Radiohead's latest album In Rainbows was purchased by UK downloaders for a measly average of £2.47 last month. Unsuprisingly, a new report from comScore has revealed that in its first month of sale, 62 per cent of the 1.2 million people worldwide who visited the band's site in October chose to pay nothing at all.
Last month the band initiated what was widely touted as the beginning of a new era for the struggling record industry. They released their latest album for direct download on the web, allowing fans to choose how much they would like to pay, with no minimum price.
Virgin Media on the up
Virgin Media, it seems, has fared far better recently. It reported its strongest customer growth in over a year, marking a turnaround from the months during its very public spat with BSkyB. The Cable TV company told The Guardian that it added 13,000 new customers in the third quarter of the year. During the second quarter it lost over 70,000 customers after rowing with its rival over carrying basic Sky channels on Virgin Media - an argument which is currently heading for court.
A controversial new hi-tech computer games vest which simulates the sensation of being hit by bullet fire is all set to become a Christmas best seller. Players can use TN Games' 3rdSpace gaming jacket with first-person-shooter (FPS) games including a special edition of Call of Duty II and Doom 3. However, anti-gun protesters have hit out against the technology, saying: "It sends out the message that it's cool to have a gun and desensitises game players to the idea of using guns".
Luke Skywalker's lightsaber
Online auction website Ebay has been tipped to be the mystery bidder behind a takeover of rival auctioneer site QXL Ricardo, if rumours circulating the web are to be believed. Although QXL would not name the bidder, it did confirm that it has received a bid approach. Shares in QXL rose 10.6 per cent following the announcement, The Times Online reported.
And Star Wars fans following the progress of Luke Skywalker's lightsaber will be pleased to know that it was back on Earth last night. The prop was taken into space as a souvenir by astronauts aboard the space shuttle Discovery during a mission to continue building the International Space Station.
