News Corp. Demands Time Warner Cable Cease iPad Streaming

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New York – News Corp.’s (NYSE: NWS) Fox Networks Group has sent a
cease-and-desist letter to Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC), demanding the company stop
streaming its FX and National Geographic channels via a new iPad service,
Bloomberg reported.

Time Warner Cable last week introduced an application that streams
some 30 live pay-TV channels to an iPad within a subscriber’s home.

The law is
unclear on whether TWC requires additional permissions to stream live channels
that subscribers are paying for, but the company continues to distribute the
app and has created a website to plead its case to consumers.

"You’ve
already paid for these TV programs to be delivered to your home, and we believe
you should be able to watch these programs anywhere in your house, on any
screen you want," reads a note on IWantMyTWCableTVApp.com.

While Fox is
the first network to object to the TWC iPad app, fellow network operator
Scripps told Bloomberg that the company has "not granted iPad video
streaming rights to any distributor and is actively addressing any misunderstandings
on this issue."

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4rbg48m

(Bloomberg)

http://iwantmytwcabletvapp.com

Microsoft Files Antitrust Complaint Against Google in Europe

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Brussels – Microsoft (NASD: MSFT) has submitted an antitrust complaint
against Google (NASD: GOOG) to the European Commission, alleging among other things that the
search giant has limited competitors’ access to its YouTube property. "Unfortunately,
Google has engaged in a broadening pattern of walling off access to content and
data that competitors need to provide search results to consumers and to
attract advertisers," Brad Smith, Microsoft senior vice president and
general counsel, wrote in a post on the company’s TechNet blog.

In its
complaint, Microsoft alleges Google has degraded its Windows Mobile phones’
ability to access YouTube, refusing to offer the same "rich
functionality" of search, favorites, ratings and so forth available on
YouTube via Google Android-powered smartphones.

Microsoft also criticizes
Google for restricting advertisers’ access to the data they input to Google’s
ad servers, and mentions Google’s recent setback in federal court with its
book-scanning project, where a judge cited Google’s dominance in the search
market.

"We’re not surprised that Microsoft has done this, since one of
their subsidiaries was one of the original complainants," Google spokesman
Al Verney told The New York Times, adding Google will be "happy to explain
to anyone how our business works."

 

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/64673p9

(TechNet)

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/01/technology/01google.html

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-20049062-75.html

China's UltiZen Games Acquires Japan's Red Entertainment

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Shanghai – UltiZen Games, a Chinese game developer,
announced on Thursday that it has acquired Japan-based development studio Red Entertainment
for an undisclosed sum.

Founded in 1984, Red Entertainment has created
properties including "Sakura Wars" and "Tengai Makyou."

Shanghai-based
UltiZen said it will co-develop online and mobile games with Red, while Red
will continue to develop new original game properties.

The companies plan to
develop five titles together in 2011.

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/6j2ha24

GameSalad Gets $6.1 Million for Development Platform

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Austin – GameSalad, the provider of a game development
platform for iPhone, iPad, Mac and the Web, announced on Thursday that it has
raised $6.1 million in its second round of funding, led by Steamboat Ventures.

Greycroft Partners, DFJ Mercury, DFJ Frontier and ff Asset Management also
participated in the investment round, which the company will use to grow its
technical and product teams.

Founded in 2007, Austin-based GameSalad (formerly
known as Gendai Games) said its free game creation platform has been used to
create more than 8,500 games, including 30 of the top 100 U.S. games on Apple’s
App Store.

 

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/49337cm

http://www.gamesalad.com

Groupon Founders Invest $1 Million in Qwiki

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San Francisco – Qwiki, the developer of a Wikipedia-like
service that uses video, said on Thursday that it has received an additional $1
million in financing from Lightbank, the investment found created by Groupon
co-founders Brad Keywell and Eric Lefkosky.

San Francisco-based Qwiki raised
$9.5 million in January, in a round led by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin.

The company’s technology debuted in September 2010, which Qwiki says,
"transforms data into interactive, rich-media narratives, delivering an
‘information experience.’"

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4tqabdv

http://www.qwiki.com

TidalTV Raises $30 Million in Third Round

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Baltimore – TidalTV, a online video advertising startup
founded four years ago by Advertising.com co-founder Scott Ferber, said on
Thursday it has raised $30 million in its third round of funding, led by New
Enterprise Associates (NEA).

Previous backers Comcast Interactive Capital and
Valhalla Partners also participated in the round, which the company will use to
expand its technology into new markets, as well as deploy its ad decisioning
tools into new multi-screen applications for advertisers, media agencies and
publishers.

"Our focus on bringing math and science into the branded
advertising space has been well received, and truly illustrates the demand for
more efficiency and effectiveness in brand marketing," said Ferber, who
serves as chairman and CEO.

TidalTV’s platform utilizes complex optimization
mathematics to help brands better manage video ad campaigns and more accurately
reach target demographics.

The Baltimore-based company so far has deployed its
technology for online video, mobile video and addressable television, and is
now working to expand its reach to other video platforms.

Scott Ferber and brother John Ferber
co-founded Advertising.com in 1998, and in 2004 sold it to AOL for $435
million.

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4p3cvgy

http://www.tidaltv.com   

Google Picks Kansas City for Super-Fast Internet Project

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Mountain View, Calif. – After receiving nearly 1,100 pitches
from cities and towns across the country, Google (NASD: GOOG) officially
picked Kansas City, Kansas as the site of its planned ultra-high-speed fiber
network, which the company said will feature Internet speeds 100 times faster
than most Americans currently experience.

"We’ve signed a development
agreement with the city, and we’ll be working closely with local organizations,
businesses and universities to bring a next-generation web experience to the
community," Google wrote in its blog.

"In selecting a city, our goal
was to find a location where we could build efficiently, make an impact on the
community and develop relationships with local government and community
organizations. We’ve found this in Kansas City."

Pending approval from the
city’s board of commissioners, Google said it plans to offer service beginning
in 2012.

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4gwav2t

(Google blog)

Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman to Join Kleiner Perkins

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Menlo Park, Calif. – Meg Whitman, the former CEO of eBay,
will become a part-time advisor at venture capital firm
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Fortune reported, citing sources close to
the situation.

Whitman, who lost her bid for California governor last fall,
reportedly will help the firm find new investment opportunities, while advising
portfolio companies.

Whitman, who stepped down as eBay’s CEO in 2008, currently
sits on the boards of HP, Zipcar, Teach for America and Proctor and Gamble.

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4cddh6r

(Forbes)

Google Debuts "+1" Button to 'Like' Search Results

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Mountain View, Calif. – Google (NASD: GOOG) on Wednesday introduced an
experimental feature aimed at Facebook’s "Like" button, a new
"+1" button that will allow users to share recommended links directly
within search results. Recommendations from contacts with Google Profiles will
be displayed, or if no contacts have hit the +1 button on a search result,
Google may display how many people from across the Web have "+1’d"
the result.

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/45j5gbw

(Google blog)

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-20048886-36.html

http://www.google.com/+1/button/

News Corp. Names James Murdoch Deputy COO, Head of Intl.

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New York – News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) announced on Wednesday that it has
named James Murdoch — son of News Corp. chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch — to
the newly-created position of deputy chief operating officer and chairman and
CEO, International. He will maintain direct responsibility for the company’s
operations in Europe and Asia, and "collaborate with senior leaders to
develop and execute strategies and plans that strengthen and further evolve businesses,
extend brands, and build new franchises."

 

Related Links:
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110330006023/en