Social Media Firm Bright Things Lands $800K for SocialGo

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
1

Redwood City,
Calif. – Bright Things, a social
networking technology firm founded by former senior executives of video game
publisher Eidos, said on Tuesday that its flagship venture, known as SocialGo,
has landed an $800,000 investment from Gibraltar-based Veddis Ventures.

Vikrant
Bhargava of Veddis, who previously co-founded PartyGaming, has joined the
company’s board.

Redwood City, Calif.-based Bright Things also said that it has
acquired Get On With It (GOWIT) Ltd., which has been providing development and
support services for SocialGo since 2007.

Financial terms of that deal were not
disclosed.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u288f

http://www.brightthings.com

http://www.socialgo.com

Labels Petition Swedish Court Make Pirate Bay Pay Fines

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Stockholm, Sweden – The four major record labels have petitioned
the courts in Sweden to compel two operators of file-sharing hub The Pirate Bay
to pay fines resulting from their convictions on charges of copyright
infringement last year. The court ordered Gottfrid Svartholm and Fredrik Neij
to cease operating the site, or else face fines of $71,000 each.

While the Pirate Bay
soon after opted to shutter its own file-sharing tracker service — stating
that decentralized trackers had taken up the slack — the labels argue that the
service continues to operate unabated.

"The changes in the tracker
function haven’t changed the file sharing services function," the labels
said in a court filing, according to Sweden’s the Local.

"Fredrik
Neij and Gottfrid Svartholm Warg have seen to it that users can use the new
tracker by making sure that TPB’s Web site automatically provides links to the
trackers to all the torrent files which are on or are uploaded to TPB."

For his part, defendant Fredrick Neij denies any involvement with The Pirate
Bay anymore.

"I am no longer involved in the operation of The Pirate Bay,
so there is no opportunity for the penalty to be issued," Neij told Sweden’s
Aftonbladet.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u27s0
(Billboard)

http://snipurl.com/u27sd
(TorrentFreak)

http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article6410044.ab

Yahoo Sells Zimbra Unit to VMware

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Palo Alto,
Calif. – VMware, a provider of virtualization
technology, announced on Tuesday that it has acquired Yahoo’s (NASD: YHOO) Zimbra email and
collaboration software unit.

Financial terms of the transaction were not
disclosed.

Yahoo acquired Zimbra in 2007 for $350 million; Zimbra had at that
point raised over $30 million in venture capital financing.

The company offers
Web-based email and calendar applications with collaborative features that
counts over 55 million mailbox users.

VMware said the acquisition will further
its mission of "taking complexity out of the datacenter, desktop,
application development and core IT services, and delivering a fundamentally
more efficient and new   approach to IT."

 

Related Links:
http://www.vmware.com/company/news/releases/zimbra.html

http://www.zimbra.com

Vudu

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Report: VOD Firm Vudu Seeks Buyer; Wal-Mart is Likely Suitor

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

New York
– Online video service Vudu is in "meaningful" acquisition talks,
sources told All Things D, and Wal-Mart (NYSE:  WMT) is believed to be the "likely
buyer." Founded in 2004, Santa Clara, Calif.-based Vudu offers a Web-based
movie and TV episode distribution service, which can connect directly with
televisions via set-tops and other devices.

The company’s service uses
peer-to-peer technology to help distribute large video files.

Vudu has raised a
total of $21 million in funding to date, from backers including Benchmark
Capital and Greylock Partners.

All Things D noted that Wal-Mart already
suffered a failed attempt to launch its own media download service in 2007.

Vudu declined to comment on the story for All Things D, while Wal-Mart hadn’t responded by press time.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u26yc
(All Things D)

http://www.vudu.com

Shanda Games to Acquire Mochi Media for $80 Million

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

San Francisco
– Shanda Games, the Chinese online games publisher, announced on Tuesday that
it will acquire Mochi Media, an ad network for online games, for $80 million.

Founded in 2006, San Francisco-based Mochi offers an ad network that includes
more than 15,000 online games.

Shanda intends to use Mochi’s platform to help
monetize its Chinese Web traffic; the company operates over 30 multiplayer game
titles and counts nearly 10 million active paying accounts.

Mochi will continue
to operate as a standalone company within Shanda Games.

"This relationship
opens up a new market for Shanda Games and gives them a footprint outside of China while
opening up the Chinese market for Mochi Media and gives our community access to
Shanda Games’ strength and expertise in virtual goods," Mochi Media
co-founder Jameson Hsu wrote in a blog post.

The company had raised a total of
$14 million in venture capital financing.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u26do

http://www.mochimedia.com

TopTenReviews Secures $1.5 Million in Funding

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Ogden, Utah – TopTenReviews, a site that offers user-generated
reviews, has raised $1.5 million in its second round of funding, PaidContent
reported, citing a regulatory filing.

Investors included Highway 12 Ventures
and Village Ventures.

Utah-based TopTenReviews offers user-generated reviews,
for which writers are paid by the company, alongside charts, news and videos
aimed at aiding the buying process.

The company’s Tech Media Network also
operates LiveScience.com, Space.com and Newsarama.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u26a1
(PaidContent)

http://www.toptenreviews.com

Mobile Analytics Firm Flurry Lands $7 Million

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

San Francisco
– Flurry, a provider of smartphone application analytics and monetization
platforms, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $7 million in its second
round of financing, led by InterWest Partners.

Previous backers Draper Fisher
Jurvetson, Union Square Ventures, First Round Capital and Draper Richards also
participated.

San Francisco-based Flurry, which recently merged with rival Pinch
Media, says it tracks more than 80% of all consumers across iPhone, iPod touch
and Android devices.

The company said that over 15,000 developers have integrated
its Flurry Analytics platform within their applications, and it is now tracking
more than one billion user application sessions per month.

The new funds will
be used to build out new services, hire employees and scale infrastructure.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u268b

http://www.flurry.com

Siano Raises $23.5 Million for Mobile Digital TV Chips

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
1

Netanya,
Israel – Siano
Mobile Silicon, a manufacturer of mobile digital TV receiver chips, announced
on Tuesday that it has closed a $23.5 million fourth round of funding.

Participating in the round were all of the company’s existing investors, including
JVP, DFJ-Tamir-Fishman, Star Ventures, Walden Israel and Bessemer Venture
Partners.

Founded in 2004, Israel-based Siano makes digital TV chips found in
mobile, portable and handheld devices in emerging markets like China, Brazil
and Europe.

Customers include Samsung, Motorola, Huawei and Dell.

The company
will use the funds to build sufficient product inventory, and to develop new
products and penetrate new markets.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/u263d

http://www.siano-ms.com

Arbitron CEO Resigns After Violating Company Policy

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Columbia,
Md. – After just a year on the
job, Michael Skarzynski has resigned as the president and CEO of Arbitron after
the board of the radio ratings firm determined that he violated an undisclosed
company policy, unrelated to its financial performance.

The company has named
board member William Kerr, the chairman and former CEO of Meredith Corp., as
his replacement.

The Washington Post on Tuesday reported that the resignation
is related to Skarzynski’s testimony six weeks ago before a Congressional
subcommittee, in which he answered allegations that the company’s Portable
People Meter (PPM) technology undercounts minority radio listeners.

Rep.
Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), who chaired the subcommittee, said on Monday that
Skarzynski may have "intentionally misled" the panel.

 

Related Links:
http://arbitron.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=653

http://snipurl.com/u261s
(Washington Post)

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