For the record 18 July

18-07-2008

by Deirdre McArdle

Amazon to launch video-on-demand service | Sony Ericsson to slash 2,000 jobs

Amazon has announced it is to launch a video-on-demand service that will carry some 40,000 films and television shows. Amazon Video on Demand will allow users to stream content and does not require specific software. The online retailer has signed content deals with all the major US producers and broadcasters except Walt Disney and Disney-owned ABC. Films and shows are available for either rental or purchase, at different prices, and once acquired can be stored virtually on a personal "Your Video Library". The service is currently being trialled and will be available in the US later this year.

Mobile manufacturer Sony Ericsson has said it is to cut 2,000 jobs worldwide as quarterly net income plummeted to just EUR6 million compared to EUR220 million in the year-ago quarter. Revenue at the joint venture dropped 9.4 percent year-on-year to EUR2.82 billion for the quarter. The company said its bottom line was hit by falling prices and currency fluctuations. Sony Ericsson employs around 12,000 people worldwide, and hopes the staff cuts will help it to shave EUR300 million from its operating expenses going forward.

Nintendo's Wii has taken over from the Xbox 360 as the best-selling next-generation games console in the US, according to NPD Group. Nintendo has sold 10.9 million units of the Wii since its launch in November 2006, overtaking Microsoft's Xbox 360, which has sold approximately 10.5 million units. Overall figures for how many PlayStation 3s have been sold in the US were not available. Nintendo sold 666,700 Wiis during June alone. Sony, meanwhile, had a good run in June, selling 405,500 PlayStation 3's during the month.

Google's YouTube has signed a deal with film studio Lions Gate, which means clips from Lions Gate movies will soon appear on the video-sharing site on a Lions Gate-branded channel. From that channel YouTube users will be able to view scenes from movies such as Dirty Dancing and the Oscar-winning Crash. Advertisements will accompany all clips. The move is being seen by industry watchers as a possible softening of Hollywood's hard stance against YouTube, with Google reportedly suggesting it was in talks with other movie studios too.

Seventeen US cable operators have joined Time Warner Cable in an agreement to block access to websites that the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) has identified as containing child pornography. In June, Time Warner Cable, Verizon, and Sprint agreed to purge their servers of child pornography websites and newsgroups. A month later, Qwest agreed to block access to websites on NCMEC's child porn list, with AT&T and AOL soon following suit. Among the latest cable providers to sign up are Comcast, Cablevision, and Bright House Networks. While the agreement does not require the companies to purge their servers of child porn newsgroups, it does call on them to "revise their policies" regarding other sources of child porn, which could include newsgroups.