Proposed sale of Hughes Electronics, owner of DirecTV, to EchoStar for $26 billion may augur change in retail distribution. DirecTV, which has 10.3 million subscribers, had dominated retail sales largely because of incentive package it offered dealers who agreed to sell service exclusively. Dealers that also sold EchoStar received less support from DirecTV in terms of funding for promotions. EchoStar, whose largest retailer was Sears, also sold Digital Sky Highway (DISH) service through independent chains including P.C. Richard in N.Y.C. and Sight ‘n Sound in Oklahoma City. It, along with Sears, sued DirecTV in 2000, alleging violations of antitrust law, and both cases are pending. EchoStar has 6.4 million subscribers.

There’s 50-50 chance DirecTV-EchoStar merger will be blocked by antitrust regulators, said former Justice Dept. Antitrust Div. Chief Don Baker. Baker, who worked as staffer 1966-1975, was appointed by President Ford in 1976, and now is partner in Baker & Miller antitrust law firm. “Clearly there are a couple of different issues,” Baker told us. He and other attorneys said EchoStar faced uphill regulatory battle, but they said hiring antitrust lawyer David Boies should help. Former DoJ telecom legal expert Don Russell now is top EchoStar lawyer.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 will be introduce title for Nintendo GameCube, Activision announced Mon. T-rated (Teen) game was developed by Neversoft Entertainment and will be priced at $49.99. Latest entry in popular skateboarding series from Santa Monica, Cal., game maker will allow players to create their own custom characters via Create-A-Skate feature. Separately, company said late last week that its E-rated (Everyone) PC game Supercar Street Challenge had gone gold and was ready to ship at $39.99.

YP-30S Yepp joined widening line of digital audio players from Samsung Electronics America. New wearable device at $169.99 features download speed of 7 Mbps, which Samsung said made it “fastest unit on the market.” Device comes bundled with Rio Port Digital Music software and 64 MB of embedded memory, which Samsung said allowed it to download up to 64 min. of high-quality (128 kbps) music in less than 10 sec. Unit can be worn around arm or neck via included straps or attached to clothing with included belt clip. YP-30S also is smallest digital audio player from company to date, measuring 1.7” (W) x 2.5” (H) x .67” (D). Retailers carrying device include Best Buy, CompUSA, Musicland.

Word of mouth will drive telematics adoption, said Ebrain Market research, div. of CEA. While only 3% U.S. households own telematics device, almost 90% of auto owners are aware of technology, report said. Of those aware of telematics devices, 14% have used one, most on autos other than own including rentals. Reaction is “overwhelmingly positive” and 83% found telematics product “very or somewhat useful,” report said: “Key to increasing sales may be to get consumers to try one at various public events.” Consumer interest is driven by increased safety features including ability to send distress signals, monitor auto maintenance and traffic information, ability to obtain maps, it said. In separate report, Allied Business Intelligence predicted worldwide market for telematics in personal vehicles will reach $13 billion by 2006 from $3 billion today. Recurring annual service revenue by auto makers and other service providers will account for more than $4 billion of $13 billion total, it said.

Interplay Streaming Games rental Web site -- https://interplay.streamtheory.com/home -- was started by game maker Interplay and streaming delivery service provider Stream Theory. Web site streams PC games direct to consumers who have broadband capability at monthly cost of $5.99 per game. Cal Morrell, pres. of game maker’s Interplay.com online division, said his company had “been working with Stream Theory for over a year and we're impressed both with their technology and the acceptance we have received from our fan base.” He said Stream Theory’s “security features and gamer experience gave us a high level of confidence to rent games, [including MDK2], Fallout and Virtual Pool series, on our own Web site.” Gamers who use streaming service use 1.9 MB Stream Theory Player on their PC. Companies said “because the software is streamed to the users’ desktop, there is no installation, no downloading and no uninstalling of files” so “users can simply play the game without having to worry about the game affecting their desktop settings or hard drive.”

EA Games started shipping Cel Damage for Xbox. However, icrosoft game console itself won’t be available until Nov. 15 in N. America. Title was one of standout games shown by Electronic Arts in N.Y. last week at new product showcase at Studio 54. GameCube version of title is due to ship by year-end.

At our deadline there was no explanation or reaction to astonishing $500 price cut that headlined debut of Panasonic DVD- RAM recorder at Best Buy, N.Y. area chain The Wiz and other retailers last weekend. New DMR-E20 deck hit street at $999.99 - - steep cut from $1,495.99 MSRP Panasonic announced at June preview. Surprise change came just as rival format Philips DVD+RW and Pioneer DVD-RW decks wended way to market at $2,000 and $2,800 MSRP, respectively (Pioneer has said recorder should street at $2,500). Explanation for pricing change hadn’t been received from Panasonic, Philips or Pioneer by our deadline. Blank discs for DMR-E20 were advertised as $14.99 for write-once DVD-R media and $34.99 for 3-pack of rewritable DVD-RAM blanks -- each in line with what Panasonic forecast this summer.

Consumers who purchase Shrek DVD or VHS will get prepackaged coupon redeemable at Burger King for 2 sausage, egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches for $2. Promotional tie-in is to support Shrek’s home video release Nov. 2.

Cambridge Display Technology (CDT) and DuPont Displays signed cross-licensing agreement for patents covering polymer organic light-emissive displays (PLEDs) that companies will use to develop displays for cellular phones, handheld PCs, other products.