Entertainment

Microsoft may be putting together an "entertainment marketplace" tentatively named Zune VideoX, ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley reported Wednesday. In other words, it's yet another digital content store trying to take a bite out of Apple's iTunes.

Joe Belfiore, corporate vice president of Microsoft's Devices and Entertainment eHome division, is reportedly spearheading the project. But it goes without saying that as with any of these "iTunes killers" that seem to pop up like mushrooms after rain, well, it's going to be an uphill battle even for Redmond.

Creating a solid digital download … Read more

Rumors have been circulating for several weeks that the upcoming Nintendo interactive fitness game, Wii Fit, which comes bundled with the Wii Balance Board peripheral (pictured), would be priced at $89.99. Well, now that number has become official along with the not-so-secret May 19 launch date.

According to Nintendo's press release, Wii Fit boasts, "A dynamic mix of more than 40 yoga, aerobics, strength training, and balance activities, Wii Fit provides consumers with a fun, easy, and affordable way to incorporate exercise into their daily routines. Using the included wireless Wii Balance Board accessory, every member of … Read more

Video rental giant Blockbuster on Monday announced it has offered to purchase Circuit City Stores for $6 to $8 per share, or about $1 billion to $1.3 billion.

Blockbuster initially made the proposal on February 17, but says Circuit City has not provided the due diligence it needs to make a more definitive offer. On Monday, Blockbuster decided to go public. In a letter to Circuit City CEO Philip Schoonover, Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes notes that the two companies have been discussing proposed tie-ups since December.

Blockbuster says the offer is intended to "capitalize on the growing … Read more

It's been all go for the BBC's iPlayer service this week. First ISPs once again got their knickers in a bandwidth-related twist over the service swallowing all of their network capacity, then Nintendo announced that the streaming service will be available through the Wii. This is a fantastically exciting piece of news and is certain to severely upset some of the U.K.'s more highly strung Internet providers.

With support for the Wii being added, it can surely only be a matter of time before the Xbox 360 and PS3 can access the content too. And it'… Read more

Audi has recently made big media pushes with a luxury forum at the Super Bowl and rides for celebrities at the Oscars, and now the company touts its involvement with the upcoming superhero movie Iron Man. Audi got director Jon Favreau to include the Audi R8 as Tony Stark's personal car in the movie, citing it as an appropriate car for the most technically knowledgeable superhero. As luck would have it, we have an Audi R8 in our garage for review this week, so of course we had to make our own duplicate of a still from the movie. … Read more

Lithium-ion batteries. They do blow up good.

Peter Roth at Sandia National Labs is conducting research on the durability and reliability of lithium-ion batteries, which are expected to power plug-in hybrids and electric cars in the future. Lithium-ion batteries store more energy than conventional batteries--six times as much as lead acid and two to three times as much as nickel metal hydride batteries, according to Sandia. However, lithium-ion cells can have unfortunate side effects.

Namely, an internal short circuit can lead to fire and a nasty explosion. In 2006, Sony had to conduct a multimillion-dollar battery recall because some had … Read more

MySpace is a social-networking site that behaves increasingly like an entertainment conglomerate.

MySpace, owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., is expected to announce Thursday morning that it has struck a deal to distribute the Web video shows it created for MySpace users overseas.

ShineReveille International, an independent production company, will offer shows produced by MySpaceTV, such as Special Delivery and Roommates, to traditional media outlets across the globe.

MySpace will retain U.S. and worldwide Internet rights to the content. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. This year, MySpace's Quarterlife, produced by Marshall Herskovitz-Edward Zwick, was … Read more

KMPlayer lacks a help file but makes up for it by being one of the most powerful freeware video players we've seen. It includes a vast array of video- and audio-capturing options, as well as skins, a plethora of playback controls and tweaks, and broad DVD support. You'll have to learn the ropes yourself, but if you're familiar with where things ought to be, and willing to patiently wait for the mouse-over label to confirm your suppositions, KMPlayer has the potential to be immensely rewarding.

It supports nearly every file format we could think of testing. It … Read more

With a new Sun Kil Moon LP, as well as Retribution Gospel Choir's debut album (which he produced), a book, and a movie score all coming out this year, it's safe to say Mark Kozelek is a prolific artist. He sat down with us here at Studio C in San Francisco for a rare interview (he doesn't do them often) to discuss all his projects and to play us some new solo songs from is new album April.