Archive - Apr 23, 2009 | Digital Media Wire

ComScore: Twitter Was Top-Gaining Website in March

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 23, 2009 - 11:13am.

Reston, Va. - Microblogging service Twitter ranked as the top-gaining web property in March, drawing 9.3 million unique visitors, more than twice as many as the prior month, according to new figures from Internet audience measurement firm comScore. Following several months of double-digit growth, traffic to Twitter.com spiked 131% in the month, fueled in part by celebrity "tweeters" and substantial mainstream media attention.

tags: Metrics | comScore | Twitter |

Natalie Portman Debuts 'Behind-the-Scenes' Site MakingOf.com

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 23, 2009 - 11:11am.

New York - Actress Natalie Portman on Thursday announced the launch of MakingOf.com, a site that aims to offer behind-the-scenes looks into the creation of movies from the perspective of the creators themselves. The site launches with 40 interviews from Hollywood players including Ron Howard, Michel Gondry, Don Roos and Marc Forster. "When friends visit me on film sets, I am always reminded how intriguing and lucky it is to experience filming up close," said Portman. "At MakingOf our goal is to bring that up-close experience to everyone, including the ever-increasing number of self-taught filmmakers, who find audiences for their films using new opportunities for video-sharing online."

tags: Video | Movies | Natalie Portman | MakingOf.com |

"Final Fantasy" Game Franchise Top 85 Million Unit Sales

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 23, 2009 - 11:10am.

Tokyo - Japanese video game publisher Square Enix announced that its "Final Fantasy" franchise has now sold over 85 million units to date, GamesIndustry.biz reports. The company also revealed sales to date for other franchises -- including those picked up via its acquisition of Eidos, such as "Dragon Quest" (47 million); "Kingdom Hearts" (12 million); "Tomb Raider" (30 million); and "Hitman" (8 million).

tags: Games | Square Enix | Final Fantasy | Retail |

Disney, ESPN to Release 3D X Games Movie

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 23, 2009 - 11:09am.

Los Angeles - Looking to expand beyond its 3D concert films, Disney (NYSE: DIS) announced on Thursday that its ESPN Films unit will produce a sports-themed 3D film, "X Games 3D the Movie." The feature-length film will receive a limited one-week theatrical run starting in August, and will feature action sports stars including Shaun White and Travis Pastrana.

Yahoo to Shutter GeoCities Free Web Page Hosting Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 23, 2009 - 10:25am.

San Francisco - Yahoo (NASD: YHOO) plans to shutter its GeoCities free personal Web page hosting service later this year, and as of Thursday was no longer accepting new customers, Reuters reported.

tags: Yahoo | Closures | User-Generated | GeoCities |

Steve Jobs to Headline 2009 Inductees to CE Hall of Fame

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 23, 2009 - 10:09am.

Arlington, Va. - Steve Jobs, the co-founder and CEO of Apple (NASD: AAPL), heads the newly announced 2009 class of inductees into the Consumer Electronics (CE) Hall of Fame, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) announced on Thursday.

tags: Apple | CEA | Steve Jobs |

YouTube Introduces 'RealTime' Social Viewing Feature

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 23, 2009 - 9:35am.

San Bruno, Calif. - Google's (NASD: GOOG) YouTube has begun testing a new social feature that lets users see what which videos their friends are watching, rating and commenting on in real-time.

tags: Video | Social Networking | Google | YouTube |

Format Dispute to Blame for Lack of Ads on Susan Boyle Videos

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 23, 2009 - 9:07am.

London - A dispute between U.K. broadcaster ITV and YouTube (NASD: GOOG) over ad formats is to blame for why the estimated more than 100 million views of Susan Boyle's performance on "Britain's Got Talent" have not yet earned a single ad dollar, the Times Online reports.

Pirate Bay Judge's Copyright Interests Prompt Call for Retrial

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 23, 2009 - 8:45am.

Stockholm, Sweden - After a Swedish national radio show reported that the judge who sentenced the operators of file-sharing hub The Pirate Bay to a year in prison has connections with several pro-copyright groups, defense lawyers have called for a mistrial, TorrentFreak reports. Judge Tomas Norstrom sits on the board of the Swedish Association for the Protection of Industrial Property, and is a member of the Swedish Association of Copyright -- whose membership also includes Henrik Ponten, of the Swedish Anti-Piracy Bureau; movie industry lawyer Monique Wadsted; and Peter Danowsky, of the record label trade group IFPI.

Global Media Services, GridNetworks Agree to Merger

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 23, 2009 - 8:05am.

New York - Global Media Services, a provider of live and on-demand video streaming services, announced that it has merged with Seattle-based GridNetworks, a provider of HD Web video delivery services.

Reports: Former Facebook Exec to Become New MySpace CEO

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 23, 2009 - 7:43am.

Beverly Hills, Calif. - Owen Van Natta, the former COO of Facebook, is set to become the new CEO of social networking rival MySpace, the blog AllThingsD reported. He is expected to replace company co-founder Chris DeWolfe, probably starting with the title of special advisor.

Recipe Wiki Foodista Gets $500,000 From Amazon, Others

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 23, 2009 - 7:36am.

Seattle - Foodista, the developer of a wiki for recipes, has raised $500,000 in first round funding from Amazon.com (NASD: AMZN) and angel investors, TechCrunch reported.

tags: Deals | VC | Amazon.com | Foodista |

Final Speaker Lineup Announced For LA Games Conference, April 28-29, 2009

Authored by Jay Baage on April 23, 2009 - 5:55am.

Los Angeles, CA (April 23, 2009) - Digital Media Wire today announced the final speaker lineup for the highly-anticipated LA Games Conference (http://www.lagamesconference.com/) to be held at the Roosevelt Hotel, April 28-29, 2009. Keynote speakers include: Nolan Bushnell, Founder, Atari and Chuck E. Cheese, CEO, uWink and Chairman, NeoEdge
Known as one of the founding fathers of the video game industry and the man behind Atari, Bushnell will reveal his thoughts about new game consoles like Nintendo Wii and the new landscape of gaming.