The movies and music will never stop. Electronics giant <A HREF="http://www.sony.com/sel">Sony</A> announced last week that it is introducing a 200-disc DVD/CD changer. The DVP-CX850D "mega-changer" will hit the market in September with a suggested retail price of $999, according to a company press release.
Move over, Brazil. Step aside, China. Make room for Israel, king of the copyright-violation hill. US Trade Representative Charlene Barshevsky announced in mid-February that sanctions could soon be imposed on the Middle Eastern nation for what the State Department calls piracy of "epidemic proportions."
High-speed access is almost universally acknowledged as the most important next step in the development of the Internet. Interactive capabilities, transaction time, and the ultimate resolution of digitally transmitted audio and video are all limited by the speed with which data can be sent.
Michael Nesmith could soon be back in the business: The former Monkee has been awarded $47 million by a jury in a Los Angeles Federal-court case. The judgment came Tuesday, February 2, after the jury found the <A HREF="http://www.pbs.org">Public Broadcasting Service</A> guilty of fraud, breach of contract, and contract interference over a video-distribution deal it signed with Nesmith's now-defunct Pacific Arts Corporation in 1990. Malfeasance by PBS caused the demise of Pacific Arts, jurors decided.
The market for advanced television equipment is growing, thanks to the <A HREF="http://www.fcc.gov/">Federal Communications Commission</A>'s digital TV mandate. But the changeover will be slow. According to a study conducted by research and consulting firm <A HREF="http://www.frost.com/">Frost & Sullivan</A>, industrial users of television equipment are likely to opt for converting their existing gear rather than replacing it during the transition, and they will move to software solutions for their production and editing needs.
Although the original intent behind digital television was simply "better quality," the unfolding format will create unimagined opportunities for both Internet entrepreneurs and makers of widescreen computer displays, according to a recent report from electronics-industry observers <A HREF="http://www.mcgweb.com/">The McLaughlin Consulting Group</A>. The implementation of HDTV was the stated agenda by those involved in its design and rollout, but the biggest opportunities won't befall broadcasters, satellite providers, or traditional makers of television sets, the report says. In fact, many of the original participants might not reap the full rewards of the new technology.
Digital video-production equipment by <A HREF="http://www.sony.com/professional/">Sony Electronics</A> is one highlight at the <A HREF="http://www.sundance.org/">Sundance Film Festival</A>, currently taking place in Park City, Utah. During the first weekend, the Festival's New Media and Technology Center featured camcorder demonstrations, panel discussions, and video presentations of Sony's HDCAM, Digital Betacam, DVCAM, and consumer DV digital-video formats. This is the fourth consecutive year that Sony has put on this demonstration at Sundance.
Millions of video tapes are being recalled by Walt Disney Company because of a production prank that took place 23 years ago. A re-release of <I>The Rescuers</I>, which originally played in theaters in 1977 and was first released on video in 1992, is being pulled from distribution to clean up a couple of frames in which someone inserted the image of a nude woman---an image so short-lived that it can't be seen during normal viewing.
Is your local cable company tempting you with a low-cost upgrade package? The improvement it's offering isn't coming from the kindness of its corporate heart, but because cable companies are feeling the heat from satellite competitors, thanks to some strategic alliances with regional telephone companies.