistently delays connections to the Continue Reading →

CURRENT TV will officially relaunch its website on October 16, and Al Gore has promised that the site will “take interactivity to a new level.” As part of the change, Current TV will drop the “TV” – and simply become “Current.” Current.com will act as a user-generated hub, accepting links to news stories, videos, and Continue Reading →

NOKIA has signed yet another deal that undermines carrier control over mobile media. News Corp., Sony Pictures, and CNN have signed agreements with the handset maker to distribute videos to Nokia phones. The handsets will ship with Video Center, a program which links directly to video content from the partnering distributors. Videos will include short Continue Reading →

JOOST will officially release its peer-to-peer Internet TV application to the general public today. The software will be upgraded to offer improved navigation and search, with an open API that allows developers to create Joost widgets. Joost has averaged 50,000 downloads per week while in limited beta, and the company expects that number to reach Continue Reading →

Amazon.com has launched AmazonMP3.com, an online download-to-own site. It’s awesome! If you think you have shopped for music online in the past, stop reading now, go directly to http://www.amazonmp3.com and you’ll get an up-close, personal view of what you’ve been missing. Did I mention, it’s awesome! To be fair, I’m a pretty big Amazon fan Continue Reading →