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DMW Daily, July 16, 2007

Top Stories
o Survey: One-Third of Americans Want an iPhone
o Sony Rebrands Grouper as Crackle; Will Develop User-Generated Content
o TiVo Debuts TV Commercial Ratings Service
o Sony BMG, Dada to Sell Mobile, Web Content Direct to Consumers
o RealNetworks Creates Branded Rhapsody Music Store for Best Buy
o Answers.com Acquires Dictionary.com Parent Lexico for $100 Million
o Chinese Video-Sharing Site Tudou Raises $19 Million
o Casual Games Publisher PopCap Acquires SpinTop Games
o Ad Network for Casual Games Mochi Media Secures Funding
Opinion & Analysis
o Bands, Albums & the Importance of Consumer Effort
o Analysis: Sony Goes Online for Offline Talent?
o Analysis: The Poor State Of Online Display Advertising Relevancy
o Analysis: LinkedIn Traffic Up 323% in Past Year, Users More Likely to be on Gmail
o Mark Cuban: What If We Would Have Called Ourselves a Social Network Back in 1999?
o Buzz Watch: Man Crashes Entire Internet
Briefly Noted
o Microsoft to Market Zune Media Player at Live Nation Concert Venues
o Washingtonpost.com Goes Hyperlocal with Launch of LoudounExtra.com
o NovelMaker.com Launches Fiction Writing Website
o Visible World, SpotXchange Partner on Targeted Online Video Ads
o Oversi, RawFlow Team on P2P-Powered Internet TV Delivery
o Nintendo Wii to Sponsor NASCAR Driver Greg Biffle
o Ludia to Develop Video Games Based on "The Price is Right"
o Namco Networks to Publish Big Fish Games' Casual Titles for Mobile
 Top Stories
o Survey: One-Third of Americans Want an iPhone 
Basking Ridge, N.J. - One-third of Americans say they intend to purchase an Apple iPhone, with 8% planning to buy one in the next three months and 22% saying they'll get one "some time in the future," according to an online survey of 39,000 Americans conducted by Lightspeed Research. [more..]
o Sony Rebrands Grouper as Crackle; Will Develop User-Generated Content 
Sausalito, Calif. - Sony Pictures Entertainment announced on Monday that it has re-launched its Grouper video-sharing site as Crackle, which will now focus on developing user-generated content for wider distribution. [more..]
o TiVo Debuts TV Commercial Ratings Service 
Alviso, Calif. - TiVo announced on Monday that it will begin offering monthly ratings data for the most popular national TV commercials viewed by owners of its digital video recorders. [more..]
o Sony BMG, Dada to Sell Mobile, Web Content Direct to Consumers 
New York - Major record label Sony BMG announced on Monday the formation of a joint venture with Dada, a provider of Web and mobile community and entertainment services, that will create a direct-to-consumer mobile and Web entertainment service. [more..]
o RealNetworks Creates Branded Rhapsody Music Store for Best Buy 
Los Angeles - Electronics and media retailer Best Buy has partnered with RealNetworks to create a branded version of its Rhapsody digital music service, to replace a similar co-branded service created with Napster, Variety reported. [more..]
o Answers.com Acquires Dictionary.com Parent Lexico for $100 Million 
New York - Answers Corporation, which operates the dictionary and definitions site Answers.com used in Google search results, announced on Monday that it has acquired Lexico Publishing Group, which operates Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com and Reference.com, for $100 million in cash. [more..]
o Chinese Video-Sharing Site Tudou Raises $19 Million 
Shanghai - Chinese online video-sharing site Tudou.com announced on Monday that it has raised $19 million in its third round of venture capital financing, co-led by Capital Today and General Catalyst Partners. [more..]
o Casual Games Publisher PopCap Acquires SpinTop Games 
Seattle - PopCap Games, a developer and publisher of casual games, announced on Monday that it has acquired SpinTop Games, a consumer game portal and developer of casual games. [more..]
o Ad Network for Casual Games Mochi Media Secures Funding 
San Francisco - Mochi Media, the provider of an in-game ad network for casual games, as well as website analytics tools, has raised an undisclosed sum in its first round of funding, led by Accel Partners, GigaOm reported. [more..]
 Opinion & Analysis
o Bands, Albums & the Importance of Consumer Effort 
Scott Goldberg discusses how the digital landscape has made the music purchasing process a possible culprit for the "Death of the Album" [more..]
o Analysis: Sony Goes Online for Offline Talent? 
Jay Baage blogs about the online video site formerly known as Grouper and its rebranding into Crackle. Will it have what it takes to make it in an increasingly competitive space? [more..]
o Analysis: The Poor State Of Online Display Advertising Relevancy 
After 10 years on online ads, why are we not further along when it comes to targeting the ads, asks Scott Karp. [more..]
o Analysis: LinkedIn Traffic Up 323% in Past Year, Users More Likely to be on Gmail 
LeeAnn Prescott blogs about the early-adopter-appeal of both LinkedIn and Gmail.
[more..]
o Mark Cuban: What If We Would Have Called Ourselves a Social Network Back in 1999? 
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o Buzz Watch: Man Crashes Entire Internet 
n/a
 Briefly Noted
o Microsoft to Market Zune Media Player at Live Nation Concert Venues 
Redmond, Wash. - Microsoft announced on Monday that it has partnered with concert promotion giant Live Nation, to market its Zune digital media player at 28 U.S. concert venues this summer. [more..]
o Washingtonpost.com Goes Hyperlocal with Launch of LoudounExtra.com 
Washington - Washingtonpost.com on Monday launched LoudounExtra.com, a new site featuring community-level news and events focused on Loudoun County, Virginia. [more..]
o NovelMaker.com Launches Fiction Writing Website 
Baltimore - NovelMaker.com, a site dedicated to creating and publishing works of fiction, on Monday announced its official launch. [more..]
o Visible World, SpotXchange Partner on Targeted Online Video Ads 
New York - Video advertising technology developer Visible World said on Monday that it has partnered with SpotXchange, a self-service exchange for online video ads, to allow advertisers and agencies to customize online video ads for specific demographics, geographic locations, market conditions, and other real-time data. [more..]
o Oversi, RawFlow Team on P2P-Powered Internet TV Delivery 
Petach Tikva, Israel - Oversi, a provider of peer-to-peer caching and content delivery services, said on Monday that it has partnered with RawFlow, a provider of live peer-to-peer streaming technologies. [more..]
o Nintendo Wii to Sponsor NASCAR Driver Greg Biffle 
Concord, N.C. - Nintendo announced on Monday that it has formed a partnership with N.C.-based Roush Fenway Racing and NASCAR Nextel Cup driver Greg Biffle. [more..]
o Ludia to Develop Video Games Based on "The Price is Right" 
Montreal - Casual video game developer and publisher Ludia announced on Monday that it has signed an agreement with TV production company FremantleMedia, to develop games based on the TV game show "The Price is Right" for all major gaming platforms. [more..]
o Namco Networks to Publish Big Fish Games' Casual Titles for Mobile 
San Jose, Calif. - Japan's Namco Networks, a developer and publisher of mobile games, announced on Monday that it has signed an agreement to distribute casual online games publisher Big Fish Games' titles for mobile phones in North America. The first title under the deal, "Atlantis Sky Patrol," is set to launch on U.S. mobile networks in the winter of 2007. [more..]