CES 2007: Blu-ray Association declares premature victory

The Blu-ray Disc Association announced at its CES press conference that it is already victorious in the high-definition format war. Lining up Hollywood film executives from Sony, Warner and Fox Pictures, chair of the US Promotions committee, Andy Parsons, cited the format's alleged "content advantage". With 25 companies now having released Blu-ray products and around 170 film and audio titles announced, Blu-ray media sales outstripped rival HD DVD discs for the first time in December. ...more

USB smart drives set for lift off

Akin to the 'LiveCD' idea popular with various distributions of Linux - such as Knoppix - the USB smart drives can contain a range of software applications, such as instant messaging, security, email, synchronisation and VoIP software, so that the owner is confident of a working set of applications at any PC with a USB socket. Perhaps the only categories missing are an Office suite, but we were told most PCs already have Office installed, and remote access software such as Citrix, so that professionals can easily log into their corporate network. The idea is that you can always have your personal workspace with you without having to drag around a laptop. ...more

One in eight Net users log on to iTunes

Almost 14 per cent of active Internet users accessed Apple's iTunes application and its corresponding Web pages in December 2005, according to Nielsen//NetRatings. iTunes usage and traffic rose by 241 per cent last year as the number of users topped 20 million by the end of the year. 'The rapid growth of iTunes is an important phenomenon in the online media marketplace,' said Jon Gibs, director of media analytics, Nielsen//NetRatings. ...more

Judge throws out teen suit against MySpace

News Corp.'s MySpace said on Wednesday a federal court dismissed a negligence lawsuit filed by the family of a teenage girl who was sexually assaulted by someone she met on the popular Internet social network. Judge Sam Sparks of the U. ...more

Palm signs deal with RIM

Palm has signed a deal with Research In Motion (RIM), the company behind the popular Blackberry mobile email device, to bring the BlackBerry Connect service to Palm's Treo 650 smartphone. The announcement is another development for Palm as it changes its strategy away from its traditional Palm OS roots towards one based on best-of-breed from third parties. In September the company announced that it would be developing a Treo running Windows. ...more