Daily News Brief: MS Conspiracy Theory Exposed!

Microsoft Fueling HD Wars?

That's what Michael Bay believes, who directed the Transformers movie. Still peeved that Transformers only appears on HD-DVD and not Blu-ray, Micheal wrote that "Microsoft wants both formats to fail" in an attempt to move consumers toward digital downloads, and that MS is "handing out $100 million checks to studios" to push HD-DVD and confuse the market. Makes perfect sense too, because, well, if two formats manage to gain a foothold in the market, said formats will spontaneously combust, leaving digital downloads to rule over masses of confused movie watchers.

Nokia Offers Free Music for a Year

As part of their 'Comes With Music Program', Nokia announced they'll be giving away free music from "millions of artists[...], past, present, and future." To qualify, consumers need only purchase a Nokia device, making them eligible to download free music for a year, which they can keep forever. As of yet, it's unclear which record labels will participate, save for UMG, who is already on board.

iPhone Searches Dominate Google

Score one for technology and entertainment, which saw more Google searches in 2007 than any other category. And the fastest-rising search term? The iPhone, of course, which didn't exist a year prior. Also making the top 10 list are Webkinz, celebrity news site TMZ, and transformer toys, which held the 2, 3, and 4 spots respectively. See the rest here.

iPhone Dominates France

French mobile phone operator Orange reports they've sold 30,000 iPhones in the first five days since it's November 29 launch. Meanwhile, T-Mobile in Germany said it sold 10,000 units on the first day, who yesterday won a lawsuit allowing them to lock iPhone customers into a two year contract. Orange remains the only Apple network partner to sell unlocked phones, which does so to comply with French law.

$222,000 RIAA Verdict Constitutional

After losing a copyright infringement suit brought forth by the RIAA to the tune of $222,000, Jammie Thomas appealed the verdict claiming the damages were in excess of actual damages the music labels might have incurred. But the U.S. Department of Justice didn't agree, dismissing Thomas' claims and stating that the Copyright Act serves both a "compensatory and a deterrent purpose." File sharers take note...

Shrinky Dink Chips

While most of us can remember using Shrinky Dinks to downsize Smurfs and He-Man characters, Michelle Khine recently found another use for them. Armed with a laser printer, a toaster oven, and Shrinky Dinks, the University of California Merced professor managed to make microfluidic devices, which are computer chips with plumbing typically fabricated in multimillion dollar labs. Read all about the process here.