"NTT DoCoMo, Japan's giant wireless carrier, said Thursday that it has launched a trial version of its forthcoming streaming video service.... The service, dubbed V-Live by the carrier, streams both live and archived video content to phones and PDAs via its third-generation (3G) FOMA system.

Full content won't be widely available until May 15, the company said. The content includes music, sports highlights, news and tourist information, the carrier said in a statement. After the trial period, the content will be available to those who subscribe to the V-Live service.

The company didn't divulge the cost of a subscription to the service.

In addition, so-called closed content also will be available, the company said. This type of content is available to customers who specifically pay content providers for it. Such content could include premium video, such as movies, or investment tips to brokerage customers. The content providers will charge end users for the closed content.

In addition, the operator said it would work with enterprises to make corporate content available to employees or customers.

The platform used for the service uses the MPEG-4 standard and must be delivered to specific video-enabled phones." [allNetDevices Wireless News]

"Fed up with Star Wars fan sites revealing plot secrets of his upcoming films, George Lucas dispatches two stormtroopers to take care of a list of unscrupulous webmasters.

That's the opening scene in Jeff Cioletti and Lou Tambone's four-minute film called Silent But Deadly, selected as one of the finalists in the first Star Wars Fan Film Awards sponsored by AtomFilms and Lucasfilm.

In the short, stormtroopers posing as pizza delivery boys, the Publisher's Clearinghouse prize patrol and plumbers haul away the offending webmasters to face their punishment. No, they don't meet their demise with Darth Vader; the hoods face an arguably worse fate by being forced to watch Howard the Duck, a forgettable film also produced by Lucas....

Filmmakers were invited to submit spoofs, parodies or documentaries with a Star Wars theme to the competition. All content had to be no racier than PG-13, and have the necessary legal paperwork completed.

About 250 fans submitted films. The companies narrowed the list to 44 finalists, which viewers can watch on the website for free. Winners will be announced and screened May 3 at the Lucasfilm official Star Wars Celebration II in Indianapolis. All finalists receive free passes to the event....

Winning films will also air on a Sci Fi Channel show about the contest. Director Kevin Smith will host the hour-long special on May 12." [Wired News]

Here's the full list of the films, although my favorite - Troops - isn't on there. Quelle dommage. I wonder if they didn't submit it because "AtomFilms licenses the rights to each film from the filmmaker for a period of several years, including the exclusive rights to market it in a variety of different media." You can find more fan films at TheForce.net. There goes your day....