Filed under: GAMING
Activision Blizzard reported revenue of $981 million in the first three months of the year along with a tidy profit of $189 million, compared with $43 million in the year-earlier period. The company got strong performances from new versions of popular titles such as "Guitar Hero" and "Call of Duty," and Chief Executive Officer Bobby Kotick declared that video games are "in the best position of any industry that’s in media or leisure." The Wall Street Journal (5/8)
Nintendo said that this fall it will release in Japan updates of industry classics Pokemon Gold and Pokemon Silver so that they can be played by a new generation of gamers … on their DS consoles. The new versions will be dubbed "Pokemon Heart Gold" and "Soul Silver" and could, according to this report, come to North American shores in 2010. GameDaily BIZ (5/8)
Filed under: TECHNOLOGY
The dismal economy in the first three months of the year did not slow shipment of liquid-crystal display flat-panel TV sets, according to iSuppli, which said shipments were up 10.5% during the period, to 6.3 million units. The recession did, however, help value-conscious Vizio rise above the rest and take the No. 1 position among LCD makers. TWICE (5/8) , InformationWeek (5/8) , Digital Trends (5/8)
Technicians are working on a smaller version of the HDMI connector that, according to this article, could be included in updates to the 19-pin port this fall or sooner. The mini HDMI, which could be used in portable electronics devices, measures 0.25 inches wide by 0.1 inches tall as opposed to the traditional version, which is 0.55 inches by 0.16 inches. Electronista (5/8)
To give its new netbooks a huge marketing push and plenty of display space, Verizon Wireless will pull the four-month-old "Hub" Internet home phone from its stores, although the carrier will continue to market the device online, according to sources familiar with the matter. At a $200 price tag, Verizon Wireless will subsidize the netbooks if customers sign up for a data contract starting at $35 a month. The New York Times/GigaOm (5/11) , The Wall Street Journal (5/8)
Filed under: MISC
Blockbuster, the movie-rental company that was once the only game in town, now finds itself scurrying for market share against a number of competitors on a variety of fronts, including online and in vending machines, according to this report. The once-dominant player in the video space reports its quarterly earnings on Thursday. The Wall Street Journal (5/11)
The new "Star Trek" film, from Viacom’s Paramount Pictures, opened with $72.5 million in ticket sales, the best debut in the 11-movie franchise. The debut may pave the way for still more "Star Trek" films. The media giant is likely to reap additional revenue from spin-off consumer products. (Iwantmedia 5/11, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aNsNjedi7cp4 5/10)
