AppFund to Fuel Development of Apple iPad Applications

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

New York
– CNET and E! Online co-founder Kevin Wendle and MusicNation fo-founder Daniel
Klaus have teamed to form AppFund, a new investment firm that will provide
funding and expertise to developers working on applications for Apple’s new
iPad.

New York-based AppFund’s investments will range from $5,000 to $500,000,
"depending on the complexity of each application and its potential to tap
into the mobile end user market."

The firm said it is now accepting
proposals to be part of the launch of the first iPad applications by the summer
of 2010.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u9uz3

http://snipurl.com/u9uyg
(TechCrunch)

http://appfund.com

NYT: Amazon Acquires Touch-Screen Developer Touchco

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

New York
– Amazon.com (NASD: AMZN) has acquired Touchco, a developer of touch-screen display
technology, The New York Times reported, citing a person briefed on the deal.

Terms
of the transaction were not provided.

Touchco was spun-off from New York University’s Media Research Lab, and
counts around six employees.

The Touchco team will be integrated with Amazon’s
Lab126 Kindle hardware unit, based in Cupertino,
Calif., according to The Times’
source.

Currently, Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader devices do not feature
touch-screen technology.

Touchco’s technology could enable the company to
offer full-color, touch-screen displays, as well as features like a virtual
keyboard.

 

Related Links:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/04/technology/04amazon.html

http://www.touchco.com

Terra Firma Seeks Another $160 Million for EMI

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

London
– Terra Firma, the private equity firm that owns major record label EMI, is
seeking to raise an additional $160 million to help repay loans to Citigroup,
which helped finance the firm’s $4.7 billion acquisition of EMI, according to
published reports. Terra may soon default on loan payments due, if it fails to
raise the additional capital.

The Wall Street Journal noted that one loan, tied
to EMI Music Publishing, is not in as much danger as the one backed by EMI
Music, which is struggling in relation to the music publishing unit.

A source
told The Journal that the $160 million, if secured, would enable EMI Music to
keep current with loan requirements through March 2011.  

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u9ubz
(Financial Times)

http://snipurl.com/u9ucf
(WSJ)

http://www.terrafirma.com

http://www.emi.com

LensVector Gets $30 Million for Camera Phone Lens Tech

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
1

Mountain View,
Calif. – LensVector, a developer of
autofocus technology for camera phone lenses, announced on Thursday that it has
raised $30 million in a third round of financing, led by Institutional Venture
Partners.

Previous investors Menlo Ventures, Samsung, Silicon Valley Bank,
Mitsui and Kodak also participated.

Founded in 2006, Mountain
View, Calif.-based LensVector says it has developed optical
technology "that can shape, steer and focus light without mechanical
movement."

The company will use the funding to expand its operations.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u9u85

http://snipurl.com/u9u7k
(VentureBeat)

http://www.lensvector.com

Digital Rights Expert to Lead Int'l Association of Entertainment Lawyers

By
digitalmediawi
-
0

Cannes, France – The International Association of Entertainment Lawyers (IAEL) has announced that Jeff Liebenson, an expert in digital rights issues and lawyer at Herrick, Feinstein LLP in New York City, has been elected as its President.

Mr. Liebenson negotiated the first iTunes agreement with Apple on behalf of EMI Recorded Music, and represented Sony Music in the establishment of Pressplay (the current Napster service) and Gracenote in obtaining digital lyric licensing rights from the music publishing industry. He succeeds Eric Keyzer, who served as the President of the IAEL for the past four years.

The IAEL was founded in 1977 at Midem, the international trade fair of the music industry held in Cannes, France, and provides a specialist, international forum and knowledge exchange for entertainment lawyers throughout the world.

“The IAEL has been a leader on entertainment issues for over 35 years. The industry is facing unprecedented commercial opportunities and legal challenges posed by the digital revolution in every segment of the media world – music, TV, radio, newspapers, advertising and of course the Internet. The IAEL has the experience and strategic know-how needed to guide performers and entertainment companies as they confront those challenges. I am especially proud to be elected as the IAEL’s first US President as the organization expands its footprint and the scope of its activities,” says Mr. Liebenson.

Related Links

http://www.iael.org

Yahoo Sells HotJobs Unit to Monster for $225 Million

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

New York
– Nine months after it put the unit up for sale, Yahoo (NASD:  YHOO) announced on Wednesday
that it has sold its HotJobs online recruitment service to Monster Worldwide
for $225 million in cash. The deal includes a three-year agreement wherein Monster
will provide career and job content on Yahoo’s home page in the U.S. and Canada,
and gives Monster the rights to negotiate similar agreements for Yahoo
properties in Europe, Asia and Latin America.

"Bringing
together Monster and HotJobs creates even greater access and opportunities for
both recruiters and job seekers," said Yahoo executive vice president Hilary
Schneider.

"The transaction with Monster enables us to continue to provide
an important service to our users through the traffic agreement. Yahoo remains
focused on its core businesses and delivering exceptional experiences to users,
partners and advertisers."

Monster said the addition of HotJobs’
partnerships with 600 daily and weekly newspapers will grow its stable to a
total of around 1,000.

The sale of HotJobs comes several weeks after Yahoo sold its
Zimbra unit to VMWare.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u9kvh

http://www.hotjobs.com

http://www.monster.com

Spotify: U.S. Launch Within 60 Days; Music Discovery Upgraded

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

London – Spotify, the ad-supported
European streaming music service, is set to launch in the U.S. in one or two month’s time, CEO Daniel Ek
said at a music conference in Los
Angeles, Billboard reported. Ek also said that the
company is adding "a few thousand" paying subscribers a day in Europe to the premium, ad-free version of its service.
The company said separately in a press release on Wednesday that it has updated
its artist discovery feature, and now includes its own "cross-referencing
data collected over millions of users listening hours to power
recommendations." Spotify’s recommendations were previously created using
tagging data provided by AllMusic.


 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u9khg
(Billboard)

http://www.spotify.com

Sony PSP App to Stream Live Football to Arsenal Fans

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
1

London
– Sony (NYSE: SNE) Computer Entertainment has released a new application that will provide
live streaming video of English Premier League football team Arsenal to PSP
handheld game devices, The Register reported. The Arsenal TV Matchday
application, set to become available for download in coming weeks, will let
fans attending games at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium watch goal replays during
matches. Video will be delivered over a secure Wi-Fi network within the
stadium.


 

Related Links:
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2010/02/02/psp_arsenal_app/

http://www.arsenal.com

Thumbplay Signs 20 New Partners for Music Service

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

New York – Mobile entertainment distributor Thumbplay said on Wednesday
that it has signed deals with 20 new content partners that will expand the catalog
of music available on its new Thumbplay Music application. The deals with
labels and distributors including Beggars Group, Merge Records, Redeye
Distribution and Tunecore will grow the service’s catalog to more than 8
million tracks. Thumbplay already licensed the four major labels for the $9.99
per month service, which is currently still in an invitation-only beta.


 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u9kkq

http://music.thumbplay.com

File-Sharing Raids in Sweden Net Alleged Site Owner

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Los Angeles
– Swedish authorities have conducted new raids and arrested the alleged
operator of a file-sharing hub under its new IPRED law, which authorized
greater resources to go after file-swappers, TorrentFreak reported.

Following
investigations by the local arm of record label trade group IFPI, Swedish
police raided five locations where they believed file-swappers using the Direct
Connect network resided.

IFPI Sweden said the file-swappers were each making
available between 9,000 and 17,000 music tracks.

One 28-year-old man, alleged to be the owner of the
file-sharing hub, was arrested, while others admitted to copyright infringement
offenses and saw their computer equipment confiscated.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u9k98
(TorrentFreak)

http://snipurl.com/u9kdp
(DMW previous coverage)

http://snipurl.com/u9kdh
(DMW previous coverage)

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