Actress sues IMDB for revealing her age

An unidentified actress is suing the parent company of the Internet Movie Database for over $1 million for revealing her age and refusing to remove it after she requested the site do so.

The actress, who is using the alias Jane Doe in the suit, is seeking $75,000 in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages from retail giant Amazon, which owns the popular Hollywood database.

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog

Apple misses on earnings, shares tumble

For the first time since 2004, Apple has fallen short of Wall Street’s earnings expectations.

The company reported earnings of $7.05 per share in its fourth fiscal quarter. While that represented a 54 percent gain in net income, it was still notably less than the $7.39 analysts had expected of the company. Shares fell roughly 6 percent in after-hours trading.

Read more at Daily Variety

Bunim/Murray plans vidgame-based reality show

Reality shows are entering the video game world.

Bunim/Murray Productions, creators of “The Real World” and “The Challenge,” have announced plans to team with CBS Interactive division GameSpot to launch “The Controller,” an online show based on Electronic Arts upcoming action shooter video game “Battlefield 3”.

Read more at Daily Variety

Surprise! Apple has another runaway hit on its hands!

While some may have grumbled that the latest iPhone didn’t have a 5 at the end of its name, that doesn’t seem to have stopped them from running out to get one.

Apple reports that opening weekend sales of the iPhone 4S have set a new record, selling more than 4 million units over its debut weekend. That’s more than double the amount the iPhone 4 sold when it hit shelves.

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog

The TV’s turn for an extreme makeover

The living room television set is starting to look a little long in the tooth.

With hundreds of TV channels to choose from, thousands of on-demand shows at people’s fingertips (plus thousands more from third-party services like Netflix and Hulu) and a near infinite amount of online content fighting for viewers’ attention, the way consumers interact with their sets is severely outdated.

Read more at Daily Variety

Spotify hits the quarter-million mark

Less than three months after formally bursting onto the scene in the United States, streaming music service Spotify has established an impressive foothold.

Reuters reports the company has signed up more than 250,000 paying customers here since its launch. The company revealed last month that its worldwide paying customer base has topped 2 million.

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog

September brings relief for video game sales

The holiday season has kicked off for the video game industry – and not a moment too soon.

Retail sales of video game software were up 3 percent in September to $630.2 million, a welcome change from the record setting lows of the past three months. The increase was welcome news, though not as strong as some industry observers were hoping for.

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog

Valve Software founder sees big gaming future for Apple

Steve Jobs never had a lot of interest in the video game world, but that didn’t stop Apple from accidentally becoming one of the most influential companies in the industry.

Now, the founder of Valve Software, makers of the acclaimed “Half-Life” series and Steam digital distribution system, says he believes Apple could make Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo’s consoles irrelevant at some point in the future.

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog

Felicia Day launches next Webisodic tour de force

Few, if any, in the Hollywood community have embraced the Web as passionately as Felicia Day.

Now, with the fifth season of her comedic web-series “The Guild” in her pocket, Day has weighed anchor on a new project, a six-part Web series tying in with Electronic Arts hit video game franchise “Dragon Age” – and it looks like she may have another hit on her hands.

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog

Hungarian police bust pirate ring

Four months after Warner Bros. announced that it would delay the release of its films in Hungary due to rampant piracy in that country, officials have raided a substantial piracy operation.

Police have confiscated a number of computers and allegedly pirated content that belonged to the CiNEDUB ring. Included among the haul was a 70 TB hard drive housing 5,000 movies, 4,000 songs, 6,000 games and computer software.

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog