LATEST ADDITIONS

Merger news: <A HREF="http://www.IMDb.com">IMDb</A> to <A HREF="http://amazon.com">Amazon.com</A>. If this sounds like a chess move, it certainly is for a few folks at the top of the Web's food chain. On April 27, the Internet Movie Database became part of Amazon.com, the world's largest online bookseller.

DVD interloper Divx has not won the hearts and minds of early adopters, but that isn't stopping its proponents from laying out some serious cash for future orders. Last week, <A HREF="http://www.nimbuscd.com">Nimbus CD International, Inc.</A> and <A HREF="http://www.divx.com">Digital Video Express</A>, developer of the Divx system, announced that they have signed a five-year, multi-million-disc replication agreement.

It's just about a month away: <A HREF="http://www.hifishow.com">HI-FI '98</A>, The Home Theater & Specialty Audio Show, will attract thousands of home-theater enthusiasts when it visits The Westin Los Angeles Airport Hotel in Los Angeles, California from Wednesday, June 10 to Sunday, June 14, 1998.

Trekkers, rejoice! <A HREF="http://www.paramount.com">Paramount Home Video</A>, owner of the Star Trek franchise and Indiana Jones movies, will release open-format DVDs this year, the company announced Monday, April 27. The decision comes two weeks after <A HREF="http://www.blockbuster.com/">Blockbuster Music & Video</A> announced that it would begin a big push with DVD rentals. The growing popularity of DVD was a major factor in both decisions: Consumer-electronics industry analysts predict that there will be as many as one million DVD players in American homes by the end of 1998.