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The last time I had jury duty, I spent several hours waiting as prosecutors and defense attorneys horse-traded their way to a plea agreement behind closed doors.  Before being dismissed, the judge on the case addressed us to say thank you for our service.  Your time wasn’t wasted, she told us.  Even though we weren’t impaneled, we served a valuable role as leverage.  Our presence, and the ability to carry the case to trial it represented, was the point. 

That same kind of brinkmanship seems to be at play in an increasingly nasty patent battle being waged by Gibson Guitars at all things Guitar Gaming related.  The question is: are the lawsuits aimed at Guitar Hero and Rock Band threat enough to force a settlement, or are the patent issues so inapplicable in the eyes of the defendants that they’ll let the courts make the call.    

In court anything is possible. But having read the files and studied up on patent law, this doesn’t look like a case on the settlement path.  Readers can be their own Jury on this one.  Here are the details: Click to Read More

The dinner table may be set at Electronic Arts but the guest list seems to be changing.  After naming former Ticketmaster CEO John Pleasants as COO last week, today the company announced the surprise departure of Chief Financial Officer Warren Jenson.   For now, a replacement isn’t officially being named but that news is expected to come relatively soon.

In the interim, under a transition agreement (available here), Jenson has signed to remain on board through September. Click to Read More

Despite a burgeoning market for smart-phones and a voracious consumer and corporate appetite for Blackberry’s and iPhones in the US, once leading player Palm continues to struggle.   Their market share is hovering around nine percent (Apple took approximately 28 percent of the U.S. Smart Phone market in less than one year.  RIM’s Blackberry has 41%. (via Canalys)).  Since October,  Palm’s stock price has fallen more than 60%.  Since Elevation Partners purchased a 25% stake in June, the company’s market cap has shrunk to just above $500m 

(Palm’s shares were up about 10% to $19.57 per share following the deal but optimism was short-lived as Palm continued to lose business and see cash reserves erode.)

Thursday, Palm announced their earnings for the third quarter.  After two quarters of lowered guidance, there was again little to get excited about.  Click to Read More

Spring is in the air.  It’s “March Madness,” the time for college basketball’s big tournament. Predicting the outcome has the odds-makers busy.  If they can find some time, they might be equally challenged forecasting another unpredictable event that’s generating March Madness of its own: the digital licensing of the Beatles’ song catalog.

For more than a year the Beatles arrival at iTunes has been an imminent (and recurring) headline grabber.  The prophesies began in January 2007 when Lovely Rita played during the announcement of the iPhone.   They gained credibility when the trademark suit between the two Apples (Apple Inc. and Apple Records) was settled in February.  In June, the speculation surfaced again with the phone’s launch.  Again with new iPods introduced in September.  Then in January, like Punxsutawney Phil it popped up for Mac World only to see its shadow and disappear anew.

Last week, the conclusion of Sir Paul McCartney’s tabloid-fodder divorce fueled a new round of rampant speculation.   Several reports citing sources close to Sir Paul claimed a deal, possibly worth hundreds of millions, was imminent.  Apple summarily dismissed the claims.  "This is not news nor is it a scoop," said their spokesman.

Now there’s a new rumor, a new twist, and this one is much more plausible than the tabloid’s absurd suggestions Sir Paul was driving a deal to seek cash for the divorce settlement.  Click to Read More

A few years ago there was a Gatorade commercial that pitted soccer star Mia Hamm against Michael Jordan.  Back and forth the two competed in contests to win the title of “best athlete.”  In the background, the song repeated “anything you can do I can do better.”  Today, that commercial can be seen on YouTube.  It’s ironic in a way because today YouTube has become equivalent to one of those athletic tests in a similar battle being fought by aspiring TV/PC Convergence devices like TiVo and Apple TV.  Like Michael and Mia, the two keep leapfrogging past each other to show which can bring more features and internet sourced content to the TV screen.

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In game advertising, the idea of putting dynamic, changeable ads in the background graphics of video game is still an infant industry but it’s one endowed with high hopes (even as some fans cringe at the thought of ads taking over their play space).   According to a recent eMarketer forecast, spending in the sector is poised to increase 133% over the next 5 years (through 2012).  Yankee Group has predicted even more substantial growth calling for a market size of $971m by 2012.  Across the gaming industry, all the big players from Activision to Electronic Arts to NBC Universal are taking steps to participate.  Tuesday, EA made a deeper commitment and extended an agreement made in July with Microsoft subsidiary Massive for two more years.

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Over the course of a week there are always a few news items that don’t warrant front page attention but still merit a mention; things like new hires or deals that finally closed after being widely reported when first announced.  This week with Electronic Arts hiring a COO,the New York Times proxy settlement and deal closings from Clear Channel and Amazon, there have been a handful that fell into that category. Here’s the roundup in one dose:

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