News Roundup: Everything's Coming Up CES

Written by Frank Smith

Monday, January 7. 2008 at 11:14 AM EST 1 comment

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It must be January, because Bill Gates is stumping in Las Vegas at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), touting Microsoft's music and video storefronts to take on iTunes. In other news, the the Blu-ray and high-def DVD format wars have tipped to the side of Blu-ray, but then Vudu released its HD set-top box. It never ends. In music news, Philips is bringing Rhapsody to its devices and Napster is doing the DRM-free dance.

Microsoft beefing up Xbox Live and MSN online: At the CES yesterday, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates announced that the company will expand its reach into TV and movie downloads for its Xbox Live and MSN online services. The move is meant to knock Apple off its iTunes throne. Disney, MGM, and Showtime will contribute to Xbox live, making the Rocky movies and the ever-popular Grey's Anatomy available for download. [WSJ]

Vudu goes high-def with Universal: Amid news that Warner Bros. will support Sony's Blu-ray format for DVDs, the set-top box maker Vudu will offer 70 high-def rental movies by the end of January. As part of a cross-promotion with Universal Studios, Vudu will also offer The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy with purchases of the box and an option to download The Bourne Ultimatum when it is released. Playbacks will be instantaneous for Vudu customers with a 4-Mbit/s Internet connection. The HD/Blu-ray format war might just be paving the way for an HD set-top war reminiscent of video fights of the eighties. [Release]

Philips and Rhapsody team up for digital music: Dutch electronics maker Philips will soon begin to sell portable and home audio devices that are compatible with Rhapsody's subscription service. Expect to see more devices with Rhapsody capabilities in the coming years, the music subscription service from RealNetworks has teamed up with the chip-maker Frontier Silicon. Frontier's new digital media module brings Rhapsody support to chips, making it easier for device manufacturers to support the service. [Reuters]

Napster goes DRM-free: With the four major music labels going DRM-free it was inevitable for services like Napster to eventually do the same. Expect the switchover to happen in the second quarter of this year. Subscription music will still be DRM'd up, but à la carte purchases will be available as MP3s rather than WMA files locked in the PlaysForSure DRM. [Release]