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News in Brief

SONY Disc and Digital Solutions Inc. announced that the company will be named Sony DADC Corporation, effective 1 October 2010. Since 1982, Sony businesses have been operating in the Americas by Sony DADC Americas, in Europe and Asia Pacific by Sony DADC International and in Japan by Sony DADC Japan. “As an integral element of the Sony DADC group of companies, the primary focus of Sony DADC Corporation will be to perform critical business planning functions for Sony’s global pre-recorded optical disc business,” says the company.

APPLE is now the world's second-largest company in terms of market value. In after-hours trading on the NASDAQ market, Apple's share value hovered around $293 per share. At that level, Cupertino's market value comes in at over $267bn, surpassing the former number two, PetroChina, valued at $265.5bn and dwarfing Microsoft’s $214.4bn, IBM’s $169.2bn and Intel’s $108.1bn. Exxon Mobil is number one at $314.4bn.

A SPANISH federal court has ruled that YouTube is not responsible when users upload copyrighted material. Spanish broadcaster Telecinco claimed YouTube should be liable for copyright infringement. However, since YouTube has anti-piracy tools built into its website, content owners are able to remove content if infringement takes place. At least 1,000 content producers in Europe already use the YouTube’s Content ID technology to help identify copyrighted material that is shared without their permission.

ROVI has established new relationships with more than 19 European content providers, growing the number of services eligible to deliver their content through TotalGuide in Europe to more than 34 providers. TotalGuide is a next-generation media guide that enables consumers to search, browse and get recommendations for content from broadcast/terrestrial providers, internet services, and personal content libraries via a single user interface.

APPLE unveiled its new Apple TV box – about 1/4 of the size of the previous model – that will let people stream films and TV shows from the internet or their computers to their TV. Apple TV has opted for a rental-only strategy. It would cost $4.99 for films on day of DVD release, and 99 cents to rent TV shows – which are available to watch almost instantly. The Apple TV box itself – available in four weeks – will cost $99, down from $299 for the previous model.