The BBC wants to be a major player in the digital media world and is considering partnerships with private businesses to sell music downloads.
The publicly funded broadcaster is testing software called MyBBCPlayer to let users download its TV and radio programming. The BBC's website is the fifth most popular in Britain, according to Nielsen/NetRatings.
It already makes recent radio programs available for post-broadcast listening on its website, and in recent months, 1.4 million users downloaded recordings of nine Beethoven symphonies that the broadcaster offered for free.
People listening to BBC Radio 1 online could eventually click on a link to buy a song being broadcast.
The BBC plans to a launch a trial incorporating parts of MyBBCPlayer next month, with a full rollout in 2006. The plan is to offer on-demand TV and radio programming, live streaming of BBC channels, and access to the broadcaster's huge archives.
- - -
Your very own Haley Joel: A child-shaped humanoid robot that can recognize about 10,000 words and work as a housesitter will go on sale in Japan in September.
The Wakamaru robot can recognize the faces of up to 10 people and talk to them. When linked to mobile phones, it can also work as a monitor to check situations at home, such as a burglary or someone falling ill. The owner's schedule can be programmed in advance and Wakamaru can give a wake-up call and remind them of the day's events.
Mitsubishi-Heavy will start taking orders for Wakamaru on Sept. 16, and plans to sell 100 of the 1-meter-tall (3.3-feet), 30-kilogram (66-pound) robots at about $14,300 for residents in central Tokyo.
Mitsubishi-Heavy said it would be the first time a robot with communication ability for home use has been sold.
- - -
Make it so: Ever wish you could experience the "holodeck," the 3-D virtual environment aboard the starship Enterprise? There's a company that believes it's come close, letting video-game players play with huge, high-definition screens that envelop the user.
HoloDek, which takes its name from the Star Trek series, has been testing out the concept in Hampton, New Hampshire, for about a year. The company's test site features 42 gaming stations with high-speed personal computers and high-definition screens ranging in size from 17 inches to 13 feet.
Then there's the "half-pipe," which features a screen that is 20 feet wide and 12 feet high. Another creation is a sphere, which is 20 feet in diameter and eventually will offer a 360-degree wraparound gaming effect. The gamer sits inside the sphere on a robot that rumbles, banks and spins out, providing many of the same effects as a flight simulator.
HoloDek is lining up the financing to roll out more than 160 high-end gaming facilities over the next five years in the Northeast. The company is also talking with movie theater chains about installing HoloDeks inside existing theaters.
Pricing will be $5 an hour and slightly less for people willing to pay a $40 annual membership fee. McKittrick said he expects to charge $1 a minute, or $60 an hour, to play the sphere or half-pipe. Training on any game is free.
- - -
Compiled by Keith Axline. AP and Reuters contributed to this report.
