First pirate DVDs of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone to emerge in U.K. were seized Sun. in London, Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) reported Mon. Group said police and FACT investigators impounded 20 remaining counterfeit copies of hit Warner movie from Chinese stall owner in open air market, along with ?500 (about $715) in proceeds from bootleg sales through 10 a.m. Quality and other details of pirate disc were being assessed Mon. -- such as how 3-hour-plus movie is made to fit on nominally 2-hour DVD. MPEG-1 Video CD counterfeits of Potter movie have been sold on 2 discs, with ending cut short owing to CD’s 74 min. capacity.
Interplay Entertainment’s Black Isle Studios and console game developer Snowblind Studios said Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance had begun shipping for PS2.
Stereo system with hard drive and Memory Stick storage is available in Japan from Pioneer. System can transfer music from CDs to hard drive and then onto Sony Memory Stick for portable and autosound systems, Japan press report said. Hard Disk Digital Jukebox X-HD1 sells for $833 and has 6 GB hard drive, space equivalent to 100 CDs. Data transfer speed is 5X real time, meaning 60 min. CD can be copied in 12 min. Drive also has titles and artists for 80,000 prerecorded, for display when users plays registered CD.
Spoken audio content service provider Audible opened redesigned gift center at www.audible.com/giftcenter. At Web site, company is offering for first time selection of AudibleReady audio players bundled with 3-, 6- and 12-month AudibleListener memberships.
SonicBlue received patent covering personal video recorder (PVR) with integrated program guide that allows user to record and store TV signals as “personal channels.” Technology first debuted as Replay Zones when ReplayTV marketed PVR before its being acquired by SonicBlue earlier this year.
Buoyed by National Radio Systems Committee (NRSC) endorsement last week to FCC of his company’s in-band, on-channel (IBOC) FM system, iBiquity Digital CEO Robert Struble said timeline still supported commercial introduction of IBOC broadcast equipment at April NAB convention and formal introduction of first consumer receivers in Han. 2003.
Sony Computer Entertainment America) (SCEA) previewed its PlayStation 2 (PS2) game NFL GameDay 2002 at 49ers Goldmine at 3 Com Park for football fans attending San Francisco 49ers vs. Buffalo Bills game Sun.
Acclaim Entertainment started shipping game Legends of Wrestling for PS2 at $49.99. Title was developed by Glen Cove, N.Y., game maker’s Salt Lake City studio and features entirely new next-generation game engine, company said. Forty of world’s most famous wrestlers are included in game, including Hulk Hogan and George “The Animal” Steele.
Broadband video-on-demand service from Vanguard Cinema will use MPEG-4-based compression from DivXNetworks for movie downloads. Movies are available from www.vanguard- cinema.com/divx for 5-day viewing after they're downloaded. “Progressive Download” feature of DivX compression enables viewers to begin watching movie within few min. after download begins.
Electronic Arts said it reached agreement with Arizona Diamondbacks player Luis Gonzalez to be spokesman for EA Sports game Triple Play 2002. As part of deal, Gonzalez will appear on all packaging and merchandising for game and EA will make monetary donation to ball player’s “Kids Going Gonzo for School” program, which rewards economically disadvantaged Arizona students for attendance and effort in school. Bob Costas will provide play-by-play commentary in game, due to ship for PlayStation 2 (PS2) and Xbox in spring. Separately, Redwood City, Cal., game maker 3DO said it had signed Gonzalez’s teammate, pitcher/World Series co-MVP Curt Schilling, to endorsement deal to promote latest edition of company’s High Heat Major League Baseball 2003, scheduled to ship for Game Boy Advance (GBA), PC, PS2. Meanwhile, 3DO said it started shipping GBA title Army Men: Operation Green. It said Army Men series had sold more than 6 million copies across 6 platforms.