Archives

Google Shares Spike 17% to $102 in First Day Trading on Nasdaq

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 19, 2004 - 2:22am.
Mountain View, Calif. -- Shares of search engine giant Google rose over 18%, or $17 over the $85 price named for its initial public offering (IPO), which commenced on Thursday. Google sold 19.6 million shares at $85 each, raising a total of $1.67 billion in its IPO. The company lowered the initial share price to $85 from an earlier range of $108 to $135 per share, after it found that interest in the online auction offering of its shares did not produce as much investor interest as anticipated. Options on Google stock are expected to begin trading by the end of next week as well.
tags: Google | Nasdaq | Spike | First Day | Trades |

Calif. Senate Passes Bill to Make Video Game Ratings More Accessible

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 19, 2004 - 2:20am.
Sacramento, Calif. -- The California state senate has approved a bill that would require that video game ratings be clearly displayed by retailers, and that retailers make information on the ratings system readily available to parents purchasing games for their children. The bill, AB 1793, must now be signed into law by Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. State Sen. Leland Yee (D) encouraged the governor to approve the legislation. "I am hopeful the Governor will keep his promise to protect California's children and sign this legislation warning parents of video game content," Yee said in a statement. "More needs to be done to help parents make good choices about which games are appropriate for children."
tags: Ratings | Video Game | Calif. Senate | Accessible |

Patent Office Favors Microsoft in Eolas Browser Patent Dispute

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 19, 2004 - 2:20am.
Washington -- Microsoft has won another victory in its patent battle with Eolas, a company claiming to hold a patent covering the use of plug-ins with a Web browser, CNET News.com reported. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rejected all 10 patent of Eolas' patent claims currently under review, in the second part of a three-part patent review process. Eolas, a spin-off from the University of California, previously won a $521 million patent infringement judgment against Microsoft in the matter, which Microsoft is appealing. That ruling could compel Web browser makers like Microsoft to license Eolas' technology, or else create a workaround that would potentially "break" millions of Web pages. Microsoft has appealed that ruling, as well as asked the Patent Office to re-examine the Eolas patent, from which the recent ruling in Microsoft's favor emerged. Both the legal case and the Patent Office re-examination will likely go through several stages of appeal before any outcome is decided.
tags: Microsoft | Eolas | Patent Dispute | Patent Office |

Microsoft, Electronic Arts to Host "FIFA Interactive World Cup"

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 19, 2004 - 2:19am.
Leipzig, Germany -- Microsoft and game developer Electronic Arts announced on Thursday that they have partnered with international soccer federation FIFA to develop a "World Cup" video game tournament for players of Electronic Arts' "FIFA Football 2005" for the Xbox. The FIFA Interactive World Cup will be comprised of a three-month tournament featuring both offline and online play on six continents, with the finals to be played in Zurich in December. Microsoft also announced that it will serve as the officially licensed video game console of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, which will be held in Germany.
tags: Microsoft | World Cup | FIFA | Electronic Arts |

Mobile Entertainment Publisher Mforma Acquires Game Porter FingerTwitch

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 19, 2004 - 2:18am.
Bellevue, Wash. -- Mobile entertainment publisher Mforma Group, which earlier this week announced raising $40 million in new financing, said on Thursday that it has acquired San Francisco-based FingerTwitch, a developer of technology used to port mobile games to multiple devices and wireless platforms. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Mforma also named FingerTwitch CEO Jimmy Giliberti as head of its porting and QA department, which will be based out of San Francisco. FingerTwitch is "able to scale to accomplish hundreds of ports per month, making them an extremely valuable part of our production cycle as we deliver dozens of applications to more than 100 operators worldwide," said John Brimacombe, president of Bellevue, Wash.-based Mforma.
tags: Games | Mforma | Mobile Entertainment | FingerTwitch |

Cdigix to Provide Digital Music, Video-on-Demand to Six Universities

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 19, 2004 - 2:17am.
Denver -- Cdigix (formerly Cflix), a provider of digital entertainment and educational media for colleges, announced on Thursday that it has signed agreements with six schools to provide downloadable music, video-on-demand and educational media services to students. The company will provide its services at Marietta College, Ohio University, the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), the University of Denver, Wake Forest and Yale University. Digital music downloads will be provided through MusicNet, a service launched by a group of major record labels that offers an 800,000-song catalog. The campus music service will cost $2.99 per month or $0.89 per track, while the video-on-demand service will be available for a monthly $9.99 subscription or else $3.99 per movie. The company's educational course curriculum will be free to enrolled students.
tags: Video-on-Demand | Digital Music | Cdigix | Universities |

TeliaSonera Sells Zed to Wisdom Entertainment for $37 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 19, 2004 - 2:16am.
Madrid -- Scandinavian wireless carrier TeliaSonera announced that it has agreed to sell its Sonera Zed unit to Wisdom Entertainment, a Spanish interactive media firm, for $37 million. Zed is a reseller of digital content for mobile phones in Finland, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, the Philippines and the U.K. through direct relationship with 23 mobile network operators. The firm also has operations in Austria, Ireland and Switzerland through connectivity partners. Wisdom Entertainment is involved in video game development and distribution, computer-animated film production and mobile content development and distribution. The deal has yet to be approved by the German competition watchdog, whose decision is expected by mid September, TeliaSonera said.
tags: TeliaSonera | Zed | Wisdom Entertainment |