The New Scientist of 9 April 2005 has two small “60 second” items of interest.
Sony is to are for its top of 500 movies as paid for downloads, with versions available for mobile phones and portable games consoles. The company is hoping to combat the rise in the legal movie downloads by following the strategy that Apple fans so successful with it iTunes music service. Like iTunes titles, the movies will play only on compatible devices.
Cellphone users worldwide spend a $1 billion a year downloading musical ringtones. So the music industry may not be too pleased with the new way to make your own ring tones at home using your record collection. Magix Ringtone Maker is a PC program costing just $20 that lifts music from a CD or MP3 file, converts ringtone format and loaded straight into a mobile phone. To stay legal, users should first obtain “express permission” from record companies, says, Magix.