Entertainment

China has announced it will adopt a digital TV broadcast standard that will combine two systems developed by the Tsinghua University and Shanghai Jiaotong University. The decision, made by the Standardization Administration of China following a review of the short list of submitted proposals, will b...

Firing a potentially powerful salvo in the online music war, Universal Music Group said it would make its entire catalog of music available for free download using an ad-supported approach that could pose one of the most significant threats yet to the dominance of Apple's iTunes Music Store. Univers...

CBS is hoping an innovative approach will ignite excitement in its fall TV lineup. The television network is planning to use Bluetooth technology to beam clips of the new shows from billboards to the mobile devices of passersby. Starting in September, billboards located in New York City's Grand Cen...

AOL became the latest Internet player to move aggressively into the movie download space Thursday, saying it would make full-length features from a number of Hollywood studios available through the AOL Video portion of the Web portal. The company said partnerships with 20th Century Fox, Sony Picture...

After a somewhat half-hearted effort to compete with Apple and the other digital music player makers, Dell signaled Wednesday that it will halt production of its DJ Ditty MP3 player. The move comes as Apple continues to enjoy dominance in the digital audio player space -- it owns as much as 80 perce...

In a move that could spark a price war in the emerging video download marketplace, Guba Tuesday slashed prices for purchasing and renting newly released films and television show episodes. Guba cut prices on new release movies from US$19.999 to $9.99, said it would make older movies from its catalog...

News Corp.-owned Twentieth Century Fox on Monday announced a multi-year agreement to provide feature films and television shows on a download-to-own basis across the Fox Interactive Media network. MySpace.com is among the properties FIM parent company News Corp. plans to include in the digital deal...

In a first for the evolving home movie industry, Paramount Pictures said it would release "Mission: Impossible III" in three formats at once later this fall, including the two formats competing to claim dominance in the high-definition DVD space. Paramount said "M:I-3" will be out Oct. 30 in standar...

Viacom's MTV Networks continued to make aggressive moves into the Web space, saying Wednesday it would buy Atom Entertainment, known for its gaming and short films sites, for US$200 million. MTV Networks said the buy is an extension of the company's "multiplatform strategy of building an engaging un...

Making a bid for a greater share of the digital music space, mobile phone giant Nokia said Tuesday it had reached an agreement to buy music distributor Loudeye in a deal worth US$60 million. Finland-based Nokia said it would pay $4.50 per share for Loudeye, more than twice what the stock was worth a...

Google said it has no intention of entering the digital music space, squelching mounting speculation that it would use its role as a search player to become a competitor to Apple's iTunes Music Store and other music download offerings. With numerous initiatives feeding rumors that it would enter the...

Moving to further assert its role as a distributor of video on the Web, Google said Monday it had reached an agreement to deliver video clips and shows from Viacom's MTV Networks to users, along with video advertising. Google and MTV Networks described the partnership as a test of "an innovative vid...

Google on Wednesday announced a deal with XM Satellite Radio to help the Internet search giant's advertisers automatically place ads on the satellite radio's non-music radio channels. The deal gives Google advertisers a means to reach XM's more than 7 million subscribers. XM could benefit from offer...

In the latest twist to come to the rapidly changing music industry, major label EMI said it would license its entire catalog to peer-to-peer network Mashboxx. The deal is the latest boost for Mashboxx, one of the first P2P firms to be built from the ground up as a legitimate music delivery network.

Dolby Laboratories has teamed with Infitec, a German provider of virtual reality technologies, to bring a new 3-D system to the digital cinema. The new technology could arrive in theaters by spring of 2007, in time to meet the schedules of 3-D films slated for release within the next two years, said...