We all understand why DRM is implemented in the first place, which is essentially to prevent piracy and ensure revenue for those who produced the software. However, there may be times when DRM policies on certain products become a little bit too rigid, which may be the case for Nokia's N-Gage service. More details in the full article.

Making Skype calls via smartphones has been done before. It looks like the guys from Skype plan on expanding their market by offering a downloadable Java client for non-smartphones. To find out more, check out the full article.

Sony Pictures Television knows well that people on the go sometimes prefer watching movies on mobile phones. With this in mind, the company is planning to release the service PIX this May initially for AT&T subscribers. The full article contains further information on this as well as the initial list of available movies. Just click the "read more" link below.

The annual Nokia World conference today played host to the announcement of Nokia Comes With Music, a new program that lets people buy a Nokia device with a year of unlimited access to a huge library of music tracks. More at the full article.

It seems Vodafone is set on giving the iPhone a run for its money in Britain. While the iPhone is yet to hit British shores, Vodafone is already gearing up their own music download service that would compete Apple's own. They are now looking to other mobile phone manufacturers like Nokia to spread their service.

It was once believed that Vodafone will be providing the exclusive network service for the iPhone as AT&T did for the US, but analysts now suspect this won't be the case.

Instead of the exclusivity deal, Vodafone may in fact pull through with the music download service as they have already signed an exclusive deal with the British music firm Omnifone.

Vodafone's new service will offer certain handsets the option to download an unlimited number of songs from a selection of 1 million for a weekly fee of GB£ 1.99 (around US$ 4). The service will launch later this year and will be available for 2.5G and 3G compatible phones from Vodafone.

Yearning to hear some geek nostalgia blasting out of your iPod? Here's your chance. According to Next Generation, Konami and Sony BMG Music Entertainment have inked a deal that will bring Konami's library of music to major online music retailers such as iTunes and Rhapsody.

This will be the first time that original music from Konami titles will be available through digital distribution (we're guessing they mean legal distribution here). Some of the featured music included in the deal will come from popular video game franchises including Contra, Castlevania, and Silent Hill.

Next Generation also reports that Konami has said in a statement that the music will also be downloadable through major mobile carriers as well as the official Konami website. To celebrate, here's a vid of one of the best Contra theme covers ever by the insanely great Minibosses.

 

Remember when we introduced you to the Deep Fish? Microsoft's new mobile phone browser comes with a lot of perks. There's an analysis of the Deep Fish browser in a video from Gizmodo, enumerating the downsides of the free mobile browser. But that doesn't mean Deep Fish doesn't have its uses.

So far, Deep Fish is a lot easier to use than most Windows Mobile web browsers. It takes snapshots of a web page on the server side and sends the images on your phone, minimizing CPU use. Such a method, however, doesn't support dynamic pages, JavaScript, flash and other web advances.

Bandwidth's quite slow in a skinny pipe and whenever you zoom in, the high quality definition has to be downloaded from the server which slows down the web browsing experience. There are noticeable delays when you browse, and the page actually cuts off to a certain distance down the page.

Gizmodo's verdict? It's nice for an experimental browser. Of course, different strokes for different folks. Just test this free browser to see if it works for you.

Hudson Entertainment, Hudson Soft's North American arm, announced today that it has partnered with TVT Records to release ringtones based on TVT's extensive catalogue of artists which span genres as diverse as hiphop, rock, and pop.

"We're extremely delighted to add the TVT stable of talented artist and divergent hip-hop tracks to our already substantial library of compelling ringtones," said Mike Samachisa, COO of Hudson Entertainment. "Hudson Entertainment continues to position itself as a leading distributor of new mobile content by supporting and signing new artists, as well as providing additional channels for artists to reach their fan base through premium mobile content."

This new partnership will bring a deep lineup of hit tracks from TVT to mobile phones as master ringtones, including such top billboard hit tracks as Lil Jon's "Snap Yo Fingers", Ying Yang Twins' "Dangerous", Lumidee's "She's Like The Wind" and Pitbull's "Ay Chico."

The TVT ringtones are currently available on The Source Masters application and are available on major carriers. There are already 65 TVT tracks available on The Source Masters application, and new tones will be launched simultaneously when TVT Records releases the perspective albums throughout the year.

Here's a ring for all pop-culture mavens: Scene it? is now available to test your movie wits through your mobile phone. Namco Networks and Screenlife LLC have announced that the insanely popular DVD board game will have a mobile reincarnation aptly named Scene It Movie Edition.

"Scene It? Movie Edition is unlike any trivia game currently available. It's the first game with multimedia game play available on North American mobile phones, and we are very excited to be bringing such a great game to the mobile platform." says Scott Rubin of Namco Networks.

The game uses multimedia resources to generate the premise in which players can relieve moments from top Hollywood flicks and test their knowledge on themed questions. The game is packed with over a thousand questions which employ the use of movie clips, puzzles and trivia. 

What's unique about the game is that its library of questions keep on growing as you please. Through network technology, new morsels of pop knowledge can be added for updated play. The same technology is also used so that players can duke it out with each other and find out who the real expert is.

Memorable categories from the original such as Invisibles, Take 3, Rising Star are back, along with new gameplay modes which will have players scratching their heads for answers in either quick round or non-stop play.

Dave Long of Screenlife says "the mobile version I Movie Edition is movie trivia at its very best, fans of Scene It? will be pleased at how well their favorite DVD board game translates to mobile. It has all of the entertaining, interactive elements of the DVD version combined with the mobile game quality that fans have come to expect from Namco, making Scene It? for mobile a great game that can now be played anywhere."

The game is now available from selected wireless carriers nationwide.

Afterworld creators Brent Friedman and Stan Rogers have struck a deal with Sony Pictures International to give the electronics and media giant all TV, gaming, mobile and internet rights over the hit sci-fi series.

The plot is set in the far future where all but one percent of the world's population have vanished and technology is non-existent. Main protagonist Russell Shoemaker embarks on an epic journey from New York to Seattle in a desperate bid to find his family alive.

The series is already viewable through online network entertainment via Bud TV, but Sony plans to distribute 130 episodes into mainstream TV, internet and mobile platforms in accordance with the new pact.

Fans of the series will be glad to know that past episodes will be available on the web through blogs. Details for the upcoming online games remain hazy, however. In an interview, Friedman said "as much as I've enjoyed working in all the conventional mediums, I believe we have created something that represents a new form of content - the online convergence of television and videogames."

Marie Jacobson of Sony Pictures remarks "Many opportunities come along with this from advertiser integration and from a versioning point of view. It's not about finding the consumer who will watch this on TV or on a phone or online or play it on a game. We have the opportunity with this project to lock into different subsets of consumers - we are chasing an aggregate audience."