Twitter Hires Pixar Exec Rowghani as New CFO

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

San Francisco
– Twitter has hired Ali Rowghani away from Pixar Animation Studios to serve as
its new chief financial officer. "Ali will be an important member of a
growing team focused on creating value for our users and capturing the
financial opportunities that result from it," said Twitter CEO Evan Williams.
"His thoughtfulness on retaining a great culture to work and staying
consistent with our principles will also be a significant contribution."


 

Related Links:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10451497-36.html

RealNetworks to Power Ringtones, Song Downloads for Sprint

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Seattle
– RealNetworks (NASD: RNWK) announced that it has signed an agreement with Sprint (NYSE: S), to
provide the wireless network operator with ringtones, ringback tones and
full-track music downloads to mobile phones. RealNetworks also powers mobile
music services for Verizon.


 

Related Links:
http://realnetworks.com/pressroom/releases/2010/tps_sprint.aspx

Volvo Debuts Rear Seat Touch-screen with Wi-Fi, 500GB Drive

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Chicago
– Volvo on Thursday announced plans to introduce a touch-screen rear seat
entertainment system on its 2010 Volvo XC70 that will offer broadband, Wi-Fi
and a 500GB hard drive. The RSEi-500 system will also allow users to connect
the vehicle to their home computer, to transfer video, audio and other home
data content. The automaker partnered with Azentek Corporation, Gracenote and
Sprint on the service, which will be on display at the Chicago Auto Show and is
expected to roll out by June on various Volvo models.


 

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

Ford Taps Gracenote for SYNC In-car Entertainment System

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
1

Emeryville,
Calif. – Gracenote, a unit of
Sony (NYSE: SNE) that offers CD identification and other digital music data services, announced
on Thursday that it has partnered with Ford to include three of its products in
the automaker’s SYNC in-vehicle digital entertainment platform. Ford SYNC will
integrate Gracenote’s MediaVOCS voice-activated controls, Playlist Plus
automatic creation application, and album cover art database.


 

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

http://www.gracenote.com

http://www.fordvehicles.com/technology/sync

Shazam Adds Touring Information; Links to Pandora, Last.fm

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

London
– Shazam, a provider of mobile music identification services, on Thursday announced
new features for the premium version of its Shazam Encore and Shazam RED applications
for the iPhone. Users can now access touring information and ticketing links,
and will be able to use songs tagged in Shazam to create Web radio stations
using Pandora and Last.fm.


 

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

http://www.shazam.com

Universal Music Taps Aspiro for European Streaming Service

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Stockholm, Sweden – Apiro, a provider of mobile
entertainment services in northern Europe,
announced on Thursday that it will provide a white-label music streaming music
service for the local branch of major record label Universal Music Group.
Aspiro’s music service launched in beta last year in Norway, with music retail chain
Platekompaniet.


 

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

Report: Video Site Veoh Lays Off Staff; Will File for Bankruptcy

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
1

San Diego
– Struggling video hosting service Veoh laid off its remaining employees on
Wednesday and plans to file for Ch. 7 bankruptcy protections in the near
future, All Things D reported, citing unnamed sources. The company had been
seeking additional financing or a buyer, but those plans apparently collapsed
in recent weeks, the sources said.

San Diego-based Veoh started off as
a user-generated video site, but more recently looked to focus on licensing
professionally-produced content.

The company went through a round of layoffs
last year that saw a third of its staff let go.

Veoh raised a total of $70 million
in venture capital, from investors including Time Warner, Goldman Sachs, Intel
Capital, Spark Capital and former Disney CEO Michael Eisner.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/ucaby
(All Things D)

http://snipurl.com/ucacc
(DMW previous covearge)

http://www.veoh.com

Blogger

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Google Deletes Long-running Music Blogs, Cites DMCA Notices

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Mountain View,
Calif. – Google (NASD:  GOOG) has deleted
several long-running music blogs hosted on its Blogger service without prior
warning, citing multiple copyright infringement notices from record labels. The
owners of Pop Tarts, Masala, I Rock Cleveland, To Die By Your Side, It’s a Rap
and Living Ears today found years of posts deleted with the following
explanation from Google. "We’d like to inform you that we’ve received
another complaint regarding your blog. Upon review of your account, we’ve noted
that your blog has repeatedly violated Blogger’s Terms of Service … [and] we’ve
been forced to remove your blog. Thank you for your understanding."

PaidContent reports that several of the blog owners maintain that they have
received DMCA takedown notices in the past for songs they were legally entitled
to post.

"I assure you that everything I’ve posted for, let’s say, the
past two years, has either been provided by a promotional company, came
directly from the record label, or came directly from the artist," I Rock
Cleveland owner Bill Lipold wrote to Google in a letter.

"Whether this is
the result of miscommunication by staff at the record label, or confusion over
which MP3s are ‘official,’ it happens,"  Google product manager Rick Klau explained in a
response on the Blogger blog.

"If this happens to you, it is imperative
that you file a DMCA counter-claim so we know you have the right to the music
in question. Otherwise, if we receive multiple DMCA complaints for your blog,
this could very well constitute repeat offenses, compelling us to take action."

The issue is being discussed on Twitter under the hashtag #Musicblogocide2k10.

 

Related Links:
http://buzz.blogger.com/2010/02/quick-note-about-music-blog-removals.html

http://snipurl.com/uc9if
(I Rock Cleveland)

http://snipurl.com/uc98p
(PaidContent)

http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23Musicblogocide2k10%20

Google to Test Ultra High-Speed Internet Service

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
1

Mountain View, Calif. – Google (NASD:  GOOG) has unveiled plans to test an
ultra high-speed Internet service that the company said is more than 100 times
faster than most broadband connections currently offered by cable and telecom
providers. The company said that it will launch the service in a small number
of trial locations across the U.S.,
selling it at what it called a "competitive price" to as many as
500,000 people at the outset.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski hailed the
project, saying that it would "provide an American testbed for the next
generation of innovative, high-speed Internet apps, devices and services."

As a first step, Google has begun soliciting information from local governments
and private citizens in a bid to gauge interest.

The company said that it plans
to operate an open-access network giving users a choice of multiple service
providers.

The goal of the project, Google said, is to "experiment and
learn."

"Network providers are making real progress to expand and
improve high-speed Internet access, but there’s still more to be done,"
the company wrote on its blog.

"We don’t think we have all the answers —
but through our trial, we hope to make a meaningful contribution to the shared
goal of delivering faster and better Internet for everyone."

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/uc8mn
(Google blog post)

1...1,4821,4831,484...1,530Page 1,483 of 1,530