Director James Cameron has announced that his epic blockbuster hit Avatar will be released on DVD and Blu-ray in April, although the first version released will not be in 3D.

The original Cameron quote is as follows: "It's all right on schedule. We'll do the Blu-ray and the standard def DVD April 22nd, that's our plan as of right now, and that'll be pretty much bare bones. And then we'll do a value-added DVD and a 3-D Blu-ray in I think November sometime."

Fox however, has stated that the 3D version is not coming out in November. Says the spokesperson: "3-D is in the conceptual stage and 'Avatar' will not be out on 3-D Blu-ray in November."

'Avatar,' released in December, has quickly become the highest-grossing film of all-time (not adjusted for ticket inflation), and is the highest-grossing film in U.S., Chinese, Russian, Spanish, U.K history.

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Redbox will begin adding Blu-ray titles to its 22,000 kiosks starting in the Q2 2010, says parent company Coinstar CEO Paul Davis.

So far, the company has been only testing Blu-ray releases in its kiosks.

"[Blu-ray] strengthens our position to meet consumer demand," adds Davis, although he concedes that they will not cost $1.00 like DVD releases do. When asked about the price, he said they have not determined a price, but they will "for sure be higher than our standard DVDs."

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According to Sony Ericsson president Bert Nordberg, the company rejected the opportunity to build the Google Nexus One, saying that it did not want to gain a reputation as a subcontractor. After SE turned down the offer, HTC gladly took the chance to manufacture the smartphone.

Although sales of the Nexus One have been rather small by most standards, HTC gained tons of publicity from the partnership, with their CEO given a few minutes to talk at the much-hyped Nexus One launch last month about his company and the brand itself.

Sony Ericsson has seen over $1 billion in losses over the past year, and continues to lose market share to rivals, leading to over 2000 layoffs.

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Attendees of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) have received a limited-edition Adobe Photoshop 1.0 app for their iPhones, a nostalgic throwback to the original program, which was released in 1990.

"I really wanted to do something special to commemorate 20 years of Photoshop, and the best thing I thought of was a nostalgic iPhone app," says Russell Brown, Adobe's Senior Creative Director, who was around for the original release of 1.0. "Since I had less than two weeks to make it happen, I came to the best iPhone team I knew, who were able to use their Corona SDK to pull it off with utmost speed and faithfulness to the original product."

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The United States International Trade Commission has agreed to investigate into the patent complaints filed by Apple against rival Nokia, in their ongoing litigation battle.

Starting last October, Nokia sued Apple over patents relating to technologies used in the iPhone. Apple then countersued, and eventually asked the ITC to step in. Apple is seeking an injunction on some Nokia products, and Nokia is looking for royalty payments, payments that will likely be in the hundreds of millions per year.

The ITC is already looking into Nokia's claims.

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Google has had their request to become an electricity marketer accepted today by U.S. energy regulators, allowing the search giant to begin buying and selling bulk power.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission backed Google's application, reads the WSJ, allowing the company to become a market-based rate authority. Google's application stated that it does not own any generators or transmission lines, and will not use its position for retail purposes.

Most marketers are utility or power generator companies, but a few corporations, like Kimberly-Clark, have been granted the authority as well, given the large amount of power they use. Google says it will use the title to manage its own energy supplies, and to "gain better access to renewable power."

"We made this filing so we can have more flexibility in procuring power for Google's own operations, including our data centers. FERC authority will improve our ability to hedge our purchases of energy and incorporate renewables," adds Google spokeswoman Niki Fenwick.

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The Lanxiang Vocational School in China has denied a recent report that stated the school was the source of the recent cyber attacks on Google.

"Investigation in the staff found no trace the attacks originated from our school," added Li Zixiang, party chief at Lanxiang Vocational School in Shandong Province.

Lanxiang was created to train computer scientists for the military, and the New York Times reported earlier in the week that the cyber attacks on Google, Microsoft and other US companies was sourced from Lanxiang.

The school currently has 20,000 students, learning all types of vocational skills.

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Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha has made an interesting note this week, saying that if they had sufficient funding they would create their own smartphone operating system.

Additionally, Jha said now that Windows Mobile has updated to version 7, the company will consider using it again, after writing it off for years.

Says Jha, via the WSJ: "If I had more money for R&D, I'd be developing an operating platform." In regards to Windows Phone: "I'm open to it...I think I need diversity in our portfolio."

Motorola remains committed to Android, the operating system that practically saved the company from bankruptcy, but it seems Motorola is looking to open up to other operating systems in the next year.

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In compliance with a legal agreement made between Microsoft Corp. and the European Commission, Microsoft's Windows Update service will begin sending out a "browser choice" update for Internet Explorer users in Europe. The update will be delivered to users of Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. It gives the user an option to install, or get more information about, a different browser than Internet Explorer.

Microsoft made a legally binding commitment that PC manufacturers and users will continue to be able to install any browser on the Windows operating system, and to use any browser as the default browser. It also pledged to keep it possible to turn access off to Internet Explorer. As part of Microsoft's commitments, which resolve a number of competition law issues in Europe, Microsoft offered to provide users with an opportunity to install a different web browser like Firefox or Safari.

External testing of the browser choice screen will begin in the United Kingdom, France and Belgium next week, so any users from those countries can download the browser selection screen from Windows Update then. A phased roll-out of the update across the European Union will begin on March 1. For most users, the update will install via Automatic Updates. The update will display two different screens...

Introduction Screen

When the first screen displays, it will also install a shortcut to the Desktop in case the user would prefer to check it later. In Windows 7, it automatically unpins Internet Explorer from the taskbar. If the user selects any other browser, or even opts to stay with Internet Explorer, then it will have to be pinned to the taskbar manually again. This is done easily by locating an Internet Explorer shortcut in the Start Menu or Desktop, right-clicking on it and clicking "pin this program to taskbar".

Selection Screen

The second screen provides the user with a selection of web browsers to choose from. In accordance with the agreement between Microsoft and the European Commission, the browsers will appear in random order. Additional browsers can be viewed by scrolling to the right. The screen provides three options; "Install" to install the selected browser, "Tell Me More" to get more information about a specific browser (provided by the vendor of the browser) and "Select Later" to make a decision at a later time.

For XP or Vista users that receive the screen who might want to stay with Internet Explorer, Microsoft urges updating to the latest version of the browser from this screen if the update hasn't already been made.

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GamesIndustry.biz has spoken to some games retailers about moves made lately by game publishers that could potentially hurt the sale of pre-owned games, or preempt further measures that could have the same effect. Electronic Arts is experimenting with "Project Ten Dollar", which provides downloadable content with titles to buyers of new games, but requires consumers who buy a second hand copy to pay for the DLC content.

Just this week, Sony also made a discouraging decision to include a voucher with the latest SOCOM title for the PSP that can be used online to unlock online content for the game. However, if a game is sold back to a store and bought pre-owned, the new owner would have to pay $20 for a new voucher to unlock the same features. Unsurprisingly, Sony describes it as an anti-piracy move.

The broad consensus among those who spoke to GamesIndustry.biz (link requires registration) about the two new systems is that it they hurt consumers. "The person you're pissing off the most is the consumer," Chipsworld MD Don McCabe told GI.biz. "This affects [them] directly - they pay the same amount of money and yet the resale value is much reduced. From a retailer's point of view, they'll just readjust [the price] bearing in mind you have to buy the voucher."

McCabe made an excellent point that applies to EA especially. He stated that because of EA' popular franchises such as FIFA and Madden, the market for pre-owned games actually drives sales of new games for EA.

"They are effectively what I call a franchise software house in that they upgrade their titles; FIFA, Madden all of these are effectively the same title upgraded each year. And people trade in last year's for this year's. You go anywhere and you'll always find second hand copies of FIFA 07, 08, 09 - it's one of the ones we get the most of."

SwapGame CEO Marc Day has the same opinion as McCabe, and believes that publishers don't fully understand the potential consequences of such moves. "At SwapGame, the majority of customers who trade in for cash or credit do so to acquire new games they could otherwise not afford. Through trading in, we aim to help the customer make gaming more affordable, providing them with a way to buy new games," Day said.

"The move to DLC exclusive content is an interesting step, and this obviously provides the publisher with another revenue stream. This move will definitely make the game less valuable on the pre-owned market, so it will be sold cheaper, meaning customers will get less value when trading in."

McCabe also warned that retailers are becoming increasingly wary about other moves made by games publishers that could lead to them taking customers away from the stores. Games that require online activation, for example, result in the publisher receiving the personal details of customers which they can then use to contact the customer directly and attempt cut out the "middle man".

"From a retailer's point of view, you're always going to have that in mind. Why should you give your customers over to an organization that's going to compete with you? You're going to be less likely to want to promote that game," McCabe said.

More opinions: GamesIndustry.biz (requires registration)

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The International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) has given a document to the U.S. Trade Representative, damning Canada's laws with regard to copyright and intellectual property protection. The document was provided on the last day of the U.S. government's "Special 301" process which targets some of the world's worst countries with regard to the protection of intellectual properly.

Canada has long been a target of process, due to perceived weaknesses in the countries laws. According to the IIPA document, Canada is "fast gaining a reputation as a haven where technologically sophisticated international piracy organizations can operate with virtual impunity." It points out that four of the top ten "illicit BitTorrent sites" are located in Canada.

The IIPA says that Canada must be put on the highest-level "priority watch list". The group which represents the MPAA, RIAA, NMPA, ESA, BSA and more, wants the U.S. government to pressure the Canadian government to fix its laws. Among the things objected to be the IIPA is the permission for libraries to "format shift" items before the become obsolete, a CAN$500 limit on statutory damages for copyright infringement for private use and the legality of DRM circumvention for the creation of fair use copies.

The IIPA wants Canada to implement new rules on DRM circumvention to bring it in line with the DMCA, where circumvention of any copy control system is illegal regardless of purpose (with some exceptions), and wants the CAN$500 cap on damages for private copyright infringement to be lifted.

Canadians already pay levies on blank media such as CDs and DVDs, but the IIPA even wants the purpose of the levies to be specified as applying, "only to copies of noninfringing recordings owned by the person who makes the copies." In other words, the levy paid by a Canadian on a blank CD is to cover the cost of a copy of music he/she already legally has purchased.

Whether or not Canada is even bothered by the IIPA's assertions however is unclear. The country has not filed a response this year. Back in 2007, the Department of Foreign Affairs made it quite clear how little it cares about such pressure.

"In regard to the watch list, Canada does not recognize the 301 watch list process. It basically lacks reliable and objective analysis. It's driven entirely by US industry. We have repeatedly raised this issue of the lack of objective analysis in the 301 watch list process with our US counterparts."

Canadian copyright lawyer Howard Knopf also criticizes the report for not highlighting areas where Canadian laws are clearly tougher than U.S. laws, such as the levies already mentioned, more limits on "fair use" and the lack of right currently to "time shift" content.

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Apple CEO Steve Jobs has reportedly taken the opportunity to diss Adobe Flash technology again. Several weeks ago, after the iPad was unveiled by Apple, Adobe kicked up a fuss about the lack of Flash support with the product and released information on what iPad users would miss out on without it.

During a recent trip by Jobs - courting newspaper publishers with an iPad in hand - Steve spoke to some Wall Street Journal staff about Adobe's Flash technology. He told the staff that he dislikes flash technology because it crashes Macs due to its bugs, and that it is a CPU hog when it is in use.

He went on to point out that Flash is a source of security holes - which is true when Internet users do not keep their Flash add-on up to the latest version for sure. He compared the iPad's lack of Flash support to the dropping of floppy drives from Macs, as well as legacy data ports and other "dying technologies".

In recent weeks, Adobe has attempted to re-assure users about the performance of its software, noting that Flash 10.1 should deliver significant improvements over older versions. Steve Jobs however feels that its time for Flash to replaced on the web with Javascript, H.264 video and other alternatives to the Flash technology.

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A Russian researcher has released attack code to exploit a critical vulnerability found in Mozilla's latest version of the Firefox web browser. It triggers a heap corruption vulnerability in the open-source browser that can allow attacks to execute malicious code remotely. He added it as a module to Vulndisco, which is an add-on for the Immunity Canvas automated exploitation system sold to security professionals.

"We've played a lot with it in our labs - it was very reliable," Evgeny Legerov, founder of Moscow-based Intevydis, told The Register. "Works against the default install of Firefox 3.6. We've tested it on XP and Vista." Mozilla issued Firefox 3.5.7 (for those who haven't upgraded to Firefox 3.6 yet) during the week to address security concerns, one of which was described as a heap corruption vulnerability.

Legerov said that the bug fixed by Firefox 3.5.7 is not the same one that he is exploiting in the lab however. While currently only being available to security researchers that pay a fee, details of the attack could spread with time.

"Mozilla takes all security vulnerabilities seriously, and have as yet been unable to confirm the claim of an exploit. We value the contributions of all security researchers and encourage them to work within our security process, responsibly disclosing vulnerabilities to ensure the highest level of security and best outcome for users," Mozilla said in a statement.

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The Newspaper Publishers Association (NPA) has called on the BBC Trust to block the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) from providing new applications for the iPhone and (later) Blackerry. The BBC announced at the Mobile World Congress that it would offer new iPhone apps to provide BBC News and BBC Sport content to mobile users. The move was always going to be scrutinized by private news content providers who would see the BBC as a threat to a commercial business model on mobile platforms.

"Not for the first time, the BBC is preparing to muscle into a nascent market and trample over the aspirations of commercial news providers," said David Newell, director of the NPA. "This is not, as the BBC argues, an extension of its existing online service, but an intrusion into a very tightly defined, separate market." The BBC disagrees with this assessment however, and says that it is providing the apps at the request of TV-license-payers who wanted more options to consume content (they technically paid for) with mobile phones.

"They tell us that they want to access the digital services that they have paid for at a time and place that suits them," BBC's Erik Huggers said. "We are catching up with our audiences, and the same content that we broadcast on television and make available online can now be better enjoyed on the move."

The BBC News application will provide articles, video and audio content from the BBC News website, while the BBC Sport app will focus firstly on football because the World Cup kicks off in June. Users of the application will be able to view World Cup games live on their iPhones. Later in the year, the BBC will expand the available sports content.

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Microsoft has identified a malware infection that caused Windows systems to crash when installing a security update last week. The malware in question disguises itself using rootkit methods, and modifies the operating system kernel; changes that led to the system crashing when the update was installing.

"The restarts are the result of modifications the Alureon rootkit makes to Windows Kernel binaries, which places these systems in an unstable state," Mike Reavey, director of the Microsoft Security Response Center, wrote. "In every investigated incident, we have not found quality issues with security update MS10-015."

Until a solution is available, Microsoft will not offer the patch for 32-bit Windows through Automatic Updates, but will offer it for 64-bit systems.

"A malware compromise of this type is serious, and if customers cannot confirm removal of the Alureon rootkit using their chosen anti-virus/anti-malware software, the most secure recommendation is for the owner of the system to back up important files and completely restore the system from a cleanly formatted disk," Microsoft said.

The Win32/Alureon malware makes changes to DNS settings and hijacks user searches. It also makes fraudulent "clicks" on advertisements.

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