Motorola's Xoom Tablet Takes CNET's CES "Best of Show" Award

By
Mark Hefflinger
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0

Las Vegas – Motorola’s (NYSE: MOT) Xoom Android-based tablet computer
was named “Best of Show” by CNET’s (NYSE: CBS) editors at the Consumer Electronics
Show last week.

Other Best of Show winners included the Razer Switchblade
gaming netbook, which won the “People’s Voice Award”; Toyota’s (NYSE: TM) Entune
telematics service (Car Tech); Nintendo’s 3DS handheld (Gaming); Toshiba’s
glasses-free 3D (Prototype); Motorola’s Atrix 4G (Smartphones); and RealNetworks’ (NASD: RNWK)
Unifi cloud storage service (Software/Services/Apps).

A full list of winners is
available at the link below.

 

Related Links:
http://ces.cnet.com/best-of-ces/

Supreme Court Lets Major Label Music Price-Fixing Suit Proceed

By
Mark Hefflinger
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0

Washington – The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected the major
record labels’ request that it block a lawsuit lodged by consumers who claim
they colluded years ago to fix prices on music sold on the Internet, Bloomberg
reported. Universal Music Group, Sony (NYSE:  SNE) Music, Warner Music (NYSE:  WMG) and EMI had asked the
Supreme Court to block the lawsuit, after a federal appellate court in New York
agreed with a lower court’s ruling that sufficient evidence existed for the
lawsuit to proceed.

At issue are two early digital music service joint ventures
set up by the major labels — MusicNet and Pressplay.

The lawsuit alleges the
labels charged unreasonable rates for songs, and unreasonably imposed
restrictions on consumers transferring songs to portable players.

It also
alleges the labels colluded to set a base price of 70 cents per song for
selling their songs.

“Both the joint ventures and the Recording Industry
Association of America (“RIAA”) provided a forum and means through
which defendants could communicate about pricing, terms, and use
restrictions,” the lawsuit claims.

 

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4b7fu9k
(Bloomberg)

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20028006-261.html

WSJ: Verizon to Announce iPhone Deal Tomorrow

By
Mark Hefflinger
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0

New York – Verizon Wireless (NYSE:  VZ) is expected to announce a deal
tomorrow to begin selling Apple’s (NASD:  AAPL) iPhone later this month, The Wall Street
Journal reported, citing sources. Notably, Verizon has invited reporters to a
press event in New York on Tuesday.

Analysts estimate Verizon could sell 9-12
million iPhones this year; AT&T sold an estimated 14.5 million iPhones in
2010.

“There’s probably around 17 million subscribers on AT&T that use
the iPhone cumulatively — I think over time Verizon could be even bigger than
that,” Gleacher & Co. analyst Brian Marshall, who projects Verizon
will sell 12 million iPhones this year, told The Journal.

 

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4qst3lh
(WSJ)

Report: MySpace to Lay Off Half of Staff Tomorrow

By
Mark Hefflinger
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0

Los Angeles – News Corp.’s (NYSE:  NWS) struggling MySpace unit is
expected to lay off 550 to 600 employees tomorrow, or around half of its total
1,000 staff, All Things D reported, citing sources. The layoffs are expected to
include many staffers at MySpace’s international operations, in addition to those at its
Los Angeles headquarters.

The layoffs are expected to be followed by renewed
efforts by News Corp. to sell the company.

All Things D reports that News Corp.
is primarily looking to private equity buyers, although there is some talk the
company my sell MySpace to Yahoo.

 

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/365znlj
(All Things D)

Playboy

By
Mark Hefflinger
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0

Hefner-Backed Firm to Take Playboy Private in $177 Million Deal

By
Mark Hefflinger
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0

Chicago – Playboy Enterprises on Monday announced a deal
with Icon Acquisition Holdings, an entity controlled by founder Hugh Hefner, to
take the company private in a deal valued at $177 million. The purchase price
of $6.15 per share represents an 18.3% premium over Playboy’s closing share price
on January 7.

Icon Acquisition obtained equity commitments to fund the
transaction from an affiliate of Rizvi Traverse Management, and a debt
commitment from affiliates of Jeffries & Company.

“With the completion
of this transaction, Playboy will come full circle, returning to its roots as a
private company,” said Hefner.

“The brand
resonates today as clearly as at any time in its 57-year history. I believe
this agreement will give us the resources and flexibility to return Playboy to
its unique position and to further expand our business around the world.”

Playboy CEO Scott Flanders will remain in his current position, and retain a
significant equity investment in the company.

 

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/49x4yc2

Union Square, Index Ventures Back Audio Streamer SoundCloud

By
Mark Hefflinger
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0

Berlin, Germany – SoundCloud, a provider of audio and music
hosting services, has received an undisclosed amount in a new investment from
Union Square Ventures and Index Ventures.

Founded in 2007, Berlin-based
SoundCloud lets anyone upload and share any kind of audio track, and is
increasingly used as a service by musicians to distribute songs.

The company said
the investment will allow it to grow more quickly, and "be more present in
the U.S."

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/36w4kuw
(SoundCloud blog)

MUBI Gets $2.4 Million for Indie, Art Film Streaming Site

By
Mark Hefflinger
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0

Palo Alto, Calif. – MUBI, an online video-on-demand service
focused on independent films and titles screened on the festival circuit, has
raised $2.4 million in financing, Vator.tv reported.

Investors included Eduardo
Costantini, Martin Varsavsky, Alec Oxenford, Aydin Senkut, Georges Harik, Joel
Peterson, Bart Decrem and Jose Marin.

Formerly known as The Auteurs, Palo Alto,
Calif.-based MUBI offers online film rentals ranging from $1 to $3, as well as
an unlimited access subscription for $12 per month.

The site, which counts over
1 million members, offers a library of over 3,000 films, and has deals with
some 145 distributors.

 

Related Links:
http://vator.tv/news/2011-01-07-mubi-a-site-for-film-snobs-raises-24m

http://www.mubi.com

Klout Lands $8.5 Million to Measure Social Media Influence

By
Mark Hefflinger
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0

San Francisco – Klout, a provider of “influence
measurement” for social media services, announced on Monday that it has
raised $8.5 million in new venture capital financing, led by Kleiner Perkins
Caufield & Byers’ sFund.

Greycroft Partners, as well as angel investors ff
Asset Management, Paige Craig, Howard Lindzon, Thomas McInerney and Bobby
Yazdani also participated.

San Francisco-based Klout analyzes social network
user data and identifies influential individuals based on the impact of their
opinions, links, recommendations and other online content, and makes this data
available to brands.

 

Related Links:
http://klout.com/blog/2011/01/taking-klout-to-the-next-level

Music Application Developer Khush Raises Funding

By
Mark Hefflinger
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1

Atlanta – Music application developer Khush has raised an
undisclosed amount of new funding, from investors including 500 Startups, Yee
Lee and Georgia Tech ATDC VentureLab, TechCrunch reported.

Founded in 2009,
Atlanta-based Khush offers a $2.99 iPhone application called LaDiDa, which lets
users sing into their phones, with the app then adding backing beats,
instruments and effects to the vocal track.

The application has been downloaded
270,000 since May 2010, and users have so far created over 5 million songs
using LaDiDa.

The company will use the funds for additional product
development.

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/464f8rx
(TechCrunch)

http://www.khu.sh

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