Report: U.S. Video Game Sales Down 15% in February

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
2

Port Washington, N.Y. – U.S.
video game sales were down 15% in February, the second straight month of
decline, to $1.26 billion, according to sales data compiled by market research
firm NPD Group. "Honestly, I had expected the industry to perform somewhat
better this month," remarked NPD analyst Anita Frazier. "Nonetheless,
strong new releases, and Easter gift-buying bodes well for industry performance
in March."

Game hardware sales took the biggest hit, down 20%
year-over-year, to $426,4 million.

Microsoft’s (NASD:  MSFT) Xbox 360 led the race for the
first time since September 2007, with sales of 422,000 units, besting Nintendo’s
397,900 Wii sales and the 360,100 PlayStation 3 units sold by Sony (NYSE:  SNE).

In the
handheld race, Nintendo’s DS sold 613,200 units, compared to the Sony PSP’s
133,400 units.

Video game software sales declined 15% in February, to $624.4
million.

The top-selling game during the month was Take-Two Interactive’s (NASD:  TTWO)
"BioShock 2" (562,900 units).

Nintendo’s "New Super Mario Bros.
Wii" took second (555,600 units); other titles in the top ten included Activision’s (NASD:  ATVI)
"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2"; Ubisoft’s "Just Dance"; and
Electronic Arts’ (NASD:  ERTS) "Mass Effect 2" and "Dante’s Inferno."

 

Related Links:
http://www.npd.com

Obama to "Aggressively Protect" U.S. Intellectual Property

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
1

Washington – President Obama will "aggressively protect
[U.S.] intellectual property," as "our single greatest asset is the
innovation and the ingenuity and creativity of the American people," according
to remarks he made during a speech this week in Washington at the Export-Import
Bank’s annual conference, CNET News.com reported. Obama added that the U.S.
Trade Representative will be using "the full arsenal of tools available"
to crack down on piracy, "including the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade
Agreement (ACTA)."

The secretive ACTA talks have been criticized for
potentially seeking to employ a "three-strikes" penalty against
file-swappers, that would see repeat offenders’ Internet connections suspended.

Meanwhile, The Guardian reports that Ari Emanuel, the Hollywood agent whose
brother Rahm is Obama’s White House Chief of Staff, says that Hollywood is
lobbying Obama to introduce "three-strikes" legislation.

"We are
in the midst of talking to the president and some attorney generals and [we
are] trying to implement a three strikes and you’re out rule," Ari Emanuel
told the Guardian.

Emanuel also noted that — as has happened in other
countries where such proposals have been floated — three-strikes legislation would likely
lead to a "fight with ISPs."

 

Related Links:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20000347-261.html

http://snipurl.com/usxbj
(Guardian)

Plastic Logic Delays Shipments of QUE E-book Reader

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Mountain View,
Calif. – Plastic Logic, the developer
of the QUE proReader e-book reader device, has begun informing pre-order
customers by email that there will be an extended delay in shipping their
orders, PaidContent reported.

The company had initially said that orders would
ship by mid-April, but in his email to customers, CEO Richard Archuleta now
says orders will now ship until "this summer."

Archuleta cited a need
to "fine-tune the features and enhance the overall product
experience."

PaidContent noted that the delay will mean Apple’s $499-$829
iPad will hit the market before Plastic Logic’s $649-$749 QUE.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/uswxl
(PaidContent)

http://snipurl.com/uswzp
(DMW previous coverage)

http://www.plasticlogic.com

China: Google Must Obey Internet Censoring Laws

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Beijing – Google (NASD:  GOOG) must obey China’s
laws or "pay the consequences," the country’s minister of Industry
and Information Technology said on Friday, in the strongest words to date from
the government in its ongoing dispute with the Internet giant, the Associated
Press reported. "If you want to do something that disobeys Chinese law and
regulations, you are unfriendly, you are irresponsible and you will have to pay
the consequences," said IT minister Li Yizhong.

Google and China have reportedly been in talks in recent
weeks, after a hacking incident on Google’s servers thought to originate from China
prompted the company to stop censoring search results at the Chinese
government’s request — and to consider pulling out of the country entirely.

"You
cannot find evidence about who organizes such attacks. The Chinese government
has repeatedly opposed and deterred hacking attacks," Li told AP.

"Whether
they leave or not is up to them. But if they leave, China’s Internet market is still
going to develop."

A Google spokeswoman declined to comment for AP on the
state of the talks between the company and the Chinese government.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/uswj7
(AP)

http://snipurl.com/usws0
(DMW previous coverage)

Lionsgate Urges Shareholders to Reject Icahn's Offer

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Santa Monica,
Calif. – Canadian film studio
Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF) announced on Friday that its board of directors has urged its
shareholders to reject a bid by activist investor Carl Icahn to increase his
share in the company from 18.9% to 30%.

Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer said the
board believes that Icahn’s offer "doesn’t reflect the full value of
Lionsgate shares… We are confident we can better serve our shareholders by
continuing to execute our strategic business plan, and the acquisition of
effective control by the Icahn Group would significantly jeopardize that
plan."

The company also said it did not wish to yield effective veto power
to Icahn over significant transactions, such as acquisitions, and that the
price offered by Icahn would give him such power "without paying a control
premium."

The Wall Street Journal noted that Lionsgate is considering an
acquisition of the film libraries of Disney’s Miramax and MGM.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/uswec

http://snipurl.com/uswbp
(WSJ)

http://snipurl.com/uswcr
(DMW previous coverage)

http://www.lionsgate.com

HootSuite Acquires Android Developer Swift App

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Vancouver,
Canada –
HootSuite, the provider of a Web and mobile Twitter client that lets users
manage multiple accounts, has acquired Swift App, a developer of applications
for Google’s Android operating system.

Financial terms of the deal were not
disclosed.

Vancouver-based HootSuite said the deal will enable it to more
quickly develop Android applications.

 

Related Links:
http://blog.hootsuite.com/hootsuite-acquires-android-developer-swift-app

http://blog.hootsuite.com/hootsuite-acquires-swift-app/

http://www.swift-app.com

Sonos Raises $25 Million for Wireless Home Audio

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Santa Barbara,
Calif. – Sonos, the developer of
wireless, multi-room music systems for the home, has raised $25 million in new
financing led by Index Ventures.

Founded in 2003, Santa Barbara, Calif.-based
Sonos makes a range of high-end wireless home audio systems, and recently
debuted a more mainstream, $400 system that can be controlled by Apple’s
iPhone.

The company will use the funds to fuel expansion, including upcoming
product launches in China
and Japan,
Index Ventures’ Mike Volpi, who will take a seat on Sonos’ board, told All
Things D.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/usv83
(TechCrunch)

http://snipurl.com/usv14
(All Things D)

http://www.sonos.com

Appeal of Pirate Bay Convictions to Commence Sept. 28

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Los Angeles
– The appeal of the convictions of the operators of file-sharing hub The Pirate
Bay has been tentatively scheduled to commence on Sept. 28, 2010, TorrentFreak
reported. The four defendants were found guilty in April 2009 and ordered to
serve a year in prison and pay large fines.


 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/us1x8
(TorrentFreak)

Blockbuster, NCR Add Online Ordering to DVD Kiosks

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Duluth, Ga. – Video rental giant Blockbuster’s (NYSE: BBI) partner
for DVD rental kiosks, NCR (NYSE: NCR), has launched a new feature that lets customers rent
DVDs online at BlockbusterExpress.com, and pick them up from local kiosks. The
new rent online features lets customers create a favorites list, browse
available titles at their preferred kiosks, and complete the rental of up to
three titles at once.


 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/us2dx

http://www.ncr.com

http://www.blockbusterexpress.com

Motorola Makes Bing Default Search on Android Phones in China

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

New York – Motorola (NYSE: MOT) plans
to add Microsoft’s (NASD: MSFT) Bing search engine as the default on the Android-based
phones it sells in China,
replacing Android developer Google’s (NASD: GOOG) own search engine, The Wall Street Journal
reported. The Journal speculated that the move could foresee a time when Google
may potentially remove itself completely from China,
as it threatened to do in the wake of the hacker attacks on its Gmail service
that reportedly emanated from China.


 

Related Links:
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100311-703710.html

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