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Main Stories
o Samsung, Cable TV Firms Launch Multi-Million Dollar HDTV Ad Campaign
o USDTV Launches First U.S. "Over-the-Air" Digital TV Service
o NCAA to Offer Live Streaming Video of Basketball Tournament Games
o Nationwide DSL Provider Speakeasy.net Raises $24 Million
o Akamai to Distribute Streaming Content for Major League Baseball
o BMG Licenses Songs to Wippit P2P Digital Music Service
o Game Console Maker Infinium Labs Effects 4-for-1 Forward Stock Split

o Briefly Noted: EUniverse - Nasdaq, T-Mobile - Warner Music International, Napster - CBS' "Star Search," CiinemaElectric - T-Mobile, Telenor Mobile Interactive - ABC soap operas, Fonix - PlayStation 2, Tira Wireless - THQ Wireless, Konami - Vivendi Universal Games, Sorrent - Atari's "DRIV3R," Vivendi Universal Games - "The X-Files: Resist or Serve," WIRED - Rave Awards, Microsoft - Eolas Technologies - patent dispute, Correction

New York -- Consumer electronics firm Samsung Electronics has partnered with major U.S. cable TV operators on a multi-million dollar marketing campaign for high-definition television (HDTV), Reuters reported on Tuesday. Samsung and the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM), a trade group of the top U.S. cable TV operators, is funding the campaign that will encompass TV, print and Internet ads and tie-in heavily with the 2004 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. An element of the promotions will offer consumers a $100 discount when they purchase a Samsung HDTV model and subscribe to HDTV service from a cable TV provider.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?K11562EB7 
http://www.ctam.com
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o USDTV Launches First U.S. "Over-the-Air" Digital TV Service

New York -- U.S. Digital Television, Inc. (USDTV) on Tuesday launched the first "over-the-air" digital TV subscription service in the U.S. The $19.95 per month service will broadcast local, national and popular premium channels "over-the-air" in digital and high-definition formats utilizing unused digital spectrum from broadcast partners. Initially launching in Salt Lake City, Albuquerque and Las Vegas, the service will be available in 30 markets by the end of the year. USDTV has partnered with Chinese manufacturer Hisense to make the proprietary set-top boxes needed to receive the service, which will be sold for $99 at retailers including Wal-Mart. Programming offered will include Fox News Channel, Starz, ESPN, Disney Channel, Discovery, Food Network and Lifetime. New York-based USDTV said that it recently closed on $8.5 million in private equity funding from NexGen Investments and Stonebridge Capital; investors said they will also fund an additional $12 million based on USDTV's successful completion of certain initiatives.
http://www.usdtv.com
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o NCAA to Offer Live Streaming Video of Basketball Tournament Games

Redmond, Wash. -- NCAASports.com announced on Tuesday that it will once again offer live online video streaming coverage of games from the first three rounds of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. For $9.95, subscribers will gain access to live streaming of 37 games from the first three rounds of the tournament, plus access to on-demand archives of games from later rounds, game highlights and press conferences. The organization is working with television broadcast partner CBS and Web partners CBS SportsLine.com and Microsoft to deliver the streams in Windows Media format.
http://www.ncaasports.com/basketball/mens/livevideo
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o Nationwide DSL Provider Speakeasy.net Raises $24 Million

Seattle -- Speakeasy.net, a provider of nationwide DSL high-speed Internet services, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $24 million in its fourth round of venture capital financing. Venture capital firms 3i and BV Capital led the investment round; existing Speakeasy investors Ares Management, Cornerstone Ventures, Matthew G. Norton and Granite Ventures also participated. The company will use the funds to complete its network infrastructure, to launch a Voice-over IP (VoIP) service, and to expand its specialized services for online gamers.
http://www.speakeasy.net/main.php?page=pr031604
http://www.speakeasy.net/mercury
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o Akamai to Distribute Streaming Content for Major League Baseball

Cambridge, Mass. -- Content delivery network services provider Akamai Technologies announced that Major League Baseball Advanced Media has signed a multi-year agreement with the company to provide distribution the streaming audio and video feeds of baseball games on the Internet. The system is expected to be ready by baseball's opening day on March 28. The deal still leaves Major League Baseball without a partner to encode and deliver the game content, following the collapse of an agreement with former partner, RealNetworks. That company has separately sued Major League Baseball over a contract that stipulated games must be offered online in RealNetworks' streaming format.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040315/155656_1.html 
http://www.akamai.com 
http://www.mlb.com
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o BMG Licenses Songs to Wippit P2P Digital Music Service

London -- Wippit, provider of a U.K.-based legal, peer-to-peer file-sharing service, announced that it has signed an agreement with major record label BMG, which will license 10,000 tracks from its catalog to be made available to Wippit subscribers. However, Wippit said BMG songs will be available only to U.K. and Ireland subscribers from a central BMG server -- and will not be able to be shared on the peer-to-peer network. Wippit also has a deal in place with fellow major label EMI and some 200 independent record labels. The service charges a $54 annual fee that lets users trade songs freely as well as burn them to CD and transfer them to portable devices on a limited level.
http://www.wippit.com
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o Game Console Maker Infinium Labs Effects 4-for-1 Forward Stock Split

Sarasota, Fla. -- Infinium Labs, developer of a PC-based video game console, announced on Tuesday that it will effect a four-for-one forward stock split, in order to increase the total number of shares available and better position the company for potential investors. In order to have enough shares available to implement the stock split, Florida-based Infinium will simultaneously increase the number of authorized shares of its stock from 50,000,000 to 200,000,000 shares. The transaction is expected to become effective after April 15. Infinium Labs plans to show working models of its Phantom game console for the first time at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in May.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040316/phtu012_1.html 
http://www.infiniumlabs.com

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(Los Angeles) EUniverse, a network of entertainment-related websites and newsletters, announced on Tuesday that the Nasdaq has denied its request to be re-listed on the exchange's SmallCap Market. The Nasdaq cited the company's failure to comply with requirements for listing, both while previously listed and subsequently in connection with the company's financing transactions, adding that re-listing at this time would not be in the best interests of the investing public or Nasdaq.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040316/latu071_1.html 
http://www.euniverse.com

(Bonn, Germany) Wireless network operator T-Mobile announced that it has signed an agreement with Warner Music International, to offer over 200 Realtones (ringtones featuring actual song snippets) and wallpapers from Warner artists. The agreement will cover T-Mobile's customers across the U.K., Germany, Austria and the Netherlands.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?G4C723EB7

(Los Angeles) Napster has announced that digital singles of songs from the finalists on CBS's "Star Search" amateur singers' program will be sold through its digital music download service for $0.99 each.
http://www.napster.com 
http://www.cbs.com/primetime/star_search4

(Hollywood) CinemaElectric, a provider of formatted multimedia and video content for mobile devices, announced on Tuesday the launch of its PocketCinema video clip service with wireless operator T-Mobile in the U.K., Germany, Netherlands, Austria and Czech Republic, representing a total market of over 40 million subscribers. The company's downloadable 10-25 second movie clips are playable on phones from Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Siemens.
http://www.cinemaelectric.com

(Rockville, Md.) Telenor Mobile Interactive said Tuesday that it partnered with ABC Daytime to offer soap opera fans the ability to subscribe to text message-based updates from their favorite characters on the ABC series "All My Children," "General Hospital" and "One Life to Live." The messages will come in the voice of TV characters, "detailing their thoughts on unfolding events." The service will be available on AT&T Wireless, Cingular Wireless and T-Mobile networks.
http://www.telenor-interactive.com
http://abc.go.com/daytime/allmychildren/index.html

(Salt Lake City, Utah) Voice recognition software developer Fonix announced on Tuesday the release of its Fonix VoiceIn voice command and control game software for Sony PlayStation 2 and the PC. The technology has been available to developers creating games for Microsoft's Xbox since early 2003.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040316/165137_1.html 
http://www.fonix.com

(Toronto) Wireless application developer Tira Wireless said on Tuesday that wireless game publisher THQ Wireless will use its Tira Jump solution for porting Java-based games to a range of devices. Toronto-based Tira said the technology works by automatically generating multiple builds of a J2ME application across a broad range of handsets, languages and mobile operator requirements, all from a single reference application.
http://www.thqwireless.com 
http://www.tirawireless.com

(Redwood City, Calif.) Konami Digital Entertainment America, the U.S. distribution arm of the Japanese game developer, announced on Tuesday that it has signed a North American distribution agreement for its roster of PC games with Vivendi Universal Games. Konami's "World Soccer Winning Eleven 7 International" will be the first title distributed by Vivendi under the new agreement; other Konami PC titles include "Silent Hill 3" and "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040316/latu008_1.html 
http://www.vugames.com 
http://www.konami.com/usa

(San Jose, Calif.) Wireless game developer Sorrent announced on Tuesday that it has signed an agreement with publisher Atari to create wireless versions of titles from the company's "Driver" franchise, including the upcoming "DRIV3R" title. San Jose, Calif.-based Sorrent said its game will be released alongside the console versions of "DRIV3R" this summer.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040316/165521_1.html 
http://www.sorrent.com 
http://www.driv3r.com

(Los Angeles) Vivendi Universal Games announced on Tuesday that its PlayStation 2 title "The X-Files: Resist or Serve" is now available in stores. The game was developed by Santa Monica, Calif.-based Black Ops Entertainment under license from Fox Interactive.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040316/latu080_1.html 
http://www.vugames.com 
http://www.blackops.com

(San Francisco) WIRED magazine has announced winners of its fifth annual Rave Awards, which honor "20 mavericks, dreamers and innovators inventing the future." The "Renegade of the Year" award went to Apple/Pixar CEO Steve Jobs for the iTunes Music Store and "Finding Nemo." Other winners included former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne for his artistic endeavors using Microsoft PowerPoint, and the musical group The Flaming Lips. A full list of categories and winners is published in the current issue of WIRED; additional information is available from the link below.
http://www.raveawards.com

(San Francisco) CNET News.com on Tuesday reported on the ongoing patent dispute between Microsoft and Eolas Technologies, centering on a $521 million judgment in Eolas' favor over a patent owned by the company that is now under further review by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. If Eolas is successful in defending its patent on browser technology, Microsoft will be forced to write changes into its Internet Explorer that would affect millions of existing Web pages.
http://news.com.com/2100-1032_3-5173287.html
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> Correction:

A story in Thursday's edition of Digital Media Wire incorrectly reported that the deadline for submissions for the E3 Expo's Video Game Art Exhibit is April 15. The deadline is April 5.

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