5:12 PM
http://www.techdigest.tv/2010/07/secureworks_wor.html
Teen-focused retailer American Eagle is offering *free* smartphones for anyone who tries on a pair of jeans. To get the free phone (good phones such as the Droid Eris, BlackBerry Curve, and LG Ally) the customers have to sign up for a 2-year service plan and they get a $25 gift card for American Eagle:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/American-Eagle-free-phones-apf-3227229954.html?x=0&.v=5
Verizon again had to push back its ship date for the Droid Incredible to *August 3*. Demand is really high for certain smartphones and devices like the iPad:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/verizon-pushes-back-htc-incredible-ship-date-again/2010-07-08
It is amazing to me that Disney's accounting claimed that the "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" show had never made a profit for them (they actually claimed it lost $73 million!) even though it generated about $600 million in license and merchandising revenue and $1.8 billion in advertising revenue. By claiming a loss, Disney didn't have to share any profit with the creators of the show, but a jury just awarded those producers $270 million in damages:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ct-disney-20100708,0,4051564.story.
Don Johnson was just awarded $23.2 million as his share of the profits from the Nash Bridges show that stopped filming about a decade ago. Rysher Entertainment had claimed that they lost money on the show so there were no profits to share...another example of the funny accounting practices used by Hollywood production companies:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-don-johnson-20100708,0,3603273.story
It is amazing to think about how it will cost between $15 million and $30 million for UT to create its own sports channel:
http://www.omaha.com/article/20100630/SPORTS/706309842/-1