News Archive for 07/02/13

Choose an article from the archive listing on this page or refine your selection using the controls in the gray box below.

Japanese anime via iTunes

02/13, 6:30pm

FUNimation offers Japanese anime via iTunes

FUNimation Entertainment, the market share leader for the home video sales of Japanese animation in the US, today announced that it will make top-rated anime series available on the iTunes Store, including "Desert Punk," "Speed Grapher" and Akira Kurosawa's "Samurai 7"--all of which are available for $1.99 per episode. "We are very excited to make anime available for download to our fans in the United States," said Cary Deacon, CEO of Navarre Corp, the parent company of FUNmation. "Bringing this compelling content to iTunes is a first step in Navarre's new digital distribution initiative." A variety of free FUNimation anime trailers are also available from iTunes.

All HD media cracked?

02/13, 5:00pm

Universal exploit discovered for HD media?

While one hacker was able to break DRM on select Blu-Ray and HD DVD discs, Electronista reports, another hacker now claims to have defeated HD movie encryption entirely. Writing in the popular Doom9 forums, "arnezami" says he has uncovered the processing key behind AACS, the protection scheme used by both Blu-Ray and HD DVD. As a result, any HD movie should be unlockable without first having to locate the volume key for a particular title. The news could prove enormously disappointing for the movie and electronics industries, which together have spent millions of dollars attempting to prevent the piracy currently rampant with standard DVDs. A universal exploit tool is likely to be released within the next few months.

Symbian brushes off iPhone

02/13, 4:45pm

Symbian sees no threat from iPhone

Apple's forthcoming iPhone poses no immediate threat to Symbian's dominance of the cellular phone world, according to the company's CEO who spoke at a press conference during the 3GSM expo today in Barcelona. Speaking to journalists gathered at the event, Symbian chief Nigel Clifford was optimistic about Apple's device as a potential catalyst for the company's already booming sales, potentially reversing North American stereotypes of smartphones as having only specific uses. "This could educate the American consumer that there is more that you can do with a phone than treat it as an email device," the executive said.

New player to take on iPod

02/13, 2:45pm

New digital music player to take on iPod

A company founded by some of the pioneers of digital music players hopes to shake up the industry with a new device that will compete with Apple's iPod, according to a Wired report. Former heads of Rio PMP 300 creator Diamond Multimedia, music software firm Musicmatch, and iRiver together established a new startup company named Broadband Instruments to produce a next-generation music device. While the company is officially in "secret mode" and has chosen to reveal little about the player, wireless functionality is expected to be central to the device and will let it tap into social networks as well as online radio and music sharing. The key concept is said to be the disassociation of music players from host computers, according to Electronista, which are normally essential for loading music.

MS debuts DRM format

02/13, 9:55am

MS debuts third DRM format for mobile devices

Microsoft today at 3GSM introduced its third copy protection format after Windows Media and the Zune's proprietary standard, titled 'PlayReady.' The scheme is intended for cellular phones as well as other handhelds, extending playback options past earlier formats. Microsoft says PlayFirst enables content owners to distribute titles as permanent copies, subscriptions, rental, pay-per-view, or "super-distribution." The company revealed that PlayReady is its first DRM implementation to be independent of its own file types, according to Electronista. While Windows Media music and video are still guarded, the same protection can apply to multiple AAC formats, H.264 video, and rarely protected mobile content such as wallpapers or games. Every PlayReady device will still support Windows Media 10 protection for other stores.

Monster backs Apple

02/13, 3:45am

Monster, Yahoo back Apple's call for DRM-free music

Apple continues to recruit allies for its DRM-free music proposal in the most unlikely places. An exec for Yahoo! music, one of the top competitors to Apple's iTunes, says that removing DRM from music will boost sales. "I've long advocated removing DRM on music because there is already a lot of music available without DRM, and it just makes things complicated for the user," Dave Goldberg told Silicon Valley Watcher, noting that Yahoo Music has done experiments where it has offered music with or without DRM and that removing DRM boosts music sales. The exec also took a shot at Microsoft's DRM--used by Yahoo's digital music service--saying that it "doesn't work half the time." Monster Cable is yet another party taking sides in the DRM controversy triggered last week by Apple's chief: the manufacturer of high performance cables on Monday announced its full support of Jobs position asking labels to eliminate digital rights management (DRM) on their music libraries. [updated]