Entertainment

With the December announcement that NDS, a provider of technology solutions for digital pay-TV, acquired Jungo, a residential gateway software provider, we're continuing to witness consolidation in the market to deliver complete end-to-end access and service-provider solutions. The purchase also rea...

As more phones and other small-form handheld devices get "smarter," so does the potential for people to use them more often, and for many varied and different purposes. The number of mobile cell phone subscribers worldwide surpassed 1 billion in 2006, and technological innovation continues apace as...

Music label Sony BMG has reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over charges that it violated federal law by installing spyware and digital rights management software onto music CDs without telling consumers. The deal calls for Sony BMG to allow consumers to exchange CDs purchased be...

In a move that could have repercussions for all forms of social networking, especially online user-generated video, YouTube intends to begin sharing its advertising revenue with users who contribute videos. YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley disclosed the plans during the World Economic Forum in Davos, ...

Twentieth Century Fox has subpoenaed Google's YouTube, demanding that the video service release the identities of users who recently uploaded pirated videos of the "24" and "The Simpsons" TV series. With the subpoena, which was issued January 18, Fox may be taking a page from the legal playbook of t...

20th Century Fox has served YouTube and another video-sharing site, LiveDigital, with subpoenas to hand over information about the user who uploaded episodes of the hit TV series "24" before they aired this month. The user also uploaded recent episodes of "The Simpsons." It is not known how YouTube ...

The digital lifestyle has taken root in U.S. living rooms, primarily with the TV set and the home PC -- and, like the couch potato, it's beginning to spread. From set-top boxes and time/place shifters such as TiVo and Slingbox to iPod's home stereo and TV component, the shift seems to be centered on...

Google said Monday it will be expanding tests of its video advertising system by delivering music video clips from Warner Music Group and Sony BMG Music Entertainment along with advertising over its AdSense online advertising service. As part of a trial during the next four weeks, Web sites that use...

The creators of the peer-to-peer VoIP network Skype and the controversial file-sharing site Kazaa have unveiled their latest startup: Joost, an Internet TV company that they claim will revolutionize Internet-based television. Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom formally announced Joost Tuesday, after m...

Hoping to keep itself relevant as more consumers seek video on demand via the Internet, Netflix launched a Web initiative Tuesday that gives subscribers the option of downloading and instantly watching movies online. The company will roll out the service to subscribers over the next six months. User...

Now that media companies are exploring Web distribution models and using new technologies, a great deal is being discussed about who controls what when it comes to content. Digital rights management has its advocates and detractors, but some type of gateway for the management and monetization of con...

RealNetworks Monday unveiled a slew of partnerships aimed at competing with the likes of Apple and Microsoft to deliver digital content to multiple devices. The announcements came amid a frenzy of product releases from technology giants as the annual Consumer Electronics Show got under way in Las V...

XM Satellite Radio said Friday it added 1.7 million new subscribers during 2006, giving it some 7.6 million subscribers as it continues to lead rival Sirius in terms of total customers. The company said it added approximately 442,000 new subscribers in the fourth quarter, a key time of the year for ...

Within five years, cable and satellite television providers will be facing a formidable competitor in their market: the Internet. By 2011, TV programming delivered over consumer broadband connections will be a "viable alternative to cable," according to a report released Wednesday by Forrester Resea...

An online movie distributor on Friday filed suit against Apple, Google and Napster for alleged patent infringement. The plaintiff, Intertainer, claims the companies are treading on its intellectual property by infringing on a patented method for distributing digital entertainment over the Internet.