EMA Multimedia completed original interface design and multimedia production on Tony Hawk Inside Out CD-ROM for Maverick Records. Cross-platform CD-ROM is accompanying Music From and Inspired By Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 soundtrack that starts shipping today (Tues.). Interactive design and production studio EMA, based in Century City, Cal., said bonus CD featured exclusive footage of title skateboarder’s career highlights and exclusive preview of Activision videogame Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3.

Videogame accessory maker Nuby Interactive (NI) started shipping first product in exclusive N. American distribution agreement with Act Labs. NI, based in Hauppauge, N.Y., signed 5-year agreement with Act, based in Richmond, B.C., last year. Deal calls for NI to distribute PC and videogame peripherals from Act. First product to ship is GPL USB Shifter at $69.99, which was designed to be used with all PC racing wheels and systems. Nuby said it expected to ship Performance Pedals for PC later this month. Shifter and Pedals are first 2 products from Act that are part of recently announced Proline performance components. Line of Xbox-compatible peripherals from Nuby will start shipping next month to coincide with rollout of game system in U.S.

Right Start (RS) funded purchase of retailer Zany Brainy (ZB) by issuing preferred stock to Athanor Holdings and Kayne Anderson Investment Management, according to SEC filing. RS issued 11,919 shares of Series E convertible preferred stock to Athanor that can be converted into 8.3 million shares at $1.43. Kayne Anderson was granted 2,200 shares of Series G preferred that can be converted to 2.2 million shares at $2.50. Athanor also gained right to name 3 people to RS board. To accommodate conversion, RS said it would file proxy asking shareholders to approve expanding number of common stock outstanding to 75 million from 25 million. On fully diluted basis, Athanor could control 40.5% of RS’s outstanding common before effect of employee and director options is factored in. In acquiring ZB earlier this year, RS paid $11.7 million cash and issued 1.1 million shares and assumed $85 million in liabilities. RS, which operates 68 stores in 13 states, has said it would maintain ZB as standalone chain of 175 stores in 34 states. In buying ZB out of bankruptcy, RS closed 12 stores and plans to construct “boutiques” inside ZB outlets with its mix of developmental toys for infants and toddlers.

Ultra CompactFlash line of high-speed storage cards was introduced Mon. by SanDisk. New cards are designed to be used by advanced photographers with high-performance digital cameras that require advanced cards to quickly shoot many high-resolution images, Sunnyvale, Cal., company said. New card has sustained write speed of up to 2.8 Mbps, which SanDisk said was more than twice sustained write speed of company’s standard CompactFlash products. They also are fully compatible and interchangeable with all CF digital cameras, CF card readers and adapters, company said. New cards are available in 128, 192, 256, 384 and 512 MB at prices of $100-$500, representing slight premium over standard CF cards. Company said it would start shipping new cards “immediately in the U.S. and worldwide, with the exception of Japan, which will start shipping next month.” SanDisk Senior Worldwide Sales and Mktg. Vp Nelson Chan said: “The technology behind SanDisk Ultra CF cards employs advanced controller algorithms to enhance the performance for use in the latest generation of… new high-megapixel digital cameras.” Camera manufacturers that indicated they would be supporting new SanDisk cards included Canon and Nikon.

Equator Technologies unveiled new media processor that boosts speed to 333 MHz from 297 MHz in targeting set-top box (STB) applications. MAP-BSP-15, which is to be available in sample quantities in first quarter 2002, had been expected to ship in May. Processor will be built by Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. Corp. using 0.15-micron fabrication process, step up from 0.25-micron technology employed by Hitachi, which built earlier version of chip. New chip is expected to be priced at $40 in volumes of 200,000. Acer and Samsung earlier this year signed agreements to deploy processor in cable and ADSL STBs respectively.

FCC Wireless Bureau set June 19 start date for auction of broadcast Ch. 60-69 spectrum, which is expected to be used for wireless devices. New date is close to June 15 auction opener that Paxson Communications recently had sought for bidding on 747-762 and 777-792 MHz bands.

Game maker Majesco began shipping Boxing Fever for Game Boy Advance. Title was developed by Montreal-based Digital Fiction.

Aug. DTV dollar sales to dealers climbed 69.2% to $243.89 million from $144.12 million in same month year earlier, CEA said. Figures include DTV-ready sets and those sold with integrated decoders. For year’s first 34 weeks, dollar shipments of DTV were up 101.5% to $1.34 billion from year ago. Total TV shipments in Aug. were down 4.5% because analog set sales fell 21% to $508.92 million from $644.09 million. For year, total shipments fell 6.6% on 20.9% drop in analog sales to $3.98 billion from $5.03 billion.

Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) plans to buy 19% stake in Japanese game maker Square as part of Yen 14.9 billion ($124.4 million) deal. Sony, which currently holds no stake in Square, will buy 11.2 million newSquare shares at $11 each. Deal, expected to close Oct. 26, would make SCE 2nd-largest shareholder in Square. Companies plan to collaborate on online games as well as titles for Sony’s PlayStation 2.

Cybiko games have been made available for Java technology-enabled handsets from Motorola. Games include skateboarding action game Blazing Boards, Dice Extreme, logic game Funny Balls, stock portfolio game Phat Case. Each game can be downloaded online at www.nextel.com/idenupdate. Prices are $5-$8. Motorola started shipping first 3 Java 2 Platform Micro Edition (J2ME) technology-enabled mobile phones -- i50sx, i55sr, i85s -- earlier this year in N. America. Companies said J2ME technology enabled user to customize phone by downloading variety of applications, including games and productivity tools to meet users’ individual needs. Motorola Vp-U.S. Mkt. Operations Peter Aloumanis said: “By offering application-upgradeable handsets, we are allowing mobile phones to serve multiple purposes -- including the ability to entertain. Cybiko’s games will appeal to game enthusiasts as well as business users, who can access their favorite games at any time, whether they are stuck in traffic in the back of a taxi or waiting for an appointment.” Although wireless gaming has become big market in Asia and Europe, wireless platforms including cellphones and PDAs have yet to find same kind of popularity in U.S.