TechLuver.com

London — Mar 07, `08 — The BBC has launched a version of its iPlayer video on demand service for the Apple iPhone and iPod touch.

It is the first time the service has been available on portable devices.

The iPhone and iPod touch are able to stream shows from the iPlayer website over wi-fi networks. The iPhone cannot stream BBC video over the cell network. A BBC developer said that the corporation was currently working on other versions of the iPlayer for “many more” devices.

The software currently comes in two versions - a program which allows users to download programmes to their Windows PC and a streaming version on the web available to all users.

The version for iPhone and iPod touch users will allow streaming over a wi-fi connection. However, the EDGE mobile network used by the iPhone is too slow for streaming video. More at BBC.

Tokyo, Japan — Mar 07, `08 — Consumer electronics maker Pioneer Corp said it would fall into the red for the fourth straight year on costs to scrap production of plasma displays as it rethinks its strategy in the cut-throat flat TV market.

Pioneer is expected to now turn to Panasonic brand maker Matsushita Electric to supply it with panels for its plasma TVs, thereby allowing it to focus on design and marketing and save on production costs.

Pioneer is the world’s fifth-biggest plasma TV maker, but it has been struggling to compete with larger rivals such as plasma industry leader Matsushita and LG Electronics, which can leverage economies of scale.

“This move will allow us to transform our business model for displays from vertically integrated, capital-intensive operations to a leaner business model geared to making value-added product proposals,” Pioneer said in a news release. More at Pioneer (in pdf).

Feb 03, `08 — As Swedish prosecutors fixed their sights last week on The Pirate Bay, an Internet file-sharing service that is a scourge of the movie and music industries, the operators of the site responded by hoisting a defiant, digital Jolly Roger, reports the IHT.

The Pirate Bay, on its blog, called for a celebration saying, “This week we’ve hit some magic numbers. We’re tracking over 1 million torrents. We have had over 10 million simultaneous peers on the trackers. We’re at 2.5 million registered users (and they are active as well).”

The 100th post on the Pirate Bay blog further adds, “In case we lose the pending trial (yeah right) there will still not be any changes to the site. The Pirate Bay will keep operating just as always. We’ve been here for years and we will be here many more.”

The Wires writes, “Peter Sunde Kolmisoppi, one of the four Swedes charged in Sweden on Thursday, said in a telephone interview that the site has set up a clandestine, double-blind operation with its servers spread throughout the world — and out of reach of the Swedish authorities.

“The Pirate Bay is not in Sweden,” the 29-year-old Kolmisoppi said. Where are the servers?

“It’s a distributed system. We don’t know where the servers are. We gave them to people we trust and they don’t know it’s The Pirate Bay,” Kolmisoppi said. “They then rent locations and space for them somewhere else. It could be three countries. It could be six countries. We don’t want to know because then you’ll have a problem shutting them down.” More at IHT, theWired.

Feb 01, `08 — Four men who run one of the most popular file-sharing sites in the world have been charged with conspiracy to break copyright law in Sweden, the BBC reported on Thursday.

Pirate Bay does not store music and video files on its own servers, but instead helps users share them on the internet. The website acts as a directory of the files used by the BitTorrent file-transfer protocol.

“It’s not merely a search engine. It’s an active part of an action that aims at, and also leads to, making copyright protected material available,” public prosecutor Hakan Roswall told Reuters. “It’s a classic example of accessory — to act as intermediary between people who commit crimes, whether it’s in the physical or the virtual world.”

Pirate Bay told the news agency that the people running the site cannot be held responsible for how its directory services are used. The website is said to have between 10 and 15 million users around the world and is supported by online advertising.

Police seized computers in May 2006, temporarily shutting down the website.

Prosecutor Hakan Roswall said the website was commercially exploiting copyright-protected work because it was financed through advertising revenues. According to the Pirate Bay website, its users are currently downloading close to a million files.

On the site, a statement says: “In case we lose the pending trial (yeah right) there will still not be any changes to the site.

“The Pirate Bay will keep operating just as always. We’ve been here for years and we will be here many more.”

In an interview with the BBC’s technology programme Click last year Pirate Bay co-founder Peter Sunde said: “I think it’s okay to copy. They get their money from so many places that the sales is just one small part.”

The other three men facing charges are Carl Lundstrom, Frederik Neij and Gottfrid Svartholm Warg. If convicted, the four men could face a maximum of two years in prison.

The website had up until 2006 based its servers in Stockholm, but moved some to the Netherlands after a raid in May of that year by Swedish police, who seized equipment and held three people for questioning “on suspicion of breaking copyright law or abetting the breaking of copyright law,” authorities said. The site was taken down for a day, but was soon up and running again.

Moves against the site have been backed by entertainment industry groups, including the Motion Picture Association of America and the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. More at BBC News.

CES 2008 — LAS VEGAS –BUSINESS WIRE– Jan 07, `08 — Hauppauge announced today the introduction of the new dual tuner WinTV-HVR-2250, USB based WinTV-HVR-1950, WinTV-HVR-950Q and WinTV-HVR-1250.

– The WinTV-HVR-2250 has two complete on-board analog and digital TV receivers, which allow users to watch and record two NTSC, ATSC or clear QAM digital cable TV programs at the same time.

To support the popular analog and digital TV formats used in North America, the WinTV-HVR-2250 supports NTSC analog cable TV, over the air ATSC high definition digital TV plus clear QAM digital cable TV. There are two complete TV receivers on the WinTV-HVR-2250, which allow two programs of any type to be watched, paused or recorded at the same time.

WinTV-HVR-2250 will be available in February 2008 for $129.

– The WinTV-HVR-1950 allows a PC or laptop user to watch, pause and record NTSC, ATSC or clear QAM digital TV onto their hard disk, without slowing down their computer. To support the popular analog and digital TV formats, the WinTV-HVR-1950 supports NTSC analog cable TV, over the air ATSC high definition digital TV plus clear QAM digital cable TV.

WinTV-HVR-1950 will be available in February 2008 for $149.

–  The WinTV-HVR-950Q is a small, portable USB TV tuner “stick” which can be used to watch and record clear QAM digital cable TV on a laptop or desktop PC. In addition, it can also be used to watch and record NTSC analog cable TV and over-the-air ATSC high definition digital TV. ATSC is the new standard for high definition TV broadcasts in North America, and is transmitted at up to 1080i. These three TV formats, NTSC, ATSC and QAM, are the most popular TV transmission formats.

WinTV-HVR-950Q will be available in January 2008 for $99.

– The WinTV-HVR-1250 allows PC users to watch, pause and record analog NTSC cable TV, ATSC high definition digital TV and clear QAM digital cable TV on their Windows XP or Vista PC, in a window or full screen.

WinTV-HVR-1250 will be available in January 2008 for $49.

Jan 01, `08 — Nathan Ramella explains his ARCwelder Project at Google code:

Through a technique dubbed “Go Fighting Tabby!”, or GFT for short, you can gain root access on an Archos 605 wi-fi running 1.7.13 firmware and execute arbitrary programs in its embedded Linux environment.

This is the first step to gain access to the running Linux operating system, which until now has not been possible.

Using the GFT technique, you can install the ‘ARCwelder’ package which will allow you to ssh into the Archos 605 wi-fi and run unix commands from a shell.

Currently ARCwelder only provides an ssh package, however in time more packages may be included as they are tested and verified as working, some customization is necessary to ensure that they work on the embedded system, so the term ‘hack’ is definitely applicable.

More at ARCwelder Project.

WASHINGTON — Millions of $40 government coupons become available Tuesday, Jan 01, to help low-tech television owners buy special converter boxes for older TVs that might not work after the switch to digital broadcasting.

Beginning Feb 18, 2009, anyone who does not own a digital set and still gets their programming via over-the-air antennas will no longer receive a picture. That’s the day the television industry completes its transition from old-style analog broadcasting to digital.

The converter boxes are expected to cost between $50 and $70 and will be available at most major electronics retail stores. Starting Tuesday, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration will begin accepting requests for two $40 coupons per household to be used toward the purchase of the boxes.

Viewers who have satellite or cable service will not need a box.

To request a coupon, consumers can apply online at DTV2009.gov starting Tuesday. The government also has set up a 24-hour hotline to take requests, 1-888-DTV-2009 (1-888-388-2009).

The first 22 million coupons will go to all households that request them. That includes a residence that gets cable service for one television but has a spare TV that still uses an antenna, for example. The rest of the coupons, however, are meant only for those who do not subscribe to a pay-television service.The Nielsen estimates that 14.3 million households, or about 13 percent of the 112.8 million total television households in the nation, rely on over-the-air television broadcasts for programming. More at NTIA, DTV2009.gov.

Washington — The Federal Communications Commission on Monday, Dec 31, approved new rules giving US broadcasters more flexibility in making the switch to digital television from traditional analog signals, Reuters reported.

The rules would, among other things, allow some broadcast stations to make a “phased transition” to digital broadcasting. Stations also will be allowed to reduce or terminate their analog service before the Feb. 17, 2009 deadline for the transition “if doing so is necessary to achieve their transition,” the FCC said.

“The rules we adopt in this item attempt to provide broadcasters the flexibility they need while at the same time ensuring that any disruption to over-the-air viewers is minimized to the fullest extent possible,” FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said in a statement.

Congress ordered the switch to digital television to free up public airwaves for other uses, such as for police and fire departments. The switch will also to improved picture and sound for TV viewers.

US lawmakers, many of whom face re-election in November, are closely watching the switch because their constituents, who own analog television sets, will be unable to watch programs sent via digital signals unless they subscribe to satellite or digital cable, get a converter box, or buy a new digital TV.

The government will subsidize the cost of buying a digital-analog converter box by offering $40 discount coupons to anyone who owns an analog television set.” More at Reuters, FCC (in Word).

Tokyo, Japan — Dec 25, `07 –BUSINESS WIRE– Hitachi, Canon and Matsushita Electric today reached a basic agreement on a comprehensive alliance aimed at reinforcing and growing the liquid crystal display (LCD) panel businesses and technologies.

Under this alliance, the three companies will merge their strengths to accelerate the development of cutting-edge display technologies and expand their scope of application. Hitachi possesses sophisticated liquid crystal-related technologies, including the world-acclaimed In-Plane Switching (“IPS”) technology that enables outstanding color reproducibility, wide viewing angles and other superior features. Canon, meanwhile, excels in the camera, printer and medical equipment fields while Matsushita commands global leadership in the flat-panel TV field.

Moreover, it has been basically agreed by the three companies that Canon and Matsushita will, by transfer of shares from Hitachi, each acquire 24.9% of the shares of Hitachi Displays, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi engaged in small- and medium-sized LCD panel-related businesses, by March 31, 2008, subject to approvals by regulatory authorities. As a result, Hitachi’s stake in Hitachi Displays is to become 50.2%.

Hitachi will strengthen its competitiveness in the flat-panel LCD TV sector by using state-of-the-art LCD panels to develop the world’s thinnest flat-panel LCD TV and its ultra-thin flat-panel LCD TVs “Wooo UT series.”

Canon aims to accelerate ongoing development of organic light-emitting diode (“OLED”) displays by teaming up with Hitachi, which also boasts advanced display technologies.

Matsushita is expanding and strengthening its mainline PDP operations. It is also deepening its involvement in the businesses of Hitachi Displays, a designer, manufacturer and marketer of IPS liquid crystal panels for large TVs, and of IPS Alpha. The aim is to exploit the outstanding performance and cost advantage of the IPS alpha Panel toward increasing the competitive edge of the VIErA Series of flat-panel TVs in step with PDP models.

As the second stage, the three companies are planning ownership changes that would have Canon, a company with extensive know-how in small- and medium-sized displays from the user side, take a majority holding in Hitachi Displays, and Matsushita, a universally acknowledged leader in the TV sector, take a majority holding in IPS Alpha. More here.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif –BUSINESS WIRE– Dec 19, `07 — Public Television stations across the country will soon be available in high-definition (HD) to DIRECTV customers through a landmark agreement reached today by DIRECTV, the Association of Public Television Stations (APTS) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). DIRECTV viewers will have access to other Public Television content as well.

Continuing its unprecedented expansion of HD services, DIRECTV, the industry leader in HD programming, will include the local HD feeds of Public Television stations in its HD rollout plans beginning in 2008. DIRECTV currently offers local HD programming in 68 markets, representing more than 72 percent of U.S. TV households.

DIRECTV, APTS and PBS also will work together to develop new video on demand offerings to make available local and national public television programming to DIRECTV’s customers anytime they want it. In addition, DIRECTV will carry two national standard-definition channels of Public Television programming, further expanding its commitment to high-quality educational programming.

The terms of the deal were unanimously approved by the APTS Board of Trustees yesterday and are pending approval by the PBS Board of Directors. The agreement must be ratified by local Public Television stations. More at DIRECTV.

Companies sign landmark multi-year deal to collaborate on content distribution, advertising, event promotions and gaming

Microsoft’s Atlas to become exclusive ad serving platform for Viacom US web sites

NEW YORK and REDMOND, Wash — Dec 19, `07 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Viacom and Microsoft today announced a broad-based, strategic alliance under which major divisions of both companies will collaborate on advertising, content distribution, event promotions and games over the next several years.

The comprehensive agreement spans across the two companies and includes a number of significant components. Among them:

– Microsoft will license, on a non-exclusive basis, long and short-form television and theatrical content from across Viacom’s cable network
and motion picture businesses, including MTV, Comedy Central, BET and Paramount Pictures for use on Microsoft properties such as MSN and Xbox 360.

– Microsoft’s Atlas division will become the ad server for Viacom’s US websites and Microsoft will have the exclusive right to sell remnant
display advertising inventory on Viacom’s US websites.

– Microsoft will buy advertising on Viacom broadcast and online networks over a five-year period and the companies will work together on
promotions and sponsorships for MTV Networks and BET Networks award shows;

– Viacom will work with Microsoft on opportunities to become a preferred publishing partner across Microsoft’s casual gaming platforms.

Detailed financial terms were not disclosed, but the deal has a projected base value of approximately $500 million in financial considerations and business services between the two companies over the initial five-year length of the agreement.

The deal includes a combination of revenue sharing provisions, guarantees and content licensing agreements.More at Viacom.

Washington — Dec 18, `07 — The Federal Communications Commission approved rules today to allow ownership of a newspaper and a television station in the same market in the 20 largest metropolitan areas in the US, easing a long-standing rule prohibiting such ownership in any market and voted to maintain its cap on cable ownership, limiting the number of subscribers a cable operator may serve at 30% of US households.

Cable:
The 30 percent limit, set first in 1993 and modified in 1999, was challenged by Time Warner in 2001. The DC Circuit Court then remanded it back to the FCC seeking further justification. That remand has been pending six years at the Commission.

The 30 percent cable horizontal ownership limit set by the Commission will ensure that no single cable operator can create a barrier to a video programming network’s entry into the market or cause a video programming network to exit the market simply by declining to carry the network. In devising a limit to achieve this goal, the Commission first determined the minimum number of subscribers a network needs in order to survive in the marketplace, and then estimated the percentage of subscribers a network is likely to serve once it secures a carriage contract.

Newspaper/Broadcast:
The newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership rule currently prohibits common ownership of a broadcast station and a daily newspaper in the same market. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (Court), affirmed the Commission’s determination that this blanket ban on
newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership was no longer in the public interest while remanding the specific cross-media ownership limits drawn by the Commission in 2003. The Court agreed that “…reasoned analysis supports the Commission’s determination that the blanket ban on
newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership was no longer in the public interest.”

The media marketplace has changed considerably since 1975 when the newspaper/broadcast cross ownership was put in place. At that time, cable was a nascent service, satellite television did not exist and there was no Internet. Consumers have benefited from the emergence of new sources of news and information.

But according to almost every measure newspapers are struggling. For example, at least 300 daily papers have stopped publishing over the past thirty years and circulation and advertising revenues at approximately half of all U.S. dailies has dropped precipitously in recent years. Permitting cross-ownership can preserve the viability of newspapers by allowing them to share their operational costs across multiple media platforms.

The rule adopted today would presumptively permit cross ownership only in the largest markets where there exists competition and numerous voices. Under the new approach, the Commission presumes a proposed newspaper/broadcast transaction is in the public interest if it meets the following test:
(1) the market at issue is one of the 20 largest Nielsen Designated Market Areas (“DMAs”);
(2) the transaction involves the combination of only one major daily newspaper and only one television or radio station;
(3) if the transaction involves a television station, at least eight independently owned and operating major media voices (defined to include major newspapers and full-power TV stations) would remain in the DMA following the transaction; and
(4) if the transaction involves a television station, that station is not among the top four ranked stations in the DMA.

More at FCC here and here (in Word).

DENVER, CO –Marketwire– Dec 17, `07 — Consumers who long to transfer their favorite movies and TV programs from their DISH Network receivers to their ARCHOS Portable Media Players (PMPs) can now do so in record time through a simple plug-in download.

The plug-in is offered exclusively to DISH Network subscribers with a VIP722 or VIP622 high-definition receiver, and is compatible with the ARCHOS 705 WiFi and 605 WiFi players. The plug-in is available today at Archos.com. Beginning in January, the Archos 605 and 705 models will also be available at retail outlets where DISH Network satellite TV service is sold.

“The DISH Network plug-in will allow consumers to transfer content faster than real-time from their DISH Network receiver to an Archos PMP. A two-hour movie can be transferred in just a few minutes,” said Henri Crohas, founder and chief executive officer at ARCHOS. “Now DISH Network subscribers with a VIP622 or VIP722 receiver can experience the fastest transfer times to their ARCHOS players, getting them out of the house faster and enjoying their favorite TV shows anywhere and anytime.”

The exclusive ARCHOS plug-in for DISH Network customers is part of a larger strategic alliance between parent company EchoStar and ARCHOS that has been in place for almost three years.

ARCHOS 605 WiFi and 705 WiFi demonstrations, including the high-speed content transfer from DISH Network’s receivers, will be on display in the EchoStar booth — Central Hall #9020 — at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, January 7-10, 2008.

Next-generation HDTVs to use 4.8Gbps XDR DRAM

LOS ALTOS, Calif — Dec 17, `07 –BUSINESS WIRE– Rambus today announced that Toshiba Corporation has licensed its XDR memory controller interface cell (XIO) and XDR memory controller (XMC) for next-generation high-definition television (HDTV) chipsets. The XIO and XMC will be implemented in Toshiba’s 65nm process. Operating at 4.8Gbps, the XDR memory architecture will allow Toshiba’s HDTV chipset to deliver state-of-the-art image processing performance in its customers’ HDTVs.

The XDR memory architecture uses patented Rambus innovations such as Octal Data Rate (ODR) technology, Differential Rambus Signaling Level (DRSL), and FlexPhase circuits to deliver the highest bandwidth available while using fewer DRAM devices than industry-standard memory solutions. Higher memory performance as delivered by the XDR architecture enables the advanced features of next-generation HDTVs such as 1080p+ resolution, 120Hz refresh rates, 12-bit color, multiple full HD Picture-in-Picture (PiP) data streams, and advanced image enhancement algorithms.More here.

SAN DIEGO & SEOUL, Korea –BUSINESS WIRE– Dec 17, `07 — DivX and LG today announced the launch of two additional models in the DivX Certified Time Machine TV Series specifically targeted for South America.

The two new models of LG’s DivX Certified Time Machine TV Series join millions of DivX Certified devices on the market today that play back high-quality DivX video content.

The two additional models, the 42LB9RT and 32LB9RT, are LCD offerings that deliver high image and audio quality for digital content using much less bandwidth than regular analog devices. These devices boast a simultaneous watch-and-record function and the ability to transfer high-quality DivX content directly to the TV through the USB port.

Maintaining the exceptional standards of the Time Machine TV Series, these models include a built-in 80 gigabyte hard disc drive for Time Shift function and recording as well as a USB 2.0 port, for backing up recorded content and enabling the direct playback of MP3, JPEG and DivX formats. More here.

San Antonio, Texas — Dec 17, `07 –Meeting the growing demand from TV viewers for quality High Definition (HD) programming, AT&T today announced the addition of eight HD channels to its AT&T U-verse TV channel lineup.

U-verse TV now offers Animal Planet HD, CNN HD, Discovery HD, Science Channel HD, Starz Kids & Family HD, Superstation WGN in HD, TLC HD, VERSUS and GOLF CHANNEL HD.

With these additions, AT&T U-verse TV subscribers with the HD service option have access to a lineup of more than 40 HD channels in most markets, which is more HD programming than local cable providers in current U-verse markets.

HD service is available for $10 a month with any U-verse TV programming package. All U-verse TV packages include HD-ready equipment, and most include an HD-capable DVR. More at AT&T.

On Friday, Dec 14, Ohio Commerce Director Kimberly Zurz granted statewide video-service authorization to Time Warner Cable LLC.

The company became the second enterprise to receive the 10-year, state-issued authorization, which was established by Ohio’s video-service law that went into effect September 24, 2007. AT&T Ohio was granted state video-service approval on November 7, 2007.

Time Warner Cable’s authorization covers 260 communities in 60 counties.

On June 25, 2007, Governor Ted Strickland signed Senate Bill 117, which created the one-stop, statewide video-service authorization process. Previously, cable or wire video-service companies had to negotiate local franchises with each municipality or township.

The law requires the Director of Commerce to administer the video-service authorization program. The Director also has the authority to investigate any allegation that a state-approved, video-service provider violated or failed to comply with the law.

The law includes a number of consumer protections. Providers with state-issued authorization are required to give customers:

Credit for a day’s rate if service is lost for more than four hours in any day.

* 30 days notice before removing a channel.
* 30 days notice prior to a rate increase.
* 10 days notice before disconnecting service.

Providers with state-issued authorization also must restore service in most cases within 72 hours after a subscriber reports a service interruption or other problem, and the companies cannot disconnect a customer’s video service for nonpayment before a bill is at least 45 days past due. More at Ohio Dept of Commerce.

Seoul — Dec 13, `07 –Korea Newswire– Samsung Electronics announced today the development of a new digital TV receiver chip (S5H1432) using 65nm process technology for terrestrial digital video broadcasting (DVB-T), the digital broadcasting standard in Europe, Southeast Asia, and Australia.

Samsung’s new DVB-T receiver chip is designed for use in digital TVs, set-top boxes, TV receiver cards for PCs, USB interfaced plug-and play dongle or boxes, and DVD recorders.

Fabricated using Samsung’s advanced 65nm process technology on 300mm wafers, this new DVB-T receiver chip fully supports Europe’s NorDig unified standard for digital broadcasting. The power consumption level for this chip is at an industry low of 80mW, less than one third of the conventional 250mW average power consumption of existing solutions on the market.

By using a proprietary processing algorithm, Samsung’s new DVB-T receiver chip enables high performance even in single frequency network environments, reducing the channel scanning interval by half, to less than 0.1-second, from the conventional 0.2-second.

The new DVB-T receiver chip is expected to be available in the first quarter of 2008. This DVB-T receiver chip, together with other Samsung logic devices and solutions, will be on display at CES 2008.

NEW YORK — Dec 13, `07 — Rupert Murdoch won control on Thursday of a long-coveted prize, The Wall Street Journal, as Shareholders of Dow Jones & Co. gave final approval Thursday to a $5 billion bid from Murdoch’s News Corp to acquire the media company, the final step needed before one of the world’s most influential newspapers, The WSJ, changes hands.

The controlling shareholders of Dow Jones, the far-flung Bancroft family, had initially rebuffed Murdoch’s approach this spring, but eventually enough of them agreed to accept his rich offer of $60 a share to ensure his bid would succeed.

Dow Jones held the shareholder vote in a hotel in the financial district of lower Manhattan, near its headquarters. The formal closing of the deal is expected to occur either later Thursday or Friday. The vote was 60.27 percent in favor.

Murdoch’s bid of $60 per share represented a massive premium of 65 percent over the price Dow Jones shares had been trading at before his offer became public.

With annual revenue of about $2 billion, Dow Jones is relatively small in an age of conglomerates. But it is one of the most influential forces in American media, especially in financial news, where Mr. Murdoch has placed some very big bets of late. The company includes The Journal, whose daily domestic circulation of more than 2 million ranks second only to USA Today, and Dow Jones Newswires, the Dow Jones indexes, the Factiva information and archive service, Marketwatch.com, and other properties.

Last week Murdoch named a longtime News Corp publishing executive Les Hinton to be CEO of Dow Jones, replacing Rich Zannino, who is leaving the company.

NEW YORK — AT&T said on Tuesday it will stop selling satellite television services from DirecTV Group in the first quarter in a sign the phone company may favor EchoStar as its sole satellite partner, Reuters reports.

Reuters further writes, “Still, AT&T Chief Financial Officer Rick Lindner told Reuters separately that the company has not made a final decision on the matter and could take until the second half of 2008 to decide.

AT&T has a marketing partnership with EchoStar in some markets and with DirecTV in others, and the phone company is also expanding its own video service called U-verse, which is delivered over high-speed fiber optic cables.

The company said it would stop offering DirecTV’s services to phone customers in the first quarter, while its current agreement with EchoStar extends until the end of 2008.” More at Reuters here and here.

NEW YORK — Dec 13, ‘07 — Rupert Murdoch is poised to fulfill his dream of taking over The Wall Street Journal as a hard-fought takeover of Dow Jones & Co is expected to be completed Thursday.

Dow Jones shareholders are scheduled to vote later today on Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp takeover offer and the acquisition “is expected to be completed shortly thereafter,” both companies said in a statement last week.

Dow Jones & Co shareholders holding more than 50 percent of the voting power of the company approved its $5.6 billion sale to Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, the Wall Street Journal Web site said on Wednesday.

A count of the proxy votes ahead of a Thursday shareholder meeting showed shareholders owning more than half of the company’s voting power threw their support behind the deal, the Journal reported, citing unnamed sources.

Dow Jones’s board approved the deal in July after members of its controlling family, the Bancrofts, said they would support the sale.

Ahead of the deal’s closing, Murdoch appointed News Corp veteran Les Hinton as Dow Jones chief executive and named Times of London editor Robert Thomson as the publisher of the Wall Street Journal.

As Murdoch, 76, closed in on his long-sought prize, The Wall Street Journal, he gave his son, James, an expanded role in the media empire, naming him to a position apparently aimed at grooming him to head the conglomerate.

News Corp announced Friday that James Murdoch, 34, the youngest of Murdoch’s four children, will be the boss of News Corp in Europe and Asia, effective immediately.

As chairman and chief executive of the company’s businesses in Europe and Asia, James Murdoch will also oversee the Wall Street Journal Europe, the British newspapers The Times and The Sun as well as Australian publications controlled by News Corp.

News Corporation is the umbrella company for an empire that also includes the Fox News Channel, the New York Post newspaper, the Fox Hollywood film studios and television network and the rapidly growing Internet social networking site MySpace.

Lawsuit Claims Verizon Illegally Distributes Open Source Software to FiOS Customers.

Dec 07, ‘07 –The Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC) today announced that it has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Verizon Communications, Inc. on behalf of its clients, two principal developers of BusyBox, alleging violation of the GNU General Public License (GPL). BusyBox is a lightweight set of standard Unix utilities commonly used in embedded systems and is open source software licensed under GPL version 2.

Verizon is the provider of a fiber-optic Internet and television service called FiOS. Verizon distributes Actiontec MI424WR wireless routers to FiOS customers. This router contains BusyBox, and under the terms of the GPL, Verizon is obligated to provide the source code of BusyBox to recipients of the device. According to the lawsuit, Verizon continues to distribute BusyBox illegally without source code, despite having been contacted by SFLC.

The complaint requests that an injunction be issued against Verizon and that damages and litigation costs be awarded to the plaintiffs. A copy of the complaint, as filed yesterday in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, is available at http://www.softwarefreedom.org/news/2007/dec/07/busybox/verizon.pdf

“Our clients licensed BusyBox under the GPL to ensure that all users of the program can access and modify its source code,” said Dan Ravicher, Legal Director of SFLC. “Because Verizon chose not to respond to our concerns, we had no choice but to file a lawsuit to ensure that they comply with the GPL.”

This is the fourth GPL enforcement lawsuit filed by SFLC on behalf of BusyBox developers Erik Andersen and Rob Landley. Defendants in previous cases have included Monsoon Multimedia, High Gain Antennas, and Xterasys Corporation. The case against Monsoon Multimedia was settled out of court in October, with Monsoon agreeing to remedy its prior violation, ensure future compliance, and financially compensate the plaintiffs. SFLC.

Dec 07, ‘07 — Rupert Murdoch installed his own leadership team at Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones & Co. on Friday, a week before his acquisition of the company is expected to close. He also tapped his son James as heir apparent to his media empire News Corp.

Les Hinton, who has spent his career at News Corp.’s newspapers, will become CEO of Dow Jones next week, following a vote of the company’s shareholders on Dec 13. Hinton currently oversees News Corp’s papers in the United Kingdom, including The Times, The Times Literary Supplement, The Sun, and News of the World.

Robert Thomson, editor of The Times, will become publisher of the Journal. Dow Jones also owns Dow Jones Newswires, Barron’s and a news database business called Factiva.

James Murdoch was named boss of News Corporation in Europe and Asia on Friday in a move seen as putting him in line to succeed father and media mogul Rupert Murdoch as head of the sprawling empire.

The promotion of James Murdoch, the youngest of four children, marks a remarkable rise through the boardroom ranks for the only family heir inside News Corp, the US conglomerate chaired by his Australian-born father.

The younger Murdoch, who assumes his London-based post with immediate effect, is in charge of assets including News International UK, Sky Italia, the Asian-based Star TV and News Corporation Europe, the group said in a statement.

As chairman and chief executive of Europe and Asia, Murdoch will also oversee the Wall Street Journal Europe, The Times and The Sun as well as Australian publications controlled by News Corp.

The 34-year-old leaves his post as chief executive of British satellite television broadcaster BSkyB, in which News Corp is the leading shareholder, but will assume his father’s role as BSkyB non-executive chairman.

The reshuffle, which confirms what a source earlier told Reuters, appears to address the long-term speculation of who will eventually take over the media and communications conglomerate from the 76-year-old media mogul.

Rupert Murdoch’s older son, Lachlan, 36, had initially been seen as the leading contender during his time at News Corp but he left the group in 2005 to start a new venture.

Murdoch’s daughter Elisabeth, 39, has also been viewed as a dark horse candidate over the years. The former managing director of Sky Networks struck out on her own in 2000 and launched her own TV production company.

“This is grooming James for a larger role longer term at News Corp,” Pali Research analyst Richard Greenfield said. “He has proved himself beyond a doubt over the last several years at BSkyB.”

James Murdoch joined Sky in November 2003 and has expanded the company from its pay-TV roots to add broadband and telephony services. News Corp owns 39 percent of the company.

But like his father, he has proved to be a risk taker. He has also drawn the attention of regulators, leaving the group engaged in three separate investigations and a law suit with fierce rival Virgin Media.

His most audacious move came in November 2006, when he purchased a 17.9 percent stake in Britain’s biggest free-to-air commercial broadcaster ITV.

Murdoch said the purchase was a long-term investment but its rivals accused him of trying to prevent ITV from being bought by NTL — now renamed Virgin Media — and the deal is still being investigated by the UK Competition Commission.

BENTONVILLE, Ark — Dec 06, 2007 — Wal-Mart announces today it is turning back the calendar with another “Black Friday”-style price event this weekend, unveiling new “Secret In-Store Specials” today on Walmart.com. With savings up to 30% on electronics and other items, Wal-Mart also brings the popular Webkinz toys to its stores nationwide for this event, beginning 8 a.m. Friday, Dec. 7 through Sunday while supplies last.

Since Nov 2, Wal-Mart has offered three rounds of “Secret In-Store Specials,” revealing on its Web site groups of items with incredible values for Christmas shoppers. Millions of customers have signed up for e-mail and text message alerts through Walmart.com to learn of these specials as soon as they are unveiled.

A few examples of the items and prices available tomorrow at 8 a.m. include:

• 50 inch Vizio plasma TV - $998
• 1 MB Gateway Laptop - $398
• Toshiba HD-A3 HD-DVD player (with 12 free HD-DVDs) - $298

Through the weekend, Wal-Mart will continue to keep spirits festive offering free photos with Santa in stores from 10 am to 2 pm on Saturdays and Sundays and exciting demonstrations and samples in its Christmas Shops. More at Wal-Mart.

WASHINGTON — Dec 5, ‘07 — The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission defended his plan to ease media ownership restrictions at a congressional hearing on Wednesday, saying it would leave a “high hurdle” to consolidation in smaller markets.

Facing close questioning from a House subcommittee, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin denied criticism that the plan to relax ownership restrictions in the top 20 U.S. markets would also open the door for local newspapers and TV broadcasters to combine in smaller markets around the United States.

Martin said proposals to combine newspapers and TV stations in smaller markets would still face a steep climb to get FCC approval.

The comments came during a hearing of the House subcommittee on the Internet and Telecommunications held to air concerns about Martin’s proposed changes to the 32-year-old ownership restrictions.

Martin and his fellow commissioners appeared before the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet Wednesday in a lengthy hearing to field questions about proposed changes in media ownership rules.

The chairman released the text of a proposed rule on Nov 13 that he said would allow a radio or television broadcaster to own a newspaper, but only in the nation’s 20 largest markets. But Democratic commissioners Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps say the rule creates a broader exception than what is currently on the books.

The commission is scheduled to vote on the cross-ownership rule Dec 18. Democrats on the commission and on the House panel have accused Martin of not allowing enough time for public review of his proposal.On Tuesday, the Senate Commerce Committee approved a bill that would delay the adoption of Martin’s proposal for at least six months until the agency completes studies on localism and minority ownership.

The commissioners are scheduled to make another trip to Capitol Hill before the ownership vote. On Dec 13, they will testify before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.