CANNES, France, Oct 12, 2008 (AFP) - A golden age for television beckons as established TV companies go head on with the Internet and other new digital media platforms to woo audiences worldwide.

And with a fast growing variety of new forms of audiovisual entertainment being rolled out for audiences of all ages, viewers are firmly in the driving seat.

WASHINGTON, Oct 10, 2008 (AFP) - Even the giants of technology did not emerge unscathed from the bloodbath this week on Wall Street.

Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Yahoo!, eBay, Dell, Intel, Cisco, Hewlett Packard and Oracle, key components of the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index, all saw their share prices fall by double digits in percentage terms.

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 10, 2008 (AFP) - YouTube said Friday it is adding full-length television shows to the menu at its globally popular website famous for snack-sized video snippets.

Episodes of classic television programs including 'Star Trek,' 'MacGyver' and 'Beverly Hills 90210' will be available in a 'theater view' format unveiled at YouTube earlier this week.

WASHINGTON, Oct 11, 2008 (AFP) - The National Football League got a boost in its feud with Comcast when the Federal Communications Commission ruled the cable giant should carry the league's network as part of a popoular package of channels.

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 10, 2008 (AFP) - TiVo Inc. confirmed on Friday that it has received 104.6 million dollars from EchoStar Communications Corp. as court-ordered payment stemming from a patent abuse lawsuit.

WASHINGTON, Oct 8, 2008 (AFP) - Internet giant Yahoo! on Wednesday rolled out an updated version of its Web-based calendar, in its latest bid to stay ahead of rival Google.

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 7, 2008 (AFP) - YouTube on Tuesday added links to online stores in a move crafted to pump more money from the hot video-sharing website Google bought nearly two years ago in a 1.65 billion dollar stock deal.

'They spent a ton of money on this thing and it is natural they want to make a return,' analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group in Silicon Valley told AFP.

TSUKUBA, Japan, Oct 7, 2008 (AFP) - A Japanese professor announced Tuesday he was introducing robot suits for paralysed people, helping them to walk again by detecting their next move and lifting their muscles.

'The time has come to introduce this technology to the world,' Yoshiyuki Sankai, a professor at Tsukuba University near Tokyo, announced at a news conference.

TSUKUBA, Japan, Oct 7, 2008 (AFP) - A Japanese professor announced Tuesday he was introducing robot suits for paralysed people, helping them to walk again by detecting their next move and lifting their muscles.

'The time has come to introduce this technology to the world,' Yoshiyuki Sankai, a professor at Tsukuba University near Tokyo, announced at a news conference.

LONDON, Oct 7, 2008 (AFP) - A top BBC presenter, known for his aggressive interviews, slammed the publicly funded broadcaster Tuesday for 'fawning' over Britain's royal family in its news coverage.