Archives

Facebook Rolls Out New Privacy Features

Authored by Jay Baage on July 2, 2009 - 8:32am.

Palo Alto - Facebook has begun testing new privacy options. Once the changes - now in beta and not yet final - are complete, users will be able to decide who can see their Facebook posts on a post-by-post basis, according to PC World.

Nickelodeon Launches AddictingGames For iPhones

Authored by Jay Baage on July 2, 2009 - 8:19am.

Los Angeles - Viacom-owned kids channel Nickelodeon (NYSE: VIA) is launching a cross-promotion network for the iPhone, dubbed the AddictingGames iNetwork. AddictingGames will be publishing games from its own and other Viacom properties on the network as well as invite indie game developers to benefit from the brand name.

Report: Evite Lays of a Quarter of Employees

Authored by Jay Baage on July 2, 2009 - 8:08am.

New York - Online invitation service Evite, owned by IAC (NSDQ: IACI), is has laid off almost a quarter of its personel, 9 employees out of 38 total, and will reorganize to cope with a slump in advertising, according to Paid Content. IAC Chairman Barry Diller said in the first quarter earnings call that display advertising on Evite, its main source of revenue, has been hurt due to the downturn.

tags: IAC | Layoffs | Evite |

uSocial Lets You Buy Twitter-Followers

Authored by Jay Baage on July 2, 2009 - 7:57am.

Australia - How is this for an innovative social media marketing idea? An Australian marketing company called  uSocial is offering a paid service that finds followers for users of the micro-blogging service Twitter. Is it cheating? You decide.

Warner’s $33M Bid for Midway Games Close To Being Approved

Authored by Jay Baage on July 2, 2009 - 7:41am.
Chicago – Warner Bros. (NYSE: TWX) $33 million bid to buy "substantially all" the assets of Midway Games (NYSE: MWY) looks like its close to being approved. A Delaware bankruptcy judge said Wednesday that the objections to the Warner Bros. deal were resolved, clearing the way for the company to change owners, according to Chicago Tribune.

Bling Nation Lands $8M for Cell Phone Payment System

Authored by Jay Baage on July 2, 2009 - 7:11am.

Palo Alto - Bling Nation, a mobile payments infrastructure service, has raised $8 million in funding from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Meck and Camp Ventures. The money will be used to work with banks in local U.S. communities to set up the infrastructure required for its Redi Pay Bling mobile payments service.

Gannett To Lay Off 1,400, Digital Units Safe

Authored by Jay Baage on July 2, 2009 - 6:47am.
New York - Newspaper publisher Gannett Co. (NYSE: GCI), owner of USA Today and dozens other newspapers, plans to cut 1,400 jobs in the next few weeks, as a result of decreased advertising revenue.

Report: Paramount in Talks to Merge DVD Operations with Sony and Fox

Authored by Jay Baage on July 2, 2009 - 6:20am.
Los Angeles - Viacom-owned Paramount Pictures studio (NYSE: VIA) is in preliminary discussions about merging some or all of its DVD operations with Sony (NYSE: SNE) and Fox (NYSE: NWS), according to Financial Times. The purpose would be to save costs on backend physical production and distribution as the market quickly moves toward digital distribution of film and television content.

NYGC_070109_bottom

Authored by dmw on July 1, 2009 - 11:51am.

DMFW_070109_bottom

Authored by dmw on July 1, 2009 - 11:49am.

DMCW_070109_bottom

Authored by dmw on July 1, 2009 - 11:47am.

DMFW_070109_top

Authored by dmw on July 1, 2009 - 11:43am.

DMCW_070109_top

Authored by dmw on July 1, 2009 - 11:41am.

DMCW_070109_skyscraper

Authored by dmw on July 1, 2009 - 11:26am.

DMFW_070109_skyscraper

Authored by dmw on July 1, 2009 - 11:23am.

NATPE_July1_skyscraper

Authored by dmw on July 1, 2009 - 10:39am.

NYGC_070109_skyscraper

Authored by dmw on July 1, 2009 - 9:53am.

YouTube Co-Founder Chen Takes Position at Google

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 1, 2009 - 9:28am.
San Bruno, Calif. - YouTube co-founder and chief technology officer Steve Chen has stepped down to take an unspecified position at parent company Google (NASD: GOOG), All Things D reported. "Steve shifted his focus to help with some Google engineering projects. He's still involved with YouTube and invested in its success," YouTube spokesman Ricard Reyes told The Times' Bits Blog. Chen's holdings in YouTube, which was acquired by Google for $1.65 billion, reportedly were worth more than $326 million in February 2007.

Pandora Comments on New Submission Requirement

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 1, 2009 - 9:27am.
San Francisco - Tim Westergren, founder and CEO of streaming music service Pandora, has responded to complaints about the company's new requirement that independent artists first list a CD for sale on Amazon before they are eligible for play on Pandora, Hypebot reports. Westergren chalked the move up to three reasons: "user experience, improving the metadata, and managing submissions." "We are huge believers in not discriminating against aspiring/emerging artists -- 70% of the 75,000 artists in our collection are not on a major label," Westergren told Hypebot. "All we're asking of artists is to make great music, and have it available for easy purchase for Pandora's audience."

Sony Music, RED in Talks With IODA for Distribution, Marketing

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 1, 2009 - 9:25am.
Los Angeles - Major record label Sony Music Entertainment and its RED Distribution arm are in talks to partner with IODA, a provider of digital distribution services for independent artists, Digital Music News reported. The proposed deal reportedly centers on use of IODA's Rightsholder Dashboard, an online tool that artists, managers and labels can use to track sales and related data.