J&R Music and Computer World reopened its store in N.Y.C. Mon., having been closed since World Trade Center attack on Sept. 11. On day of WTC attack, cloud of black soot blew through doors and settled inside DVD players and PC hard drives, company said. Rescue workers also opened some doors and set up triage center that got little use. All 300,000 sq. ft. feet of retail space, housed in several buildings, are less than one-quarter mile from WTC. Workers spent much of last month replacing about 3,000 sq. ft. of carpet, painting walls, vacuuming ash from 5 escalators and cleaning credit card terminals and cash registers. Privately held J&R, with 650 employees and revenue of more than $300 million, lost millions in sales while store was closed, industry sources said. It offset some of lost sales by continuing to operate small satellite store near Columbia U. and catalog and warehouse operations in Maspeth, N.Y. In ads trumpeting reopening, all DVDs and music CDs were on sale and T-shirts featuring American flag and letters “NYC” were being offered free with $50 purchase plus $1 donation to Twin Towers Fund. Reopening will include ribbon cutting Thurs. featuring N.Y.C. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.
Two-tiered DVD pricing is subject of court hearing in Australia this week on lawsuit against Warner Home Video (WHV) by Australian Video Retailers Assn. (AVRA). New WHV policy issues DVDs simultaneously for rental and sellthrough, with higher price to dealers for rental version. Studio has threatened action against dealers discovered to be renting less costly sellthrough DVD, which has different color scheme from rental version. Australian press reports said dealers sued WHV for misuse of country’s copyright law, which makes computer software rentals illegal without content owner’s permission. WHV contends DVDs aren’t merely prerecorded movies but computer software because discs contain digital files for navigation and other functions. Unlike U.S., Australia doesn’t have First Sale Doctrine that permits purchaser of copyrighted material to dispose of it without content owner’s permission, such as for video rentals.
Sony is shipping version of Cli? handheld PC that doubles as 4-function remote control for more than 20 brands of A/V receivers, DVD players, TVs, VCRs. PEG-T415 ($299) has extended reach of Cli?’s infrared port -- previously used for exchanging data between handhelds -- to 15’ and added software containing product codes. Number of product codes available and how much of Cli?’s 8 MB memory they consume weren’t available at our deadline.
Differences and similarities abound between Matsushita HDTV- caliber dual-layer recordable disc proposal that starred at recent CEATEC show in suburban Tokyo and rival DVR-Blue system showcased at same event year ago.
MGM’s worldwide home video revenue soared 35% in 3rd quarter ended Sept. 30, spurred by 200% rise in unit shipments of DVD, company said Mon. Studio shipped 4.1 million copies of Hannibal on DVD and VHS in Aug. and 1.4 million copies of Silence of the Lambs, which was re-released with Hannibal.
Downloadable plug-ins for Microsoft’s Windows XP will permit PC users to play DVDs and copy MP3 files to blank CDs with Windows Media Player, developer InterVideo said Tues. Xpacks are available for online purchase at www.intervideo.com.
Westwood Studios is giving away more than 180 prizes through Nov. 16 -- 9 prizes each weekday -- to Yuri’s Revenge tournament ladder players. Prizes include Web cameras and Westwood merchandise, Electronic Arts publishing division said.
Multimedia product developer Vialta reported $9 million loss for 3rd quarter ended Sept. 30, vs. $7.7 million loss in same quarter year earlier. Company, which recently started shipping ViDVD players to national accounts, said greater loss was from $1.1 million in additional amortization expense and write-off of certain investments. CEO Didier Pietri said company believed “this is an opportune time to introduce a multimedia player to the consumer marketplace,” citing intent-to-buy surveys showing that half of existing non-DVD owners expected to purchase DVD player in next 12 months.
VoiceGenie Technologies and mobile entertainment software company JSmart announced partnership to co-market JSmart voice- activated games running on VoiceGenie VoiceXML Gateway in Europe. Games from JSmart include Head-2-Head Trivia. VoiceGenie Strategy & Business Development Vp Eric Jackson said company, “in the past 2 quarters… has gained significant customers in Europe” for its voice-activation services and “with this partnership, we expect that growth to accelerate.” Interest in voice-activated services in U.S. has trailed Europe, he suggested, saying “unlike North Americans, European consumers are accustomed to usage fees for value-added services.”
U.K. court denied CD counterfeiter’s appeal for reduction of 30-month prison term. Appeals court said sentence was appropriate in case of John Gleeson, convicted on 19 counts of unauthorized possession of trademarked goods under 1994 Trademarks Act for producing copies of commercially available CDs.