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News from Microsoft was expected Sunday night.  It was the moment  of Bill Gates  eleventh, and final,  keynote address to open the Consumer Electronics Show. The stage was set.  It was the Super Bowl of Entertainment and Technology convergence.  A time for news.  A time for Bill.

CES has been for Bill Gates  what Macworld has been for Steve Jobs.  In past efforts – the CES keynote has been a night for him to climb on stage and issue a “State of the Union,” a chance to sing Microsoft’s praises, to plug their products,  a chance to predict the future.  It’s always a night of a little humor, of celebrity appearances and geek idols – a moment in the spotlight with all the glitz, multimedia  and professional production a corporate event can withstand.   Sunday, all expected points were covered.

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In 1970 the Video Cassette recorder was launched at the Consumer Electronics Show.  In 1996, the DVD was revealed. 2003 was the year Blu Ray launched.  This year, Toshiba had big plans for their HD DVD format.   That is, they had big plans until Friday when Warner Brother’s pulled the rug out from under their planned party.   Now, instead of a celebration it’s looking more like a funeral.

For the last year, Sony’s Blu Ray and Toshiba’s HD DVD had been fighting an open, and hostile, battle to claim the title of approved standard for high definition DVD.    Money and incentives were being offered and sides being taken.  In one corner there was Sony backing Blu Ray.   In the other, Toshiba, sponsor of HD DVD.   Movie studios, rental companies and gaming companies were forming alliances.    

Lions Gate, Fox, Disney and MGM had sided with Blu Ray.  Blockbuster was also pushing the disks in its stores.  Microsoft, on the other side, was stumping for HD DVD with the Xbox platform.  So too was Intel.  Warner Brother’s and Paramount were Switzerland. They remained Neutral.

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It falls short of formal collusion but the world’s big four music labels tend to move in a herd.  Where one tentatively steps, the others follow if the ground proves solid.  Where two go, the rest stampede.  In the digital rights management (DRM) debate, EMI was the first to choose a new path.   Last week, Warner Music was the third to withdraw from a staunch DRM Stance.  Now, Business Week is reporting Sony BMG is on the verge of dropping the copyright encryption programs too.

According to the Business Week report, which sites the famously vague “sources familiar with the matter,” Sony BMG will sell digital music free of burdensome copyright encryption at some point during the first quarter of this year.  The expectation is the DRM-Free music may even appear as early as February.  That would allow Sony BMG to participate in a massive music give-away promotion Pepsi is running for the Super Bowl.

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In October’s 3rd quarter earnings conference call, Netflix’ CEO Reed Hastings spent a few minutes talking to analysts about the slowly converging worlds of video distribution.  In those comments he expressed three long term goals: “one, to expand the content [they] offer online; two, to make it inexpensive and easy for consumers to view that content on the television; and three, to understand what the financial model for the hybrid service will be in the long term.”  Today, Netflix took a step toward realizing goal number two.

Late Wednesday the DVD-by-mail rental service announced a partnership to bring movies straight to the TV over the Internet.  The new service, which will not be available before June, expands on Netflix’ year old “Watch Instantly” functionality by removing the requirement to watch streams through a computer.

The service will rely initially on hardware manufactured and sold by South Korean electronics giant, LG.   Using a dedicated set top box, or equivalent functionality bundled into a DVD player or other hardware Click to Read More

A good story is timeless, crossing between different medium, living and breathing it runs in an often unending circle.  Books and comic books become TV shows and movies.  Movies and TV programs spin off and beget novels and video games. Games too, sometimes start their own traditions or evolve from other tales already known.   It’s a natural co-existence; a cycle that’s evolving with each change in communication mediums.

Among the different medium, video games and movies in particular share a common ground.  They are often similar in storyline and visual style.  That makes for a natural companionship where, on one level, they co-exist by sharing franchises as appropriate to the different technologies and methods of storytelling; watch Star Wars, the movie; play Star Wars, the video game.  On another level, however, the mediums themselves almost converge. There, games become a dynamic, interactive, choose-your-own-adventure equivalent to the static, but rich, three act Hollywood movie experience.

From Spiderman, to the Matrix, from Lord of the Rings to Star Wars, from James Bond, to The Simpsons and CSI: games built around existing TV and movie franchises increasingly dot the lists of popular games for current generation consoles.  And in reverse, Click to Read More

Another casualty of restrictive formatting choices and a lack of portability, Wal-Mart has quietly shuttered its video download store a year after opening it.

A message on the site indicates the service was stopped December 21st.  There was no public death announcement.  HP had previously decided to discontinue the merchant service that powered the Wal-Mart store after determining that their video download merchant store services weren’t performing. Wal-Mart, apparently, drew the same conclusion.  Click to Read More

In the technology industry there are nearly as many rumors and reports speculating about Apple and their products as there are gossip headlines about Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton.   One of the most common iTunes related news grabbers has been movie rentals, or speculation thereabout.   Now, it’s grabbed the wires again.

The Financial Times is reporting Apple is close to announcing a deal with Fox that will give Apple the rights to offer movie rentals through the iTunes digital store at some time in 2008. 

Some are speculating the story underlies a renewed push for Apple’s “hobby project,” Apple TV.   Alternate theories push a video strategy as a means of supporting Apple’s now almost entirely video enabled consumer product line (only the iPod shuffle doesn’t support video).

Apple has not made any statements about such a video offering and this is not the first times the Financial Times has run with a story focused on the concept that proved premature.  Click to Read More