In This Update:
• Microsoft Sends Out Feelers to Facebook
• Best Buy Takes 50 Percent Stake in Carphone Warehouse for $2.2 Billion
• Cablevision’s Rainbow to Buy Sundance Channel for $496 Million
• DG Fast Channel Merges with Enliven Marketing Technologies
• Judge Orders TorrentSpy to Pay MPAA $110 Million in Damages
• Live Universe Acquires MeeVee
• Japan Considers Levy on MP3 Players to Pay for Piracy
• Truveo Launches Localized Video Search
• EA to Use Controversial Internet-Required DRM on New Games
• CDNetworks Buys Japanese Web Content Unit Hit Pops
• Nokia Siemens Demos 10Mbps Data Connection to an I-HSPA Device
• Sprint Partners With Google For Mobile Search
• Color Filter Maker Sintek Developing 7-inch Capacitive Touch Panels
• UK Start-Up Cellcrypt Able to Encrypt Mobile Calls
• Biz360 Takes $10 Million Round for Marketing Analytics
• Entertainment Ad Network Giant Realm Completes $5.5 Million First Round
• SlideShare Gets $3 Million for Online Presentations

Microsoft Sends Out Feelers to Facebook
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Microsoft Corp., under pressure to craft a strategy for competing online that doesn’t involve Yahoo Inc., informally approached social-networking Web site Facebook Inc. to gauge its interest in selling itself to Microsoft, says a person familiar with the situation. Microsoft’s investment bankers recently contacted Facebook as it looked likely the Redmond, Wash., software company might back away from buying Yahoo, the person said. There are no active discussions between the two, the person said, and it is unclear if closely held Facebook would consider selling.
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Best Buy Takes 50 Percent Stake in Carphone Warehouse for $2.2 Billion
DEALBOOK
Britain’s Carphone Warehouse will sell a 50 percent stake in its retail unit to U.S. electronics chain Best Buy for 1.1 billion pounds ($2.2 billion) and they will launch a new company to expand across Europe. Europe’s biggest independent mobile retailer Carphone said the deal would give both groups a 50 percent stake in the new company, which will comprise its 2,400 stores, and aim to meet the growing appetite for consumer electronics. The proceeds of the sale will be used to pay down Carphone’s debt and for investment in its remaining broadband and fixed-line business and infrastructure. Carphone has said it will consider making a bid for broadband operator Tiscali. The announcement follows months of speculation about a tie-up between the two companies after Best Buy took a small stake in the British company. They also have a joint venture in the United States.
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Cablevision’s Rainbow to Buy Sundance Channel for $496 Million
PAIDCONTENT
Rainbow Media Holdings is picking up the Sundance Channel in a complicated stock-cash deal worth $496 million. Rainbow is buying Sundance from NBC Universale, CBS (NYSE: CBS) (through Showtime) and “entities controlled by” channel founder Robert Redford. General Electric will be paid through a stock swap of GE shares held by Rainbow (tax-free to Cablevision) and cash to make up the difference. CBS and Redford will be paid in cash. When it’s all done, Rainbow will own 100 percent of the channel Redford founded in 1996. Sundance is available in nearly 30 million homes.
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DG Fast Channel Merges with Enliven Marketing Technologies
ADOTAS
Enliven Marketing Technologies today announced that it’s merging with DG FastChannel to better leverage their individual suites of interactive marketing / technology and media solutions. The transaction values Enliven at $98 million, inclusive of $4.5 million of debt. In mid-2007, DG FastChannel got into the interactive ad game when it snapped up a 12% equity ownership in Enliven. “The merger with Enliven increases the breadth of our next generation, digital media platform and brings our customers an integrated advertising solution featuring state-of-the-art technologies,” Scott K. Ginsburg, chairman and CEO of DG FastChannel said, in a news release.
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Judge Orders TorrentSpy to Pay MPAA $110 Million in Damages
DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE
TorrentSpy, a BitTorrent tracker site that lost a copyright infringement suit filed by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) last year, has been ordered by a federal judge to pay a massive $110 million in damages. “This substantial money judgment sends a strong message about the illegality of these sites,” said Dan Glickman, chairman and CEO of the MPAA. “The demise of TorrentSpy is a clear victory for the studios and demonstrates that such pirate sites will not be allowed to continue to operate without facing relentless litigation by copyright holders.”
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Live Universe Acquires MeeVee
TECHCRUNCH
Live Universe continues its acquisitions spree: they’ve bought troubled Silicon Valley startup MeeVee , we’re heard from multiple sources. This comes less than a month after they announced the acquisition of Pageflakes, another northern California startup. The acquisition price was not disclosed, but it is undoubtedly less than the $25 million Meevee has raised in venture capital over the years. The company, which was founded in 2000, let 20% of its staff go in mid-2007, and made more layoffs earlier this year. Meevee integrates online TV listings with video.
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Japan Considers Levy on MP3 Players to Pay for Piracy
THE REGISTER
Japan is considering introducing a levy on the sale of MP3 players and DVRs as a means to compensate copyright owners who are losing money because of piracy. The fee could add some several hundred yen to the price of the devices – 1USD is roughly JPY104. The Japanese Government says the tariff would be similar to the existing levy on music recorders such as tape decks and mini-disc players, which currently raises an estimated JPY3bn (USD28.4m) per year for the country’s Administration of Remuneration for Audio Home Recording, a body established to pass the proceeds on to copyright holders. If successful, the move is expected to be viewed with interest by other countries concerned about rampant digital media piracy, with the UK’s Music Business Group already lobbying for a similar levy.
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Truveo Launches Localized Video Search
CENTERNETWORKS
Online video search engine Truveo is announcing the launch of localized video search for the countries they serve on their 17 international video search portals. This new search technology looks at the country of the origin along with the language of the portal being used and determines which content should show higher in the search results. The simple example Truveo provides is using a search for the word “football. A search in the U.S. for football would turn up the same videos as a search in the UK for football even though the two searchers were most likely looking for and expecting completely different results.
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EA to Use Controversial Internet-Required DRM on New Games
TECHDIRT
PC Gamers are in an uproar over a new copy projection system announced by Electronic Arts for use on their upcoming titles. The PC-port of the successful Xbox title Mass Effect, and the eagerly awaited Will Wright title Spore will be two of the higher profile games to use this new system. The new system is the latest iteration of the SecuROM protection, which has caused problems in the past over technical issues with several popular titles. This new version is causing controversy due to an online verification system connected to its CD key. The system requires a connection to the internet during installation to check the CD key is valid, and then registers the key with the users’ computer. After this the game will try to re-check the CD key every 5-10 days to ensure it hasn’t since been found posted on a forum, or used in some form of piracy. If the game can’t verify the key within this period it will continue to try for a further 10 days, after which it will stop working until the key is checked. The protection will also only allow the game to be installed three times.
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CDNetworks Buys Japanese Web Content Unit Hit Pops
DMASIA.COM
CDNetworks, a global, full-service content delivery network (CDN) headquartered in South Korea, has announced the closing of its acquisition of the Hit Pops Division of Japan’s Space Communications Corporation. This acquisition brings CDNetworks leading edge technology and a portfolio of customers that include MSN Video, Sony, Jupiter Shopping Channel, Fuji, WOWOW, Radio Japan, CCTV, News Broadcasting Japan and the National Geographic Channel. CDNetworks has integrated its global-scale video transmission infrastructure with the video planning and production solution provided by Hit Pops. This addition enables CDNetworks to offer its new and existing customers a full range of services from video content production to content delivery.
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Nokia Siemens Demos 10Mbps Data Connection to an I-HSPA Device
MOBILEBURN
Nokia Siemens Networks, a provider of mobile broadband solutions, completed tests with Mobilkom Austria recently testing its new I-HSPA solution. The call, conducted with an unspecified mobile device, reached downlink data speeds of up to 10.1 Mbps during the tests. Nokia Siemens Networks’ I-HSPA solution is designed to support heavy data and multimedia use, and uses a “simplified flat architecture” to offer this to the end user. The solution is fully compatible with the future LTE evolution path for WCDMA networks, as well, which should make it attractive for operators.
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Sprint Partners With Google For Mobile Search
MOBILEWHACK
Sprint and Google have announced their partnership for integrating Google apps and services into Sprint’s mobile services. Along with this deal, Google will now become Sprint’s primary mobile search provider. This is a great news as this will make Internet experience for Sprint users much more dynamic. Of course, also with this deal, Google has taken another step towards the mobile market. This service, as mentioned, will make Google become the default search provides for web search and local search (GPS-enabled) on the Sprint portal on customers’ current web-enabled Sprint phones as well as new devices
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Color Filter Maker Sintek Developing 7-inch Capacitive Touch Panels
DIGITIMES
Taiwan-based color filter (CF) maker Sintek Photronic is developing 7-inch capacitive touch panels, and expects volume production to start in the first quarter of 2009, according to company chairman Wen-yi Chang. Sintek has already started designing capacitive touch panels and samples are expected to be delivered by the end of 2008, he said. If product validation and volume production go smoothly, Sintek will expand its touch panel capacity in the future, he added. Chang predicted that touch functionality will be found in a wide range of applications. While the resistive touch panel market is rather mature, the capacitive type is just beginning to take off, he said. He revealed that Sintek decided to turn part of its TV-use CF equipment to making touch panels after clients came knocking at the door asking it to collaborate in developing the capacitive touch panel market.
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UK Start-Up Cellcrypt Able to Encrypt Mobile Calls
INTOMOBILE
A UK start-up has developed some technology to encrypt calls (and hence prevent snoopers) from fixed-line and mobile phones – and it looking to raise several million GBP as it comes close to closing some big deals. The company is called Cellcrypt, and is only 3 years old. Security of calls has become a huge concern in recent years, but this new approach is software-based, rather than the traditionally hardware-only solutions. Cellcrypt are not alone in this space – other companies are also touting their solutions on removable memory cards for example – but Cellcrypt are using VoIP software to deliver their capability. Obviously, a VoIP-capable app, twinned with a 3G or WiFi radio gives you a secure portable device.
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Biz360 Takes $10 Million Round for Marketing Analytics
VENTUREBEAT
Marketing analytics firm Biz360 has just raised a $10 million funding round led by Foundation Capital, and partner Bill Elmore joined the board. Previous investors Granite Ventures and Scale Venture Partners also participated. It’s the second full round of funding for Biz360, but it hasn’t disclosed the total amount of the first round. The company is based in San Mateo, Calif. Biz360’s current offering is an opinion tracking tool called Media Insights. Any time someone writes about, say, a digital camera, Biz360’s automated process picks it up and does some analysis on the thrust of the article: Did I like or hate the camera, and why? The data is then returned to the business customer that produces the camera. But what corporations choose to do when given that data is changing, says CEO Brad Brodigan.
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Entertainment Ad Network Giant Realm Completes $5.5 Million First Round
PAIDCONTENT
Video game vertical ad net GiantRealm has raised $2 million from Softbank for a total first round of $5.5 million, the company says. This latest infusion comes about two months after GiantRealm raised $3.5 million from Comcast Interactive Capital with an assist from seed funding participant Edison Venture Fund. The New York-based company plans to use the proceeds for hiring additional sales, editorial, and operations staff, as well as sales offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
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SlideShare Gets $3 Million for Online Presentations
MASHABLE
Presentation-sharing community SlideShare has raised $3 million in Series A funding, led by Venrock. David Siminoff, a partner at Venrock, has also joined SlideShare’s board of directors. SlideShare plans on using the $3 million infusion for product development, and “accelerating customer adoption,” which likely means that the company will be pouring some resources into growing its team and marketing its product. With sites like Scribd becoming more commonplace and integrated with desktop applications and social media sharing tools, the attitudes towards services like SlideShare have become far more accommodating in the past year or so.
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