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DMW Daily, January 14, 2009

Top Stories
o Apple CEO Steve Jobs to Take Medical Leave of Absence
o Report: 'Net Threats to Minors Not More Serious Than Offline
o Blockbuster to Offer Sonic's CinemaNow Web Movie Service
o Patent Office to Reexamine TiVo "Time Warp" DVR Patent
o YouTube Lets Users Opt to Mute Copyrighted Music on Videos
o National Lampoon to Voluntarily Delist Shares
o Report: Information Technology Purchases to Drop 3% in '09
o The Huffington Post Acquires Comedy News Site 236.com
o 3D Avatar Community Meez Merges With Pulse, Nabs Funding
o Korean Virtual World Firm Nurien Lands $10 Million
Opinion & Analysis
o Buzz Watch: Mac vs PC - The Next Generation
Briefly Noted
o Retail Partner Cuts Price of Nokia "Comes With Music" Phone
o AT&T Sends "American Idol" Text Message Ads to Millions
o Slacker Releases Streaming Music Application for iPhone
o Politico to Team with Starbucks Coffee
o Blogger Ana Marie Cox Joins Liberal Media Firm Air America
 Top Stories
o Apple CEO Steve Jobs to Take Medical Leave of Absence 
Cupertino, Calif. - Apple CEO Steve Jobs has stepped down to take a medical leave of absence, saying in an email to employees that his health issues "are more complex than I originally thought." [more..]
o Report: 'Net Threats to Minors Not More Serious Than Offline 
Cambridge, Mass. - A study on the threats and dangers that minors are exposed to online has concluded that they are "in most cases not significantly different than those they face online," and that the biggest threats may actually come from other children, rather than from adults. [more..]
o Blockbuster to Offer Sonic's CinemaNow Web Movie Service 
Dallas - Video rental giant Blockbuster announced on Wednesday that it has signed a multi-year deal with Sonic Solutions, and will supply branded consumer interfaces for Sonic's CinemaNow Internet-based movie delivery service. [more..]
o Patent Office to Reexamine TiVo "Time Warp" DVR Patent 
Englewood, Colo. - Satellite TV firm DISH Network and sister company EchoStar announced on Wednesday that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has agreed to re-examine the validity of TiVo's core digital video recorder technology patent. [more..]
o YouTube Lets Users Opt to Mute Copyrighted Music on Videos 
San Bruno, Calif. - Google's YouTube has begun offering users whose videos feature copyrighted songs a new option when a copyright holder complains, and may now choose to simply have the audio portion of the video muted while their video remains live on the site. [more..]
o National Lampoon to Voluntarily Delist Shares 
Los Angeles - Still reeling from securities fraud charges leveled at the company and its former CEO, comedy purveyor National Lampoon announced on Wednesday that it is voluntarily delisting its shares from the NYSE Alternext. [more..]
o Report: Information Technology Purchases to Drop 3% in '09 
Cambridge, Mass. - Global purchases of IT goods and services by businesses and governments will decline by 3% in 2009 to $1.66 trillion, according to a new forecast from Cambridge-based Forrester Research. [more..]
o The Huffington Post Acquires Comedy News Site 236.com 
New York - Politics and culture blog The Huffington Post has acquired comedy news site 236.com, and will be integrated as a new comedy section on the site. [more..]
o 3D Avatar Community Meez Merges With Pulse, Nabs Funding 
San Francisco - Meez, an online community where members create 3D avatars and interact in a virtual world, announced on Wednesday that it has agreed to merge with Pulse Entertainment, a provider of avatar messaging services for mobile phones and the Web.
[more..]
o Korean Virtual World Firm Nurien Lands $10 Million 
Seoul - Nurien Software, the developer of a fashion-themed virtual world, has raised $10 million in a second round of financing, VentureBeat reported. [more..]
 Opinion & Analysis
o Buzz Watch: Mac vs PC - The Next Generation 
n/a
 Briefly Noted
o Retail Partner Cuts Price of Nokia "Comes With Music" Phone 
London - European mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse has cut the price of Nokia's first handset to support the Comes With Music unlimited download service, with analysts saying it's due to lackluster sales, Times Online reported. [more..]
o AT&T Sends "American Idol" Text Message Ads to Millions 
New York - AT&T sent unsolicited text messages to some 2 million of its wireless customers, promoting the season premiere of "American Idol," prompting complaints from some customers, The New York Times reported. [more..]
o Slacker Releases Streaming Music Application for iPhone 
San Diego - Slacker announced on Wednesday that a version of its Slacker Mobile streaming radio application is now available for Apple's iPhone, iPhone 3G and iPod touch. [more..]
o Politico to Team with Starbucks Coffee 
Arlington, Va. - Politico, the political media firm, on Wednesday announced a deal with coffee chain Starbucks to distribute copies of its newspapers and special sections at more than 70 locations throughout the DC area. [more..]
o Blogger Ana Marie Cox Joins Liberal Media Firm Air America 
Washington - Air America Media, a national progressive talk radio network, has named blogger Ana Marie Cox as its first DC-based national correspondent. [more..]