MCV is reporting today that the BBC is actively trying to get back into gaming, looking to turn intellectual properties into DS, Wii and iPhone games. The company is also looking to turn the properties into games that can be played online via social networking sites such as Facebook.

Of the popular properties the BBC is looking to convert, Doctor Who, Top Gear, and In The Night Garden are the most popular.

"We are open to conversations with anybody in games about all kinds of business models to see how we can extract more value," said Neil Ross Russell, MD of licensing. "Outside of Disney we have the most well-known line-up of children's characters around the world."

"We've been reactive to the market in the last few years," adds Dave Anderson, head of multimedia development at BBC Worldwide, noting that the company closed its gaming division in 2005. "There were a few opportunistic licensing deals, but we were largely aggregating and holding on to our properties to wait and see how the market developed."

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If the latest reports are to be believed, Apple and AT&T's iPhone exclusivity pact will end on Wednesday.

Says HotHardware: "According to an inside source close to the going-ons involved in all of this, a new tablet of some sort may not be the only thing on deck for next Wednesday though. We have been led to believe by an inside source that AT&T will lose their iPhone exclusivity on the same day, though it's not yet clear what other carrier (or carriers) will be stepping in to also carry the phone."

The most likely new carrier is Verizon, which is the biggest carrier in the nation. To work on Verizon however, the new iPhone hardware would have to be CDMA compatible.

We will keep you updated.

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Hewlett-Packard has partnered up with Ominfone for a new venture that will distribute theMusicStation music service to new PCs sold in Europe.

The subscription service has 6.5 million tracks from the Big 4 labels and offers the music in WMA format, with DRM which kills the tracks if you ever stop paying the monthly fee.

Sixteen HP models will have the MusicStation Desktop service pre-loaded and for now the computers will be available with the service in the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Austria, Belgium, The Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland.

As part of the deal, a free two-week trial comes included, and the service will cost 9 pounds per month in the UK, and 10 euro in the other countries.

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The Chinese government has denied any involvement in the recent cyber attacks launched at Google, and defended its right to censor search engine queries.

Google has threatened to leave the country entirely after Chinese hackers tried to steal data from the Gmail accounts of human rights activists.

"Any accusation that the Chinese government participated in cyber attacks, either in an explicit or indirect way, is groundless and aims to discredit China," said a ministry spokesman. "We are firmly opposed to that."

For Internet censorship, the State Council defended what it does, saying it is fully legal and that other countries should not interfere in China's domestic affairs.

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After just five weeks in theaters, the epic blockbuster Avatar is set to pass Titanic this week as the highest selling movie of all-time (not adjusted for ticket price inflation.)

On Sunday, the film became the highest selling movie overseas, beating out Titanic's former record of $1.242 billion in sales. Individually, the movie is the highest grossing of all-time already in China, Spain, Russia, Hong Kong and Chile.

Avatar currently sits at $552.8 million domestic and $1.808 billion worldwide cumulative, on pace to break Titanic's 13-year-old records of $600.8 million and $1.843 billion, respectively.

The film is also the best selling IMAX film of all time, with $134 million in sales at an average of $15 per ticket.

Gone With the Wind, when adjusted for inflation remains the highest grossing film of all time, with an estimated $3 billion in sales.

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Speaking with Ars Technica in an extensive internet, Google's Matthew Papakipos, the engineering director for the Chrome OS project, revealed that the operating system and the Chrome browser would include a media player. He said it would be the "equivalent of Windows Media Player." The player will support HTML5 audio and video, as well as Flash, and will be integrated with services on the web.

For example, a GMail user can view an attached video file directly in the Chrome browser because the media player framework is built-in. Google's Chrome operating system allows users to perform every day tasks such as checking e-mail, using social networking or just browsing the web. It is meant to provide long battery life for netbook users in particular.

The inclusion of a Chrome Media Player is then a necessity for users to be able to perform simple multimedia tasks offline. The operating system is still a work in progress by far, as Papakipos reveals that the team is still experimenting with many issues, such as ways to make use of dead space on widescreen monitors (the areas to the right and left of a web page that are blank, and may be quite large amounts of space depending on screen size).

Interview: http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2010/01/chrome-os-interview-1.ars/1

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Microsoft has confirmed some major organizational changes to its Entertainment and Devices unit following the departure of Corporate Vice President Enrique Rodriguez, who has reportedly decided to pursue other interests. Under Rodriquez were teams for Zune Software & Services, Mediaroom IPTV and Media Center. Those have now been moved to Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business (IEB).

The IEB division is also part of Entertainment and Devices, and is in charge of Xbox development, Games for Windows and Microsoft Game Studios. "As a natural evolution of the Interactive Entertainment Business, our consumer products and experiences focused on games, movies, TV and music will move into IEB, led by SVP Don Mattrick. In addition, we've formed a new centralized E&D services infrastructure team, which will act as a combined resource across the division," a spokesperson said.

"Finally, Enrique Rodriguez has decided to move on from his leadership position running the TV, video and music business and is evaluating his next career opportunity. The TVM first party business, Zune and Windows Medica Center will move to IEB, and Mediaroom, the TV platform business, will become a standalone group within E&D, reporting directly to (E&D) President Robbie Bach."

The move has led to speculation that Microsoft may also move Windows Mobile away from the Entertainment and Devices unit, and put it under President Steven Sinofsky, who heads up development and strategies for Windows, Internet Explorer and Windows Live. Such a move would signal a change in the way Microsoft views the market for software developed for mobile platforms.

The company is expected to talk about Windows Mobile 7 and possibly display prototype handsets at the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona in mid-February.

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