New York
– Indaba Music, an online music creation community, on Tuesday announced the
official release of Mantis, its Web-based Digital Audio Workstation application
that lets users record, edit and mix audio for free. The application, which has
already been used by musicians to collaborate on more than 50,000 sessions, let
users record 16-bit/44.1K quality audio directly to the Web.
Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/vtz61
San Mateo, Calif.
– According to data from mobile ad network AdMob, mobile Web traffic
generated by users of mobile devices running Google’s (NASD: GOOG) Android operating system
was greater than traffic from Apple (NASD: AAPL) iPhone users in March in the U.S.,
TechCrunch reported.
Android accounted for 46% of U.S. mobile Web traffic in March,
compared with 39% for the iPhone — although international traffic figures show
the iPhone on top with 46% to Android’s 22% of market share.
Overall, AdMob reports that total worldwide mobile Web traffic increased 18% month-over-month.
The
report further notes that 34 Android devices from 12 manufacturers were available
in March, and that 11 devices accounted for 96% of all Android traffic.
The
Motorola Droid was the top Android handset in March, generating 32% of all
Android traffic, while Google’s own Nexus One drove just 2% of traffic.
Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/vtxv1
http://snipurl.com/vtxul
(TechCrunch)
San Francisco – Citing a Digital Millennium Copyright Act
(DMCA) takedown notice, Twitter has removed a user’s tweet that contained links
to download songs from an album that leaked to file-sharing services before its
official release, Mashable reports.
Blogger JeanPierre Chigne first wrote a
blog post with details about the leak of The National’s album "High
Violet," containing links to both a pre-order and to an unreleased track
hosted on MediaFire and Box.net.
However, Chigne maintains the track was
already released by the band’s publicist to Pitchfork for promotional purposes,
and he merely provided a secondary location from which to download it.
"In
this situation, we responded to a request to remove a Tweet containing a link
to download content from an unreleased album," a Twitter spokesperson told
Mashable.
"After reexamining our decision, we believe this was the correct
first step. If the affected user believes we have made a mistake or that the
notice is in error, the appropriate thing for the user to do is file a
counter-claim."
Related Links:
http://mashable.com/2010/04/26/twitter-dmca
http://jpsblog.net/2010/04/22/twitter-is-now-giving-out-dmca-take-down-notices/
New York
– A website that published news about copyrighted media leaked onto
file-sharing networks has been taken offline by its German Web host following a
complaint from major record label Universal Music Group, TorrentFreak reported.
RLSLOG ("Release Log") said in a note on its website that its content
was removed, "although we never hosted any files or copyrighted data on
our server. Our site is strictly informative."
"Martin," the founder
and operator of RLSLOG, told TorrentFreak he is looking for a new hosting
company for the site, which was also taken offline last year following
complaints from anti-piracy firm Web Sheriff.
Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/vtvr3
(TorrentFreak)
Washington
– Nearly half a year after its former parent company went bankrupt, local gay
and lesbian weekly newspaper The Washington Blade said that it will return to
newsstands on Friday.
The move comes after Brown Naff Pitts Omnimedia — a new
company headed by former Blade publisher Lynne Brown, editor Kevin Naff and
sales executive Brian Pitts — acquired the paper’s assets at a bankruptcy
auction in Atlanta.
The purchase included the Blade name, all trademarks and
copyrights, as well as its entire 40-year archive.
Since the paper’s shuttering
in November, Brown Naff Pitts has been producing a new print and online
publication under the name DC Agenda.
The company said the decision to return
to the Washington Blade name followed a survey of readers.
"We now have
the opportunity to both restore and refresh a powerful, venerable news gathering
institution," said Brown.
Related Links:
http://www.dcagenda.com/2010/04/26/washington-blade-returns-this-week
Stockholm, Sweden – Streaming music service Spotify on
Tuesday rolled out a feature upgrade that includes a number of social features,
as well as the ability to merge one’s own music library with their Spotify
playlists.
The service’s more than 7 million users can now create and edit a
Spotify music profile, where they can post their favorite artists and tracks,
and publish their playlists.
Spotify now also integrates more tightly with
Facebook, enabling friends to be connected between the two services.
The new
Library feature will allow the Spotify application to mix tracks from a user’s
hard drive and the Spotify library.
The company, which has said it intends to
launch its service in the U.S.
in the near future, called the release the largest feature upgrade since it
launched the platform in late 2008.
Related Links:
http://www.spotify.com/int/blog/archives/2010/04/27/the-next-generation/
http://snipurl.com/vtvbz
(PaidContent)
Los Angeles
– Mail.com Media Corp., the Jay Penske-backed firm that publishes Deadline.com,
Movieline.com and a number of other sites, announced on Tuesday that it has
acquired Boy Genius Report, a blog covering mobile phones and other gadgets.
Financial
terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Boy Genius Report was launched in 2006 by
the heretofore anonymous Jonathan Geller, who began writing for tech blog
Engadget when he was 17.
The site now counts over 1 million unique monthly
visitors.
Geller will continue as president, editor-in-chief and general
manager of the site, whose name will be condensed to BGR.com.
"Very much
in the mold of Nikki Finke of Deadline.com, Jonathan has singlehandedly built
an influential site with original content that appeals to an extremely engaged
and loyal following in one of the largest and most exciting categories
online-and he’s done it all before his 23rd birthday" said Mail.com Media
Corp. founder, chairman and CEO Jay Penske.
Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/vtufq
(Boy Genius Report)
Mountain View,
Calif. – Google (NASD: GOOG) has acquired
LabPixies, a developer of casual games and applications for the iGoogle home
page service, as well as mobile platforms.
Financial terms of the transaction
were not disclosed.
Google said it has worked with LabPixies over the years on
a variety of projects, including the launch of a number of OpenSocial-based
gadgets.
The company’s casual game titles include "Flood-It," which
is available across iGoogle, iPhone and Android platforms.
The LabPixies team
will be based in Google’s office in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/vtu8l
(Google blog)
Palo Alto,
Calif. – Zong, a provider of
mobile payment services used by online gaming and social networking sites,
announced on Tuesday the closing of a $15 million round of funding, led by
Matrix Partners.
Formerly a division of Echovox, Palo Alto, Calif.-based
Zong is the mobile payment provider for Facebook Credits, the site’s new
virtual currency.
The company said its service combines carrier billing with
credit, debit and prepaid cards.
Zong will use the investment to grow its
merchant network in U.S.
and international markets, and expand its mobile carrier network.
Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/vttrb
Seattle
– Ground Truth, a provider of mobile audience measurement services, announced
on Tuesday that it has raised $7 million in its second round of funding.
New
investors Emergence Capital Partners and OpenAir Ventures were joined by return
backers Steamboat Ventures and Voyager Capital.
Seattle-based Ground Truth,
which launched publicly less than three months ago, provides mobile measurement
based on actual usage data aggregated from millions of subscribers.
The company
will use the funds to significantly expand its offerings to clients and data
partners.
Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/vttiq
