snapshot 4/16/08

CinemaNow, Technicolor unveil new delivery platform
Digital entertainment company CinemaNow and Technicolor said on Tuesday they had developed a new digital movie delivery platform to sell to online retailers and hardware companies. The platform should make it easier for device makers and retailers to provide an online movie service and features functions like content encoding and encryption, digital rights management (DRM), ad management, order fulfillment across various consumer electronics categories.


Microsoft planning a Zune-centric entertainment store?
Microsoft may be putting together an "entertainment marketplace" tentatively named Zune VideoX, ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley reported Wednesday. In other words, it's yet another digital content store trying to take a bite out of Apple's iTunes.

Creating a solid digital download store is that Microsoft has tried repeatedly, and hasn't gotten right yet. Its Zune Marketplace hasn't exactly been a resounding success. There has also been chatter about something called "eLive," a marketplace of digital download content--music, video, games--for Zune digital media players, Windows-based PCs, Xbox gaming consoles, and Windows Mobile smartphones.


Sony VP promises in-game XMB, NA video download service, PlayStation Cards in '08
On the way this year, along with a video service that "separates the service from others you've seen or used...to give you the TV, movies and gaming content you want," and expanded community features. Also in store are PlayStation Cards (in $20 and $50 denominations) for the credit card-less among us. The four pillars of Sony's plan (community, free online gaming, digital media download services, and original content) hint towards the reasons we won't let the shiny beast get quite as dusty this year.


Amazon MP3 Sells More Albums Than iTunes
From a Fortune profile of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos by Josh Quittner:
"One exec I know at a big label...says he's excited by one trend in particular: At Apple's iTunes store, two thirds of the music sold is single tracks and one third is albums. But at Amazon, two thirds of the music sold is albums and one third is tracks."


Grooveshark Launches Web Media Player
Music sharing and sales startup Grooveshark has launched Grooveshark Lite , a flash app that provides access to all the songs in Grooveshark’s library. For those unfamiliar with the company, Grooveshark allows users to upload and share their music collection with friends, but with a twist: every song uploaded can be purchased DRM-free with the uploader getting a cut of each sale (the rest goes to the record companies, and the service is 100% legal).


Fox, Paramount Testing New-Release Downloads At iTunes
Something unusual happened for iTunes users when Juno made its DVD debut this week: the Fox movie was also for sale as an iTunes download for $14.99 as the News Corp unit tests downloads of new releases. It’s not a wholesale change—Fox told Variety more movies are likely to follow but on a title-by-title basis and Juno won;t be available for iTunes rental until May 14.. Meanwhile, as Variety reports, Paramount is experimenting with new-release download sales on iTunes. Including Disney, that makes three studios willing to try new released on the Apple service, which has been pushing the ability to do downloads through Apple TV direct to the living room.


First look: PluggedIn brings HD music videos to the 'Net
PluggedIn Media has begun testing its high-quality music video site this morning, in hopes that both viewers and advertisers will be attracted to the professionally-produced content. At launch, Pluggedin.com features 10,000 music videos licensed from three of the Big Four music labels: Universal, EMI, and Sony BMG. The fourth, Warner Music, is apparently sitting this round out for now, although PluggedIn says that it has managed to obtain rights to a handful of Warner's videos for the time being. There are also videos available from a number of independent labels, and videos range from "broadcast quality" all the way up to HD. We took a spin around the site to see how it compares to other video sites on the 'Net, and whether it lives up to its promises.


Tim McGraw Offers Limited Edition of Hits Package
Tim McGraw becomes the latest artist to join the Wal-Mart-only crowd. He will release an limited edition combo pack of both his greatest hits CDs on April 29, available only at Wal-Mart...