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July 8, 2008

In This Update:
• Microsoft Courts Yahoo on Condition it Replaces Board
• Europe Drafts Law to Disconnect Suspected Filesharers
• Alcatel-Lucent Appeals Loss of $1.5 Billion Award from Microsoft
• Bell Canada’s Internet Throttling Illegal, Google Says
• WSJ: Targeted ISP Ads Raise Privacy Concerns
• Report: Activision’s Merger with Vivendi will Shake Gaming Biz
• Google Lets User Monitor Access to Gmail Accounts
• Study: 82% of US Doesn’t Use SMS Text Messaging
• Pioneer to Launch Blu-ray Recorders by Year’s End
• Square Enix Releases iPod Exclusive Role-Playing Game
• Report: MMS Usage Up 60 Percent in US
• Survey: Developers in India Prefer Orkut to Facebook or MySpace
• Only 3% of People Recycle Their Old Mobile Phones, Says Nokia
• Mobixell Networks Raises $6 Million in Fourth Round
• Topspin Media Gets Second Round for Online Music Marketing
• SynapticMash Raises $3 Million for Online Education Tools
• Game Developer XPD Media Raises $2 Million First Round
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Microsoft Courts Yahoo on Condition it Replaces Board
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Microsoft Corp.’s tortured courtship of Silicon Valley’s Yahoo Inc. was rekindled Monday when the software giant said it would reconsider its multibillion-dollar acquisition bid, if shareholders agreed to oust the Internet company’s board of directors.
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Europe Drafts Law to Disconnect Suspected Filesharers
THE REGISTER
France has suggested an amendment to the pan-European Telecoms Package, which would bar broadband access to anyone who persists in illegally downloading music or films. Last month, the government of Nicolas Sarkozy insisted on a similar “three-strikes-and-you’re-out” scheme for France. Under a cross-industry agreement, ISPs would have to cut off access for up to a year for third-time offenders.
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Alcatel-Lucent Appeals Loss of $1.5 Billion Award from Microsoft
REUTERS
Appeals court arguments in a battle over MP3 digital music patents between Alcatel-Lucent and Microsoft Corp focused Monday on a joint development pact struck nearly two decade earlier. Alcatel-Lucent is looking to restore a $1.5 billion judgment against Microsoft awarded by a lower court jury that was later overturned. Much of the arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit centered on a 1989 joint development agreement between AT&T and German research organization Fraunhofer Gesellschaft. Microsoft has said that it licensed the MP3 technology from Fraunhofer for $16 million, and is innocent of any infringement.
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Bell Canada’s Internet Throttling Illegal, Google Says
CBC
Google Inc. says Bell Canada Inc. is breaking Canadian telecommunications law by slowing certain internet traffic, and is urging the CRTC to take action against the company. “Bell claims its throttling of peer-to-peer applications is a reasonable form of network management. Google respectfully disagrees. Network management does not include Canadian carriers’ blocking or degrading lawful applications that consumers wish to use,” the company wrote in a 15-page submission to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, which was made public over the weekend.
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WSJ: Targeted ISP Ads Raise Privacy Concerns
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Cable and phone companies say their growth increasingly depends on being able to deliver targeted advertising to their Internet and TV customers, but criticism from privacy advocates is threatening that strategy. In the past few weeks, phone operator CenturyTel Inc. and cable provider Charter Communications Inc. shelved plans to use ad-targeting technology from Silicon Valley start-up NebuAd due to privacy concerns raised by their customers and lawmakers.
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Report: Activision’s Merger with Vivendi will Shake Gaming Biz
REUTERS
Activision Inc shareholders Tuesday are expected to approve a merger with Vivendi Games that will allow the deal to close within days and create a new top dog in the fast-growing video gaming world. The terms of the deal, unveiled in December, valued the new Activision Blizzard at $18.9 billion. Current gaming king Electronic Arts Inc’s’ market capitalization after Monday’s market close stood at $14.1 billion. More important for Wall Street, while EA has been reporting losses, Activision Blizzard, of which Vivendi will own a slight majority, has promised to be the most profitable gaming firm and grow its bottom line at a healthy pace.
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Google Lets User Monitor Access to Gmail Accounts
TECHCRUNCH
Gmail has introduced a new privacy feature that will let users see how many computers their account is open on, and also allows them to sign-out remotely. Basic information is displayed as part of the page’s standard footer, and users looking for more detailed information can view a log that displays the most recent IP addresses to access the account, along with the type of access (Mobile, POP, etc.)
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Study: 82% of US Doesn’t Use SMS Text Messaging
NEW YORK TIMES via INTOMOBILE
Researchers at Ipsos MediaCT found that SMS text messaging was either used by a mobile subscriber on a recurring basis, or almost not at all. In the US, 82% of respondents indicated that they had never used the text messaging feature on their mobile phone. A full 3% indicated that they had used text messaging on, at most, a monthly basis, while 15% used text messaging “every week or more.” Apparently, US mobile subscribers using SMS text messaging do so frequently and regularly – the rest tend to not use the service at all. This has resulted in a lop-sided usage-distribution in the US.
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Pioneer to Launch Blu-ray Recorders by Year’s End
REUTERS
Pioneer Corp said on Tuesday it plans to launch Blu-ray DVD recorders by the end of the year, taking aim at a rapidly growing market after the end of a bitter format battle. Pioneer is developing Blu-ray recorders with help from Sharp Corp (6753.T), Pioneer’s top shareholder with a 14 percent stake. Sharp already offers Blu-ray recorders.
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Square Enix Releases iPod Exclusive Role-Playing Game
GAMASUTRA
Square Enix has announced Song Summoner: The Unsung Heroes, a new strategy RPG exclusively for the iPod which uses a player’s songs to generate new ‘Tune Troopers’ to battle an evil Mechanical Militia. The game is played entirely with the click wheel and is available for download via iTunes at a price of $4.99.
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Report: MMS Usage Up 60 Percent in US
MOBILE ENTERTAINMENT
Comscore M:Metrics says photo messaging from phones (MMS) has grown 60 per cent in the US over the past year and 16 per cent in Europe. Specifically, 23.9 per cent of US mobile users over the age of 13 years sent or received photos or video in April 2008, rising to 27.6 per cent in Europe (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK).
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Survey: Developers in India Prefer Orkut to Facebook or MySpace
CNET
Despite Facebook’s efforts to promote that social network as the platform of choice for third-party application developers, Google’s Orkut is used by twice as many software programmers in India than either Facebook or MySpace, according to an Evans Data survey of more than 300 developers in India. Software programmers in that country are heavy users of social networks in general. Seventy-three percent of those surveyed said they had used Orkut, compared with 35 percent for Facebook and 32 percent for MySpace.
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Only 3% of People Recycle Their Old Mobile Phones, Says Nokia
CELLULAR NEWS
A survey carried out by Nokia has reported that only 3% of people recycle their mobile phones despite the fact that most have old devices lying around at home that they no longer want. Three out of every four people added that they don’t even think about recycling their devices and nearly half were unaware that it is even possible to do so. The survey is based on interviews with 6,500 people in 13 countries.
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Mobixell Networks Raises $6 Million in Fourth Round
MOCONEWS
Mobile ad and multimedia technology provider Mobixell Networks has raised $6 million in its fourth round of funding from existing investors Apax, Intel Capital and smac partners. The eight year-old firm, which counts Vodafone, Telefonica and Universal Mobile Music as customers–will use the money to build out and market its mobile multimedia, mobile TV and advertising solutions.
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Topspin Media Gets Second Round for Online Music Marketing
PAIDCONTENT
Topspin Media, a music marketing firm helmed by ex-Yahoo Ian Rogers, has raised a second round of funding led by Foundry Group. In April, the company raised an unspecified first round from Redpoint Ventures. The company offers a complete set of tools for bands to interact and share their music with fans.
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SynapticMash Raises $3 Million for Online Education Tools
SEATTLE PI
SynapticMash, a Seattle-based online education startup, has raised a $3 million first round from Raycliff Capital and Vantage Partners. The company’s business has multiple facets: The platform can be used for data analysis on the performance of school systems, and it offers students a place to upload information about themselves, which can be promoted to colleges.
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Game Developer XPD Media Raises $2 Million First Round
DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE
XPD Media, a start-up that is developing video games for multiple platforms, has raised over $2 million in its first round of financing. The company’s investors include True Ventures and Pilot House. XPD is led by co-founder and CEO Robin Chan, who previously served as director of V CAST at Verizon.
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