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DMW Daily, October 24, 2008

Top Stories
o Microsoft Revenues Down at Xbox/Zune Division
o Avid Sells Softimage to Autodesk; Cuts 410 Jobs
o Legendary Pictures in Talks to Acquire Epic Games
o USA Today Publisher Gannett Sees Profits Fall by Nearly a Third
o Radar Magazine Shutters; Website Acquired by AMI
o Streaming Video Technology Firm VBrick Secures $10.4 Million
o Martini Gets Funding for Affluent-Focused Online Ad Network
Briefly Noted
o Teen Posted Fake Steve Jobs Heart Attack Story; Didn't Profit
o Oprah Winfrey Endorses Amazon Kindle E-book Reader
o Two Arrested in Japan Over Illicit Mobile Music Site
o Universal to Bring EA's "Army of Two" Game to Big Screen
 Top Stories
o Microsoft Revenues Down at Xbox/Zune Division 
Redmond, Wash. - Microsoft yesterday reported a 9% overall increase in fiscal first quarter revenues, but saw revenues at its Entertainment and Devices Division (EDD) -- home to its Xbox and Zune -- fall from $1.93 billion to $1.81 billion. [more..]
o Avid Sells Softimage to Autodesk; Cuts 410 Jobs 
Tewksbury, Mass. - Avid Technology, a maker of software and hardware products for the production, management, and distribution of digital media content, has agreed to sell its Softimage business for about $35 million to Autodesk. [more..]
o Legendary Pictures in Talks to Acquire Epic Games 
Los Angeles - Legendary Pictures, a film financing company whose recent releases include "300" and "The Dark Knight," is in talks to acquire Epic Games, a developer of video games including top-seller "Gears of War," Variety reports. [more..]
o USA Today Publisher Gannett Sees Profits Fall by Nearly a Third 
McLean, Va. - Plagued by dwindling ad sales, Gannett, the publisher of USA Today and 84 other daily newspapers, said on Friday that its profits dropped by nearly a third in the most recent quarter. [more..]
o Radar Magazine Shutters; Website Acquired by AMI 
New York - Radar magazine will shutter its print edition, while its website has been acquired by AMI and will be re-launched as a competitor to celebrity news site TMZ.com, The New York Observer reported. [more..]
o Streaming Video Technology Firm VBrick Secures $10.4 Million 
Wallingford, Conn. - VBrick Systems, a provider of live, online networked video services, has secured $10.4 million of a $15.7 million sixth round of venture capital financing, PEHub.com reported, citing a regulatory filing. [more..]
o Martini Gets Funding for Affluent-Focused Online Ad Network 
San Francisco - Martini Media Network, an online ad network that targets affluent consumers, has raised an undisclosed amount of first round funding from Venrock, VentureWire reported. [more..]
 Briefly Noted
o Teen Posted Fake Steve Jobs Heart Attack Story; Didn't Profit 
San Francisco - The person who posted a fake story to CNN's iReport.com citizen journalism site earlier this month that said Apple CEO Steve Jobs had suffered a heart attack was an 18-year-old, Bloomberg reported. [more..]
o Oprah Winfrey Endorses Amazon Kindle E-book Reader 
Los Angeles - Talk show and book club maven Oprah Winfrey endorsed Amazon's Kindle e-book reader as her "favorite new gadget" on her program Friday, according to reports. [more..]
o Two Arrested in Japan Over Illicit Mobile Music Site 
Tokyo - The Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) announced this week that two men have been arrested for operating an unauthorized mobile music download site that attracted more than a million users, Ars Technica reported. [more..]
o Universal to Bring EA's "Army of Two" Game to Big Screen 
Redwood City, Calif. - Electronic Arts said on Friday that it has struck a deal with Universal Pictures to bring its "Army of Two" game to the big screen. [more..]