In This Update:
• Vivendi Merging with Activision in $18.9 Billion Deal
• Six Apart Sells LiveJournal to Russian Media Firm, SUP
• Dell Awards $4.5 Billion Exclusive Ad Account to WPP
• Coca-Cola Pulls Out of Facebook Ad Deal
• 5) NEC Develops Real-Time Japanese-to-English Mobile Translation Software
• Microsoft Acquires Mobile Social Network WebFives
• AOL to Suspend Paid Downloads, Replace with Amazon Unbox
• Nokia Introduces Internet Radio Service for Phones
• Google Reveals 2008 Plans for Google Apps
• Mobile Marketing Firm HipCricket Raises $17.1 Million in AIM IPO
• Study: 25% of Entertainment to Be User-Generated by 2012
• Broadview Networks Files for IPO
• DOCSIS 3.0, Possible 100Mbps Speeds Coming to Some Comcast Users in 2008
• Chinese Web Video Ad Network AdsIt Funded

Vivendi Merging with Activision in $18.9 Billion Deal
WALL STREET JOURNAL
French entertainment and telecommunications group Vivendi SA plans to acquire a controlling stake in U.S. videogame maker Activision Inc., a move that could transform the competitive landscape in the fast-growing gaming industry by joining the companies behind console hit Guitar Hero and online phenomenon World of Warcraft.Vivendi will merge its own gaming division into Activision and contribute cash to form a new company: Activision Blizzard. In a complex transaction, which values all of Activision at $8 billion, Vivendi will pay $27.50 per share and end up with up to 68% ownership of the new company. The acquisition stands to mint a new rival to Electronic Arts Inc., the current top player in the industry. Activision Blizzard will have estimated combined pro forma revenue of about $3.8 billion for this year, which is slightly higher than the $3.2 billion in revenue forecast for 2007 by Electronic Arts.
Source>

Six Apart Sells LiveJournal to Russian Media Firm, SUP
MASHABLE
Six Apart, the blogging software and services company, has sold its network of topic-based blogging communities LiveJournal, Inc. to SUP, an international media company based in Russia. The financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed. Having acquired LiveJournal in 2005, Six Apart will remain involved with LiveJournal from an investment standpoint through the promotion of its open source development tools, as well as in representation of its advertising and sales, for at least the next twelve months. Considering the history between Six Apart and SUP, the acquisition isn’t entirely surprising. Six Apart and SUP have been working together for some time, now. Just over a year ago Six Apart signed a licensing agreement with SUP to allow SUP to manage LiveJournal in Russia, which has grown to b the largest LiveJournal community behind the U.S. in terms of the number of accounts.
Source>

Dell Awards $4.5 Billion Exclusive Ad Account to WPP
SEEKING ALPHA
PC manufacturer Dell Inc. has awarded a $4.5 billion, three-year advertising contract to London agency WPP Group plc. WPP’s rival for the account was Interpublic Group. WPP will be responsible for all Dell’s advertising, direct marketing and public relations. Previously, over 800 agencies around the world were working for Dell, but global marketing VP Casey Jones ultimately deemed it wisest to “marry one instead of dating many.” “We are evolving the processes of marketing along the same lines as Michael Dell did the supply chain processes, by looking at the fundamental DNA and ways to improve inefficiencies,” he said.
Source>

Coca-Cola Pulls Out of Facebook Ad Deal
FORBES
Coca-Cola, which was one of the charter advertisers when Facebook’s controversial ad program Beacon was announced in November, is taking a rain check for now, even after the social network modified its program yesterday. “We have adopted a bit of a ‘wait and see’ as far as what we are going to do with Beacon because we are not sure how consumers are going to respond,” said Carol Kruse, Coke’s VP of global interactive marketing. Kruse said she could see good uses of Beacon, if it is on consumers’ terms.
Source>

5) NEC Develops Real-Time Japanese-to-English Mobile Translation Software
PHYSORG
Japanese electronics giant NEC Corp. said Friday it has created a world-first real-time translator on a cellphone, which can instantly turn Japanese travellers’ words into English. One second after the phone hears speech in Japanese, the cellphone with the new technology shows the text on the screen. One second later, an English version appears. NEC said it was the first time in the world that automatic translation is available on a cellphone without external help. The company made it possible by making the software, which includes a voice-recognition system and translation functions, compact enough to operate on a small microchip mounted in a cellphone, it said. The software, which can recognise some 50,000 Japanese words, is especially designed for smooth translation of travel phrases such as “Can I have a subway route map?” It is technically possible to make the English translation vocal but NEC is not considering the idea at the moment, according to NEC spokesman Mitsumasa Fukumoto.
Source>

Microsoft Acquires Mobile Social Network WebFives
TECHCRUNCH
Microsoft has acquired Seattle based social networking site WebFives. WebFives was initially founded in 2004 by former Microsoft engineer Mike Toutonghi as Vizrea and offers social networking with a focus of mobile media, including video, music and photos. Users are provided with standard social networking profile pages complete with blogging, and have the option of accessing their sites via computer or via a WAP specific page. Price of the acquisition was not disclosed.
Source>

AOL to Suspend Paid Downloads, Replace with Amazon Unbox
NEWTEEVEE
AOL Video is going to drop its own for-pay download offerings in favor of Amazon Unbox, according to company officials. AOL will integrate links to Amazon Unbox, while content will be integrated throughout AOL Video and in relevant video search results across the site. The integration of Unbox within AOL Video begins tomorrow and will be complete in about a week. The switch is well under way. At present, over 20,000 Amazon (AMZN) assets are available via AOL Video Search, and a special search channel, Amazon on AOL, has been created on video.aol.com. The AOL Video portal was launched in 2006 with paid downloads for movies and TV shows. In recent months, AOL (TWX) has shifted to an ad-supported business model. AOL Video is now focusing on building an extensive catalog of free streaming content.
Source>

Nokia Introduces Internet Radio Service for Phones
PHONESCOOP
Today Nokia announced new software for N series devices that will allow users to stream Internet radio stations to their phones. It will offer hundreds of stations from around the world and users can browse by language, country, and genre. It will also automatically display the top ten most popular radio stations each hour and users can add stations to their list of favorites. The service will also optimize the music stream depending on what sort of connection the user has. It is available today for the N82, N91, N95 and N95 8GB and will be embedded on other S60 3rd Edition phones in the coming months. The software can be downloaded for free.
Source>

Google Reveals 2008 Plans for Google Apps
TECHCRUNCH
Google is usually fairly tight lipped about future product releases. But they were surprisingly revealing about upcoming plans for Google Apps at an event in Ann Arbor earlier this week. First, Google Sites, an evolution of Google Page Creator, will launch in 2008. Google Sites will be based on JotSpot collaboration tools and will allow businesses to create intranets, project management tracking, extranets and other custom sites. We should also expect Google Docs, Gmail and Calendar to soon work offline via Google Gears. This has been widely predicted, but it’s good to see it coming more formally from Google (note that Zoho, a Google Docs competitor, already has offline functionality via Google Gears).
Source>

Mobile Marketing Firm HipCricket Raises $17.1 Million in AIM IPO
MOCONEWS
Bellevue, WA based mobile marketing firm HipCricket, which almost got bought by Neomedia last year, then ditched that and raised two rounds of funding, has raised another $17.1 million, this time on London’s AIM market. This capital will buttress the $10 million that the company already raised in its first and second rounds of funding. Its IPO brings HipCricket’s market valuation to $155.2 million, which will augment organic growth in the short-to-medium term. The new funds better equips the company to hold its own against mobile marketing competitors like NeoMedia who, just over a year ago failed in an attempt to purchase HipCricket. To date, HipCricket has focused on making radio a more interactive vehicle by providing clients with tools allowing them to more easily market to mobile devices. Their current clients include Clear Channel, Fox and NBC.
Source>

Study: 25% of Entertainment to Be User-Generated by 2012
MOBILECRUNCH
Nokia’s latest study, ‘A Glimpse of the Next Episode’, predicts that within five years a quarter of all entertainment will be created, edited and shared within peer groups rather than coming out of traditional media groups. Trend-setting consumers from 17 countries were asked about their digital behaviors and lifestyles. Nokia also used information gathered from its 900 million customers and views of leading industry figures to reach the conclusion that you will control 25% of the world’s entertainment by 2012.
Source>

Broadview Networks Files for IPO
PEHUB
Broadview Networks Inc., a Rye Brook, N.Y.-based provider of integrated communications and managed security services, has filed for a $287.5 million IPO. It plans to trade on the Nasdaq, with Deutsche Bank Securities and Jefferies & Co. serving as co-lead underwriters. Broadview has raised nearly $300 million in total VC funding since 1997, with current shareholders including Baker Capital, MCG Capital, New Enterprise Associates, ComVentures and Lightspeed Venture Partners. Founded in 1997, Broadview sells voice and data networking solutions to small and medium-sized businesses. It had initially filed for an IPO in February 2000, but withdrew the filing in September 2000. Broadview reported an adjusted loss of $27.2M on revenue of $374M in the nine months ended September 30. It claims around 70K business customers in the northeast and mid-Atlantic regions. In May, Broadview acquired Manhattan-based InfoHighway, which is a distributor of voice and data services.
Source>

DOCSIS 3.0, Possible 100Mbps Speeds Coming to Some Comcast Users in 2008
ARS TECHNICA
Comcast announced today that it will focus on aggressively deploying a DOCSIS 3.0 infrastructure in 2008; the company intends to offer DOCSIS 3.0 capability in 20 percent of its market area by the end of the year. Currently the cable industry depends on the DOCSIS 1.1 specification, but that standard is limited to 36Mbps down and 10Mbps up. Cable companies may have made a name for themselves as speed kings early in the broadband wars, but the current bandwith limitations of DOCSIS 1.1 leave it looking paltry indeed when compared to Verizon’s FiOS 50Mbps down/30Mbps up packages. DOCSIS 3.0 won’t completely close the gap between cable and fiber, but its transfer rates of up to 160Mpbs down and 120Mbps up will still offer a considerable improvement over currently deployed equipment.
Source>

Chinese Web Video Ad Network AdsIt Funded
ALARM:CLOCK
AdsIt says it has raised several million dollars from investors Baidu, Intel Capital and Farallon Capital. AdsIt is the exclusive operator of video ads for Baidu. China Web 2.0 notes that while there are several hundred video sharing sites based on online advertising business model in China, only the leading players such as Tudou, will be able to sell advertisements by themselves. The rest will need to partner with others like AdsIt, which at from this perspective across the Pacific seems to have a fair lead over other startups.
Source>

Tags: Amazon, AOL, Apple, Avatar, Blogging, Dell, EMI, Facebook, FIOS, Forbes, Fox, GMail, Google, Intel, Interpublic, IPO, ISP, Microsoft, MTV, Music, Nasdaq, NBC, Nokia, Open Source, RipCode, Seattle, Social Networking, Sprint, Time Warner, Truveo, Turn, VC, Verizon, Video, Vivendi, WiMAX, WPP, Yahoo