Archive - Jan 17, 2007

Analysis: I Would Not Worry Too Much About Apple’s Cautious Outlook

Authored by Jay Baage on January 17, 2007 - 7:09pm.
Apple’s stock tumbled in after-hours trading on Wednesday in response to Apple’s conservative guidance for the next quarter, a traditionally tough one for the company. However, record earnings for the first quarter and a steady hold of the digital music market, as well as new products in the pipeline – such as the Apple TV wireless media hub set to ship in February and the much hyped iPhone cellular phone due to hit the market in June – things are looking pretty good for CEO Steve Job right now. The question is what will happen to Apple after he is gone?

Apple Reports Record Q1 Profits, But Outlook Disappoints Market

Authored by Jay Baage on January 17, 2007 - 5:51pm.
San Jose, Ca - Apple, with CEO Steve Jobs, on Wednesday reported that earnings for the fiscal first quarter rose 78 percent because strong holiday sales of its iPod music players and Mac computers. The record profit of $1 billion, as compared to $565 million for the same period last year, beat Wall Street estimates. However, the second-quarter outlook fell below analyst expectations because of slightly lower gross margins and slower expected software sales as customers wait for the new Leopard operating system to be released later this spring.
tags: Tech | Music | Apple | CE | Investing | Earnings | Stocks | iPhone |

Snocap to Enable Song Sales on ReverbNation Music Social Network

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 17, 2007 - 1:28pm.

San Francisco - Snocap, the digital content registration and distribution service founded by Napster creator Shawn Fanning, announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with music-focused online social network ReverbNation.com, to enable users to sell digital song downloads on the site. Under the deal, Snocap will handle consumer transactions and royalty payments for songs sold on ReverbNation.com pages through the site's DistroNow module. San Francisco-based Snocap also enables artists to sell songs through their profile pages on MySpace.

All Media Guide Teams With LyricFind to Add Lyrics to Music Database

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 17, 2007 - 1:26pm.

Ann Arbor, Mich. - All Media Guide, a provider of informational databases on music, movies and games, announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with LyricFind to offer lyric search and display capabilities. LyricFind has licensed lyrics from over 1,700 publishers, which will be available to retailers and device manufacturers using All Media Guide's database. The deal also enables AMG to resell LyricFind services to its customers, while LyricFind may provide basic AMG data to its clients.

Sirius Adds CNN Online to Streams Available On Website

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 17, 2007 - 1:25pm.

New York - Sirius Satellite Radio announced on Wednesday that it has added CNN Online to its website. In addition to radio channels, Sirius offers online streams of all of its channels to subscribers. New York-based Sirius also simulcasts CNN TV programming on its satellite radio service.

WorldSpace, Telecom Italia to Deploy Terrestrial Repeaters in Italy

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 17, 2007 - 1:24pm.

Silver Spring, Md. - WorldSpace, a provider of satellite radio service in more than 130 countries, announced on Wednesday that its Italian unit has partnered with Telecom Italia to deploy a terrestrial repeater network in Italy. The network of "gap filler" repeaters will allow WorldSpace Italia subscribers without a direct line of sight to its satellite to receive broadcasts.

Zodiac Debuts Interactive TV Local Business Search Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 17, 2007 - 1:23pm.

Valley Stream, N.Y. - Interactive TV applications developer Zodiac Interactive on Wednesday introduced TVLocalSearch, which allows consumers to use their televisions to search for local businesses while still watching TV. The service also includes TVCallME, a feature that lets users click to be connected by phone to local businesses. New York-based Zodiac recently demonstrated TVLocalSearch at the Consumer Electronics Show, powered at the time by Yahoo Local Search listings.

Career Moves: January 17, 2007

Authored by dmw on January 17, 2007 - 1:22pm.
Career Moves is made possible by @HIRE.
Avid Technology, a provider of digital video postproduction equipment, has named Greg Estes as its Chief Marketing Officer. Prior to joining Avid, Estes served as Vice President of Global Marketing for Silicon Graphics.

Korea's Gravity Licenses "Emil Chronicle Online" Game in China

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 17, 2007 - 1:21pm.

Seoul, South Korea - Korean online game developer and publisher Gravity announced on Wednesday that it has signed an agreement with China's The9, to license its massively multiplayer game "Emil Chronicle Online" for play in mainland China. Gravity also recently signed an agreement with Infocomm Asia Holdings, to license the game in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Gravity expects total revenue from "Emil Chronicle Online" in the territories to amount to over $6.8 million over the terms of the agreements.

EA to Add "Boom Boom Rocket" to Downloadable Xbox Games Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 17, 2007 - 1:20pm.

Redwood City, Calif. - Electronic Arts on Wednesday detailed plans for "Boom Boom Rocket," its first title for Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade digital game distribution service for the Xbox 360. Set to debut on Xbox Live Arcade in the spring of 2007, the rhythm action game was conceived by EA's Pogo.com casual games team and developed by Bizarre Creations.

CyberSource Leaderboard 2 (Best Practice)

Authored by anonymous on January 17, 2007 - 12:59pm.

CyberSource Skyscraper 2 (Best Practice)

Authored by anonymous on January 17, 2007 - 12:59pm.

CyberSource 468x60 2 (Best Practice)

Authored by anonymous on January 17, 2007 - 12:58pm.

Sun's Schwartz: A Model for the Social Media CEO?

Authored by Rohit Bhargava on January 17, 2007 - 12:50pm.
This past weekend, the Saturday Interview in the business section of the NY Times focused on Jonathan Schwartz, CEO of Sun.  Over the course of a single column, Schwartz shared more insight into the evolving media world (and how businesses should work) than most other CEO I have seen in the recent past.  Among his gems is the (sadly) rare understanding that lawyers only provide legal advice – they don't make the business decisions, unless you let them.  How many great ideas have we all seen die because businesspeople have taken legal advice as gospel and refused to question it?  The headline of the NY Times piece quips, "Sun's Chief Doesn't Fear the Snarky" – take this along with Schwartz's nuanced view of how to properly use legal advice, and there is an interesting point emerging.  Could it be that the simplest reason why we are not seeing more organizations embrace social media comes down to fear of snarkiness and fear of lawyers?

United Talent Agency, Veoh Networks Team on Video Submissions Portal

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 17, 2007 - 12:11pm.

Beverly Hills, Calif. - UTA Online, the broadband division of Hollywood talent agency United Talent Agency (UTA), announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with Internet TV distributor Veoh Networks to launch a site aimed at identifying new talent and showcasing UTA clients.

Apple Lawyers Target Blogs Covering iPhone "Skins" for Smartphones

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 17, 2007 - 12:07pm.

Los Angeles - Lawyers for Apple have sent cease-and-desist letters to bloggers who reported on a series of skins based on its iPhone user interface, which independent programmers have developed for existing smartphones, Australia's The Age reported.

President Signs Bill Outlawing "Pretexting" Into Law

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 17, 2007 - 11:39am.

Washington - President Bush has signed into law a bill that outlaws "pretexting," or the fraudulent or unauthorized acquisition or disclosure of confidential phone records.

Viacom's mtvU to Acquire RateMyProfessors.com

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 17, 2007 - 10:58am.

New York - mtvU, a unit of Viacom's MTV Networks, announced on Wednesday that it will acquire RateMyProfessors.com, a site with over 6.6 million user-generated ratings on more than 900,000 college professors.

Shares of XM, Sirius Fall After FCC Casts Doubt on Possible Merger

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 17, 2007 - 10:42am.

Washington - Share prices of the nation's two satellite radio firms -- XM and Sirius -- fell sharply on Wednesday, after FCC chairman Kevin Martin said that a potential blockbuster merger between the companies would be prohibited by FCC rules.