AOL, Jonas Bros.' Handlers Team on Cambio Music Video Site

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

New York
– Hoping to give a significant boost to its Web content strategy, AOL (NYSE: AOL) on
Tuesday will debut its new online music video network, known as Cambio.

The
site, aimed at 13-24 year olds, is the result of a partnership between AOL,
brand strategy firm MGX Lab, and the Jonas Group, which represents musical acts
such as the Jonas Brothers, Demi Lovato and Jordin Sparks.

The New York Times
reported that the site aims to be an MTV for the Internet, featuring a daily
entertainment talk show, as well as a handful of other series and music videos.

For AOL, the goal will be to draw a hard-to-reach demographic and boost revenue
in the fast-growing online video category.

 

Related Links:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/technology/internet/14aolcambio.html

http://www.cambio.com

U.S. Public Radio, TV Groups to Develop Digital Media Platform

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Washington
– The nation’s public television and radio entities have partnered to form a
new common digital platform, the Public Media Platform, with the Corporation
for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to invest $1 million to develop a prototype,
Wired.com reports.

Along with CPB, participants in the Public Media Platform
include American Public Media, National Public Radio, Public Broadcasting
Services (PBS), Public Radio International and the Public Radio Exchange.

In
addition to making it easier to share news and other content between public
media organizations, the group envisions the platform eventually licensing
content to third-party publishers.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/xf2hx
(Wired.com)

AT&T Apologizes for iPad Email Breach; Blames "Hackers"

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Dallas – AT&T (NYSE: T) has sent an email apologizing to iPad users whose email addresses were exposed via a security hole on its website, terming the incident as “malicious” and blaming it on “computer hackers,” The Wall Street Journal reported.

This explanation conflicts with the version of events from Goatse Security, the group that uncovered the security hole and provided details to online publisher Gawker Media.

The group maintains that its actions were intended to protect AT&T users, and said it deleted the exposed data it collected after seeing that details of the exploit were published.

“If not for our firm talking about the exploit to third parties who subsequently notified them, they would have never fixed it,” Escher Auernheimer, a member of Goatse Security, told The Journal. “We know what we did was right.”

The FBI last week announced it would investigate the matter

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/xevfo
(WSJ)

http://security.goatse.fr/a-response-to-atts-letter

http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20007407-245.html

http://snipurl.com/xezbx
(DMW previous coverage)

Report: FTC to Investigate Apple's Mobile Ad Policies

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
1

Washington
– The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is preparing to examine allegations that
Apple (NASD:  AAPL) is engaging in anti-competitive behavior in the mobile advertising
sector, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Apple
recently announced plans to launch a proprietary ad format, the iAd, for its
iPhone and iPad devices.

Apple first released a set of terms that
appeared to ban all third-party ad-serving networks. Soon after, the company altered
the terms to reflect that independent third-party ad networks could be used by
developers on the iPhone.

However, Apple said ad networks owned by a company
that also sells mobile phones or mobile phone software — such as Google (NASD:  GOOG),
Microsoft (NASD:  MSFT) and Nokia (NYSE:  NOK) — are banned from the iPhone.

The FTC recently approved
Google’s $750 million acquisition of mobile ad firm AdMob, noting in its
findings that Apple was preparing to provide Google with competition in the
nascent market.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/xey8b
(Bloomberg)

http://snipurl.com/xey9z
(DMW previous coverage)

http://snipurl.com/xeyau
(DMW previous coverage)

Citing Weak Sales, THQ Lowers Q1, Full-Year Forecasts

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Agoura Hills,
Calif. – On the eve of the game industry’s
largest convention, E3, publisher THQ (NASD: THQI) announced that it is lowering its
guidance for its fiscal first quarter and fiscal year ending March 31, 2011,
citing weak sales of its "UFC Undisputed 2010" title, and the
strengthening U.S. dollar.

The company lowered its quarterly sales forecast to
$155 million to $165 million, down from a previous projection of $190 million
to $200 million.

THQ now projects full year sales between $845 million and $865
million, down from $905 million to $920 million.

"UFC Undisputed 2010 is a
high quality game, with a Metacritic score of 85, based on the tremendous UFC
brand," said THQ president and CEO Brian Farrell.

"Unfortunately,
total sell through to date has been below our expectations and prior-year
results. While we are disappointed with this financial update, we continue to
execute on our plan of bringing quality games to market."

 

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

http://www.thq.com

Cablevision Acquires Western U.S. Provider Bresnan for $1.4B

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Bethpage,
N.Y. – Cablevision (NYSE:  CVC), the nation’s
fifth-largest cable TV provider, announced on Monday that it will acquire regional
cable TV provider Bresnan Communications from Providence Equity Partners for
$1.4 billion. Bresnan is the thirteenth-largest cable TV provider in the U.S., passing more than 630,000 homes with
300,000 subscribers in Colorado, Montana, Wyoming and Utah.

Cablevision will
acquire Bresnan though a newly-formed subsidiary with standalone financing; the
deal is expected to close by early 2011.

"Bresnan is a well-managed
company that has invested wisely in its operations and has pursued a strategy
which is aligned and quite similar to Cablevision’s," said Cablevision COO
Tom Rutledge, who will oversee the property for the company.

The Associated
Press notes that other bidders reportedly included Charter, Ascent Media Group,
Suddenlink Communications and TPG Capital.

 

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

http://snipurl.com/xexj8
(AP)

http://www.cablevision.com

http://www.bresnan.com

Live Gig Booking Service Sonicbids Acquires ArtistData

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
1

Boston
– Sonicbids, a service that helps bands book live gigs, announced on Monday that
it has acquired ArtistData, an online publishing platform for musicians.

Financial
terms of the deal were not disclosed.

ArtistData counts over 25,000 independent
and signed musician users of its service, which offers a central dashboard
where they can enter gig-related information and have it published across the
Web.

Founded in 2001, Sonicbids says more than 245,000 acts are using its
service to manage electronic press kits and book gigs around the world.

The
company plans to integrate ArtistData’s functionality into its own offering by
the end of the year.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/xex4a

http://www.artistdata.com

http://www.sonicbids.com

888 Holdings Acquires Social Games Studio Mytopia

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Los Angeles
– Online casino operator 888 Holdings announced on Monday that it has acquired
Mytopia, a social games development studio, from Real Dice Inc.

The base price
paid was $18 million in cash, with the terms calling for a maximum payout of
$48 million, based on net profits in 2011.

Founded in 2006, Mytopia has
received funding from SK Telecom Ventures Innovation Fund, and Benhamou Global
Ventures.

Gibraltar-based 888 operates online casino sites including 888.com,
Casino-on-Net and Pacific Poker.

"Mytopia is one of the leading publishers
of cross-platform social-games and this acquisition gives us an immediate
footprint in the fast-growing social gaming arena, complementing our core
offering and giving us access to millions of customers," said 888 CEO Gigi
Levy.

 

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

http://www.888holdingsplc.com

http://www.mytopia.com

Internet Radio Developer Livio Raises Funds

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
2

Ferndale,
Mich. – Livio Radio, a developer
of Internet radio devices and smartphone applications, said on Monday that it
has received an investment from venture capital firm Beringea.

The amount of
the investment was not disclosed.

Founded in 2008 by Jake Sigal — who claims
to have invented the original USB turntable — Livio’s products include a home
receiver that captures Web radio streams, in addition to an iPhone application
and the Livio Car Internet Radio.

 

Related Links:
http://www.beringea.com/newsroom.php?id=79

http://www.livioradio.com

Twitter Offers World Cup Page to Track Matches

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

San Francisco
– Twitter has created a World Cup portal page on its site, which provides a
refreshed list of recent tweets from notable football figures, as well as links
to live tweet streams from various matches.


 

Related Links:
http://twitter.com/worldcup

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