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MusicGremlin to Debut Direct-to-Device Digital Music Service at CES

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 15, 2005 - 10:30am.
New York - MusicGremlin, the developer of a digital music service that enables downloads directly to portable devices over a Wi-Fi connection, announced on Wednesday that it plans to introduce the service at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next month. The company will debut a portable digital audio player that is enabled for Wi-Fi, and comes with embedded service software that provides access to a library of over two million songs. New York-based MusicGremlin partnered with MusicNet to provide the service's catalog, and will offer both an unlimited monthly subscription service and the ability to purchase a la carte downloads for permanent ownership. The devices will also be able to connect with one another, allowing owners to browse each others' collections, and download songs from one another if both are subscribers. MusicGremlin's portable players are slated to go on sale in the first quarter of 2006. The direct-to-device software will also be offered to third-party MP3 player makers.
tags: Music | CES | MusicGremlin | Direct-to-Device Digital Music Service |

Amp'd Mobile Launches with $50 Million Investment from MTV

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 15, 2005 - 9:44am.
New York - MTV Networks has made a $50 million equity investment in Amp'd Mobile, a wireless entertainment service that launched this week, Reuters reported. Amp'd will sell its own mobile phone service, renting network capacity from Verizon, and market to the youth market with a range of entertainment content. MTV will also provide video clips to Amp'd; other content providers include CBS, Fox and ESPN. Amp'd will sell full-track mobile music downloads for 99 cents -- which is less than what other wireless networks charge but equal to the price of Internet-based song downloads.. The Amp'd Mobile service is initially only compatible with the Kyocera Jet handset, although Motorola will soon launch another model. Amp'd plans to expand sales beyond its website to select retailers next month.
tags: Deals | Amp'd Mobile | MTV |

Google Launches Music Search Feature

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 15, 2005 - 9:42am.
Mountain View, Calif. - Google on Thursday introduced a new music search feature, which aims to provide more relevant results when users are searching for music-related information. Users enter names of bands, artists, albums or songs on Google Music, and receive music-related results at the top of the page. The results will include album cover art, reviews and links to retailers including iTunes, Amazon.com and eMusic. The company said the service currently skews toward popular U.S. artists, but will be expanded to encompass classical and lesser-known artists worldwide. "This has been one of the longstanding unfilled user needs," Marissa Mayer, Google's vice president of search products and user experience, told News.com. "We saw a search need where we weren't providing users with the highest-quality results that we could." Mayer added that Google isn't planning to launch its own digital music store.
tags: Music | Google | Music Search |

Google Launches Music Search Feature

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 15, 2005 - 9:39am.
Mountain View, Calif. - Google on Thursday introduced a new music search feature, which aims to provide more relevant results when users are searching for music-related information. Users enter names of bands, artists, albums or songs on Google Music, and receive music-related results at the top of the page. The results will include album cover art, reviews and links to retailers including iTunes, Amazon.com and eMusic. The company said the service currently skews toward popular U.S. artists, but will be expanded to encompass classical and lesser-known artists worldwide. "This has been one of the longstanding unfilled user needs," Marissa Mayer, Google's vice president of search products and user experience, told News.com. "We saw a search need where we weren't providing users with the highest-quality results that we could." Mayer added that Google isn't planning to launch its own digital music store.
tags: Music | Google | Music Search |

NCsoft Settles Copyright Dispute with Marvel Over "City of Heroes" Game

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 15, 2005 - 9:36am.
Austin, Texas - Video game publisher NCsoft announced that it has settled copyright infringement litigation brought by Marvel Entertainment, which claimed NCsoft's "City of Heroes" online game enabled users to create superhero characters so similar to Marvel superheroes as to constitute copyright infringement. Korea-based NCsoft, which has U.S. headquarters in Austin, did not disclose terms of the settlement -- which will not result in any changes to "City of Heroes" or its sequel, "City of Villains." "The parties' settlement allows them all to continue to develop and sell exciting and innovative products, but does not reduce the players' ability to express their creativity in making and playing original and exciting characters," said NCsoft.
tags: Deals | NCsoft | Marvel | Game | City of Heroes | Copyright Dispute |

Activision: 3rd, 4th Quarter and 2005 Earnings to be Lower than Expected

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 15, 2005 - 9:33am.
Santa Monica, Calif. - Video game publisher Activision warned late on Wednesday that it expects its third-quarter results to be lower than projected, despite the fact that there are still a number of critical shopping days left before the quarter ends on Dec. 31. Activision, whose titles include the Tony Hawk series, "Call of Duty" and "Ultimate Spider-Man," also said it expects lower results for its fourth quarter and full-year than anticipated. The announcement follows news from NPD Group that November U.S. game sales were down 18% from 2004. "While a number of the company's products are outperforming the competition in the marketplace, overall the company's portfolio of products are not selling as well as had been anticipated," Activision said in a statement. "Even though we have not yet completed the quarter and there is still uncertainty as the holiday season unfolds, we wanted to provide an update with regard to market conditions and the performance of our portfolio of products as a whole," added Activision Publishing president and CEO Michael Griffith. "For the quarter, we still expect to generate significant revenues; however, we are disappointed that our earnings performance will come in substantially below our previous outlook."
tags: Deals | VC | Activision | Earnings | Lower than Expected |

Record Companies Want Kazaa Execs Jailed Over Filtering Order

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 15, 2005 - 9:31am.
Sydney, Australia - The record companies suing Sharman Networks, distributors of the Kazaa file-sharing software, for copyright infringement in Australia have asked the judge in the case to jail several Sharman executives for failing to comply with a court order to filter 3,000 copyrighted songs by Dec. 5, ZDNet Australia reported. The contempt of court claim is being petitioned for against Sharman CEO Nikki Hemming and Altnet and Brilliant Digital Entertainment CEO Kevin Bermeister. While Sharman argues that it complied with the order, by disabling downloads of the Kazaa application entirely for Australian users, record company lawyer Tony Bannon argued that tactic was "ineffective," and that "the copyright infringements continue." Justice Murray Wilcox ruled in September that Sharman had authorized copyright infringement, and the parties have since been at odds on how to proceed, and as to whether Kazaa will continue to operate as a legitimate service that filters copyrighted songs. Wilcox commented that "contempt proceedings are fairly rare in this court and I've never yet sent anyone to jail."
tags: Law | Record Companies | Kazaa Execs | Jailed Over Filtering Order |

Music Analysis Software Developer Siren Systems Raises $2.3 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 15, 2005 - 9:28am.
San Francisco - Siren Systems, a developer of music search, navigation and recommendation technologies, announced on Thursday that it has raised $2.3 million in its first round of venture capital financing. Amicus Capital led the investment round; Nueva Ventures and others also participated. San Francisco-based Siren's Soundflavor Engine, developed over five years, consists of a database of musical attributes created by professional analysts that provides song-level search, navigation and personalized recommendations. The Soundflavor Engine was recently integrated into the website of Ricall, a music industry research and licensing network. The funds will be used for product development, enhancing infrastructure and to expand Siren's staff.
tags: Deals | VC | Music | Siren Systems | Music Analysis Software Developer |

DirecTV to Create HD Channel for Network LIVE Concert Broadcasts

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 15, 2005 - 9:24am.
Los Angeles - Network LIVE, a joint venture between AOL, XM Radio and AEG that produces live music and events broadcasts, announced on Thursday that it has signed a distribution agreement with satellite TV provider DirecTV. Under the deal, DirecTV will be the first-window TV partner for Network LIVE, which will receive its own high-definition on DirecTV in March 2006. Network LIVE will provide two concert series to DirecTV -- one featuring multi-platinum artists in major venues, and another from groundbreaking artists in club settings -- in addition to comedy and special event programming.
tags: DirecTV | HD Channel | LIVE Concert Broadcasts |

Chipmaker Sigma Designs to Acquire Blue7 Communications

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 15, 2005 - 9:22am.
Milpitas, Calif. - Sigma Designs, a maker of silicon-based media processors for consumer electronics products such as high-definition TVs and portable media players, said on Thursday that it has agreed to pay $14 million in stock to acquire Blue7 Communications, a San Jose-based developer of advanced wireless technologies and ultra-wideband semiconductor products. The deal is expected to close in February. Four-year-old Blue7 has 20 employees, including 18 engineers. Once the deal is completed, Sigma said that it plans to move Blue7's operations to its headquarters in Milpitas.
tags: Deals | Sigma | Blue7 Communications |

XM Radio, ABC Launch "The Good Morning America Radio Show"

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 15, 2005 - 9:20am.
Washington - XM Satellite Radio, a provider of subscription radio programming with over 5 million subscribers, on Thursday announced the launch of "The Good Morning America Radio Show" in partnership with ABC News. The four-hour show will air Monday through Saturday and feature news and interviews from the television show, in addition to original content that expands on segments and topics from the show.
tags: XM Radio | ABC | The Good Morning America Radio Show |

Verizon Nears FiOS TV Franchise Deal for Hermosa Beach

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 15, 2005 - 9:16am.
Hermosa Beach, Calif. - Verizon announced on Thursday that the Hermosa Beach City Council has voted to authorize a video franchise for the company's FiOS TV Internet-based TV service. If approved in a final vote in January, the company will soon after make FiOS TV available to the California South Bay city's 10,000 households.
tags: Deals | Verizon | FiOS TV | Hermosa Beach |

Visiware to Develope Interactive TV Games for Universal Pictures

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 15, 2005 - 9:14am.
Sevres, France - Visiware, a developer of interactive TV games, announced on Thursday that it has signed an agreement with Universal Studios Consumer Products Group to develop a number of interactive TV games based on Universal Pictures properties. France-based Visiware will first create two interactive TV games based on "King Kong," including a 200-question trivia game that incorporates photos and behind-the-scenes images from the movie. Other Universal interactive TV games will also be developed and released within the next six months. Visiware's Playin'TV interactive games channel is currently available in 77 countries on 33 networks.
tags: Deals | Universal Pictures | Visiware | Interactive TV Games |

Paramount Offers "Mission: Impossible III" HD Trailer on Xbox Live

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 15, 2005 - 9:12am.
Hollywood - Viacom's Paramount Pictures announced on Thursday that it has provided an exclusive, high-definition teaser trailer for its upcoming "Mission: Impossible III" for download on the Xbox Live online gaming service. The film is slated for release on May 5, 2006. Paramount previously offered an exclusive online trailer for "Aeon Flux" through Xbox Live.
tags: Paramount | Xbox Live | Mission: Impossible III | HD Trailer |

Blinkx Adds "Meet the Author" Video Clips to Web Video Index

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 15, 2005 - 9:10am.
San Francisco - Blinkx, a searchable index of Web video, announced on Thursday that it has added over 800 video clips of authors discussing their books from Meet the Author, an interactive video marketing and book promotions company.
tags: Blinkx | Meet the Author | Web Video Index | v |

Electronic Arts Signs John Dutton to Grace Cover of Arena Football Game

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 15, 2005 - 9:07am.
Redwood City, Calif. - Electronic Arts announced on Thursday that it has signed John Dutton, quarterback for the Arena Football League's Colorado Crush, to serve as cover athlete and spokesman for its "Arena Football" title for PlayStation 2 and Xbox. The game is scheduled for release on Feb. 7.
tags: Games | Electronic Arts | John Dutton | Arena Football Game |

Square Enix to Ship "Grandia III" in February

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 15, 2005 - 9:04am.
Los Angeles - Japanese video game publisher Square Enix announced on Thursday that it plans to release its "Grandia III" title for PlayStation 2 in North America in February 2006.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/051214/law051.html?.v=39
tags: Square Enix | Grandia III |

CNET News.com: Alternate Reality Games

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 15, 2005 - 9:02am.
San Francisco - CNET News.com on Thursday reported on the new genre of "alternate reality games" (ARGs), which it calls "part puzzle-infused scavenger hunt, part interactive fiction." The article profiles fantasy author Sean Stewart, as well as 42 Entertainment, a company launched by former Microsoft employees that has created ARGs for "Last Call Poker" -- a promotion for Activision's "Gun" game -- in addition to "The Beast," for the movie "A.I.," and "I Love Bees," for the release of Microsoft's "Halo 2."
tags: Games | Reality Games | CNET News.com |