Samsung Electronics Co.’s profits are on the rise again as its chip and display businesses recover from operating losses earlier this year. The turnaround recently helped push its market capitalization past Intel Corp.’s (INTC) for the first time.

But amid that success Samsung also is trying to address another concern: matching Apple Inc.’s ability to sell content and software that run on cellphones and other devices.

Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone has led the way in demonstrating that consumers are becoming more interested in devices that can tap the Internet or run clever applications. The same phenomenon is spreading to TVs and DVD players, which increasingly will be connectable to the Internet in coming years.

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A recent shift in merchandising strategy by the world’s largest retailer spells more trouble for DVD sales and the entertainment industry that depends on them for profits.

As part of a larger effort to clean up its aisles and appeal to higher-end shoppers, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) is doing away with display cases to promote the latest hot movie titles.

The move comes as major film studios are reeling from declines in revenue from DVD sales as cash-strapped consumers turn to low-cost rental services and digital downloads for home movies.

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Whether the public has a right to make a “fair use” copy of DVDs is on trial in a San Francisco federal court. Yet the public may never know whether the verdict was reached fairly because the presiding judge removed the press just as the nuts and bolts of the case was to be aired out. U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel’s contempt for the media is widely known by the San Francisco tech press.

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Apple’s (AAPL) iTunes makes saving music from CDs onto one’s personal computer a simple process, but doing the same with a DVD is much more complicated endeavor. Most DVDs are encoded with digital rights management technology to prevent copying.

Most DVD viewers think that’s hypocrisy. A study of 1,000 consumers conducted by the National Consumers League found that 90 percent think that they should have ability to back up DVDs on their personal computers in the same way they are able to do with music from a CD.

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Movie buffs are used to visiting RottenTomatoes.com for guidance on whether it will be a “Watchmen” or “Madea Goes to Jail” weekend. Will they tune in as the Web site tries its hand at television?

Tonight, Current, the Al Gore-founded cable station, will begin airing “The Rotten Tomatoes Show.” The half-hour episodes feature co-hosts Brett Ehrlich and Ellen Fox, who review film news and, in Web 2.0 style, draw from users for short (really short–DVD releases are reviewed in haiku form) reviews.

Jeff Plunkett, the show’s executive producer, says that Current approached the movie-review site with the idea of reinventing a genre that–all due respect to “Siskel & Ebert”–hasn’t drawn younger viewers in years.

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Over the past few weeks there has been a flurry of reappraisals of the Long Tail, most of which center around the question of whether it creates bigger blockbusters or smaller ones (more concentrated markets or less concentrated ones).

My predictions have always been that massive increase in variety plus massive improvements in “filters” (tools to make it easier to find new stuff that’s right for you) would tend to reduce the blockbuster effect and redistribute attention over a wider range. And, indeed, that’s what the data I cited in my book showed, where online markets of books, DVDs and music saw between 20 and 40 percent of the demand shift to products not available in traditional bricks and mortar stores.

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On the heels of Netflix’s (NFLX) problems last week getting DVDs out the door to subscribers, Needham & Co. analyst Charlie Wolf initiated coverage this morning of Blockbuster (BBI) with a “Hold” rating. Wolf says that while the company is throwing lots of things at the wall to “see if it sticks,” it’s not clear the company will get the increase in same-store sales it needs to offset the drag on earnings from its 6,000 retail outlets. He did not offer a target price.

“Blockbuster’s major problem lies in its base of 6,000 stores,” writes Wolf. “The company’s challenge and opportunity is wrapped up in the relatively large fixed expenses entailed in operating its stores.” Blockbuster revenue barely covers the cost of running the stores, but even a modest tick up in same-store sales could “transform a basically break-even operation into a highly profitable one,” writes Wolf.

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For years, we’ve been pointing out that disc-based media was on the way out, but for the industries (mainly music and movies) that make money from selling those discs, the allure of the cash cow was too strong. They’ve done little to plan for a future without disc-based media–which is why you see the recording industry in such a freak-out these days.

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