Walmart’s Vudu entertainment service is the latest to become available via Microsoft’s Xbox 360. It’s also compatible with the voice search and voice/gesture controls made possible by Bing and the Kinect peripheral.

Marking the end of an era, Microsoft announced 2012 will be the last time it participates in International CES, the Consumer Electronics Association’s annual trade show and conference.

Football fans are being given additional options for indulging their interest. Super Bowl XLVI, 2012 Pro Bowl and NBC’s "Wild Card Saturday" doubleheader will be available on television, online and on select mobile phones, the NFL announced today.

In a significant commitment to digital, members of video game rental subscription service GameFly can now try out its PC client for free. At the moment it offers news, high-definition video clips, screenshots, account management, and access to hundreds of playable games at no additional charge.

You know those assorted digital memory formats you’ve collected through the years? Get ready to add another one, as Panasonic, Samsung Electronics, SanDisk, Sony and Toshiba have announced an initiative for HD-capable security for SD cards and embedded memory.

Film fans often complain that digital releases lack the DVD extras. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment and Lightstorm Entertainment are fighting back against that reputation with “Avatar iTunes Extras Special Edition,” which comes with six hours of material available nowhere else.

High-tech ads for the Boston Pops holiday concerts are pleasantly surprising pedestrians with music that can only they can hear. The experience is made possible by Holosonics’ Audio Spotlight, which transmits sound to a specific spot no wider than a flashlight’s beam.

Professional streaming media firm ViewCast Corp. has promoted John C. Hammock to president and chief executive officer and named him to the Board of Directors, effective immediately.

Open source file sharing project ownCloud has formed a commercial entity founded by Markus Rex and Frank Karlitschek to compete with Dropbox and Box. Rex, former executive with SUSE/Novell, will serve as chief executive officer.

Content discovery platform Outbrain has closed a $35 million Series D round of funding led by Index Ventures with participation from existing investors Carmel Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners. This more than doubles the company’s total financing to $64 million.