Record industry maintains pressure on file sharers

The RIAA has announced 754 new lawsuits against individuals it believes have been illegally sharing music files. The Recording Industry Association of America, which represents all the major labels, has now filed more than 7,700 suits against users of peer-to-peer networks since June 2003. RIAA president Cindy Sherman said, 'With legal online retailers still forced to compete against illegal free networks, the playing field remains decidedly unbalanced. ...more

Nokia 'pleased' with N-Gage launch

Nokia has stated that it is pleased with demand for its N-Gage mobile phone/handheld console hybrid, which launched at the beginning of October to a string of hostile reviews and reportedly dismal sales. Though the Finnish company says it has shifted 400,000 N-Gages to retailers, analysts suggest that consumer sales are a fraction of the units shipped to retailers. The price of the phone was temporarily cut by a third only two weeks after launch in two major retailers in the US, while here in the UK the mobile device has been changing hands for as little as 1 pence per unit (subject to additional line rental fees, naturally). ...more

MP3 is all around us

The creators of the MP3 format - the Fraunhofer Institute - are planning to extend the encoding system to simulate surround sound. Dubbed MP3 Surround, extra data is added to the sound files to encode directional information, enabling the simulation of surround sound without having to record audio data on separate channels. The Institutes states that the new system will be compatible with existing MP3 software and music players, but obviously new players will be needed to take advantage of the new sound support. ...more

Microsoft delays Xbox launch

The launch of Microsoft's first gaming system, the Xbox, has been delayed. The US launch date is now officially 15 November, a week later than originally planned. Microsoft had previously denied reports that production problems existed, supposedly with the Intel motherboards. ...more

eBay frowns on Google Checkout

eBay is preventing buyers and sellers from using Google's new online payments service. Google Checkout, introduced a little over a week ago, has been seen as the first major threat to eBay's PayPal ever since rumours of its imminent introduction began circulating last year. The auction monopoly's response has been to invoke its Accepted Payments Policy, which states that with regard to new payment services, 'eBay will evaluate them to determine whether they are appropriate for the marketplace'. ...more