In This Update:
• Wall Street Journal Plans Micropayments Model
• AT&T to Buy Territories from Verizon for $2.35 Billion
• Ad Net ShortTail Plans Video Units Between Web Pages
• Google to Promote Chrome Browser through TV Ads
• Report: Number of New Investors In Venture Deals Is Dropping
• Nintendo Reports 8.5% Gain in Annual Profit
• Study Confirms Display Ads, Paid Search Work in Concert
• Mobile Phones Suffering from Weak Demand
• Video SEO EveryZing Raises $8.25 Million Third Round from NBCU, Others
• Survey: One in Five US Households are Cellphone Only

• T-Mobile to Launch Many Android Devices Later This Year

Sponsored by:
McCarter & English, LLP
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.

Wall Street Journal Plans Micropayments Model
FINANCIAL TIMES

News Corp is planning to introduce micro-payments for individual articles and premium subscriptions to the Wall Street Journal’s website this year, in a milestone in the news industry’s race to find better online business models. “A sophisticated micro-payments service” will launch this autumn, Robert Thomson, editor-in-chief of Dow Jones and managing editor of the Journal, told the Financial Times. The move will position the Journal as the first big newspaper title to adopt a model many are cautiously studying as they seek to reduce their dependence on plunging advertising revenues.
Source>

AT&T to Buy Territories from Verizon for $2.35 Billion
REUTERS

AT&T said Friday it will buy the bulk of Alltel Wireless assets being divested by Verizon Communications for $2.35 billion, and will sell some Centennial Communications Corp assets to Verizon Wireless for $240 million. Under terms of the deal, AT&T will buy licenses, network assets and 1.5 million subscribers in 79 service areas, mostly rural areas in 18 states, the company said in a statement.
Source>

Ad Net ShortTail Plans Video Units Between Web Pages
ADWEEK

David Payne wants to radically alter what online ads look like and how they get sold. And he’s recruiting some of Web publishing’s heavy hitters to help in his cause: the creation of a new standard video ad unit for the Internet that can be sold much like TV. This summer Payne’s company, ShortTail Media, will initiate a beta test of what it’s calling the Digital 30 (D30), a full-page, deliberately intrusive placement built to showcase traditional 15- and 30-second TV spots. But unlike most Web video ads, the D30 loads between Web pages much like an interstitial.
Source>

Google to Promote Chrome Browser through TV Ads
WALL STREET JOURNAL

Google plans to promote its Web browser through a television ad that first appeared online. The ad comes from Google’s Japan office, part a series of viral videos spotlighting its browser Chrome. Google is using its TV Ads platform to launch the campaign over the weekend. Google hasn’t been a major TV advertiser, preferring to use word-of-mouth and partnerships to promote its products. It briefly considered a campaign during last year’s Olympics, though its founders reportedly nixed the idea.
Source>

Report: Number of New Investors In Venture Deals Is Dropping
PAIDCONTENT
Another gloomy metric for companies looking to raise new funds. Not only has the total number of venture-capital deals shrunk, the majority of the deals that are taking place are being funded entirely by existing investors. Citing VentureSource numbers, the WSJ reports that 57 percent of venture-capital deals during the first quarter were funded by existing investors, up from 44 percent a year ago.
Source>

Nintendo Reports 8.5% Gain in Annual Profit

PULSE2.0
Nintendo has posted some interesting results to their bottom line. Their annual profit has risen 8.5% which and they have their Wii and DS consoles to thank. However the company is forecasting a sales slowdown due to a weak economy. They are doing fairly well compared to other Japanese companies such as Toyota and Hitachi, who have been reporting record losses. Nintendo has collected 279.09 billion yen ($2.8 billion) in net profit for the year ending March 31. This is up from 257.34 billion the year before. The video game industry as a whole has been fairly strong compared to other industries impacted by the economy.
Source>

Study Confirms Display Ads, Paid Search Work in Concert
MEDIAPOST

Display ads influence search behavior, according to a study from iProspect released today. The findings rely on data to support industry rhetoric that display ads and search work together to provide a bigger impact on campaigns. The “Search Engine Marketing and Online Display Advertising Integration Study” suggests that while 31% of people click on display ads, nearly as many — 27% — go to search engines to provide a search. More than 20% type the company Web address into their browser and directly navigate to the Web site, and 9% respond by investigating the product, brand, or company through social media.
Source>

Mobile Phones Suffering from Weak Demand
DIGITAL LIFESCAPES

The worldwide mobile phone market began 2009 with an expected sequential downturn, fueled by the ongoing worldwide recession. According to IDC, handset vendors shipped a total of 244.8 million units in the first quarter of 2009, approximately 15.8 percent lower than the 290.8 million units shipped during 1Q08. The first quarter of a new year is typically characterized by seasonally lower shipment volumes. However, the 1Q09 decline was especially sharp due to weak end-user demand, currency volatility, and lack of credit for merchants as consumers and the supply chain adapt to the recession.
Source>

Video SEO EveryZing Raises $8.25 Million Third Round from NBCU, Others
PAIDCONTENT
NBC Universal’s Peacock Equities has provided a $3 million of the $8.25 million third round for publisher-based search engine EveryZing’s. Previous backers Fairhaven Capital, Accel Partners, General Catalyst Partners and BBN Technologies also participated. The company has raised about $22 million to date. Proceeds will go towards sales and marketing. EveryZing also signed a master service agreement with NBC to provide video search and search-optimization technologies across all of its online properties, which include NBC.com, iVillage, CNBC.com, and the websites for Bravo, Sci-Fi, and Telemundo. (The deal does not cover Hulu, which is a joint venture between NBC and Fox).
Source>

Survey: One in Five US Households are Cellphone Only
ARS TECHNICA
The latest results from the National Center for Health Statistics’ survey on wireless phone use are in, and they reveal that just over 20 percent of all US households have now cut the wire and exclusively use cell phones for voice communication. That number is up from over 17 percent from the previous survey, and for the first time since the NCHS has been keeping track of wireless phone use, this number exceeds the percentage of households that rely on landline phones only-down to a little over 17 percent.
Source>

T-Mobile to Launch Many Android Devices Later This Year
GIGAOM
T-Mobile USA is looking to introduce Android-based devices from three different manufacturers, Cole Brodman, chief technology officer of the company, said. Android is a mobile OS developed by Mountain View, Calif.-based technology giant, Google. “We are looking to launch multiple Android-based devices in the second half of this year with three partners,” he said. Brodman expects Android to find its way down into feature phones on the low end. T-Mobile has sold over a million G-1 Google Phones thus far, and most of the devices are turning out to be bandwidth hogs on par with Apple’s super successful iPhone.
Source>

Tags: Alltel, Chrome, everyzing, GigaOM, Nintendo, shorttail, T-Mobile, Venture Capital