Entertainment

Regulators in Europe have given the green light to a planned Internet joint venture between NBC Universal and News Corp.: a Web video repository seen as a competitor to Google's YouTube. The yet-to-be-named venture -- first announced in March following weeks of speculation -- is expected to launch s...

Blockbuster will offer high-definition movies in the Blu-ray format in all of its stores, the company said, favoring Sony's approach for next-generation DVDs and dealing a blow to the rival HD DVD format. The movie rental giant will continue to offer consumers the option of getting HD-DVD movies thr...

China has agreed to work more closely with the U.S. to curb the flow of pirated goods, W. Ralph Basham, commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, announced Friday. The agreement calls for China to more aggressively pursue within its own borders alleged producers of counterfeit goods that a...

In 1998, Napster took college campuses by storm and quickly ushered in an era where anyone could download any song they wanted without paying for it. The record labels were caught off guard and spent years debating the best way to respond. A flurry of lawsuits directed against consumers generated pl...

A UK-based phone maker announced a flat-rate music download service for mobile phones in key European markets Thursday, getting it into stores two weeks ahead of Apple's hotly anticipated iPhone. Omnifone launched MusicStation -- which comes with subscription music access provided by multiple major ...

Blockbuster is offering lower-priced plans for its Web rental service to steal business from online video rental star Netflix. The Dallas-based Blockbuster has cut prices $1 a month for customers ordering movies only online just a month after the company's CEO suggested raising prices. Industry insi...

Electronics maker Toshiba lowered its sales target for high-definition DVD players and recorders based on slumping sales figures in the United States. The Tokyo-based company now expects to sell 1 million of its optical disc players in the country by the end of this year, down 44 percent from its pr...

The Holy Grail of mobile personal electronics is having all functions on one slim device: voice calls, photography, music, mobile Internet access, personal organizer, calendar, and maybe a few little PC applications on the side. However, most multifunction devices released so far fall short in some ...

Microsoft has launched a music promotion effort designed to promote new music artists through its Zune, MSN and Xbox-focused electronic outlets. Dubbed "Ignition," Microsoft says the program will provide a steady stream of new music through online access to exclusive content, free song and video dow...

Digital music startup Lala.com has launched an iPod-compatible online music service that allows users to play songs online for free, the company announced Tuesday. In the future, it will reportedly allow users to download individual tracks without digital rights management protection directly to the...

Google has struck a deal with Hearst-Argyle Television to have local news content from the company's local TV affiliates made available on YouTube, with the TV stations sharing in the revenue generated when video clips are viewed online. The deal covers five Hearst-Argyle stations in Sacramento, Cal...

The use of a home network largely as a broadband-sharing mechanism is just the first of several stages in the evolution of home networking. Both consumers and carriers will use connectivity for applications beyond shared Internet. For consumers, the desire to share multimedia content among different...

CBS has acquired Last.fm, a social networking Web site, for $280 million. The London-based operation focuses on music and has more than 15 million active users. CBS has reportedly been working on this deal for some time, the end goal being to allow Last.fm users to post CBS video clips to the site.

The push for high-definition radio received a vote of confidence Tuesday when Sony unveiled the latest additions to its line of audio consumer electronics: a tabletop HD radio and an in-car audio adapter. "Sony is one of the first leading consumer electronics companies to offer quality HD radio-ena...

Social networking is the best-known use of the Web 2.0 -- just consider the popularity of MySpace and YouTube. Today, Web sites are so interactive and collaborative we now have a new way of communicating and staying in touch. Because of this, many have been wondering where the Web 2.0 -- the latest ...