Hollywood

This is exactly how the Hollywood studios want the online video sector to look: several companies paying for and distributing their content while competing on things like convenience and price.

Disney has renewed a licensing agreement with Netflix and penned a new deal with Amazon that will give both a crack at much of the same content.

Netflix will continue to offer on its streaming service past seasons of Disney's "Hannah Montana" and of Disney-owned ABC's "Ugly Betty," "Grey's Anatomy," and "Lost." Amazon's deals also brings many of … Read more

HOLLYWOOD, Calif.--Saint's Row: The Third, the new crime- and mayhem-based video game from THQ, was the centerpiece of a big premiere party and media event last week at Supperclub here, drawing a few B-list celebrities and serving up all the rail drinks the L.A. professional party crowd could stomach.

I came to the shindig hoping to give you more information than that, but the party had about as much to do with the criminal syndicate/gang violence-themed video game as it did the lingerie shop across The Walk of Fame. There were pole dancers. There were contortionists. … Read more

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif.--To celebrate today's release of the eagerly awaited Batman: Arkham City, Rocksteady Studios and Warner Brothers Interactive last night transformed the GameStop store on the outer fringes of Hollywood into a mini Gotham City where bleary eyed fans could snag a late-night copy of the PS3 and Xbox 360 title.

About 200 fans of varying ages (some in event-appropriate costumed attire) waited patiently outside the store until the doors opened and the store welcomed them into a mock-up of the game's seedy urban world. Those in attendance had a chance to meet game writer Paul Dini, and they could win prizes (such as two life-size Batman statues on display). … Read more

A group of technology and entertainment companies appears to have defied the doubters and is actually launching a new cloud-video platform--thanks in large part to Time Warner's HBO.

UltraViolet (UV) is the name for a set of standards and technology designed to enable consumers to store their movies and TV shows in the cloud. Participating retailers and services will store customers' video on their servers and then users can view the films on a wide assortment of devices from member consumer-electronics makers.

UV is what most of the Hollywood film studios, as well as many others connected to online-movie … Read more

There's never been a movie studio with an unbroken streak of hit movies like Pixar. From the original "Toy Story" to "Finding Nemo" to "Cars," "Ratatouille," and "Toy Story 3," the animation wizards at Pixar have won over the industry, forcing Hollywood to change how it makes films, and it's made billions in the process.

And it never would have happened without Steve Jobs.

Pixar began as a division of George Lucas' LucasFilm, working on the development of imaging technology and its own imaging computer. But inside, some … Read more

commentary Microsoft just turned Xbox into the Swiss Army Knife of cable boxes.

Forget calling Xbox a game console. That doesn't go far enough. Microsoft today announced licensing deals with 40 television content suppliers, including Comcast, HBO, Verizon and even Vevo, a music-video service.

Microsoft can tell consumers, any kind of entertainment you want--games, movies, music--we got it. One important caveat: the price isn't cheap. To watch shows from HBO or Comcast on the Xbox, you have to subscribe to those services.

If you're one of the cost-conscious people who railed against Netflix after the Web's … Read more

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos served notice today that his company is very much a Netflix competitor.

Some analysts predicted that Amazon would not make a serious effort in online video distribution. But at a press event in New York this morning, Amazon kicked Netflix where it hurts the most right now: price and value. The Web's largest retailer announced a series of new electronic readers as well as a tablet computer called the Kindle Fire (See CNET's first look at the device). Amazon wrapped the tablet into a hard-to-beat offer for many movie fans.

Not only is the … Read more

It's widely expected that tomorrow in New York, Amazon will unveil its much-anticipated tablet, the device many headline writers promise will at least maim the iPad, if not commit a full-blown 187 on its ass. So why does it feel like the year the Sega Genesis came out and I got a clearance-shelf Sega Master system for Christmas?

Probably because the tablet that we'll reportedly see Jeff Bezos introduce this week--the Kindle Fire, a 7-inch, backlit tablet modeled after RIM's PlayBook with Wi-Fi only and no camera--is not the coolest tablet Amazon has been working on.

Since the spring, we've heard rumors, tips from anonymous sources, and analysts all describing Amazon's work on two tablets--a 7-incher and a 10-inch version that could feature all sorts of goodies, including free 3G, free Amazon Prime, and a dual-mode option that makes it possible to flip between a backlight and e-ink.

But for the past month, it seems that Amazon has decided to turn its attention to getting out only the smaller tablet for the holiday shopping season. Unfortunately, the tablet/e-reader/whatever that will be introduced tomorrow will likely be the one we've known all summer by its code name, "Coyote"--a scavenging canine that feeds on nature's scraps in its most harsh environments--and not the larger one with all the sweet goodies code-named "Hollywood"--the center of all that is decadent and glamorous in our universe.… Read more

Is Netflix desperate to generate positive news?

Sure seems that way. Someone gave The New York Times a heads up on a licensing deal that Netflix signed with DreamWorks Animation, the home of such films as "Shrek" and "How to Train Your Dragon," and the paper wrote a breathless story about the agreement.

But the details of the pact make it clear the partnership doesn't warrant the Times' goose-pimply reaction.

The paper made much of how DreamWorks is walking away from a licensing deal with HBO, the dominant pay TV service. This is supposed to … Read more