"Avatar" Shatters Records; Rhapsody Plays Offline

When’s the last time an album debuted with sales over 6 million units?

The movie business is booming today with news of the best selling DVD in North American history. Since its release on April 22, James Cameron’s sci-fi opus “Avatar” has moved a total of 6.7 million copies—about 4 million DVDs and 2.7 million Blu-rays. This also makes it the top selling Blu-ray movie in history.

Sales of “Avatar” have grossed about $130 million. The sci-fi smash grossed $2.7 billion at the box office, making it the most successful film in history.

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Music streaming service Rhapsody has a new iPhone application which lets users listen to music even when a data connection is not available. The new offline option stores playlists and tracks on the phone’s memory for playback.

This new option is supposed to significantly extend battery life of the device, and is expected to be useful during travel, and when cell signals are weak.

This technology has been available for some time to users of similar service Spotify in Europe, but Rhapsody is the first to offer it in the United States.

The $10/month music subscription allows listeners to carry music on one portable device, or up to three devices for $15/month. Rhapsody currently has nine million songs in its catalog.