Target has established a new partnership with Apple to establish a dedicated Target area on iTunes. The portal will feature a variety of exclusive albums that will only be available through Target, Target.com, iTunes and other select retailers. The special section will also include a variety of other content such as bonus tracks, videos, iPhone apps, and more.
Key digital video architect MPEG LA has filed a lawsuit against Haier America for allegedly infringing on patents it holds for technology used in digital TVs. The complaint was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and maintains Haier's TVs in the US are sold without the needed patent licenses for the country.
Exactly one quarter of all music sold in the US now comes from iTunes, the NPD Group said today. Its portion of the market for the first half of 2009 is up from 21 percent in 2008 and represents 69 percent of the digital-only market. By comparison, Walmart now has just 14 percent of all music while Best Buy claims third place with an unspecified amount. In digital, Amazon MP3 is a distant second with just 8 percent of the market.
Sony will reportedly begin shipping a new PlayStation 3 bundle to Target stores starting on March 29th, set to include an 80GB console along with what are now Greatest Hits; the original MotorStorm racing game and Resistance: Fall of Man shoot 'em up. MotorStorm dates back to March of 2007 and was bundled on its own with a PS3, while Resistance is even older, having launched in November of 2006. The bundle is perceived to be a weak attempt to make the system more appealing by adding value to it, as Sony still refuses to discount, despite current economic conditions and lower-priced Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii rivals.
A Tuesday report has the majority of the big movie studios and distributors supporting a plan put forth by Sony Pictures that would decrease the restrictions Digital Rights Management (DRM) imposes on users' ability to enjoy their purchased videos and movies. Last year, Sony Pictures proposed a set of policies and software and service framework it called Open Market that would allow larger flexibility of DRM content and let customers enjoy content on various devices they must first register.
Apple's iTunes Store continues to control the US music market, a new batch of surveys suggests. Following several polls of Americans 13 and older, conducted between January and June of this year, the NPD Group says that iTunes maintained an existing lead, despite competition from major, firmly established corporations. The results are are also notable in that they reflect all forms of music sales, including not just iTunes' digital specialty but online and retail CD sales. Excluded are non-permanent options like the subscription services offered by Rhapsody and Napster.
