While we highly doubt producers would allow movie goers to actually dictate the dialogue in their films with in-movie text messages, a demonstration of such hilarity was recently shown at the Wired NextFest. Essentially, the original Night of the Living Dead was broken down to "500 frames that visually told the story from beginning to end." Participants were encouraged to send in texts, which showed up in the order that they were received in specified speech bubbles throughout the film. Granted, this whole process sinks in much better if you see it in action, so be sure to click on through to catch a videoed demonstration.

[Thanks, blahblah]

A 21-year-old Aussie is looking at up to five years behind bars after being charged with "uploading a pirated copy of The Simpsons Movie on the internet." Interestingly enough, his weapon of choice was not an uber-small camcorder, rather, he chose to record the entire film with his mobile phone on its first day in cinemas. Merely hours after returning home, the footage was already making the rounds on the 'net, but he has since been arrested after having his home raided by Federal Police. Adrianne Pecotic, executive director of the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft, was quoted as saying that mobile phones had "advanced to the point where users could do a lot of damage" with its built-in video recording abilities, and also noted that pirates were "increasingly ditching handycams for smaller mobile phones."

[Thanks, Geoff]

Speaking at this week's Software 2007 gathering in California, Motorola CEO Ed Zander took a break from his company's woes and struggles to share the news that Moto's got a rather exciting new phone waiting in the wings. Details were slim -- the phone was apparently just mentioned in passing as part of the speech -- but the as-yet-unnamed handset is said to be video-centric, capable of a solid 30 frames per second for enjoying movies via SD card. Like other hot Motorolas in recent memory, Zander indicated that it'd be slated for a European release when it's officially announced next week. Any guess as to what the four-letter MOTONAME for this one might be?

While Spidey has definitely seen face time on handsets before, it's usually been in the form of a snap-on faceplate, but it sounds like Sony Ericsson is taking this Spider-Man 3 thing pretty seriously. Reportedly, we can expect to see a Spider-Man-approved K800i, K750i, K550i and K610i here before long, and SE already has a bevy of minisites, games, and hints of the movie all across its web portals. Furthermore, the "special edition" handsets should come pre-loaded with a trio of "exclusive Spider-Man wallpapers" along with a web-slinging screensaver to boot. To top it off, you can definitely enhance your level of geekness by carrying the mobile in a Spidey-clad hard case (complete with wrist strap, even). No word on when these will hit the mainstream, but judging by the sheer amount advertising going on at SE, we can't imagine it being too far off.

It's not terribly uncommon to see a manufacturer try to push a product (or platform) into every crevice of your life, and it seems that Texas Instruments is diverting quite sharply from its calculatorish ways of old and making an aggressive push to get that DLP logo slapped on everything you own. While we've seen (literally) the diminutive Microvision display do its thang here at CES, TI is hoping to steal that thunder away by talking up its forthcoming palm-sized DLP projectors. The "fully featured" Pocket Projectors, which are co-developed by OMAP, would weigh "less than one pound," use the .55 DLP chip, and could purportedly connect to handsets or PDAs to beam up that big(ger) screen imagery for a crowd to see. Unfortunately for TI, these devices are not (at least initially) supposed to be integrated units, which could easily get overlooked if those built-in alternatives can muster acceptable quality. Additionally, TI is hoping to get that DLP logo stamped on your brain even when you visit the cinema, as the company now has its technology in 3,000 theaters worldwide and is frequently throwing logo-clad splash screens onto the canvas during pre-show advertisements. So if you wonder why you're strangely drawn to the DLP sets during your next HDTV shopping trip, trust us, it's not the mirrors, it's the marketing.

[Via AboutProjectors]

While consumers' love affair with mobile TV has been debatable, that hasn't stopped a number of firms from teaming up to deliver all sorts of multimedia to our diminutive LCDs, and now MTV Networks and Amp'd are partnering to bring exclusive, original made-for-mobile content to Amp'd users. Hoping to give customers (pre-teens, at least) something to actually get amped up about, the two firms announced at CES that they would be developing unique content, such as an elusive "episodic series," that would end up appearing on both MTV and Amp'd Live. It was also stated that MTV would "retain the rights to develop and cross-program the projects for television and other platforms," possibly suggesting that the content could leak over to other networks if the price was right. Although a "comedy" series -- Lil' Bush: Resident of the United States -- was recent ported from mobile to TV, this marks the first time that an Amp'd production will have the hefty wallet of MTV Networks / Viacom backing it, which essentially means that future content rolling out of Amp'd Live will hardly be suitable for marginally mature adults. Laguna Beach fuheva!

[Via mocoNews]

We've heard of releasing lappies and cameras based on major motion pictures, and we've certainly heard of getting films on your phone, but Samsung is partnering with 20th Century Fox to unveil a limited edition, yellow handset to commemorate The Simpsons Movie. Having potential to reach a cult-like status in the geek / cartoon kingdom, this still-mysterious phone doesn't yet have a fleshed-out spec list (nor a finalized design, apparently), but we do know that it'll be yellow in color, have a special Simpson's logo, and come "pre-loaded with exclusive The Simpsons Movie content." While we aren't expecting anything special out of the phone itself, we'll be interested to see the eBay value of these bananas come July of this year, and hopefully by then we'll know a good bit more about the minutiae. Click on through for a few more pics.

[Via AVing]

While it's no surprise that video on cellphone screens is quickly becoming the next hurrah, it's saying something when ole Robert Redford himself dedicates a new branch of the Sundance Film Festival specifically to the mobile audience. Teaming up with the GSM Association, Sundance Institute is creating the Sundance Film Festival: Global Short Film Project in order to showcase the popularity and credibility in delivering media to those wee screens. Organizers have commissioned "six independent filmmakers to create five short films, crafted exclusively for mobile distribution," and all will make their debut at the world's largest annual mobile event -- the 3GSM World Congress -- in Barcelona next year. Dubbed as "the fourth screen," there's certainly a lot of coin to be made by opening up a new medium to deliver content, but there's always TinyTube (or Orb) to keep your multimedia-playing mobile happy until Hollywood takes it over.

[Via Mobile Gadget News]

Verizon seems to be throwing as many trendy extras as humanly possible into its (oftentimes overpriced) monthly add-on pool, and may now be nearing a deal with the video clip-broadcasting extraordinaire, YouTube. Not long after announcing a simplistic fee-based system to keep your contact list from being destroyed, Verizon Wireless "is in advanced talks" with YouTube in a deal that would bring the zany segments we all love to your very own mobile screen (and television, too). America's second-place carrier is looking to grab an edge in the marketing department as it hopes to "further its efforts to expand into internet and entertainment services." Under the terms being discussed, V CAST users would have access to YouTube videos for a currently undisclosed price, and Verizon reportedly hopes to "offer YouTube videos as an on-demand feature" while watching TV (FiOS anyone?). YouTube isn't selling the rest of its soul without caution, however, as the deal could end up being exclusive in nature, but only for a limited time. We'll keep you posted on how much "America's most reliable wireless network" plans on bumping your already overwhelming monthly bill should this deal go down.

If you're not already streaming movies to your less-than-ideal mobile display, or still toting that awkward Sharp 905SH to pick up Japanese TV broadcasts, Vodafone has an offer sure to make anyone any remaining Tom Cruise fans happy. Reportedly part of a holiday promotion to get more Nokia N93's in the hands of consumers, Vodafone will be including "a copy of Mission: Impossible III" on a 512MB miniSD card with the purchase of the N93 (and presumably a lengthy contract). The film will supposedly "run at 25fps" and support "rewind, fast forward, stop and resume, just like a proper DVD." The most intriguing bit, however, isn't the fact that a free half-gigabyte miniSD card sounds entirely more appealing than a played-out action film, but "you can also offload the flick onto your PC, and use the card for your own movies afterwards." Regardless of who seemingly gave Vodafone the thumbs-up to deliver the major motion picture sans DRM, we're just waiting in tense anticipation to see this unhampered goodness hit elsewhere.