Warner Music downloads via Amazon

Welcome news! Warner Music MP3 files are now available for download from Amazon. Price is 89 cents per song compared to the 99 cents for every DRM-protected song from Apple’s iTunes. Amazon has a standard non-DRM policy for all its music downloads which means that you can enjoy on any platform as you wish. Bravo Amazon! Bravo Warner!

Link: Reuters

Hitachi, Canon, Matsushita alliance for LCD displays

Hitachi, Canon and Matsushita are teaming up on the LCD display front. Each of Canon and Matsushita are buying 24.9% of Hitachi Displays Co Ltd, while Hitachi will keep the remaining 50.2%. Global demand for LCD displays might be increasing, LCD TVs and PC monitors might be selling like hot cakes, but increased competition and low profit margins are forcing once independently acting multi-billion dollar manufacturers to form alliances.

The deal encompasses all display sizes, from large TV screens to small screens for mobile devices. Each partner will have access to high quality displays and the key here is Hitachi’s IPS (In-Plane Switching) technology. Canon needs small and medium size displays for wide product range encompassing cameras and printers. Both Hitachi and Panasonic (Matsushita) are well placed in the plasma TV market but recently LCDs are successfully challenging plasmas in black levels and transition fluency where the later are traditionally stronger. The implications are far reaching as IPS technology could be the stepping stone to OLED screens. Sony and Samsung are ahead in the OLED game and of course the three alliance partners definitely want a piece of the market that is going to be opened up.

Link: Businesswire

Twentieth Century Fox movie rentals coming through Apple iTunes store

Only yesterday we wrote about internet TV and how large players with power in the marketplace will certainly try to get in the TV and movie business in a big way. Reuters reports that Apple and Twentieth Century Fox will announce such a deal that will let consumers rent Fox’s movies via Apple’s iTunes online store. It is a significant move and if followed by other movie studios would change the $9 billion movie rental business in the US. After the news Netflix and Blockbuster shares are down 4.5% and 4.8% respectively.

Movie downloads are a natural progression for the iTunes store, especially now that Amazon and others have entered the music download arena with DRM free files. Hollywood is definitely in search for new distribution channels but I would have thought that if iTunes were successful with movies, the DVD rental middlemen would be replaced by a single more formidable one. As always, pricing and the ease of viewing the movies with mobile devices and at home theaters will be the critical factors that will tip the balance one way or another.

Link: Reuters