Living Room

The rumor mill is heating up around Apple's television plans, and now a report claims to have information on the device's screen sizes.

Citing anonymous sources in Japan at a "major" company working on the set's production, Australian technology site Smarthouse reported Sunday that Apple television buyers will be able to choose from three screen sizes, ranging from 32 inches to 55 inches. In addition, the sources say that the television will ship with the same Apple A6 processor expected to come in the iPad 3.

On the software side, Smarthouse's sources say that … Read more

Netflix has endured an exceedingly difficult year. But things will only get worse in the coming months, says Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter.

Writing to investors in a research note today, Pachter said that Netflix "is broken," and its decision earlier this year to raise prices on customers who want to both rent DVDs and stream video content proved to be the catalyst that brought those flaws to light.

"It is clear that a price increase was necessary, and equally clear in hindsight that a 60 percent increase on the hybrid customer was too much," Pachter wrote … Read more

Television vendors are selling more 3DTV sets than ever, but whether those buyers are actually using the 3D is a major question mark right now.

Research firm NPD's DisplaySearch unit reported today that 6.6 million 3D LCD TVs shipped during the third quarter, representing a gain of 27 percent over shipments during the second quarter. DisplaySearch expects 3DTV shipments to jump 30 percent in the fourth quarter. All told, the firm expects 21.5 million 3D televisions to ship this year.

That success has helped 3D televisions cut into 2D market share. In the first quarter of 2011, … Read more

Can anything slow down the Call of Duty franchise?

In its first five days of availability, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 generated $775 million in worldwide sales, helping the game set a new revenue record over that period, Activision announced today. The previous record-holder, Call of Duty: Black Ops, generated $650 million during its first five days of availability last year.

The Call of Duty franchise has now generated a whopping $6 billion in revenue over its lifespan, making it one of the top entertainment properties in the world.… Read more

Microsoft could launch a follow-up to the Xbox 360 next year, a new report claims.

Citing sources, the U.K.'s Edge Online says that Microsoft has already provided major studios with "target boxes" that feature the same specifications as the Xbox 360's successor, and should hand over the first developer kits by the end of December. Based on that timetable, the publication's sources say, Microsoft should be able to get the new console on store shelves by the end of 2012.

Interestingly, as new rumors emerge on the next Xbox, its launch date keeps getting pushed up. In April, video game blog Kotaku cited its own sources who said that both Microsoft and Sony would be launching their next consoles in 2014, and at that time, Microsoft hadn't even decided which components its next console would come with. Last month, another gaming publication, Develop, reported that Microsoft was planning to launch the next Xbox in 2013.… Read more

After Netflix announced key partnerships for its U.K. and Ireland streaming service earlier this week, its chief competitor in those countries has fired back with one of its own.

Lovefilm announced today that it has inked a streaming deal with Warner Bros. that will make its service the exclusive provider of the studio's films in the "second window." In other words, after the films are made available on pay TV in the first window, they will exclusively come to Lovefilm next.

According to the companies, the deal will go into effect in December, and will initially … Read more

Netflix has notched another key deal with a movie studio to bolster its streaming service when it launches in the U.K. and Ireland next year.

Earlier today, Miramax and Netflix announced a multiyear licensing agreement that will bring many of the studio's top films, including "Pulp Fiction," "Good Will Hunting," and "Gangs of New York," to the streaming service.

This is the second movie deal Netflix has announced this week for its European streaming service. On Monday, Lionsgate said that Netflix will be the exclusive provider of its first-run films streaming in … Read more

Netflix now has a key partner it can count on as the company prepares to enter the European market.

Lionsgate today announced that it has signed an agreement with Netflix that will make the rental company the exclusive provider of its first-run films streaming in the U.K. and Ireland. However, as with previous deals Netflix has signed with studios, Lionsgate won't immediately provide the films to the streaming provider. Instead, Lionsgate's new and upcoming titles, including "The Hunger Games" and "The Expendables 2," will make their debut on Netflix "within one year … Read more

Given its history, this was hardly a sneak attack: the latest entrant in the Call of Duty franchise, Modern Warfare 3, has set a record for launch-day sales.

According to the game's publisher, Activision, Modern Warfare 3 generated over $400 million in revenue and sold 6.5 million units in the U.S. and U.K. in its first 24 hours on store shelves. By hitting that mark, Modern Warfare 3, which launched Tuesday, easily outpaced its predecessor and the former leader, Call of Duty: Black Ops, which generated $360 million on its launch day last year. Call of … Read more