Mobile TV Demonstration to Launch in D.C. Next Month

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Washington
– Hundreds of D.C.-area residents soon will be able to watch local digital TV
broadcasts on a variety of mobile devices through a special demonstration of
the technology coordinated by the Open Mobile Video Coalition (OMVC).

The
organization said that it will launch its Mobile DTV Consumer Showcase on May
3, continuing throughout the summer.

For the first time, viewers will be able
to watch local digital TV broadcasts on specially-equipped cell phones,
netbooks and portable media players, as well as through an adapter that can
send the signals to laptops, iPhones and iPads.

The demonstration also will
feature interactive voting and polling, interactive advertising, electronic
program guides and the transmission of emergency alerts and closed captioning.

In all, nine local stations will transmit more than 20 programs, with mobile
signals controlled from a new network operations center located at WUSA-TV.

Event
organizers will distribute a limited number of specially equipped cell phones
and netbooks beginning next month, with consumer focus groups planning to
distribute other equipment this summer.

 

Related Links:
http://www.omvc.org/media-relations/press-releases

http://www.omvc.org/about-omvc/initiatives/dc-showcase

Bill Gross Raises $3.5 Million for TweetUp Twitter Search

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Pasadena,
Calif. – TweetUp, a start-up
founded by Goto.com and Overture creator Bill Gross that has developed a Twitter
search service, has raised $3.5 million in funding, led by Index Ventures.

Other investors included Betaworks, Revolution, First Round Capital and
individual investors Jason Calcanis and Jeff Jarvis.

Pasadena,
Calif.-based TweetUp uses both an algorithm to determine the most-relevant
tweets, and a bidding marketplace where Twitter users can receive more
prominent placement by sharing their ad revenue with TweetUp.

"Twitter has
such tremendous potential as a real-time information network far beyond what
has been realized to date," said Bill Gross, founder and CEO of TweetUp.

"For most people, though, 80% or more of the tweets that fly by them when
they’re searching for something are useless noise. For serious tweeters, the
task of attracting interested and relevant followers is equally daunting.
TweetUp will change all of that."

 

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

http://snipurl.com/vfoym
(All Things D)

http://www.tweetup.com

MobiTV Releases Live TV iPhone Application

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Emeryville,
Calif. – MobiTV on Monday
announced the release of an iPhone application, which will deliver live and
on-demand sports, news and entertainment television content to the device over
both Wi-Fi and 3G networks.

At launch, the free app offers eight channels of
live programming — including ABC, CNBC, Disney Channel, ESPN and MSNBC — and
over 30 channels of on-demand TV.

Content packages are priced at $9.99 for one
month; $24.99 for three months; and $44.99 for six months.

 

Related Links:
http://mobitv.com/products/apps/iphone/tour5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_qQrDDcuHo
(demo)

N.Y. Times: Google Expected to Release Tablet PC

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
1

New York
– Heating up the market further after the release of Apple’s (NASD: AAPL) iPad, Google (NASD: GOOG) is
"soon expected" to begin selling a tablet PC of its own, The New York
Times reported.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt reportedly divulged some details about
the device to friends at a recent party in Los Angeles, while people with knowledge of
the project told The Times that "the company has been experimenting in
‘stealth mode’ with a few publishers to explore delivery of books, magazines
and other content on a tablet."

The company is also reportedly considering
an apps marketplace for tablet PCs.

The Times report notes that Nokia (NYSE: NOK) also plans
to release a multifunctional e-book reader device, while Microsoft (NASD: MSFT) "is
flirting with the idea" of releasing a slate. HP is expected to release
its tablet PC by midyear.

 

Related Links:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/12/technology/12slate.html

RealD

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Digital 3D Cinema Firm RealD Aims for $200 Million IPO

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Beverly Hills,
Calif. – RealD, a provider of
digital 3D cinema projection systems, on Friday filed for an initial public
offering (IPO) of shares on the New York Stock Exchange that hopes to raise up
to $200 million. Beverly Hills, Calif.-based
RealD’s 3D projection systems have been deployed on more than 5,300 screens in
51 countries to date; its technology has been used to screen "Avatar,"
"Clash of the Titans" and other titles.

The company said that J.P.
Morgan and Piper Jaffray will act as joint book-running managers for the
offering.

RealD will use the proceeds from the offering to repay debt, recently
listed as $29.2 million, as well as for general corporate purposes.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/vfn92

http://www.reald.com

Palm

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Report: Smartphone Maker Palm Seeking Buyers

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
1

Los Angeles – Mobile handset maker Palm (NASD:  PALM) has retained Goldman Sachs and
Qatalyst Partners in an attempt to solicit bids for the struggling company,
Bloomberg reported, citing three people familiar with the situation.
Prospective suitors reportedly include Taiwan’s
HTC and China’s
Lenovo, while Dell is said to have considered a deal, but decided against
proceeding.

Palm, whose current models include the Pre and Pixi, claimed sixth
place in U.S.
market smartphone share (4.3%) during the fourth quarter of 2009, according to
Gartner.

However, the company has posted eleven straight quarterly losses, and
its stock has been hammered this year due to flagging sales.

 

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

http://www.palm.com

Google Acquires Mobile Photo Art ID Service Plink

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Oxford, England – Google (NASD:  GOOG) has acquired
Plink, an Android-based service that can identify works of art from pictures taken
by mobile phone cameras, according to a post on the Plink blog.

Financial terms
of the deal were not disclosed.

Based in Britain, Plink launched publicly just
four months ago, and counted 50,000 users after the first month.

The company said
it will no longer update its PlinkArt application, and instead will be focusing
development efforts on Google Goggles — a service launched by Google in
December that enables search via mobile phone photos.

"We’re looking
forward to helping the Goggles team build a visual search engine that works not
just for paintings or book covers, but for everything you see around you,"
the company wrote on its blog.

 

Related Links:
http://www.plinkart.com/blog/?p=77

http://www.google.com/mobile/goggles

Twitter Acquires Tweetie iPhone Application Developer Atebits

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

San Francisco
– Twitter announced on Friday that it is acquiring Atebits, the developer of Tweetie,
an iPhone application for Twitter.

Financial terms of the deal were not
disclosed.

The Tweetie application, which won a design award from Apple last
year, will be renamed Twitter for iPhone, and the current $2.99 price tag will
be eliminated.

"Careful analysis of the Twitter user experience in the
iTunes AppStore revealed massive room for improvement," Twitter co-founder
Evan Williams wrote on the company’s blog.

"People are looking for an app
from Twitter, and they’re not finding one. So, they get confused and give up.
It’s important that we optimize for user benefit and create an awesome
experience."

 

Related Links:
http://blog.twitter.com/2010/04/twitter-for-iphone.html

http://www.atebits.com/tweetie-iphone

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