USA Today to Require Employees Take Week of Unpaid Leave

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

McLean, Va. – Publisher Gannett’s (NYSE: GCI) USA Today is requiring each of its
nearly 1,500 employees to take one week of unpaid leave between March and July
in response to continued weakness in publishing and media markets.

The media
company is also extending a salary freeze announced last year for at least 90
more days.

"A furlough means no one will be permitted to work while on
furlough and no one will be exempt, except for business necessity," wrote
USA Today Publisher Dave Hunke.

"That means when you are on furlough,
there is no work, no office phone calls, no voice mail, no e-mail and no PDA
checking."

Hunke cited the continued downturn in national advertising
sales and paid circulation for the actions.

 

Related Links:
http://gannettblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/urgent-usat-extends-wage-freeze-adds.html

Feedback Prompts Google to Enhance Buzz Privacy Settings

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
2

Mountain View,
Calif. – Following criticism over
the privacy settings on its new Buzz social features on its Gmail service,
Google (NASD: GOOG) last night announced a raft of changes to thes service based on users’
feedback.

"In particular there’s been concern from some people who thought
their contacts were being made public without their knowledge (in particular
the lists of people they follow, and the people following them)," Google
said in a blog post.

"In addition, others felt they had too little control
over who could follow them and were upset that they lacked the ability to block
people who didn’t yet have public profiles from following them."

The
corresponding changes Google made to Buzz will make the option to not show
followers or people a user follows on their public profiles more visible; allow
users to block anyone who starts following them; and provide more clariety on
which of a user’s followers and people they follow can appear on their public
profiles.

However, some critics are saying that Google needs to go
further with the privacy settings with Buzz, for instance making the sharing of
Gmail contacts with whom a user most frequently interacts an opt-in, rather
than opt-out choice.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/uck2x
(Google blog post)

http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10452412-265.html

http://snipurl.com/uck37
(Business Insider)

http://techcrunch.com/2010/02/12/google-buzz-privacy

Report: Microsoft to Add Social Features to Outlook

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Palo Alto,
Calif. – Microsoft (NASD: MSFT) is planning to
launch new social features for its Outlook email and communications product in
beta next week, which will feature connections to third-party services
including LinkedIn, Facebook and MySpace, TechCrunch reported, citing unnamed
sources.

Outlook Social Connector was initially announced in November, when
LinkedIn was named as a launch partner.

The version that launches next week is
expected to include the less business-oriented social networks as partners as
well.

Rival Google (NASD: GOOG) this week launched new social features for its Gmail
service, Buzz, in its own bid to tap into social media in a bigger way.

 

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

Google Rebuts Justice Dept. Objections to Book Settlement

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
2

Washington
– Google (NASD:  GOOG) has filed a rebuttal to the U.S. Department of Justice’s objections to
a settlement over Google’s plans to create a digital index of the world’s books,
setting the stage for a face-off between the two sides in court later this
month. The Justice Dept. raised objections to the first version of the
settlement agreement between Google and authors and publishers, and reiterated
similar objections to the revised settlement that Google submitted to the court
in November.

It believes that the agreement will give Google an unfair
advantage in the online books market, and to its search engine.

The Justice
Dept. also objects to the service’s policy of asking publishers to opt-out
should they wish not to be included, while it contends U.S. copyright
law calls for an opt-in.

In its filing this week, Google tried to rebut these
assertions, as well as those raised by competitors and others, such as the Open
Book Alliance.

"The purpose of copyright law is to promote the creation
and distribution of expressive works," Google says in the filing.
"The [settlement] advances this purpose as much as any case or agreement
in copyright history."

The company adds:  "Google is a new entrant and currently
has zero percent share in any book market. It does not have monopoly power and
there is no ‘dangerous probability’ that it will acquire such power."

"Despite
the spin from Google’s attorneys, the amended settlement will still offer the
search and online advertising giant exclusive access to books it has illegally
scanned to the detriment of consumers, authors and competition," the Open
Book Alliance said in a statement.

"We continue to wholeheartedly agree
with the Department of Justice’s recent characterization of the settlement as,
‘a bridge too far.’"

U.S. District Court Judge Denny Chin has scheduled a
hearing for Feb. 18 to discuss the revised settlement agreement.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/ucjic
(AP)

http://snipurl.com/ucjo2
(Open Book Alliance statement)

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

http://www.googlebooksettlement.com

Mass Effect 2

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Report: U.S. Video Games Sales Dip 13% in January to $1.2B

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Port Washington, N.Y. – U.S. video game sales totaled $1.17
billion in January, down 13% from the same period a year ago during a typically
slow month for the industry, according to a report from market research firm
NPD Group. Sales of video game hardware fell 21% from last January, to $353.7
million; Nintendo’s Wii led with 465,800 in sales, followed by Microsoft’s (NASD:  MSFT) Xbox
360 (332,800 units) and Sony’s (NYSE:  SNE) PlayStation 3 (276,900 units).

Game software
sales were down 12% for the month, to $597.9 million.

The top-selling game in
January once again was Nintendo’s "New Super Mario Bros. Wii" (656,700
units), although Electronic Arts’ (NASD:  ERTS) "Mass Effect 2" racked up 572,000
in sales during the month despite coming out on Jan. 26.

 

Other titles in the
top ten included Activision’s (NASD:  ATVI) "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" (585,700
units), Electronic Arts’ "Army of Two: The 40th Day" (246,500 units)
and Ubisoft’s "Just Dance" (191,900 units).

 

Related Links:
http://www.npd.com

Motorola to Split Into Two Independent Companies in 2011

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Schaumberg,
Ill. – Motorola (NYSE: MOT) on Thursday
announced plans to split itself into two independent, publicly traded companies
next year — one focused on mobile devices and home businesses, and the other
on enterprise mobility and networks.

"We believe this structure provides
significant operational and strategic flexibility for both companies, positions
them for future success, and enhances long-term shareholder value," said
David Dorman, chairman of Motorola’s board.

Motorola co-CEO Dr. Sanjay Jha will
serve as CEO of the mobile and home unit, while co-CEO Greg Brown will become
CEO of the enterprise unit.

Both companies will use the Motorola brand
following the separation, expected to be completed during the first quarter of
2011.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/ucj8a

http://www.motorola.com

Zad Mobile Acquires Push Ringtone Firm eMotive

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

San Francisco
– Zad Mobile, a provider of mobile marketing and advertising services, has
acquired eMotive Communications, a developer of commercial peer-to-peer
technology for mobile service providers.

Financial terms of the transaction
were not disclosed.

Los Angeles-based eMotive’s RingJam "push
ringtone" service lets users transmit licensed music and video clip to one
another.

San Francisco-based Zad said that the purchase of eMotive will enable
the company to offer both messaging applications for 2.5G subscriber bases and
social push-media client applications for 3G subscribers.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/ucj6t

http://www.zadmobile.com

http://www.emotive.com

TuneSat Gets Funding for Music Synchronization Tracker

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

New York – TuneSat, the provider of an online music synchronization
tracking service spanning 175 TV stations in the U.S. and Europe, has raised
$975,000 in a new round of funding, PaidContent reported, citing a regulatory
filing.

Details on investors were not disclosed.

New York-based TuneSat’s
service is offered to composers, artists and record labels who license music
for use in TV productions and advertisements as a means of tracking where and
when their music is performed.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/ucj08

http://www.tunesat.com

Red Cross: Haiti Relief Texts Have Raised $32 Million

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Washington – The American
Red Cross said on Thursday that it has raised $32 million for Haitian
earthquake relief through $10 mobile donations, with more than 3 million people
texting the word "Haiti"
to 90999. The organization said that it so far has received more than $15
million of the donations, through advances paid by wireless carriers AT&T,
Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless.


 

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

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