In This Update:
• CES: Motorola to Offer Phone Made from Recycled Plastic Bottles
• Sling Media Announces SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone 3G
• Xobni Raises $7 Million Series B To Make Outlook More Like Gmail
• Ad Agencies Try To Create Online Marketplaces
• Dow Jones VentureSource Buying Database of Failed UK VC Tracker Library House
• Skype 2.8 Beta for Mac OS X Provides Screen Sharing, WiFi Access, and Chat Features
• Lenovo to Bring Wii-Inspired Input to PCs
• Apple to Drop DRM, Hike Prices For Major-Label Songs?
• Benchmark Backs CTERA Networks
• Study: Many Teens Display Risky Behavior on MySpace
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CES: Motorola to Offer Phone Made from Recycled Plastic Bottles
COMPUTER WORLD
The Moto W233 Renew is described by Motorola as the “world’s first carbon neutral mobile phone.” Because it is based on recycled plastics, Motorola said today that 20% less energy is needed to produce the phone, compared to the standard plastic process. To further the green theme, the Renew will come to customers in a box that is reduced in size, and with brochures printed using vegetable-based inks on 100% post-consumer recycled paper. The conservation theme carries over to the phone itself, with up to nine hours of talk time, meaning users can talk more, charge less and reduce energy usage, Motorola said.
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Sling Media Announces SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone 3G
TECH CRUNCH
Sling Media , the company behind the popular settop boxes that allow you to stream cable from your house to your computer, looks like it has outdone itself. At this week’s Macworld the company will be showing off its upcoming iPhone application, which effectively gives iPhone owners instant access to their Cable TVs and Tivos from anywhere they have a network connection. Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait a little longer (the company says that the app will be submitted to Apple some time in Q1), but it looks like it will be well worth the wait.
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Xobni Raises $7 Million Series B To Make Outlook More Like Gmail
SILICON ALLEY INSIDER
Another $7 million for startup Xobni (”inbox” backwards), which just completed a Series B with new investor Cisco (CSCO), and additional funding from prior investors Khosla Ventures, First Round Capital, Baseline Ventures, and Atomico. Xobni’s service is to make Outlook email searchable by keyword — which sounds to us a lot like making it more like Google’s (GOOG) Gmail. But many enterprises continue to avoid web-based email — citing privacy, reliability, or legacy reasons.
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Ad Agencies Try To Create Online Marketplaces
PAID CONTENT
After witnessing ad networks and exchanges capture more revenue from major marketers these last few years, traditional media agencies are starting to play catch up. Interpublic Group’s buying and planning shop Mediabrands is working on a digital marketplace tool for clients that will include behavioral targeting. IPG’s major ad holding company rivals are not far behind either, WSJ says, noting that WPP Group, Publicis Groupe and Havas are also trying to come up with similar programs.
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Dow Jones VentureSource Buying Database of Failed UK VC Tracker Library House
PAID CONTENT
Cambridge, England-based technology VC deals tracker Library House, which went in to receivership last month after the venture sector itself dried up, is selling its database to Dow Jones’s VentureSource, a larger, similar service. Administrator Leonard Curtis made the sale on December 23, DJ said on Tuesday. Library House’s data, which focuses on Europe, will be combined with the DJ service, which covers multiple sectors and includes US, Canada, India, Israel and China. Library House customers will be migrated to VentureSource.
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Skype 2.8 Beta for Mac OS X Provides Screen Sharing, WiFi Access, and Chat Features
READ WRITE WEB
Reports have stated that the latest version of Skype for Mac – Skype 2.8 – will include the ability to share your screen during a Skype call. And that’s a feature that is sure to change the way many of us engage in Web-based demos. Given that we’re big Skype users around here and we see more than our fair share of Web-based demos, we’re excited to see Skype finally offering the ability to combine the two. No more setting up WebEx or LiveMeeting. Just share your screen via Skype during your next briefing call. In addition to screen sharing, Skype 2.8 promises to offer a number of other features including improved chat and per-minute calling access via wifi hotspots like Boingo.
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Lenovo to Bring Wii-Inspired Input to PCs
SLASHDOT
PCWorld reports on an upcoming Lenovo PC that includes a remote control with functionality similar to that of the Wii Remote. It will control games using the same motion-based method, and Lenovo appears to be coming out with sports games like tennis and bowling to demonstrate its capabilities – an unsurprising choice given the huge success of Wii Sports. “Lenovo is trying to capitalize on the trend of entertainment options merging into the PC. Few are able to play motion-based games, which could make this motion-based game controller a pioneer. In addition to controlling TV functions and video recordings on the PC, the remote control can also be used as an air mouse that moves the mouse pointer when waved.”
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Apple to Drop DRM, Hike Prices For Major-Label Songs?
PAID CONTENT
The hot rumor for the biggest announcement of Apple’s final MacWorld Expo today says DRM protection will be dropped from iTunes Store music downloads. EMI already began offering higher-fidelity, DRM-free AAC files back in May 2007, after Steve Jobs said Apple would “embrace (DRM-free) in a heartbeat if the big four would license their music (that way) … because DRMs haven’t worked, and may never work, to halt music piracy”. Now product marketing VP Phil Schiller, taking Jobs’ traditional keynote spot, will announce the addition of Warner, Universal and Sony Music Entertainment at San Francisco’s Moscone Center at 9am PST, CNET reports from two anonymous sources.
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Benchmark Backs CTERA Networks
GIGAOM
CTERA Networks, an Israeli startup, has launched a storage service that combines network-attached storage with online backup. CTERA, which has raised an undisclosed amount from Benchmark Capital, sells an appliance that turns any external USB hard drive into a NAS device with automatic backup. This gives people copies of their data on their backup drive as well as in the cloud. It has a few differences from the other storage options out there, such as being able to back up information while the computer is turned off, but it still will face a battle to differentiate itself and win profits in the crowded space.
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Study: Many Teens Display Risky Behavior on MySpace
REUTERS
More than half of teenagers mention risky behaviors such as sex and drugs on their MySpace accounts, U.S. researchers said on Monday. They said many young people who use social networking sites such as News Corp’s MySpace do not realize how public they are and may be opening themselves to risks, but the sites may also offer a new way to identify and help troubled teens. In one of two studies, Christakis and Dr. Megan Moreno of the University of Wisconsin analyzed 500 randomly chosen MySpace profiles of 18-year-olds in 2007.
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