Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow for Xbox knocked Take-Two Interactive’s Mafia on PS2 out of the #1 position on the top 10 U.S. rental chart for the week ended April 4, Rentrak’s preliminary Home Video Essentials data showed Thurs. Rentrak said the Ubisoft title moved up 7 notches in its 2nd week by earning $296,273, for $436,944 to date. Mafia fell one to #2 in its 10th week, earning $242,377 in the week, for $2.87 million to date. Ubisoft and Electronic Arts (EA) each had 3 SKUs in the top 10. The other 2 Ubisoft titles were Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield on PS2 at #4 (up 12 in its 2nd week, $229,420 in the week and $336,548 to date) and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Jungle Storm on PS2 at #9 (down 3 in its 3rd week, $165,342 in the week and $399,262 to date). EA’s 3 games were all for PS2: Bond 007: Everything or Nothing at #3 again in its 7th week ($231,237 in the week and $2 million to date), Need for Speed: Underground at #6 (down 2 in its 20th week, $213,406 in the week and $6.74 million to date) and NFL Street at #7 (down 2 in its 12th week, $183,893 in the week and $2.42 million to date). Rounding out the top 10 were Tecmo’s Ninja Gaiden for Xbox at #5 (up 7 in its 5th week, $216,671 in the week and $1.33 million), Nintendo’s Pokemon: Colosseum for GameCube at #8 (up 6 in its 2nd week, $175,014 in the week and $284,859 to date) and Activision’s True Crime: Streets of L.A. for PS2 at #10 (down 3 in its 22nd week, $153,901 in the week and $5.86 million to date).
An informal working group (IWG) on satellite services took the first step Thurs. to prepare for the World Radiocommunication Conference 2007 (WRC-07). The group approved a preliminary “view” on WRC-07 agenda item 1.8, resolution 122. The resolution asks administrations to look at how the results of studies by the ITU Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) affect technical sharing and regulatory provisions for high altitude platform stations (HAPS) that operate in the 47.2-47.5 GHz and 47.9-48.2 GHz bands (V- band). A 2nd resolution (145) addressing HAPS in the 27.5- 28.35 GHz and 31-31.3 GHz bands wasn’t addressed in the view. After WRC-2000, an ITU-R recommendation had been adopted establishing that co-frequency operations between fixed service (FS) HAPS and fixed satellite service (FSS) networks and systems are feasible. According to additional background information in the preliminary view, the ITU-R was asked at WRC-03 to study a number of sharing issues, including power limitations for sharing with space stations and ground receivers; HAPS deployment in the FS near country borders; and sharing criteria for FS HAPS with radio astronomy and FSS systems. The IWG’s preliminary view confirms that the U.S. plans to participate in the studies on “power limitations to be applied to HAPS ground stations to protect space station receivers.” Additionally, the view said the U.S. had an affirmative opinion on co-frequency sharing between FS HAPS and FSS in the identified bands: “With that, there no longer is any need for resolution 122, the restrictions it perpetuates on FSS notices in Region 1 and 3, or the limitless privileges it extends to HAPS notices. Resolution 122 should be suppressed.” A 2nd draft was considered but not approved Thurs. Agenda item 1.18 asks administrations to “review [power flux density] limits in band 17.7-19.7 GHz for satellite systems using highly inclined orbits, in accordance with resolution 141 (WRC-03).” The IWG plans 2 additional meetings, May 12 and 27, to complete all preliminary views before a June 8 meeting of the WRC-07 Advisory Committee in June.
3M has filed suit alleging the light engines built into Samsung’s DLP-based rear projection TVs infringe patents on light engine design technology that 3M acquired when it bought Corning Precision Lens (CPL) 2 years ago.
Canada’s telecom regulator said Wed. it sees little difference between traditional phone service and VoIP, suggesting they should be subject to the same regulations: “Voice communications services using IP …have characteristics that are functionally the same as circuit- switched voice telecommunications services,” the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) said in a notice launching a public review on the issue.
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued a notice stating that it has postponed the preliminary antidumping (AD) duty determinations on carbazole violet pigment 23 from China and India to June 18, 2004 (from April 29, 2004).
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) will use Eutelsat capacity to transmit the Athens Olympic Games this summer, EBU said. EBU will use the capacity starting Aug. 2 for testing, then from Aug. 11-29 for preliminary games, the opening ceremony and all Olympic events, the EBU said. The new agreement -- terms not announced -- includes 4 wideband transponders total for 306 MHz of Ku-band capacity on the Atlantic Bird 3, e-Bird and W3A satellites. EBU will also use the capacity Sept. 17-28 for the Paralympic Games in Athens, it said. EBU will provide private direct point-to- point circuits from its teleport to the temporary hq of different TV channels in Athens, in addition to 800 hours of live event coverage, EBU said.
The Journal of Commerce reports that non-vessel-operating common carriers (NVOCCs) have much to gain and lose in the outcome of Norfolk Southern Railway vs. Kirby which will be heard by the Supreme Court this fall. On the one hand, NVOCCs could win affirmation of their status as ocean carriers, not agents of shippers. On the other, the court's decision could open the door for shippers who have tendered cargo to an NVOCC to only be bound by the terms of the NVOCC's bill of lading, and therefore be free to collect full damages from any party in the supply chain. (See ITT's Online Archives or 03/29/04 news, (Ref:04032999 for earlier summary.)(JoC, dated March 22-28, 2004, www.joc.com )
Nintendo of America (NOA) told an analyst briefing in N.Y.C. late last week it was bullish on the Game Boy Advance (GBA) Wireless Adapter. It said the adapter, which allows players to compete head-to-head without the use of cords, will be packaged with the Sept. releases of the games Pokemon Fire Red and Pokemon Leaf Green in the U.S. NOA said “more than 2 million copies” of those titles, including the adapter, were sold in Japan since they shipped at the end of Jan. The company said Mario Golf: Advance Tour, to ship for GBA June 28, will also make use of the adapter, which will be sold separately. NOA also noted that GBA Video cartridges -- each containing 2 cartoons that can be played on the handheld game systems -- will start shipping in June. Of the upcoming Classic Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) Series games slated to ship June 7 for GBA in the U.S. (CED March 30 p9), NOA said sales have been strong in Japan. It said “more than 900,000 of these classic games sold in 4 weeks” there. It said other upcoming GBA titles in the U.S. include Mario vs. Donkey Kong (May 24), Hamtaro 4 (July), F-Zero 2 (Sept.) and Mario Pinball, Donkey Kong Country 2, Mario Tennis, a new Kirby game and a handheld Mario Party title (4th quarter). Upcoming GameCube titles, meanwhile, include WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$ (April 5), Custom Robo (May 10), The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (June 7), Pikmin 2 (Aug.), Donkey Konga (Sept.) and Paper Mario 2, Geist, Metroid Prime 2, Star Fox 2, Mario Tennis and Mario Party 6 (Q4). The company also plans to ship a higher-capacity 1019 Memory Card for GameCube later this year. Separately, NOA’s parent company revised its preliminary financial estimates late last week in Japan. Nintendo said it now expected to report that full fiscal year consolidated sales and operating profits will “increase marginally over the previous year.” But it warned that there will be “a substantial drop in net profits due mainly to paper losses stemming from adverse currency exchange rates.” For the year ended March 31, it said about ?68 billion “was absorbed as foreign exchange loss due in large part to the currency translation of assets held in U.S. and European accounts” (about $6 billion at of the end of the fiscal year). Nintendo said it now expected to post ?33 billion profit for the year vs. the ?54 billion estimate it had made in Jan. But the company said it still expected ?510 billion sales. The results would compare to the ?67.27 billion profit on ?504.13 billion in sales that it reported for the year ended March 31, 2003. Nintendo said that “although full fiscal year details and forecasts for the following year won’t be released until late May,” it “does foresee projected increases for both sales and operating profits for the year beginning April 1, 2004.”
Although Disney sees huge advantages in commercializing the next-generation optical disc, the company isn’t in a rush for HD- DVD or Blu-ray to arrive, CEO Michael Eisner told a Credit Suisse First Boston analyst meeting in L.A. last week.
Although PVRs are viewed as “a threat” to broadcasters and advertisers, they should spur more TV viewing, Disney COO Robert Iger told a Credit Suisse First Boston analyst meeting in L.A. last week. He said Disney had “done some preliminary research” on how PVRs impacted advertising. The “good news,” he said, was that “we all seem to be in this together” and advertisers and broadcasters seemed to be on the same page. He said “if the PVR may put advertising in its traditional form in peril, the advertisers realize that they need to figure out a solution -- just as those that are selling the time on their networks need to figure out a solution.” Iger predicted that we're “going to see dramatic growth in PVRs,” noting he had seen “figures as high as roughly 25 billion installed PVRs in some form or another by the end of 2006.” That meant PVRs were “likely to change the way people access television” and were “going to require much greater cooperation and dialog with advertisers to figure out how [advertising] can be effectively embedded in TV,” he said. Disney believes merely boosting the number of product placements in TV shows won’t make up for the loss of traditional commercials and “most advertisers seem to agree,” Iger said. Disney CEO Michael Eisner said technology such as PVRs “enhances content and people figure out how to use that technology to enhance entertainment in some way.” PVRs, he said, weren’t just for skipping ads. The company noted that viewers like to watch certain ads and suggested that one way to encourage viewers to watch them was for advertisers to make them as entertaining as the typical Super Bowl commercial. Discussing obstacles that Disney’s ABC and other TV networks face competing with other entertainment now, Iger said “we've seen a dramatic increase in time spent” among those who play videogames.