OnSwipe Nabs $1 Million for Tablet Publishing, Ad Platform

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

New York – OnSwipe, the developer of a platform for tablet
computer-based publishing and advertising, announced on Thursday that it has
raised $1 million in funding, led by Spark Capital.

Betaworks, ENIAC Ventures,
and angel investors Dharmesh Shah, Jennifer Lum, Roy Rodenstein and Wayne
Change also participated.

New York-based OnSwipe offers to help publishers
format their content for distribution on touch-screen, tablet devices, looking
to capitalize on what Forrester Research estimates will be the 50 million
worldwide tablet users by the end of 2012.

The company will use the funds to
fuel growth of its publishing platform.

 

Related Links:
http://www.onswipe.com

LivingSocial Expands Abroad with Acquisition of Let's Bonus

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Washington – Expanding its international presence, LivingSocial,
the social commerce company that operates its "Daily Deals" service
in more than 170 markets, said on Thursday it has acquired a majority stake in
Spain-based Let’s Bonus, which operates social shopping sites in 25 markets
across Spain, Italy, Portugal, Argentina and Mexico.

Financial terms of the
deal were not disclosed.

With the move, LivingSocial is now live in 10
countries, and expects to generate more than $500 million in revenue this year.

Tim O’Shaughnessy, the co-founder and CEO of LivingSocial, called the
acquisition "a great opportunity to expand into Latin America and continue
our European growth."

The company now also offers deals in Spanish,
Italian and Portuguese.

Launched in Sept. 2009, Let’s Bonus offers daily deals
with discounts of up to 70% on restaurants, spas and trips.

The company, which
has more than 200 employees, also offers pre-packaged travel deals, which will
compliment the deals currently offered through LivingSocial Escapes.

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/6kgjhrn

http://www.livingsocial.com

http://www.letsbonus.com

Microsoft Contends Apple's Push for "App Store" Trademark

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

San Francisco – Microsoft (NASD: MSFT) has filed a motion opposing
Apple’s (NASD: AAPL) application for a trademark on the term "app store," arguing
the term is generic. CNET notes the motion references statements made by Apple
CEO Steve Jobs in an interview last year, where he stated that "Amazon,
Verizon and Vodafone have all announced that they are creating their own app
stores for Android."

 

Related Links:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-20028238-37.html

AOL, Endemol USA Team on New Web Series for Women

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

New York – AOL (NYSE: AOL) announced on Wednesday that it has partnered
with reality TV producers Endemol USA to co-develop and co-produce new premium,
unscripted Web programming, initially to be aimed at AOL’s "growing
women’s audience." The first two "built-if-sold" series under
consideration are "Re-Dressed by America," where Web users make over
subjects facing a life-changing event; and "Mama’s Recipe," where
U.S. families compete for the best family recipes.

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4jjsk9t

http://www.endemolusa.tv

Report: News Corp. to Launch iPad-Only "The Daily" on Jan. 19

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

New York – Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. is expected to launch
"The Daily," its iPad-only news publication, at an event in San
Francisco on Jan. 19, Forbes reported. Yahoo’s Cutline blog adds that Apple CEO
Steve Jobs will appear alongside Murdoch at the event.

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4emsfkp
(Forbes)

http://thedaily.com

Game Publisher Gazillion Names David Brevik as President

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

San Mateo, Calif. – Gazillion Entertainment, a developer and
publisher of online games, said on Wednesday it has promoted David Brevik to
president and COO. Brevik previously served as the president of Blizzard North
for seven years. The company also named Jeff Lind as vice president and studio
head for Secret Identity, and Dan Fiden as vice president of publishing.

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4ssarvw

http://www.gazillion.com

Vevo Releases Music Video App for Android Devices

By
Mark Hefflinger
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0

New York – Vevo, the music video portal joint venture
between Universal Music, Sony Music and Abu Dhabi Media Company, on Wednesday
announced the launch of a free app for Android smartphones. Users will be able
to browse the Vevo catalog, which includes 25,000 videos from 7,500 artists,
via Voice Control.

 

Related Links:
http://www.vevo.com/platforms/android

Digital Audio Ad Network TargetSpot Nets $8 Million

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

New York – TargetSpot, the provider of a digital audio
advertising network, announced on Wednesday that it has raised $8 million in
new financing.

Investors included Union Square Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures,
CBS Radio and Milestone Venture Partners.

New York-based TargetSpot offers both
self-service and sales-supported services for audio, display and pre-roll video
advertisers.

Distribution partners include investor CBS Radio, AOL Radio,
Entercom, Live 365, Yahoo Music and MySpace Music.

The company will use the
funds for additional product development, network expansion and to grow its
national sales force.

 

Related Links:
http://www.targetspot.com

Report: RapidShare Overtakes BitTorrent in File-Sharing Traffic

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
1

Los Angeles – RapidShare and similar online file-hosting
services have overtaken BitTorrent and traditional file-sharing networks in
terms of Web traffic, leading MarkMonitor to declare in a report that they are
now the top sites for downloading pirated content. With over 13 billion annual
visitors, RapidShare was deemed the leading digital piracy website, followed by
fellow file host Megaupload, with 5 billion visitors.

File hosts Hotfile,
4Shared and Mediafire all claim spots in the top 100 most-visited sites
globally — before The Pirate Bay, TorrentFreak noted.

For its part, RapidShare
strongly criticized the report in a statement questioning its methodology.

"The
authors conclude that RapidShare has to be the biggest digital piracy site from
looking at the number of page visits, totally ignoring the fact that millions
of customers use the service for perfectly legitimate purposes,"
RapidShare said, adding that it "reserves the right to take legal
action" against MarkMonitor for defamation.

The Motion Picture Association
of America (MPAA) dubbed the MarkMonitor report a "call to arms" for
U.S. lawmakers to take stronger action to quell piracy.

"The findings in
the MarkMonitor report on online piracy and counterfeiting are a call to arms
for both government and the private sector," the MPAA said.

"As the
report demonstrates, a small number of rogue websites are generating
mind-boggling traffic in pirated content."

 

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/6f9ow64
(PDF: MarkMonitor report)

http://tinyurl.com/4j4snvj
(TorrentFreak)

http://www.rapidshare.com

Defying Expectations, U.S. Private Equity Fundraising Falls 16%

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

New York – Defying expectation, U.S. private equity fundraising
in 2010 declined even further from the low levels of 2009, according to new
figures from Dow Jones LP Source.

All told, 336 funds raised $86.3 billion,
down 16% from the $102.2 billion raised by 366 funds the prior year.

While most
sectors experienced a slowdown, areas such as distressed debt funds, mezzanine
funds and industry-focused funds raised more capital than they did in 2009.

"Despite high expectations for fund-raising in 2010, many firms ended up
sitting by the edge of the pool so that they could focus on returning capital
to investors," said Laura Kreutzer, the managing editor of Dow Jones Private
Equity Analyst.

"As we head into 2011, more firms are diving into the
fund-raising market, either because they have a better story to tell or because
they can’t afford to wait any longer."

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4n33xal

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