Google to Alter Chinese Site in Bid to Retain Operator License

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Beijing – Google (NASD: GOOG) announced that it will stop re-directing
Chinese users to a Hong Kong-based version of its search site, in a bid to
retain a key "Internet Content Provider" license issued by the
government necessary to operate a commercial website in China.

Google chief
legal officer David Drummond wrote on the company’s blog that it was "clear
from conversations we had with Chinese government officials that they find the
redirect unacceptable," adding, "without an ICP License, we can’t
operate a commercial website like Google.cn — so Google would effectively go
dark in China."

Google initially began redirecting Chinese searchers to
the Hong Kong-based site in the aftermath of a hacking incident against Google
originating out of China, which prompted the company to cease censoring of its
search results on its main Chinese site, Google.cn.

The company will soon
provide a landing page on its Google.cn site that links to Google.com.hk,
instead of automatically re-directing users to the Hong Kong site.

 

Related Links:
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/update-on-china.html

http://snipurl.com/yclyj
(Reuters)

LibreDigital Buys HarperCollins' Symtio E-commerce Unit

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Austin, Texas – LibreDigital, a provider of digital
marketing and distribution technology for publishers, announced on Tuesday that
it has acquired the Symtio eCommerce platform from Zondervan, a unit of
publisher HarperCollins.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Launched in 2008, Zondervan’s Symtio division enables the purchase of digital
media online or through an in-store retail card program — although
LibreDigital said it is not acquiring the retail card business.

Austin-based
LibreDigital — which has received financial backing from HarperCollins
Publishers — counts Apple, Barnes & Noble, Sony, Simon & Schuster and
Hachette among its customers.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/ycl59

http://www.symtio.com

Ex-Forbes.com Publisher Spanfeller Raises Funds for Media Sites

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Los Angeles – Jim Spanfeller, the former publisher of
Forbes.com, is near finalizing a $2 million round of funding for his Spanfeller
Media Group, which intends to launch a series of industry-specific websites, All
Things D reported.

The funding comes from investors including RRE Ventures,
Greenhill SAVP, Softbank and Lerer Media Ventures.

The company is expected to
launch a series of websites based off of various verticals, the first being
food.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/yck6b
(All Things D)

http://snipurl.com/yckq6
(PaidContent)

Aspiro Sells Mobile Entertainment Unit to Lobus Mobil

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
1

Stockholm, Sweden – Aspiro, a European provider of video and
music streaming services, announced on Tuesday that it has sold its mobile
entertainment business in Norway, Sweden and Denmark to Lobus Mobil for about
$5.4 million.

The mobile entertainment unit, which distributes ringtones, games
and graphics, will remain a customer of Aspiro Mobile Solutions.

Aspiro said
the deal will allow it to focus on its WiMP streaming music service, TV
streaming for mobile devices and computers, and business applications.

The
company powers media delivery services for clients including T-Mobile, BBC,
Telenor and TeliaSonera.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/ycjoe

http://www.aspiro.com

Reevoo Gets Additional Funding for User Product Reviews

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

London – Reevoo, a publisher of user-generated product
reviews, has closed a second round of funding from existing investors Eden
Ventures, Banexi Ventures and Andrew Phillipps, TechCrunch reported.

The amount
of the investment was not disclosed.

Founded in 2005, London-based Reevoo offers
more than 1 million consumer reviews across 75,000 products, which the company
has verified that its consumer-reviewers have actually purchased.

Reevoo also
powers online reviews for retailers and manufacturers including Tesco, Dixons,
Sharp and Toshiba.

The company will use the funds for European expansion and to
add social media features.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/ycinc
(TechCrunch)

http://www.reevoo.com

Report: iPhone 4's Components Cost About $187.51

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Los Angeles – The components that make up Apple’s (NASD: AAPL) 16GB
iPhone 4 cost about $187.51, according to estimates derived from a physical
teardown of the product by market research firm iSuppli. The iPhone 4 costs
$199 with a two-year service contract. The firm estimated the bill of materials
of the iPhone 3GS in 2009 at $170.80; the iPhone 3G in 2008 at $166.31; and the
original iPhone in 2007 at $217.73.


 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/y8xyv

Teaser Trailer for Facebook Movie "The Social Network" Posted

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Los Angeles – Sony’s (NYSE: SNE) Columbia Pictures on Monday posted a
teaser trailer for its forthcoming movie about the founding of Facebook,
"The Social Network." Written by Aaron Sorkin, directed by David
Fincher and starring Jesse Eisenberg as Facebook founder and CEO Mark
Zuckerberg, the film is slated for release in October.


 

Related Links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWoUgftTj3Y

http://www.thesocialnetwork-movie.com/

Amazon Adds Audio, Video Clip Playback to Kindle Apps

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Seattle – Amazon.com (NASD: AMZN) on Monday released an update to its
Kindle e-book reader applications for Apple’s (NASD: AAPL) iPad and iPhone that adds the
ability to play embedded video and audio clips in Kindle books. The first
titles to take advantage of the new technology feature include a London walking
tour book with audio narration, a cake book with video recipe tips, and a book
of bird songs that adds audio clips.


 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/y8t2m

http://www.amazon.com/kindleaudiovideo

mSpot Launches Cloud-based Music Service

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Palo Alto, Calif. – Digital entertainment distributor mSpot
on Monday announced the public launch of its cloud-based music service, which
lets users access their music collections over the Internet via computers and
smartphones. The service, which currently supports PC, Mac and Android handsets,
offers 2GB of storage for free (approx. 1,600 songs). Additional storage is
available in tiers: $2.99 per month for 10GB; $4.99 for 20GB; $9.99 for 50GB;
and $13.99 for 100GB.


 

Related Links:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/06/prweb4196984.htm

http://www.mspot.com

Vevo Hits 50M Visitors; 50% of Streams Served Outside U.S.

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

London – Music video portal Vevo now counts 50 million
monthly unique visitors, 80% of which arrive via the service’s YouTube channel
— which is available overseas, while the dedicated site is not — CEO Rio
Caraeff told the Financial Times. About 50% of Vevo’s 1 billion monthly streams
are served in North America, while the rest are delivered outside the U.S. Vevo
plans to launch an iPhone application next month, and eventually add ticketing
and merchandise sales on the service.

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/y8znn
(Financial Times)

http://www.vevo.com

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