Film and TV actor Joe Pantoliano, who appears on HBO’s The Sopranos, will be in episode 4 of Electronic Arts’ (EA) online game Majestic. Pantoliano will play blackballed investigative journalist Tim Pritchard. For his work on EA’s game, Pantoliano spent 2 days filming and one day in studio to record voice mail messages that Majestic players will receive, game maker said.
Zight reached agreement with Baranti to work on design of its microdisplays targeting “wearable” PCs and home entertainment products. Baranti previously had worked on Zight’s reference design for near-eye applications such as head-mounted displays (HMD) using 0.47” microdisplay with 800x600 resolution. At same time, volume production of 0.25” microdisplay with 320x240 resolution is set for Nov., said Mktg. Dir. Rainer Kuhn, who declined to identify manufacturer. Zight began sample production of 0.25” at Hana MicroDisplay in first quarter and was expected to offer volume manufacturing in following quarter. Meanwhile, Zight is “still moving forward” with Polaroid, despite latter’s recently having filed for bankruptcy protection, Kuhn said. Polaroid has shown digital camera with 0.47” microdisplay as viewfinder. I/O Display also is expected to ship i-Glasses HMD with 0.47” in Nov.
Jay Samit, senior vp for new media, EMI Recorded Music, named keynoter for Surround 2001 conference, Dec. 7-8, Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills.
European technology associations are to open Web site showcasing digital tools available for compensating copyright owners for private copying without penalizing consumers. European Information, Communications & Consumer Electronics Technology Industry Assn. (EICTA) and Belgian Multisector Federation for Technology Industry will roll out site, www.eicta.org/levies, Nov. 6 in Brussels, they said. Site will show why existing levy system and its extension to digital equipment is “outdated and unfair to rights holders, consumers and the European ICT industry,” they said.
Disney’s classic animation Dumbo was to make DVD debut today coinciding with movie’s 60th anniversary.
EA Games division of Electronic Arts said E-rated PC game Motor City Online went gold and will ship Oct. 30 at $39.99. Title allows players to build and race own collection of custom cars with thousands of other players online. Separately, EA updated its official Web site for upcoming PlayStation 2 game James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire with new details. Update included first look at “Cold Reception” first-person action level set in Swiss Alps and “Night of the Jackal” first-person action level set inside and outside British Embassy in Bucharest. Also given was sneak peek of 3 female villains from game -- Twins and Carla the Jackal. T-rated (Teen) game will ship Nov. 13 at $49.99.
Sony, fresh from signing long-term licensing pact with TiVo, also has struck agreement for personal video recorders (PVRs) with Gemstar-TV Guide International, which is suing TiVo for patent infringement. TiVo countersued Gemstar seeking damages for antitrust violations.
DVD maker Apex Digital said it reached licensing agreement with Microsoft to incorporate playback for latter’s High Definition Compatible Digital (HDCD) CDs and Windows Media Audio on 4 million Apex DVD players next year. Last year, Microsoft bought HDCD developer Pacific Microsonics to get foothold in high-end audio processing and playback. Apex plans news conference at CES, Jan. 8 at 10:15 a.m.. to announce new programs and products, including 43” and 50” rear-projection TVs. Company spokesman told us it had just received first 20”, 24” and 27” direct-view sets.
Music-based game Rez from Sega will ship for PlayStation 2 in Jan. Title was created by Sega’s United Game Artist (UGA) development studio and its pres., Tetsuya Mizuguchi.
Sega joined growing list of companies throwing support behind digital wireless communications service provider Qualcomm’s Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless (BREW) applications platform. But it was unclear at our deadline Mon. precisely what Sega’s plans were on BREW. Qualcomm also said it signed nonbinding memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with Japanese phone makers Hitachi, Panasonic, Toshiba. Specifics of those deals weren’t explained either, but it seemed likely that manufacturers were looking to add BREW compatibility into new handsets. Qualcomm said BREW offered developers, OEMs and carriers complete, end-to-end solution for wireless applications development, device configuration, application distribution, billing and payment.