In This Update:

• Intel to buy Wind River for $884 Million
• Sony Lifts Curtain on New PSP
• Palm Launches Pre with the Glitterati of Hollywood to Get Cachet
• YouTube to Premiere Movie to Up Ad Revenues: Report
• T-Mobile Germany: Pay For VoIP Usage or We Will Continue to Block It
• Videogame Industry Prays for Resilient 2009
• Sony Ericsson Adds Apps with GetJar
• Disney Confirms Mobile Game Release Slate
• SourceForge to Buy Ohloh
• Production Firm The Box Raises “Several Million” from Greylock
• Israel’s GameGround Raises $4.1M from Sequoia
• Kudelski Withdraws OpenTV Buyout Bid
• Fine Point Tech Buys Germany’s Sonic Telecom
• Advent Venture Partners Sponsors Foundry Buyout

Sponsored by:
SVM Public Relations & Marketing Communications
The public relations and branding agency for innovation-driven companies. Headquartered in Providence, R.I., with representation in Boston and San Diego, SVM develops and executes compelling public relations and branding programs that utilize a complete range of communication disciplines to achieve bottom-line results for innovators in green technology, mobile broadband and life sciences. Please contact Bob Vetromile: vet@svmpr.com

Intel to buy Wind River for $884 Million
CNET
Chip giant Intel is set to acquire Wind River Systems, a maker of software for embedded devices.
Intel has entered into a definitive agreement to buy Wind River for $11.50 per share in cash, which works out to a total value of approximately $884 million, Wind River said Thursday. Wind River would become a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel, reporting to the chipmaker’s Software and Services Group, headed by Renee James. The pending acquisition, Wind River said, would fit into “Intel’s strategy to grow its processor and software presence outside the traditional PC and server market segments into embedded systems and mobile handheld devices.” Embedded systems can include consumer electronic devices, car dashboard gear, and networking equipment.

Source>

Sony Lifts Curtain on New PSP
REUTERS
Sony Corp unveiled on Tuesday a smaller, lighter PlayStation handled game device called the PSP Go, in a race to catch rival Nintendo in an intensely competitive mobile games arena.
Hours before, Nintendo said it sold more than 15 million units of its blockbuster “Wii Fit” fitness game, and plans an update — the Wii Fit Plus — later this year. Sales of the Wii have dwarfed those of more technically souped-up and pricier rival consoles from Microsoft Corp and Sony Corp, by broadening its audience beyond hard-core video gamers. On the second day of E3, the largest U.S. video games conference, Sony and Nintendo vied for the spotlight, a day after rival console-maker Microsoft charmed audiences with its “Natal”: groundbreaking technology utilizing full-body motion-capture for gamers.

Source>

Palm Launches Pre with the Glitterati of Hollywood to Get Cachet
VENTURE BEAT
Hollywood and Silicon Valley met Wednesday night as Palm bankrolled a big party of stars to celebrate the launch of its Palm Pre smart phone. It’s a sure sign that introducing a new phone isn’t just a big deal for tech fiends. In the photo above, Palm chief executive Ed Colligan rubbed shoulders Jason Alexander, the comedian and longtime sidekick of Jerry Seinfeld. They’re flanked by Sprint CEO Dan Hesse, and Palm executive chairman Jon Rubinstein. They’re all together today at Raleigh Studios on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood along with hundreds of other celebrities. The Pre goes on sale on Saturday, but the Hollywood elite always get things early. The company spared no expense today because the Pre is the hail mary pass of the Silicon Valley company. And Palm is trying to vault above the nerdiness of Silicon Valley so that it can reach mainstream America with its smart phone, which costs $199 with a two-year plan. There’s some serious psychology and marketing savvy at work here. If you hang out with cool people, ordinary folks will think that your product is cool too. It’s branding 101.
Source>

YouTube to Premiere Movie to Up Ad Revenues: Report
REUTERS
Google Inc’s YouTube will premiere a movie, the first simultaneous Internet and theater debut, as the popular video-sharing site aims to lure advertisers and reach profitability, Bloomberg reported. YouTube would premiere “Home,” a film about the environment produced by Luc Besson, the agency said. A Paris-based partner development manager for YouTube in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, was quoted by the agency as saying, “We’re more than just dogs on skateboards.” Reuters could not immediately reach Google for comment outside regular business hours.
Source>

T-Mobile Germany: Pay For VoIP Usage or We Will Continue to Block It
MOCO NEWS
So much for kicking out the tenants and their lease-breaking little dogs…the analogy used by T-Mobile Germany to describe what it would do to customers found using internet telephony apps when it vowed in April to block their use. Germany’s largest carrier is now backing down from its threat to bar VOiP apps, such as Skype, by offering a VoIP surcharge that goes on sale this summer starting at 9.95 euros ($14) a month and up, depending on a customer’s plan. For those who don’t buy the add on, T-Mob said it would continue to block the use of the apps. T-Mobile Germany obviously knows that its stance on VoIP apps has stirred up controversy. In a long-winded explanation, MD Georg Pölzl pleaded the carrier’s case. Pölzl said in a statementit was necessary to charge extra for the use of VoIP apps as they required “additional investment in the network,” to handle their “always on” nature.
Source>

Videogame Industry Prays for Resilient 2009
REUTERS
Game publishers, in a rare moment of solidarity, joined forces on Wednesday to convey optimism for the future of their $30 billion industry despite spiraling consumer spending and a global economic downturn. Electronic Arts, Activision and THQ Inc — with Activision the sole profit-maker in its last reported quarter — hope to focus on developing mainly blockbuster titles while finding ways to eliminate costs. A year-long recession has slowed sales growth. Research house NPD estimates spending on U.S. videogames dived 17 percent in April. With top titles often costing as much to produce as a Hollywood film, publishers have had to make tough choices.
Source>

Sony Ericsson Adds Apps with GetJar
MOBILE ENTERTAINMENT
Sony Ericsson has added apps to its PlayNow content offering, using a hosting and submissions platform provided by GetJar. The app store will offer a mix of premium content alongside 45,000 free apps from GetJar’s own library. Sony Ericsson will use GetJar’s content submissions platform to manage the service. Applications will be offered in the 13 countries that currently support PlayNow arena. The service platform, which is compatible with 38 Sony Ericsson phone models, will roll out to further markets and models over the year.
Source>

Disney Confirms Mobile Game Release Slate
MOBILE ENTERTAINMENT
Hannah Montana, Toy Story Mania! and Jonas Brothers all being readied for iPhone, Android, Java and BlackBerry. Disney Interactive Studios will release eight mobile games this year, all of which are tied into the company’s handheld and console releases. The release slate encompasses iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, Java and Brew platforms and is very much skewed towards a casual audience.
Source>

SourceForge to Buy Ohloh
PE HUB
SourceForge, the global online network for community-driven tech media and e-commerce, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Ohloh Corporation, a privately held company based in Bellevue, Washington that owns and operates Ohloh.net, a leading provider of open source data and community. The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in early June 2009. “We expect the acquisition of Ohloh and the integration of its technology to significantly improve our insights about the open source development community and our ability to target advertising,” said Jon Sobel, SourceForge’s group president of Media. “The founders and employees of Ohloh are entrepreneurial and well-regarded in the industry. We are excited to welcome the Ohloh team to SourceForge.”
Source>

Production Firm The Box Raises “Several Million” from Greylock
PAIDCONTENT
Israeli content production firm The Box has raised “several million dollars” from Greylock Partners. The company creates specialized advertising content for cell phones, TV, and the web. Customers include Nike, Coca-Cola, and Disney (NYSE: DIS). The Box also creates some original programming. One recent animated series produced by The Box which is currently airing on Israeli TV allows viewers to contribute their own creations to the show via a website. The company said it would use the new cash to fund international expansion, including the opening of its first U.S. office in Los Angeles. It’s Greylock Israel’s first content investment.
Source>

Israel’s GameGround Raises $4.1M from Sequoia
ALARM CLOCK
It wasn’t that long ago that gaming startups struggled for funding. It took to long to publish a game, it was a hits business and you often relied on EA or another big for distribution. The Internet has changed that and at this point its starting to seem like there are too many funded games startups thanks to the success of micro-payments and international gaming startups, particularly in China. Today, Israel-based GameGround raised $4.1M from Sequoia Capital – it had raised $2M from angels. GameGround has been a stealth-mode startup building a web-based gaming console. The startup’s leader is Chairman Itzik Ben-Bassat who planned the launch of World of Warcraft by Blizzard Entertainment. He later built Blizzard’s operations in Europe and Asia and supervised more than 1500 employees and more than $500MM in annual revenue. Late in 2007, Ben-Bassat co-founded GameGround. Paul Sams, Blizzard’s COO, is also COO at GameGround.
Source>

Kudelski Withdraws OpenTV Buyout Bid
MULTI-CHANNEL
Kudelski Group on Thursday said it would withdraw its proposal to acquire the portion of TV middleware and advanced-advertising company OpenTV it doesn’t own. OpenTV on Tuesday night said an independent committee appointed by its board had rejected Kudelski’s bid of $1.35 per share for the remaining shares – an offer worth about $127 million – as “inadequate.” Kudelski currently holds a 26.7% economic stake and 74.7% of the voting rights to OpenTV. “Based on Kudelski’s discussions with [OpenTV's] Special Committee, Kudelski has concluded that continued discussions will not be fruitful and has therefore decided to withdraw its proposal and terminate discussions with the Special Committee,” it said in a statement. According to Kudelski, “several key customers and major shareholders” of OpenTV had supported the “full integration” of OpenTV and Kudelski’s Nagravision, a supplier of conditional-access systems.
Source>

Fine Point Tech Buys Germany’s Sonic Telecom
PEHUB
Fine Point Technologies Inc., a New York-based provider of tools for broadband network connectivity management, has acquired German telecom integrator Sonic Telecom GmbH from private equity firm Access Point LLC. No pricing terms were disclosed. Fine Point has raised VC funding from Edison Venture Fund. Fine Point Technologies, Inc. (Fine Point), a provider of unique tools for broadband network connectivity management, and private equity firm Access Point LLC, have entered into an agreement for Fine Point to purchase Sonic Telecom GmbH (Sonic). Based in Friedrichsdorf, Germany, Sonic provides software and systems integration services to internet service providers and telecommunications companies throughout Europe. Sonic has been an authorized reseller of Fine Point’s device management technologies since 2005, in addition to marketing VoIP gateway systems and services. The business combination brings a complementary customer base and a deeper presence in Europe for Fine Point to sell its software solutions to more communications providers who want to improve cost controls and customer satisfaction for their offerings.
Source>

Advent Venture Partners Sponsors Foundry Buyout
PE HUB
Advent Venture Partners has sponsored a management buyout of The Foundry, a UK-based developer of visual effects software. No financial terms were disclosed. Leading visual effects software developer, The Foundry, whose software products have been used to make many of the past year’s biggest motion pictures, today announced a management buyout for an undisclosed sum led by Advent Venture Partners. Advent has backed the management team, led by CEO Dr Bill Collis and the original founders, in a transaction that sees the sale of the shareholdings of previous investors, Wyndcrest Holdings. The Foundry is highly profitable and has more than doubled revenues in the last eighteen months to $10m. Advent’s support will permit the company to continue expanding from its Wardour Street headquarters.
Source>

Tags: Disney, Ericsson, Greylock Partners, Intel, Mobile, Palm, Reuters, Sequoia, Sony, T-Mobile, Venture, WindRiver, YouTube