Report: Apple Urging Labels to Reject Amazon MP3 "Daily Deals"

March 3, 2010

Los Angeles
– Apple (NASD: AAPL) has begun urging record labels not to participate in a discounted MP3
promotion offered by rival Amazon.com (NASD: AMZN), and withdrawing iTunes Store marketing
support for some releases featured as Amazon "Daily Deals," Billboard
reported, citing sources.

Amazon debuted its Daily Deal feature in June 2008,
and has more recently been asking labels for a one-day exclusive on sales
before an album’s official release date, as well as label marketing support for
the Daily Deal on an artist’s website and social media pages, the head of sales
at a major label told Billboard.

"When that happened, iTunes said, ‘Enough
of that shit,’" the executive said.

Due to Apple’s pressure, sources told
Billboard that label executives had decided not to promote recent releases from
Lady Antebellum and Ke$ha as Amazon Daily Deals.

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

Social Games Publisher Playdom Acquires Offbeat Creations

Mark Hefflinger

March 3, 2010

Mountain View, Calif. – Social games
publisher Playdom announced on Wednesday that it has acquired Offbeat
Creations, a developer of games for Facebook.

Financial terms of the transaction
were not disclosed.

Offbeat Creations, whose titles include the dice game "Super
Farkle," said its gaming applications are attracting 1 million active
monthly users.

Mountain View, Calif.-based Playdom announced a $43 million
funding round last November, which the company said at the time would be used
in part for strategic acquisitions.

Offbeat’s development team will join
Playdom’s existing team in Seattle.

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

http://www.playdom.com

http://offbeat-creations.com/

Paris-based Social Dating Site Smartdate.com Nabs $2.2 Million

Mark Hefflinger

March 3, 2010

Paris
– Smartdate.com, a social dating service that uses Facebook Connect to match
singles, announced that it has raised $2.2 million in seed funding, led by 360
Capital Partners.

Paris-based Smartdate.com recently launched an alpha version
of its service, which offers a limited-feature free version, and premium
memberships with fewer restrictions.

Related Links:
http://www.smartdate.com/pages/press_1

TiVo Introduces New 'Premiere' Digital Video Recorders

Mark Hefflinger

March 3, 2010

Alviso, Calif. – TiVo (NASD: TIVO) on Wednesday introduced a new
line of digital video recorders, the TiVo Premiere, which offers direct access
to broadband video services from Netflix, Amazon and Blockbuster, as well as
video podcasts and YouTube content.

The device will also allow users to stream
music from services including Rhapsody and Live365.

The $300 TiVo Premiere (320GB)
and $500 TiVo Premiere XL (1TB) will go on sale in April.

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

https://www3.tivo.com/what-is-premiere/premiere-is/index.html

http://snipurl.com/umeyw
(Wired.com)

Gannett to Lift Pay Freeze at Some Newspapers

Mark Hefflinger

March 3, 2010

McLean, Va.
– A year after first implementing wage freezes at many of its newspapers, Gannett (NYSE: GCI)
said that it plans to end the policy beginning April 1.

The company, which
posted a profit of $133.6 million last quarter, credited its aggressive cost
cutting in recent months with helping improve its financial performance.

"Thanks to the outstanding efforts across our division, we have been able
to continue restructuring our costs, improve our revenue trends and are
tracking as we hoped for the first quarter," wrote Bob Dickey, the president
of Gannett’s U.S. Community Newspaper division, in a memo to employees,
published by the blog Gannettoid.

"Going forward, we will get back into
the normal review cycle where people will be eligible for raises based, as
always, on performance and contributions to the overall organization."

The
news, however, doesn’t apply to the company’s largest newspaper, USA Today,
which in February announced furloughs and extended its pay freeze at least
through May.

Related Links:
http://www.gannettoid.com/wages030110.html

CNET: Apple, Studios in Talks on Cloud-based iTunes Video

Mark Hefflinger

March 3, 2010

San Francisco – Apple (NASD: AAPL) has
held talks with Hollywood movie studios on
allowing users to store content purchased from its iTunes Store remotely on
Apple’s servers, similar to the cloud-based music plan the company recently
discussed with record labels, CNET News.com reported.

"Basically, they
want to eliminate the hard drive," one source told CNET.

Sources also said
the plan would see iTunes authorized to stream movies and TV shows directly to
a range of online devices, including Apple’s own iPad.

CNET further cited reports
that indicate Apple is building a new data center in North Carolina that would serve as the
"backbone" of the planned streaming offerings.

Report: Facebook Revenue to Hit $1.1 Billion This Year

Mark Hefflinger

March 3, 2010

Palo Alto,
Calif. – Facebook is expected to
generate up to $1.1 billion in total revenue this year, based on calculations made
by the blog Inside Facebook.

Last September, the blog estimated that Facebook
would bring in $550 million in revenues for 2009, but sources said more
recently that Facebook revenue likely hit between $600 million and $700 million
last year.

The blog also cited reports indicating the company made between $280
million and $300 million in 2008.

Inside Facebook said it expected the trend of
Facebook doubling its revenues every year "to continue for the foreseeable
future, making Facebook a multi-billion dollar company within the next few
years."

The company’s main sources of revenue this year are expected to be brand
advertising, performance-based ads and sales of virtual goods.

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/umdnr
(Inside Facebook)

Viacom to Pull Comedy Central Shows Down From Hulu

Mark Hefflinger

March 3, 2010

New York
– Media conglomerate Viacom (NYSE: VIA), which owns Paramount Pictures and MTV Networks, will
remove Comedy Central content from the Hulu video portal joint venture as of
March 9, according to a Hulu blog post. After a 21-month stay, episodes of
popular Comedy Central programs like "The Daily Show" and "The
Colbert Report" will no longer be available on the ad-supported Hulu, a
joint venture between News Corp. (NYSE: NWS), NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) and Disney (NYSE: DIS).

"In the past
21 months, we’ve had very strong results for both Hulu and Comedy Central, in
terms of the views and revenue we’ve generated, thanks to a couple of key
trends," wrote Andy Forssell, Hulu’s senior vice president of content and
distribution.

"After a series of discussions with the team at Comedy
Central, though, we ultimately were unable to secure the rights to extend these
shows for a much longer period of time."

"We had a great experience
with Hulu, and we hope to work with its team again in the future," Comedy
Central said in a statement posted by PaidContent.

http://snipurl.com/umd73
(PaidContent)

http://www.hulu.com

SharesPost Debuts Index for Late-stage, Venture-backed Firms

Mark Hefflinger

March 3, 2010

Santa Monica,
Calif. – SharesPost, the provider
of an online platform that provides pricing and valuation data on private
equity transactions, has launched a new index that aims to be "the S&P
500 but for late-stage, venture-backed companies," founder Greg Brogger
told the Associated Press.

The new index will track seven companies —
Facebook, Twitter, Tesla Motors, Zynga, Linden Lab, LinkedIn and Serious
Materials — and track valuation; most recent share price on SharesPost;
average analyst valuations; and the midpoint between highest and lowest share
bids on SharesPost.

Santa Monica, Calif.-based
SharesPost was launched in July 2009.

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/umd1l
(AP)

http://www.sharespost.com

Mobile Marketing Firm Adenyo Secures $26.9 Million

Mark Hefflinger

March 3, 2010

Toronto
– Adenyo, a provider of mobile marketing software (formerly known as Silverback
Media), announced on Wednesday that it has secured $26.9 million in new
financing.

The company said the financing included a $17.2 million round led by
Genuity Capital Markets, and $9.7 million in private placements since July
2009.

Toronto-based Adenyo provides mobile marketing and ad serving; mobile
storefronts; mobile coupons and payments; and mobile analytics services.

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/umd09
(PDF)

http://www.adenyo.com