With just less than a month to go before the June 11 launch of ESPN 3D, ESPN and Comcast on Wednesday announced that Comcast is the first cable affiliate to sign on to distribute ESPN 3D to its digital cable customers. ESPN is in “active discussion” with other cable affiliates about ESPN 3D distribution deals, spokeswoman Colleen Lynch told us. ESPN announced an ESPN 3D distribution deal with DirecTV in late March (CED March 30 p9).

Video download prices probably will fall as the market “comes to fruition” from the growing number of Internet-enabled devices running on RoxioNow, Netflix and other platforms, Sonic Solutions CEO David Habiger said Tuesday at the Jefferies investor conference. Sonic recently renamed its Roxio CinemaNow service RoxioNow.

Kodak slashed its spending on trade shows in 2009 by 75 percent versus 2008 and is looking to make more cuts in such spending this year, Chief Marketing Officer Jeffrey Hayzlett told Consumer Electronics Daily at the Streaming Media East conference Tuesday in New York.

Manufacturers seeking to qualify TVs for Energy Star 4.0 that took effect May 1 must state in their lab reports which of two available test procedures were used to test energy use in download acquisition mode, EPA said. EPA on Tuesday authorized the temporary use of a CEA-developed DAM test procedure for hospitality TVs after conceding that Rovi Corp. test procedure prescribed in version 4.1 was not appropriate for TVs used in hotels, restaurants and other hospitality settings (CED May 6 p3).

LOS ANGELES -- Comcast needs to take a page from the programmers’ playbook by better promoting itself and emphasizing content, and from companies including Apple in having easier-to-use devices, CEO Brian Roberts said Tuesday at the NCTA show. Apple’s iPad is the type of device Comcast wants its services to work with, he said, indicating there will be more to come on that subject. Speaking in a Q-and-A with ex-News Corp. President Peter Chernin at the show Monday, Roberts said cable has to do a better job promoting itself.

Sony wants to expand the realm of 3D content to include 3D still images by offering consumers a do-it-yourself option for populating their 3D content libraries. Executives from Sony’s digital imaging products group told reporters in a briefing last week that the company plans to release a firmware upgrade for an upcoming line of 3D-ready hybrid cameras that enables users to create their own 3D digital still content using a panoramic feature on the cameras.

Imax Corp. will seek to license its technology for high-end home entertainment systems to cash in on the growing 3D craze, executives said on a conference call. The company hasn’t disclosed potential alliances or types of products involved.

As Cox Communications rolls out a new “Trio” interactive program guide (IPG) designed to tie together search of linear, on-demand and broadband content, it will continue to seek to have CE manufacturers deploy it in products, the company said. The IPG, which Cox jointly developed with NDS during the past two years, will be deployed in Cisco 8642 tru2way set-top and 1642 client boxes starting in two markets this month and expanding system-wide by year end, said Steve Necessary, vice president of video product development and support. Trio will replace Rovi’s Passport and Cisco’s Sara IPG in digital boxes. Rovi also is unveiling a version of its TotalGuide targeting cable operators at the NCTA convention in Los Angeles this week.

Limited writing by Elena Kagan, nominated Monday to the Supreme Court, about technology, media and intellectual property law means there are few clues about how she would deal with these matters as a justice, lawyers said Monday. “There really isn’t much out there, and most of her articles are descriptive,” said Marvin Ammori, professor at University of Nebraska College of Law. “She discusses different ideas, versus arguing ‘here are the outcomes that should be achieved.’ You can’t really pin her down on which cases she approves of and which cases she doesn’t."

The EPA should make public data from testing for Energy Star compliance, the Natural Resources Defense Council said in comments filed with the agency. Energy Star’s integrity has been called into question by investigations and media reports, the group said. The best way to “proactively build and maintain the integrity of the program is to have a robust off-the-shelf verification testing program that includes complete transparency of the program’s procedures and testing results,” NRDC said. The Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE) said the EPA should set rules that “balance program costs and maintain the value of the program’s integrity."