In This Update:
• Icahn Settles for Three Seats on Yahoo’s Board
• Facebook Rolls Out Redesigned Site
• Explosion in Demand for Touch Screens
• ValueClick to Launch Predictive Behavioral Targeting
• Facebook Suing German Social Networker StudiVZ
• Napster Takeover Looms as Funds See Cash Exceed Stock
• Report: VC Investments Drop 12 Percent from Last Year
• New Worm Transcodes MP3s to Try to Infect PCs
• Intel Asks FCC to Mandate Ethernet Ports for Set-Top Boxes
• Hi-Def Radio Gets Cool Reception from Consumers
• Videogames Getting Minds of Their Own
• iLike Launches Full Song Playback and Ad Platform
• AdBrite Launches Behavioral Targeting Network
• Online Ad Firm ContextWeb Gets $26 Million in Fourth Round
• Women Blogging Community, BlogHer Raises $5 Million Series B
• Social App Developer LivingSocial Gets $5 Million First Round
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Icahn Settles for Three Seats on Yahoo’s Board
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Yahoo said Monday it reached agreement to settle a proxy battle with activist shareholder Carl Icahn, whereby it will expand its board by two members and appoint Mr. Icahn to the board. The billionaire investor, who owns 5% of Yahoo, had been waging a proxy war with the company over Yahoo’s rejection of a bid by Microsoft to buy the company. Shares of the Internet portal fell 3% to $21.80 in premarket trading. Yahoo said eight members of its current board will stand for re-election.
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Facebook Rolls Out Redesigned Site
REUTERS
Facebook has released a redesigned version of its site, with a full roll-out to follow in the coming weeks. The changes – which were developed over the past six months – put more focus on user messages and feeds, as well as altering the site layout. The redesign was made guided by feedback from the site’s users. The new version of the site will see users’ profile ‘walls’ display more news and information about themselves and their contacts.
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Explosion in Demand for Touch Screens
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
It’s been a good year for touch screens. The release of the first iPhone model a year ago boosted interest in the technology tremendously, and the updated model released earlier this month probably will stoke enthusiasm further. Now touch-screen manufacturers are going flat out, and more devices will soon be controlled by the tip of your finger.
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ValueClick to Launch Predictive Behavioral Targeting
MEDIAPOST
ValueClick is expected to announce the launch of its Precision BT suite today at the OMMA Behavioral conference in San Francisco. The suite combines access to anonymous consumer online behavior with a predictive technology to create a scalable behavioral targeting solution available to marketers via two products: Precision Retargeting, an enhanced version of the user retargeting capabilities offered by ValueClick Media since 2005, and Precision Profiles, which uses a proprietary predictive algorithm to identify a marketer’s best prospects in hundreds of consumer interest segments.
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Facebook Suing German Social Networker StudiVZ
PULSE2.0
Facebook has filed a lawsuit against German social network, StudiVZ. Facebook accused StudiVZ of being a knock off and for copying the look, feel, and features that Facebook has. StudiVZ has about 10 million users and they self-describe themselves as the most successful social network in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
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Napster Takeover Looms as Funds See Cash Exceed Stock
BLOOMBERG
Napster Inc., the Internet music pioneer whose shares have plunged 95 percent in six years, has become takeover bait for hedge funds zeroing in on a cash hoard exceeding the company’s market value. While Los Angeles-based Napster hasn’t posted a profit in four years, its $69.8 million in cash and investments as of March 31 eclipsed the shares’ $52.1 million value before today.
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Report: VC Investments Drop 12 Percent from Last Year
VENTUREBEAT
Venture capitalists invested $6.64 billion into U.S. companies in the second quarter, or 12 percent less compared to the same period last year, according to Dow Jones. VCs made 602 deals in total, which is lower than any time since 2005, the first sign of a downturn in the venture capital sector. If it continues, it will mean venture-backed start-ups may have to turn frugal, shed jobs or take other moves to survive in more leaner times.
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New Worm Transcodes MP3s to Try to Infect PCs
PCWORLD via YAHOO
A new kind of malicious software could pose a danger to Windows users who download music files on peer-to-peer networks. The new malware inserts links to dangerous Web pages within ASF (Advanced Systems Format) media files. If a user plays an infected music file, it will launch Internet Explorer and load a malicious Web page which asks the user to download a codec, a well-known trick to get someone to download malware.
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Intel Asks FCC to Mandate Ethernet Ports for Set-Top Boxes
ARS TECHNICA
Two representatives of the Intel Corporation visited the Federal Communications Commission last week to boost the idea requiring IP capability on cable-set top boxes. “Given the marketplace acceptance of IP, Messrs. Lawrence and Greenstein suggested that this regulation should be amended so as to make mandatory the availability of boxes using an IP-based interface that facilitates home networking, such as Ethernet,” Intel’s filing concluded.
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Hi-Def Radio Gets Cool Reception from Consumers
REUTERS
Digital high-definition radio is hitting some key milestones in terms of pricing and features, but building enough momentum to spur broad consumer adoption remains a tall order. Prices on some radio models have tumbled below $100. More automakers are offering HD radio as a factory or dealer-installed option. And the rollout of a feature enabling consumers to “tag” a song they like for purchase at Apple’s iTunes store provides a level of interactivity that traditional analog radio can’t match.
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Videogames Getting Minds of Their Own
PHYSORG
Videogames are getting smarter with virtual enemies improvising during battles, storylines shifting based on moral choices and in-game characters sending players text messages for help. Titles unveiled at the just-concluded Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles feature artificial intelligence (AI), making in-game worlds more realistic and less predictable.
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iLike Launches Full Song Playback and Ad Platform
TECHCRUNCH
iLike , the music service with a massive following on Facebook and increasing popularity elsewhere, has introduced full-song playback on its flagship site, iLike.com . Through its partnership with music subscription service Rhapsody , the site will be offering over 5 million songs from all of the major labels and a variety of indie artists, too. In conjunction with the launch of full song playback, the site is also launching a new self-serve ad platform for concert promoters.
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AdBrite Launches Behavioral Targeting Network
MASHABLE
AdBrite announced it will use its large online advertising marketplace (70,000 active websites) to unveil a new behavioral targeting product, currently available as invite-only to a select group of advertisers. The new service allows advertisers to display ads to users based on their interests and habits, and however freakish this may seem to some users, we all know that it works well in practice. There are 14 major interest categories which are subdivided to over 3000 subcategories; these include Automotive, Business & Finance, Careers, Consumer Electronics, Dating & Singles, Health, Music, and Travel.
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Online Ad Firm ContextWeb Gets $26 Million in Fourth Round
PAIDCONTENT
ContextWeb, the NYC-based contextual advertising company, has closed over $26 million of a $30 million fourth round, according to SEC filings. Investors in this round include Investor Growth Capital, and return backers Draper Fisher Jurvetson, DFJ Gotham Ventures and Updata Ventures. ContextWeb has raised over $53 million in four rounds, since being founded in 2004. besides its contextual ad service, in 2005 it launched Adsdaq, among the first online ad exchanges.
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Women Blogging Community, BlogHer Raises $5 Million Series B
PULSE2.0
BlogHer, a community of women bloggers raised $5 million in series B funding. In this new round of funding, the company also made a partnership with NBC Universal. Peacock Equity, the financial arm of NBC was the lead investor. BlogHer raised about $3.5 million about a year ago as their Series A from Venrock Capital.
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Social App Developer LivingSocial Gets $5 Million First Round
PAIDCONTENT
LivingSocial, a developer of apps that help friends share recommendations for stuff like beer and books, has raised a $5 million first round led by Grotech Ventures, along with personal investments from Steve and Jean Case. The Washington, DC-based company distributes such apps as ReadingSocial, BrewSocial and TuneSocial, each of which seems fairly self explanatory. Since launching in February, the company has booked over 6 million users.
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