Silicon Image COO Steve Tirado acquired 5,000 shares in Nov. at $1.62, boosting total holdings to 800,314 shares, according to SEC filing.

Purported pirate DVD of Disney movie whose picture vanished after few plays was demonstrated by British official on popular TV show there last week -- but as of Wed. neither official, show’s producers nor studio could shed any light on disappearing act that might have been staged and mistaken.

Downloadable spoken audio provider Audible said it would provide audio content for RealNetworks’ RealOne service. RealNetworks Programming Vp Scott Ehrlich said Audible content has “been very popular to visitors at Real.com.”

Nuwave Technologies entered into strategic alliance with CE accessory distributor/manufacturer Gemini Industries, companies revealed Wed. As part of deal -- financial terms of which weren’t disclosed -- Gemini was granted exclusive license to distribute and market Nuwave’s Video Game Enhancer (VGE) in N. America. Gemini, which already sells products under Magnavox, Philips and Zenith brands, placed first VGE order consisting of combination of existing finished goods inventory and Nuwave’s proprietary application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chips, for total of 25,000 units in 2001 with guaranteed annual quotas over next 5 years. Nuwave CEO Jerry Zarin told us quotas in question were “not a fixed amount.” Gemini also received “right of first offer” on future versions of VGE as well as future video and image enhancement set-top boxes from Nuwave for retail distribution. Nuwave has been distributing and marketing VGE, which company said improves TV picture quality of games played on consoles, on its own since accessory went on sale 5 months ago. In that time, Nuwave has been able to get VGE distributed by retailers including Electronics Boutique, GameStop, J&R Music & Computer World. Most recent distribution deals were signed with retailers including BestBuy.com, BrandsMart USA, Datavision, Trans World’s FYE chain. But Zarin told us Gemini deal offered 2 main benefits for his company: “We now have access to over 17,000 retail storefronts that Gemini has in their customer base that we previously didn’t have access to. Some of those include the Wal-Marts and the Best Buys of the world and Circuit City… The 2nd benefit is that by giving the license to the product to Gemini, it enables us to refocus our resources and our assets more on developing new technologies into new products to introduce into the marketplace. So we can save an enormous amount of money that normally would be spent on expensive marketing and advertising costs that now will fall on [Gemini’s] shoulders.”

Ultimate Electronics reached agreement with Wells Fargo Retail Finance on new $80 million credit facility. New pact replaces 3-year, $40-million facility with Foothill Capital that expired this year. Ultimate has more than $60 million currently available under new agreement. Pact will reduce annual interest costs by $100,000, CFO Alan Kessock said.

Retailer Movie Gallery said it would acquire Video Update stores Thurs., now that latter’s reorganization plan had been confirmed by U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Camden, N.J. Dothan, Ala.- based Movie Gallery said addition of 320 Video Update locations would give it 1,410 outlets in 41 states and 5 Canadian provinces. Separately, chain also is acquiring 48 VHQ Entertainment stores in Canada.

Sanyo Electric plans work-sharing system to avoid layoffs and pare costs, company said Wed. Under new system proposed for union contract, employees would work fewer hours and receive lower pay. Sanyo spokesman said arrangement would be temporary, running 6 months to 3 years. Extent of reductions in hours and pay hadn’t been decided, he said.

Handspring has raised $48.5 million in new capital through combination of $10 million investment in company by Qualcomm and 7-million-share follow-on offering ($38.5 million). Qualcomm, which licenses its CDMA wireless technology to Handspring, will buy 1.8 million shares to get 1.5% stake in handheld PC developer. Financial agreements appeared to assuage analysts, many of whom had grown concerned about company’s cash situation. New $48.5 million in capital will be added to $75 million cash and investments Handspring is expected to have at year-end, Robertson Stephens analyst Michael Kim said. Handspring, which is expected to ship GSM-based Treo handheld PC/cellular phone in Jan., will deliver CDMA model within 12 months, company said. Meanwhile, rival Palm was expected to release 3rd quarter earnings Wed. after our deadline. Sales for quarter ended Sept. 30 were expected to be $254 million, down from $522 million year ago as Palm swung to 7? loss from 5? profit.

Universal Interactive (UI) said Crash Bandicoot was official sponsor of Alien Ant Farm concert at House of Blues Dec. 22. Game character Crash is featured in Universal’s recently released Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cordex -- title that marks his first appearance on PS2. UI and House of Blues Entertainment also announced online contest with grand prize of trip for 2 to L.A. to see concert. Game maker said sponsorship of band was part of “national grass-roots consumer outreach tour and multimillion-dollar advertising campaign” backing game’s release.

Rent-Way (RW), struggling to right itself after accounting scandal, said 4th-quarter loss narrowed to $25.4 million from $31.7 million year ago as it pared inventory to make push in high-definition-ready TVs. Loss included $18.1 million in charges, $10.5 million of them for restructuring that involved closing 45 stores. Chain has shut another 15 stores since quarter closed Sept. 30. Charges also covered $1.8 million related to investigation into accounting scandal that broke last fall and resulted in chain’s having to restate earnings for previous 3 fiscal years.