http://www.ecoustics.com/latest/news Latest news, updated every five minutes http://www.ecoustics.com/pcw/news/152323 The democratic presidential nominee turns to in-game ads to deliver his "get out the vote" message. Wed, 15 Oct 2008 16:31:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/18149 Although the format war between HD DVD and Blu-ray ended early in 2008—Blu-ray won, in case folks were wondering—the market for high-definition discs hasn't really taken off. Industry watchers point to a variety of factors, including consumers' growing interest in downloadable HD content, along with the overall high price of Blu-ray media and players.Sherwood America looks to ease some of that burden by rolling out its first Blu-ray player, the BDP-5003—and it'll have a $299.95 price tag. The unit will sport Profile 1.1 (including BD Bonus View), and supports 1080p playback at 60 or 24 Hz via its HDMI 1.3 port. The unit also supports lossless audio in Dolby and DTS formaRead | Permalink | Linking Blogs Wed, 15 Oct 2008 13:30:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/18145 Sony Computer Entertainment has shipped firmware version 2.5 for its PlayStation 3 console and firmware version 5.0 for its PlayStation Portable (PSP), adding new capabilities to each device. The PS3 firmware update adds support for Sony's official Bluetooth headset and Flash 9 video support, while the PSP firmware update adds the PlayStation Store, enabling users to download games whenever they're at a Wi-Fi hotspot."These firmware updates keep both PS3 and PSP in lockstep with consumer expectations for gaming and entertainment, particularly the ability to download PSP games on-the-go, which is a functionality we know consumers can't wait to get their handsRead | Permalink | Linking Blogs Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:45:00 -0400 http://ecoustics-cnet.com.com/8301-13578_3-10066738-38.html?part=ecoustics-cnet Google-owned video site is unwilling to give presidential campaigns special treatment, saying they should rely on their rights under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:38:00 -0400 http://ecoustics-cnet.com.com/8301-13739_3-10066570-46.html?part=ecoustics-cnet His presidential campaign has discovered the remix-unfriendly aspects of American copyright law, after several of his campaign videos were pulled from YouTube. Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:24:00 -0400 http://ecoustics-cnet.com.com/8301-13577_3-10066686-36.html?part=ecoustics-cnet Called "Video Your Vote," the campaign encourages voters to take cameras to the polls and upload the results to YouTube. The best ones will be shown on PBS' "The NewsHour." Wed, 15 Oct 2008 09:15:00 -0400 http://ecoustics-cnet.com.com/8301-13578_3-10066510-38.html?part=ecoustics-cnet John McCain's presidential campaign thinks YouTube is a little too quick to pull down political videos after receiving copyright complaints. Tue, 14 Oct 2008 20:20:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/18137 It wasn't so long ago that all eyes were on Joost as the Internet's best hope for delivering an Internet-enabled television experience. From the founders of Skype, Joost promised to integrate social networking elements with full-screen, streaming of both live and independent content. But one huge barrier to entry for Joost—besides having to have enough bandwidth to make watching full-screen streaming video a reality—was having to download Joost's client software.Today Joost is relaunching, and the client software is gone. Instead, the service is relying on a new Flash-based, download-free playback engine that provides access to the full library of Joost content and offers soRead | Permalink | Linking Blogs Tue, 14 Oct 2008 13:00:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/18131 If you’ve been looking longingly at the PS3 and hoping the price might fall before Christmas, you’re out of luck. Kazuo Hirai, president and group chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment, told the Financial Times:"The answer is yes, if you're asking, 'Are these the prices we're going with this Christmas?'"Currently the PS3 is far more expensive than its rival, with a Wii console going for around $250, and even the most expensive Xbox 360 with a 120GB hard drive running the same as the PS3. The cheapest Xbox 360, the Arcade, is justRead | Permalink | Linking Blogs Tue, 14 Oct 2008 09:00:00 -0400 http://ecoustics-cnet.com.com/8301-1023_3-10065257-93.html?part=ecoustics-cnet Company now offers improved workflow and easily customizable video player. Tue, 14 Oct 2008 02:16:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/pcw/news/152204 Agreement might mean a purge of all CBS video uploaded by YouTube users Mon, 13 Oct 2008 15:26:00 -0400 http://ecoustics-cnet.com.com/8301-1023_3-10064538-93.html?part=ecoustics-cnet In a Billboard interview, Doug Morris says YouTube's advertising rates aren't cutting it so he's considering creating his own music-video portal. Mon, 13 Oct 2008 15:00:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/18126 Electronic Arts only kicked Spore out the door at the beginning of September, but the company is already announcing add-ons and an expansion pack for the popular game.The Spore Creepy & Cute Parts Pack will be available as early as November 18, and will add more than 100 new creature-building components to the game in two divergent styles—you guessed it, "creepy" and "cute." "Creepy" will include scary, monster-like body parts, pain options and backgrounds, while the "cute" poRead | Permalink | Linking Blogs Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:45:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/18125 Telecommunications operator AT&T has announced it will begin selling its U-verse broadband Internet and digital video service through retailers Circuit City and Walmart beginning this month. The offerings will be available in more than 600 retail locations in and near neighborhoods where U-verse services are available: right now, that includes regions of Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wisconsin, although AT&T plans to expand the offering to other locations in the future."We've been expanding U-verse availability at a rapid pace, andRead | Permalink | Linking Blogs Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:30:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/18123 Google has started cranking up its efforts to actually make some money from the most popular video sharing site on the Internet—YouTube. Last week it began adding links to music available via iTunes and Amazon's MP3 store so users could get "instant gratification" by buying music featured in a video or posting. Now, the video sharing site is starting to get into bed with traditional media, and has begun offering full-length versions of selected archive CBS television shows. Although many TV networks—including CBS—post short clips to YouTube, the episodesRead | Permalink | Linking Blogs Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:00:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/18121 Acer—now the parent company of Gateway—is hoping to find a sweet spot in consumers end-of-year holiday buying plans with its new Aspire X3200 desktop—especially if they're looking for a compact PC that can handle high-definition video. And the company is pairing it with the new Acer P244W LCd display that handles 1080p content with a native 1,920 by 1,080 resolution."The Aspire X3200 pacRead | Permalink | Linking Blogs Mon, 13 Oct 2008 11:30:00 -0400 http://ecoustics-cnet.com.com/8301-11386_3-10064231-76.html?part=ecoustics-cnet UAVs like the Predator are a highly valued asset for the U.S. military as it pursues "fleeting and perishable" targets. Lesley Stahl reports. Mon, 13 Oct 2008 11:29:00 -0400 http://ecoustics-cnet.com.com/8301-17939_109-10063662-2.html?part=ecoustics-cnet The video community cuts back on developers, citing "market conditions and the recession." Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:56:00 -0400 http://ecoustics-cnet.com.com/8301-1023_3-10063661-93.html?part=ecoustics-cnet YouTube gets Beverly Hills 90210, MacGyver, and Star Trek in a test of longer-form video that's theatrically presented and interrupted by ads. Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:48:00 -0400 http://ecoustics-cnet.com.com/1606-2_3-50004029.html?tag=rsspr.6246996&part=ecoustics-cnet Fans of Twitter, Pandora, Skype, Zillow, and seven other Web companies had better hope these start-ups find creative business plans to weather the financial downturn. These 11 Web 2.0 favorites have landed on Webware.com editor Rafe Needleman's list of companies that are potentially in peril. On Friday's edition of the Daily Debrief with CNET's Kara Tsuboi, Rafe explains why these companies are in danger--and what they could be doing to survive. Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:33:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/18115 Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning may still be a ways from the 10-million subscriber mark World of Warcraft hit back in January, but in less than a month since its release, the game has seen its fanbase mushroom. Publisher Electronic Arts announced on Friday that the game had finally reached 750,000 registered players.“Thanks to our players, the war between the Realms continues to escalate at an incredible pace,” saidRead | Permalink | Linking Blogs Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:40:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/18113 iPhone 3G accessories are almost as commonplace as iPhones themselves, but that doesn't mean interesting new items don't appear on the scene from time to time. Two new iPhone cases do a good job summing up the diversity of the market: one's a tough, feature-laden leather item, while the other offers slim, barely-there protection.First up, the ezView Leather Case for iPhone 3G offers a substantial, high-grade black leather case for the iPhone, while still maintaining full access to the unit's touch screen and home button. The flip case also functions as a built-in stand (with non-skid feet!), handy for watching video, photos, or album art—or just taking in allRead | Permalink | Linking Blogs Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:00:00 -0400 http://www.ecoustics.com/dt/news/18108 It’s been a long and bumpy ride for Rockstar and Manhunt 2. Although it came out in the US more than a year ago, it’s had to fight to receive a release date in the UK.First of all it was refused a certificate by the British Board of Film Certification in June last year because of its “unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone" and then even an edited version was turned away (in the US the worst scenes have been blurred).After several appeals and changes to the game it was finally granted an 18 certificate in March. Now it’s going to hit the shops, available for the PS2, Wii, and PSP on the very aRead | Permalink | Linking Blogs Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:00:00 -0400 http://news.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/10381/520165.html Fri, 10 Oct 2008 09:54:00 -0400 http://ecoustics-cnet.com.com/1606-2_3-50004012.html?tag=rsspr.6246969&part=ecoustics-cnet In this edition of the Daily Debrief, CNET's Kara Tsuboi chats with Crave's head writer, Erica Ogg, who has just returned from Ceatec, the giant Japanese electronics show. Hear about the gadgets that blew her mind, trends we can expect to see in stateside, cool robots, and a ramen noodle shop that will leave her pining for next year's show. Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:10:00 -0400