In This Update:

• Yahoo Mail Adds SMS, Drops Beta Tag
• Federated Media Raises $4.5MM In Series B
• NFL to Stream Live Games Over the Internet
• Taiwan’s Acer Agrees to Acquire Gateway for About $710 Million
• New Jersey Teen Cracks iPhone for Use on Competing Networks
• Report: U.S. Video Game Sales Rise 37% in July to $925.5 Million
• New Record for WiFi Connection: 180+ Miles
• 25% of mobile phones sold in 2011 will be low-cost
• Hearst-Argyle TV Wants to Go Private
• Pre-launch PeerMeta Funded For Mobile Social Networking Tech

Yahoo Mail Adds SMS, Drops Beta Tag
CNET NEWS
The new version of Yahoo Mail comes out of beta on Monday, and it sports some spiffy new features, like the ability to send text messages to a cell phone–the first free Web-based mail provider to offer that function. A button at the top of the page gives you the option to choose between sending an e-mail, chatting over IM or sending a text, or SMS, message, for free. You enter a contact’s name, type in the mobile phone number, and send a message. It appears in a talk bubble next to your avatar in the Yahoo Mail window. The person receiving the text message can simply respond via text.
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Federated Media Raises $4.5M In Series B
PE HUB
FM Publishing, the online ad network run by John Battelle, has raised $4.5 million in Series B funding, according to a regulatory filing. Return backers include JPMorgan Partners and Omidyar Network. It’s a bit unclear how much the company had raised previously (it won’t say), but PE Hub’s database indicates a $750,000 seed round in mid 2005 and at least $2 million in Series A funding last year.
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NFL to Stream Live Games Over the Internet
ARS TECHNICA
This season, the NFL and DIRECTV will be streaming every game in the Sunday Ticket package, along with the stats-heavy Red Zone Channel. There are a couple of caveats, of course. SuperFan costs $99 on top of the $269 price tag for Sunday Ticket. And if you’re a Mac or Linux user, take note: streaming requires Windows XP or Vista along with Internet Explorer 6 or 7. The platform requirements and the $368 price tag provide a steep barrier to entry for the NFL’s streaming package, but that may be exactly what the NFL wants. The NFL has taken a very protective approach to online video, more so than just about any other sports league. That’s why you’ll be hard pressed to find any recent game footage online anywhere other than NFL.com.
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Taiwan’s Acer Agrees to Acquire Gateway for About $710 Million
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Taiwan’s Acer Inc. said it had reached an agreement to acquire Gateway Inc. in a deal that values the U.S. company at about $710 million and pushes Acer past Lenovo Group Ltd. as the world’s No. 3 vendor of personal computers.The deal appeared to mark a double blow to Lenovo, which has been the world’s No. 3 PC vendor since buying the PC business of International Business Machines Corp. in 2005. Lenovo disclosed earlier this month that it is in talks to buy a stake in Packard Bell BV, a Netherlands-based PC maker. That deal was aimed at giving the Chinese company a leg up in the European consumer market, where Acer is especially strong.But in a separate statement issued just before Monday’s announcement of the planned merger with Acer, Gateway appeared to throw some cold water on those talks by indicating that Packard Bell would likely become part of the new company. Gateway said it “intends to exercise its right of first refusal” to acquire “all the shares” in PB Holding Company, which Gateway said is the parent company for Packard Bell.
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New Jersey Teen Cracks iPhone for Use on Competing Networks
AP VIA YAHOO NEWS
A teenager in New Jersey has broken the lock that ties Apple’s iPhone to AT&T’s wireless network, freeing the most hyped cell phone ever for use on the networks of other carriers, including overseas ones. George Hotz, 17, confirmed Friday that he had unlocked an iPhone and was using it on T-Mobile’s network, the only major U.S. carrier apart from AT&T that is compatible with the iPhone’s cellular technology. While the possibility of switching from AT&T to T-Mobile may not be a major development for U.S. consumers, it opens up the iPhone for use on the networks of overseas carriers.
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Report: U.S. Video Game Sales Rise 37% in July to $925.5 Million
DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE
U.S. video game sales were up 37% in July, boosted by increased sales of the recently-discounted PlayStation 3 and strong sales of competing consoles from Microsoft and Nintendo, Reuters reported, citing sales data from market research firm NPD Group. Combined hardware and software sales in July totaled $925.5 million, up from $676.6 million in the same month a year ago. Game console sales were up 140%, to $286 million; Nintendo led overall with 425,000 Wii unit sales, followed by Microsoft with sales of 170,000 Xbox 360 consoles. Sony saw a jump in sales of its PlayStation 3 — which is now $100 cheaper — to 159,000 units for the month.
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New Record for WiFi Connection: 180+ Miles
MEDIAPOST
A group of Italian radio operators is reporting that they have created the world’s longest wireless Internet connection–a 5-GHz link spanning 188.89 miles between the island of Sardinia and Monte Amiata, a peak about 5,200 feet tall on the Italian mainland. And it may, to the innovative entrepreneur, have business implications. The group, called the Italian Center for Radio Activities (its Italian acronym: CISAR) used two high-powered “Carrier Class” radio modules manufactured by Ubiquiti Networks and parabolic dish antennas to sustain a permanent 5-Mbps link. The link is being used by ham radio operators on Sardinia to communicate with friends and colleagues on the Italian mainland. The CISAR WiFi link-up represents a considerable technical accomplishment, as it required lining up the two parabolic dishes with a beacon. And it’s just one part of much larger vision from CISAR: linking up all Italy with a new wide-band digital network.
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25% of mobile phones sold in 2011 will be low-cost
ZD NET
More than a dozen handset vendors will be shipping sub-$50 models by 2008. The ultra low cost handset marketplace is currently dominated by Motorola and Nokia, but Samsung, LG, and Sony Ericsson are showing increasing interest and other smaller vendors including ZTE, Kyocera, Huawei, Haier, Sagem, Ningbo Bird, Philips, and Rose Telecom are also beginning to address the market, ABI Research says. ABI Research expects that by 2011, almost one out of every four handsets shipped globally will be an ultra low cost handset. The research shows that India will be the biggest market in the next five years, growing from a little over 9 mm handsets in 2006 to more than 116 mm handsets in 2011.
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Hearst-Argyle TV Wants to Go Private
MEDIAPOST
Hearst Corp. plans to take the Hearst-Argyle station group private through a $600 million transaction, offering shareholders $23.50 a share–about a 15% premium over the closing price last Thursday. But Friday, after Hearst Corp. made its announcement, the stock soared, closing above the offer price at $25.22 (a 23% one-day gain). A Hearst Corp. representative declined comment about whether the increase would affect the bid. Hearst Corp. is the station group’s majority owner, with about 73% of the voting power. Despite turmoil in the credit markets, Hearst Corp. said it has the finances in place to proceed with the transaction starting early next month. H-A’s stock price hit a 52-week low on July 26, having fallen nearly $10 a share since mid-April. Revenues for 2006 were up 11% to $785.4 million, with operating income at $228.8 million.
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Pre-launch PeerMeta Funded For Mobile Social Networking Tech
ALARM:CLOCK
Pre-logo PeerMeta has raised an undisclosed amount of venture capital funding the company says. The Boston-based startup is “developing applications around iGoogle, Facebook, MySpace, Yahoo, etc.” The start-up was co-founded by Cheng Wu who was VP and GM of content networking at Cisco Systems. He was He was founder, chairman, and CEO of ArrowPoint Communications, which he sold to Cisco in June 2000 for $5.7B Prior to that he was with Cascade Communications which was sold to Ascend for $3.7B. His co-founder is Jo Tango of Kepha Partners.
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