In This Update:
• Smartphone Is Expected via Google
• Netflix’s Shipping System Is Disrupted
• NBC Builds Online Audience Even as TV Ratings Soar
• AOL Acquires Lifestreaming Service Socialthing
• Wizzard Media Joins with TubeMogul
• Twitter Ends SMS Support in UK
• Report: Infineon Chip Causing Problems on iPhone
• Open-Source Gadget Maker Bug Labs Closes Third Funding Round
• MediaSixDegrees Raises $9 Million
• Lifeblob Raises $1 Million from Google-Backed SeedFund
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The law firm of new media. Major offices in New York, Boston, Newark, Stamford, and other cities. Advising new media companies from start-up to exit. Venture capital, IP protections and disputes, employment matters, outsourcing, joint ventures, acquisitions, to name just a few. Contact

Progress Partners client, Wavexpress, has partnered with NBC Sports and Microsoft to offer HD coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics in Windows Vista Media Center. To download the application and watch Olympics events,visit: http://www.tvtonic.com/olympics/install/?referrer=pp
Smartphone Is Expected via Google
NEW YORK TIMES
T-Mobile will be the first carrier to offer a mobile phone powered by Google’s Android software, according to people briefed on the company’s plans. The phone will be made by HTC, one of the largest makers of mobile phones in the world. The high-end phone is expected to match many of the capabilities of Apple’s iPhone and other so-called smartphones that run software from Palm, Research in Motion, Microsoft and Nokia to access the Internet and perform computerlike functions.
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Netflix’s Shipping System Is Disrupted
LOS ANGELES TIMES
The DVD rental service is suffering through its biggest-ever shipping problem. Netflix on Thursday said “severe technical issues” had prevented it from shipping the awaited TV shows and movies to about 2.8 million subscribers, or one-third of its members.Analysts say the Los Gatos, Calif.-based company has built up such a loyal following that few of its subscribers are likely to abandon it if the problem doesn’t linger for too long.
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NBC Builds Online Audience Even as TV Ratings Soar
REUTERS
For NBC Universal, balancing TV and online coverage of the Beijing Olympic Games has been as tricky as any maneuver on the balance beam, parallel bars or vault.
After paying $900 million for broadcast rights to this year’s Summer Games, NBC Universal executives are determined to protect the television business by drawing viewers to NBC and cable networks like USA. At the same time, they are also resolved to build an online audience through the NBCOlympics.com website, with the aim of drawing in more Internet advertising revenue for future events based on the success of this one.
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AOL Acquires Lifestreaming Service Socialthing
MASHABLE
In a move that aims at shoring up AOL ’s stable of social networks, the company announced that it has acquired Socialthing! , pending the satisfaction of certain undisclosed closing conditions. After the acquisition closes, AOL says that Socialthing will become a part of the company’s People Networks division. Currently, AOL’s People Networks division is made up of social platforms, like Bebo, AIM, ICQ, Goowy, and Yedda, that AOL believes, will lead the company’s online presence going forward.
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Wizzard Media Joins with TubeMogul
MASHABLE
Wizzard Media is the media giant in the podcasting space, and TubeMogul is a video distribution service with one of the most adept and aware crews. TubeMogul’s service is one that allows you to upload a video once and distribute it automatically to just about every embedded video site out there. TubeMogul has been striking partnerships with a number of different sites where original video is created, including Episodic.
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Twitter Ends SMS Support in UK
TECHCRUNCH
Twitter has stopped sending SMS updates to Twitter users in the UK because of the high cost of sending those messages. US, Canada and Indian users can still opt to receive messages via SMS. Twitter says that a single user, capped at 250 received SMS messages per week still costs them $1,000 per year in SMS fees. They don’t have that problem in the US and some other countries because they’ve been able to negotiate service fees that max out after a certain point.
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Report: Infineon Chip Causing Problems on iPhone
REUTERS
An Infineon chip could be at the root of complaints from around the world that Apple Inc’s new iPhone drops calls and has unpredictable Internet links, according to a research report from Nomura. BusinessWeek also reported on its website on Thursday that the iPhone is suffering from faulty software on an Infineon chip, and that Apple plans to fix the problem with a software update.
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Open-Source Gadget Maker Bug Labs Closes Third Funding Round
SILICON ALLEY INSIDER
NYC-based Bug Labs , which makes open-source mobile devices, has raised a third round of funding . Leading the round: Court Square Ventures. Existing investors Union Square Ventures and Spark Capital also participated. The Bug is a mix-and-match mobile device that can include modules like wifi, motion sensor, touchscreen display, GPS, and forthcoming modules like a weather sensor . It’s all open-source, so beyond running whatever software you’d like on it, you can also design new hardware components.
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MediaSixDegrees Raises $9 Million
VENTURE BEAT
Media6Degrees is the latest company to try to target ads for major brands using the “social graph” of your friend relationships on social networks and other sites. The New York company is in private beta judging by the lack of information on its site about the product itself. The beta says it is getting much higher response rates from audiences versus competitors. Those competitors would include MySpace’s hyper-targeted ads and a range of other social networks and ad startup efforts. Among the startups, there’s Social Media, Lookery and others on Facebook alone. More generally, the majority of ad networks in the online ad industry at large seem to say they can target based on demographic factors, although not the “social graph.”
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Lifeblob Raises $1 Million from Google-Backed SeedFund
VENTURE BEAT
SeedFund, an Indian VC firm backed with Google cash, announced a $1 million investment in Lifeblob, a Bangalore-based lifecasting company. Lifeblob is a digital diary that maps the media one shares and thoughts one write onto a timeline. One can adjust the scale of this timeline to reflect the history of one’s online life in increments ranging from every day to an ambitious 100 years.
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