The combined Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB produces popular phones neither parent could make on its own, melding Japanese and Swedish practices along the way. It paired Sony's Walkman brand with Ericsson's wireless technology, for example, to create one of the first music cell phones. Sony Ericsson has sold more than 45 million Walkman phones to date, helping boost its global market share to nearly 9%, up from around 6% two years ago. New president Hideki Komiyama now faces a key project: making games on mobile phones look good enough and be fast enough to use Sony's popular PlayStation brand. …

In a business that has seen the disappearance of major retailers such as Tower Records and Sam Goody, music label Rhino Entertainment has opened a pop-up store in Los Angeles for the month of December only. A division of Warner Music Group that's best known for its ingenious repackaging of its back catalog, Rhino sees the pop-up store as an extension of its direct-to-consumer Web site at www.rhino.com. Open seven days a week from noon to 8 p.m., the store gives customers a chance to see and feel limited-edition boxed sets, silkscreen posters, fine art photographs, and other merchandise in …

A deal between Apple and News Corp's 20th Century Fox will allow consumers to rent the latest Fox DVD releases by downloading a digital copy from Apple's iTunes platform for a limited time, according to a person familiar with the situation. The agreement, which is likely to be announced at the Macworld show on January 14, has the potential to transform film distribution. Apart from letting people rent online, Apple will also for the first time extend its FairPlay digital rights management system beyond its own products. A digital file protected by FairPlay will be included in new Fox DVD …

Major hotel companies such as Starwood, Global Hyatt, Hilton, and InterContinental are offering customers who are enrolled in their loyalty programs the option to spend their points on an a wide array of unique experiences--from weightless space flight to cooking lessons from star chefs. Michael Soares and his wife used 124,000 Starwood points to spend one night with John Travolta and the cast of the movie "Hairspray" at the film's New York premiere. The hotel companies say that only a small percentage of their customers have enough points to spend on such experiences, but that number is increasing. Hotel officials …

Come New Year's Eve, Kraft Foods is mounting an all-out blitz to depict Ritz crackers as playful and lively. Starting at dusk on Monday, light projections scattered across Manhattan will show Ritz crackers merrily bouncing in and out of a box. And anyone at home watching "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve" on ABC will see newscasters asking celebrants to describe their idea of fun--with a Ritz logo on the screen. The inaugural "Ritz. Open for Fun" TV spot shows blink-of-an-eye vignettes of fantastical Ritz-induced fun. A boy and his dog play Frisbee with a Ritz, a girl blows bubbles …