More of Today’s News Headlines from CDSA

Blockbuster Shareholder Group Decries Bankruptcy Talk (Home Media Magazine) Murdoch May Be Key to Apple’s Plan to Offer 99-Cent Digital Rentals of TV Shows (LA Times) iTunes Song Samples May Double in Length (CNET) Lionsgate’s Summer Success Could Hobble Carl Icahn (The Wrap) Retailers Strike Deals With ‘Glee’ (Brandweek)

Widevine Enables Video Streaming On Best Buy’s Insignia Devices

Widevine is providing Best Buy with streaming video software that will enable service providers to deliver content directly to internet-connected Blu-ray players and other devices marketed under the retailer’s Insignia house brand. The Widevine software platform includes “adaptive streaming” technology for maintaining video quality over ranging Internet connection speeds, as well as virtual DVD-like controls and digital rights management (DRM). Best Buy expects to begin shipping Widevine-equipped Insignia devices during the third quarter. CinemaNow, Best Buy’s own digital video service, also utilizes Widevine technology to deliver video directly to internet-connected devices.

Roku Slashes Prices Of Streaming Set-Tops

Device maker Roku — whose set-top boxes stream content from the likes of Netflix, Amazon.com and MLB.tv — is now marketing all three of its digital video players under $100. The standard-definition, entry-level model now sells for $59.99. Tech pundits such as Ars Technica speculate that Roku’s price drop is a preemptive move to keep the company’s products competitive with Apple’s rumored Apple TV upgrade; more developments on that front, possibly, at Apple’s media event September 1.

As Kindle Heads to Staples, Borders Cuts E-Reader Prices

Amazon.com’s Kindle e-reader — which to date has been sold only online and at Target outlets — is expanding its physical retail presence, heading to 1,500 Staples stores this fall. Meanwhile, the Borders bookstore chain is lowering prices on a pair of rival e-reader devices: the Borders-backed Kobo now sells for $129.99, while a device marketed by Aluratek drops to $99.99. paidContent has more details on programs that Borders, as well as fellow e-reader contender Barnes & Noble, are rolling out in stores to step up competition against Amazon. All Things D, meanwhile, muses that e-reader prices can only drop further.

Microsoft: ‘Gold’ Level Xbox Price Hikes Take Effect In November

Microsoft is raising prices of several Xbox Live subscription levels in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and the UK by as much as 25% beginning November 1. “Gold” level subscribers in the U.S. will pay $2 more for a one-month subscription ($7.99), $5 more for a three-month subscription ($24.99) and $10 more for a 12-month subscription ($59.99). However, current subscribers have the opportunity to secure a 12-month renewal for $39.99 before the price changes take effect. “Since launching Xbox Live in 2002 we have continually added more content and entertainment experiences for our members, while keeping the price the same,” said Larry Hryb, Microsoft’s Director of Programming for Xbox Live, in a blog post. “We’re confident that when the new pricing takes effect, an Xbox Live Gold membership will continue to offer the best value in the industry.” The Gold subscription level offers members network-based multiplayer videogaming, along with access to other entertainment such as streaming movies from Netflix (provided the member has a Netflix subscription) and sports coverage from ESPN 3 (provided the member’s broadband service provider is affiliated with the sports network). Jesse Divnich, Director of Analyst services for game market research firm EEDAR, said that inflation as well as the cost of maintaining additional entertainment services via Xbox Live together explain the price hike. “When originally launched in 2002, a Gold subscription cost the same as an AAA video game, $49.99,” Divnich said in a statement. “When taking into account for inflation ($50 in 2002 is roughly $60 in 2010) and the additional services available to Gold subscribers in 2010, such as ESPN, Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, Last.fm and Video Kinect, a $10 price increase still represents an incredible value to consumers.” Perhaps unsurprisingly, subscribers reacted differently to the announcement. “You don’t even give us enough content to justify $50 let alone $60,” reads the first comment following Hyrb’s price-hike post. “Glad I’m paid up for the next year and a half.”

Emmy’s Big Winners Still to Come on Disc

While fans can see a majority of the winners from the Aug. 29 Emmy Awards on disc, some of the bigger titles will be released within the next few weeks, giving studios a nice opportunity to tout award winners.

Is Steve Jobs The Second Coming? Messianic Visions from a Fever-Induced Haze

Teradata's Colleen Quinn springs for a top-of-the-line iPad and mulls the ramifications of the app economy that the tablet device drives. "The real power of the app in all its incarnations isn’t limited it being vehicle to create ad inventory or drive new forms of consumer engagement," she writes. "The shift is transformational — and the power, at the core, is the ability to aggregate deep data and deliver optimized and targeted services through the user’s preferred platform." Read more at Quinn's blog here.

Nintendo Shaves SRPs Of DSi, DSi XL Systems

Nintendo says it plans to drop the suggested retail prices of its DSi and DSi XL videogame systems, effective Sept. 12. The new suggested retail price of the DSi system will be $149 (down from $169), while the new suggested retail price for the Nintendo DSi XL system will be $169 (from $189). The company’s DS Lite model will remain at a suggested retail price of $129. Through the end of July, total Nintendo DS family hardware sales are more than 42.3 million in the U.S. alone, according to the NPD Group. But while Nintendo positions the price-cutting move as delivering consumer value, NPD also has noted that monthly sales of the game system have been flagging (via CNET). In June, the company sold 510,000 DS units, and in July it sold 398,000.

Google Pitches YouTube Movie Streaming To Studios: Report

Google is in talks with major studios to launch a paid movie streaming service on YouTube by the end of the year, according to the Financial Times. Streaming movies would cost about $5, and titles would be available on the same day as their release on DVD and other Internet video-on-demand channels, according to the Financial Times’ unnamed sources. YouTube has long viewed itself as a potential partner with studios not just for film advertising and promotion, but digital distribution as well. In January, YouTube tested $3.99 streaming movie rentals of five independent films in a campaign with the Sundance Film Festival.

Is Steve Jobs The Second Coming? Messianic Visions from a Fever-Induced Haze

I write this from the room of a lovely hotel, where I’ve just been booted from a customer meeting (for which I busted my tail to prepare) because I am too ill. Ironically, I’ve been ill for a couple of days—like brutally ill—but not ill enough to score a reprieve before making the 120-mile drive. My throat is raw and swollen, fever, chills. My house is like a Petri dish, so I’m mildly grateful to be away from it at the moment. I’m not the only one sick. And so, until now, there we’ve been, in a classic Spanish-style “bungalow” (read: tiny), all sprawled out. You’d think we’d be miserable. And, we would be— but we’ve been saved from ourselves (again) by a higher power. Steve Jobs. Let me explain. We are a bit religious about the man in our house for many reasons: 1) He’s adopted—so is my son! We love great role models. While most toddlers could name purple dinosaurs, my two-year-old could name the CEO of Apple; 2) He’s a survivor—we think his brave and sometimes public battle with illness will come to benefit survivors everywhere; and 3) He’s just… insanely… brilliant! All this said, I had cheaped out on buying a new iPad. I knew the “bottom-of-the-line” wouldn’t have enough storage, but I couldn’t bring myself to fork over the $800+ for the best. So, I did nothing but stew in my own envy as friend after friend took the plunge, while I boasted about my newfound frugality. Then, on Wednesday, we cracked. Under the auspices of needing to stay on top of new media trends (it’s what we do professionally), we finally bought the darn thing. And, as if the fates were somehow in the know, the moment we walked through the door of our television-less house with our new Apple baby, it happened. This blanket of fever descended… and within hours, we were all incomprehensibly sick. Enter Steve.

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