Archive - Feb 23, 2006 | Digital Media Wire

Dijji to Distribute Napster Ringtones to MetroPCS Subscribers

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 23, 2006 - 11:31am.

Seattle - Mobile entertainment publisher Dijji said on Thursday that it has launched the Napster Ringtones service with MetroPCS, a mobile network operator with over 2 million customers in San Francisco, Miami, Tampa, Atlanta and Sacramento. Seattle-based Dijji also distributes Napster Ringtones through Cingular, T-Mobile, Alltel, Rogers Wireless, Fido and Telus.

Midway Games, Double-Fusion Partner on In-Game Ads

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 23, 2006 - 11:29am.

Chicago - Midway Games announced on Thursday that it has signed a multi-year agreement with Double Fusion, to provide in-game advertising for a number of upcoming Midway game titles, including "Stranglehold," a collaboration with director John Woo. Separately, Chicago-based Midway said it has signed an agreement with developer Turbine for the rights to co-publish and distribute Turbine's "The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar" in North America. The massively multiplayer online roleplaying game is based on the literary works of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Konami Releases "Frogger for Prizes" Mobile Game

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 23, 2006 - 11:27am.

Los Angeles - Japanese video game publisher Konami Digital Entertainment on Thursday released its "Frogger for Prizes" mobile game. The title features the "For Prizes" platform from InfoSpace, which allows players to compete against one another to win prizes in daily head-to-head and weekly progressive tournaments.

CNET News.com: Top Prize at MashupCamp Goes to Podbop

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 23, 2006 - 11:24am.

Mountain View, Calif. - CNET News.com recently reported from MashupCamp, a contest where developers must merge two or more applications into a new software program. The winning project was 22-year-old Taylor McKnight's Podbop, which informs users of upcoming concerts in their area, and finds and downloads free, legal MP3s from the bands. Other popular mashups from the event included Chicagocrime.org, which combines Chicago crime statistics with Google Maps, and FlySpy, which provides a graphical view of the cheapest times to purchase airline tickets.

Report: U.S. Home Internet Adoption Rate Projected to Slow

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 23, 2006 - 3:21am.

Dallas - Of the estimated 39 million U.S. homes without Internet access, only 2 million said they are planning to subscribe in 2006, contributing to overall U.S. Internet adoption growth of just one percent in 2006, from 63% to 64%, according to a report from market research firm Parks Associates. Only 8 million of the 39 million homes without Internet access even own a computer, although 14 million reported having access to the Internet at work or other locations. Some 300,000 households said they might subscribe if services were cheaper. "We are clearly facing a problem of demand, not supply," said Parks Associates research director John Barrett. "Computers and Internet service have never been cheaper, yet many households still show little enthusiasm for the technology." The firm found that among households not interested in subscribing to an Internet service at any price, 31% said their Internet access at work was sufficient, while another 18% claimed, "I am not interested in anything on the Internet."

NBC Debuts New TV Show with Free First Episode on iTunes

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 23, 2006 - 3:19am.

New York - NBC this week premiered its new prime time legal drama "Conviction" on Apple's iTunes Store, offering a free download of the series' hour-long pilot episode. The pilot will remain available until the show's network television premiere on March 3; future episodes will be sold on iTunes for $1.99 each on the day after they first air on television. "We believe we have a youthful and energetic cast that should appeal to a new audience increasingly comfortable with this downloadable format as a viewing option, and we want to reach out to these viewers," NBC Entertainment Group CEO Jeff Zucker told The Hollywood Reporter.

Sprint Criticized for Excluding Indie Labels from Mobile Music Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 23, 2006 - 3:16am.

San Francisco - Digital Rights Agency (DRA), a digital distributor of independent label music, on Thursday criticized mobile network operator Sprint for failing to include independent label music on its mobile music download service. "More than three months after launching the service, and after advertising on the Super Bowl and Grammy Awards, it's simply unacceptable that Sprint continues to exclude independent labels from its full-track download service," said Digital Rights Agency managing director Tuhin Roy. While DRA has been told by Sprint that it does not have the resources to carry independent labels, DRA says it and other independent distributors have already licensed their catalogs to Groove Mobile, which powers Sprint's service. DRA claims its offering could be added to Sprint's service by "flipping a switch" at Groove Mobile.

Digital Imaging Firms Team on PC-Free Photo Transfers Between Devices

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 23, 2006 - 3:13am.

Orlando, Fla. - A group of digital camera, camera phone and portable media player makers has announced the development of guidelines aimed at increasing interoperability between the devices. Epson, HP, IDS, Olympus, PortalPlayer and Samsung are backing the PictSync technology, which enables the transfer of digital photos between two portable devices that can capture or store images -- without the need of a computer. "Today, it can be difficult for the average consumer to transfer an image from a camera phone or digital camera to a personal media player without first transferring the image to a PC. Even then, it may not be possible because data structures, transfer protocols and synchronization policies are not followed consistently by all manufacturers," said PictSync facilitator Felix Nemirovsky. "Clearly defined interoperability guidelines using existing industry standards such as MPV, DCF, MSC, PTP and others will enable fast, easy and consistent sharing or archiving of digital photo in portable media players and other non-PC devices."

Former Gizmondo Exec Crashes Rare $1 Million Ferrari in Malibu

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 23, 2006 - 3:11am.

Malibu, Calif. - A former executive at Gizmondo, a maker of handheld video game devices whose European unit recently declared bankruptcy, crashed a $1 million Ferrari Enzo on Tuesday while drag racing at 120 mph on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, Calif. Stefan Eriksson destroyed the classic car -- of which only 400 were made -- as it sheared in half after hitting a power pole, while Eriksson escaped with only a minor cut on his lip. Police said Eriksson, whose blood alcohol level measured .09, claimed that the car was actually being driven by a German man named Dietrich, who he said fled the scene on foot after the accident. Authorities were unable to locate this person after a local search. The Los Angeles Times reported that Eriksson had at one point received a $100,000 car allowance from Gizmondo, and once raced in France's Le Mans road race in a Ferrari with Gizmondo branding. Eriksson resigned from the company shortly before a Swedish newspaper published a story claiming that he had been convicted of counterfeiting in Sweden.

Mobile Transaction Firm mBlox Raises $25 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 23, 2006 - 3:09am.

Sunnyvale, Calif. - MBlox, a provider of mobile transaction services, said on Thursday that it has landed $25 million in a new round of funding, led by new investor Trident Capital. Previous investors BA Venture Partners, Norwest Venture Partners, Novus Ventures and Avanti Capital also participated in the round, which the company plans to use to accelerate the rollout of new products and extend its global footprint with acquisitions in Europe and Asia. mBlox provides message delivery and mobile billing services to business, processing over 1 billion mobile business transactions worth approximately $400 million last year.

tags: Mobile | Raise | mBlox | Transaction |

Wikipedia Offshoot Wikia Raises $4 Million in First Round

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 23, 2006 - 3:07am.

St. Petersburg, Fla. - Wikia, a provider of free online content hosting and licensing services, has raised $4 million in its first round of venture capital, led by Bessemer Venture Partners, Private Equity Week reported, citing a regulatory filing. Wikia was founded in 2004, originally as a project to create a search engine. The company subsequently expanded with Wikicities, with the aim of creating freely hosted, advertising-supported "wiki communities."

Web TV Provider Narrowstep Raises $7.4 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 23, 2006 - 3:05am.

London - Narrowstep, a provider of streaming Internet TV channels, announced on Thursday that it has raised $7.4 million in new funding, through a private placement of its shares with investors. London-based Narrowstep provides delivery of video content over the Internet through its TelVOS platform. The company has launched over 70 channels, for customers including U.K. broadcaster ITV, the Torino 2006 Paralympic Winter Games, Sail.tv, London TV and Cycling.tv. The proceeds will be used to fund the company's business plan and future growth.

Report: Wireless Carriers Add 25 Million U.S. Subscribers in '05

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 23, 2006 - 3:02am.

Arlington, Va. - Wireless revenue in the U.S. totaled $174.7 billion last year, up nearly 11% from the prior year, according to new statistics from the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA). The organization said that carriers added 25 million new subscribers during the year -- the highest number ever. Nearly two-thirds of the U.S. population has now subscribed to a wireless service. The TIA said that it expects the overall wireless market to grow by an average of 11% a year through 2009, when revenues are predicted to top $265 billion.
http://www.tiaonline.org/business/media/press_releases/2006/PR06-17.cfm

U.S. Copyright Office to Hold Public Hearings on 1201 Rulemaking

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 23, 2006 - 2:59am.

Washington - The U.S. Copyright Office announced on Thursday that it plans to hold public hearings in connection with its Section 1201 rulemaking proceeding, which will determine whether there are particular copyrighted works which should be exempt from the provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act that prohibits circumventing the copyright controls on a digital device. The Copyright Office will hold hearings at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif. on March 23 and 24, and at the Library of Congress in Washington on March 29 and 31, and April 3 and 4. Requests to testify must be received by March 10.

Comcast Reports 2005 VOD Usage Up 71%

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 23, 2006 - 2:56am.

Philadelphia - Comcast, the nation's largest cable TV provider, said on Thursday that orders on its video-on-demand service in its home market of Philadelphia increased

Nonprofit Developers Release Open-Source Democracy Media Player

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 23, 2006 - 2:53am.

Worcester, Mass. - The non-profit Participatory Culture Foundation on Thursday announced the release of an open-source media player and Internet TV system. The Democracy Player is being developed for Windows, Mac and Linux, and also includes software that can be used to publish video, a program guide of hundreds of channels of available video, and a community-rated automatic feed of free new Internet videos. The Massachusetts-based Participatory Culture Foundation said that the Democracy Player is being developed with donations from Silicon Valley venture capitalist Andy Rappaport, and Mitch Kapor, Lotus founder and chairman of the Mozilla Foundation.

Report: 34,544 Restaurants, Cafes Now Offer Wi-Fi

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 23, 2006 - 2:51am.

San Francisco - Restaurants and cafes represent the fastest-growing segment of Wi-Fi hotspots, according to new data from San Francisco-based JiWire, a provider of public Wi-Fi hotspot information and services. The company said that 34,544 restaurants and cafes currently offer Wi-Fi access, an increase of 18,267 from a year ago. Tokyo has the most restaurants and cafes with Wi-Fi access (1,037), followed by London (578) and Singapore (410). San Francisco has 319, second in the U.S.

Scholastic Sweepstakes to Award Harry Potter iPods

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 23, 2006 - 2:43am.

New York - Scholastic, publisher of the Harry Potter series in the U.S., on Thursday announced a sweepstakes leading up to the paperback release of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." The grand prize includes a 30GB Harry Potter iPod, which comes etched with the crest of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and filled with audiobook versions of all six Harry Potter novels.

tags: Harry Potter | iPods | Scholastic Sweepstakes | Award |