Joakim Baage

uSocial Lets You Buy Twitter-Followers

Authored by Jay Baage on July 2, 2009 - 7:57am.

Australia - How is this for an innovative social media marketing idea? An Australian marketing company called  uSocial is offering a paid service that finds followers for users of the micro-blogging service Twitter. Is it cheating? You decide.

Warner’s $33M Bid for Midway Games Close To Being Approved

Authored by Jay Baage on July 2, 2009 - 7:41am.
Chicago – Warner Bros. (NYSE: TWX) $33 million bid to buy "substantially all" the assets of Midway Games (NYSE: MWY) looks like its close to being approved. A Delaware bankruptcy judge said Wednesday that the objections to the Warner Bros. deal were resolved, clearing the way for the company to change owners, according to Chicago Tribune.

Report: Paramount in Talks to Merge DVD Operations with Sony and Fox

Authored by Jay Baage on July 2, 2009 - 6:20am.
Los Angeles - Viacom-owned Paramount Pictures studio (NYSE: VIA) is in preliminary discussions about merging some or all of its DVD operations with Sony (NYSE: SNE) and Fox (NYSE: NWS), according to Financial Times. The purpose would be to save costs on backend physical production and distribution as the market quickly moves toward digital distribution of film and television content.

Bling Nation Lands $8M for Cell Phone Payment System

Authored by Jay Baage on July 2, 2009 - 7:11am.

Palo Alto - Bling Nation, a mobile payments infrastructure service, has raised $8 million in funding from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Meck and Camp Ventures. The money will be used to work with banks in local U.S. communities to set up the infrastructure required for its Redi Pay Bling mobile payments service.

Gannett To Lay Off 1,400, Digital Units Safe

Authored by Jay Baage on July 2, 2009 - 6:47am.
New York - Newspaper publisher Gannett Co. (NYSE: GCI), owner of USA Today and dozens other newspapers, plans to cut 1,400 jobs in the next few weeks, as a result of decreased advertising revenue.

John Nilsson Demos his jDome Gaming Invention at E3

Authored by Jay Baage on June 9, 2009 - 9:28am.

Los Angeles - In this DMW Vlog, John Nilsson, voted Geek of the Year in Sweden, demos his half-spherical rear projection gaming screen called jDome at the Nordic Game and Film Lounge during E3, produced by Nordic Game in Association with Digital Media Wire. The patented innovation combines off-the-shelf hardware and software to give a low cost immersive Omnimax-like gaming experience at home. More information can be found at http://www.jdome.com.

Buzz Watch: Southwest Airlines’ Rapping Flight Attendant

Authored by Jay Baage on May 20, 2009 - 10:27am.

I like Southwest Airlines. The video embedded above reinforces that feeling. In it, Southwest Airlines’ Rapping Flight Attendant, David Holmes, explains Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) in a “GAAP Rap” at the 2009 Shareholder’s Meeting held at the Company’s Dallas headquarters today. While the audience might not get it, I bet YouTubers will. Southwest is a good example of a company that understands how to use social media. BTW I found out about this video through their Twitter feed. Follow SouthwestAir.

Nolan Bushnell @ LA Games: The Bloom is Off the Rose for Physical Media

Authored by Jay Baage on May 15, 2009 - 11:22am.

Los Angeles – In the exclusive DMW video interview from the LA Games Conference 2009, we speak to Nolan Bushnell, one of the founding fathers of the video game industry, perhaps most famous for starting Atari, Inc. He gives his views of the current state of the games industry and where he sees the business heading (away from the Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii as well as "plastic discs" in general): “The bloom is off the rose for physical media.” He also talks about one of his biggest regrets - turning down an offer from Steve Jobs to buy a third of Apple Computer for $50,000.

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.

Ashton Kutcher Becomes the First to Reach 1 Million Followers on Twitter

Authored by Jay Baage on April 17, 2009 - 11:49am.

Los Angeles - Hollywood Actor and Producer Ashton Kutcher became the first person to reach one million followers on the mobile microblogging service Twitter. In doing so, Kutcher won a much-publicized duel with CNN to get to 1 million followers first. The hype around the service also reached new levels as TV-host and media mogul Oprah Winfrey sent out her first tweet on Friday.

Four People Associated With The Pirate Bay Found Guilty In High-Profile Case

Authored by Jay Baage on April 17, 2009 - 7:30am.
Stockholm, Sweden - The four men involved in the Swedish-based BitTorrent tracking website The Pirate Bay were found guilty on Friday of being accessories to violating copyright law in the high-profile court case in Sweden. Frederik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, Carl Lundstrom and Peter Sunde (interviewed in the video embedded above) were each sentenced to a year in jail and 30 million SEK in damages (around 3.5 million USD).

Buzz Watch: Ashton Kutcher Thinks Ted Turner Should Come On His Web TV Show

Authored by Jay Baage on April 14, 2009 - 12:31pm.

Ashton Kutcher is a pretty cool guy. First he manages to get almost as many followers on Twitter as CNN (almost 900K). Then he challenges CNN to a race to see who can get to 1 million followers first. If he wins, he'll ""ding dong ditch" Ted Turner's house. Then, proving he's web-savvy, he uploads a video to his Qik page (embedded above), providing the following thought:
"It's just astonishing that one person can actually have as much of a voice online as an entire company on Twitter," Kutcher says while he is driving a car. "I just thought it was an amazing comment on the state of our media."
As he is on video, his PR agent calls and says that Larry King wants him to come on his show and talk about the Twitter challenge with Ted Turner. Aston's response? Why should he come on CNN's old-media show to talk about his success with new media and give them more viewers? Ted Turner should come on his Qik show instead.
"We'll post it on Twitter," Kutcher says of the potential Turner appearance on Qik. "We'll get Ted Turner to call in."

Buzz Watch: Flutter - The New Twitter

Authored by Jay Baage on April 6, 2009 - 9:38pm.

As Twitter-mania reaches new levels with speculation of a Google-bid, this Mockumentary has perfect timing. In three days, the video has had almost 200,000 views on YouTube. In other words, online news magazine Slate V shows that is has the finger on the pulse of popular culture.

Buzz Watch: Alpine Legend For Xbox 360

Authored by Jay Baage on April 1, 2009 - 7:34am.

I don't want to give it away, but remember what day it is? Seriously, I think this game could be a real-life hit among hipsters in Silver Lake. Guitar Hero is so yesterday!

Buzz Watch: Jonas Luster Talks About How To Make Better MMORPGs

Authored by Jay Baage on March 31, 2009 - 8:22pm.

Irina Slutsky of GETV (one of the best interviewers/hosts online, someone sign her already!) recently did a piece with game designer Jonas Luster about his experiences with massively multiplayer online games (MMORPGs) and his predictions for the future of the genre. Well worth watching to get the overview from someone very passionate about gaming and the gaming community.

Buzz Watch: Will Dante's Inferno Be Any Better Than Tomb Raider?

Authored by Jay Baage on March 30, 2009 - 10:07am.

So far, movies based on video games has not been a successful genre. Today, EA and Starz Media’s Film Roman announced the production of a feature-length animated movie based on epic poem Dante’s Inferno – one that will expand on the story told in the game of the same name being released by EA in 2010.

Buzz Watch: GDC 2009 Take-Aways

Authored by Jay Baage on March 27, 2009 - 9:23am.
San Francisco - While many suits were in attendance, business attire was way out-numbered by jeans, sneakers and funny hairdos at the 2009 Game Developers Conference (GDC). GDC, which started on Monday and ended Friday, is in many ways different from E3, the other really big U.S. games show. Instead of showing off the coolest in current gadgets and games, GDC is focused on the people who will develop the next generation of games.

Buzz Watch: Gene Simmons and Bob Lefsetz Battle at CMW

Authored by Jay Baage on March 20, 2009 - 6:55am.

The highlight of Canadian Music Week 2009 (March 11-14) was appearantly the debate about the future of the music industry between Gene Simmons and Bob Lefsetz (clip embedded above, there is much more on YouTube). The news about the battle of the minds spread quickly all over the world, I was tipped off about the YouTube videos by Anders Hjelmtorp of Export Music Sweden. Well worth watching.

Ron Berry Gives DMW The Inside Scope On Isle Of Man's ISP Music Flat Fee

Authored by Jay Baage on March 17, 2009 - 6:26am.


New York - In this exclusive Interview from DMW's Digital Music Forum East, Ron Berry, Isle of Man's e-Commerce Advisor, details how the government of this little independent island is trying to be a pioneer in a field where many larger nations are struggling, namely finding a way to compensate musicians in a digital age. The basic idea is to charge Internet users a flat fee for access to music online through their Internet Service Provider and then pass that money on to the collection societies, record labels and other interest groups. Will it work? You'll be the judge. Safe to say that it's an interesting experiment.

Poll: Is An ISP Flat Fee A Good Way To Monetize Music In A Digital Age?

imeem's Dalton Caldwell on Monetizing Social Networks

Authored by Jay Baage on March 11, 2009 - 7:29am.

New York - Music-focused online social network imeem has raised over $50 million in funding from investors including Sequoia Capital and Warner Music Group, according to reports. In this exclusive interview from DMW's recent Digital Music Forum East, imeem's 28-year-old founder Dalton Caldwell, recently featured in BusinessWeek.com's up-and-comers under 30 section, talks about new ad formats the company is about to launch, how they are working on developing and monetizing a broader mobile offering, as well as what kind of music he personally listens to.