archives

o Wireless Entertainment Developer Riot Entertainment Files for Bankruptcy
o Charter Delays Deployment of Microsoft Interactive TV Software
o Video Server Software Firm Thirdspace Raises $16 Million in Second Round
o Sen. Hollings Threatens Budget Cuts Over FTC, DOJ Merger Review Changes
o RealNetworks Begins Foreign Distribution of RealArcade Games Service
o NTT DoCoMo to Launch I-Mode Wireless Internet Service in U.S. This Year
o Briefly Noted: Palm - Streetbeam - Stephen King, Listen.com - Down Beat,
"Spider-Man" online trailer, DivXNetworks - LockStream, Seagate - Toshiba,
MLB.com, ECast - Playboy.com, Verity - Pressplay, Interplay - "Baldur's
Gate," Ain't It Cool News - "Star Wars Episode II" review
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o Wireless Entertainment Developer Riot Entertainment Files for Bankruptcy

Helsinki, Finland -- Riot Entertainment, a developer of wireless games and
entertainment, has filed for bankruptcy with the Helsinki District Court,
according to a note on its website. "Riot Entertainment's negotiations
concerning the company's third round of financing have been closed without
results, " the company wrote in its note. Riot said the decision to file
for bankruptcy was made "because the company would have required
additional funding regardless of the rapidly growing turnover and customer
base." Finland-based Riot Entertainment went through over $19 million in
funding in the space of 25 months, according to Finnish news site
Helsingin Sanomat. The company signed deals with a number of entertainment
companies that resulted in wireless games based on movies including "The
Fellowship of the Ring," "Spider-Man" and "Bridget Jones's Diary."
http://www.riot-e.com/press
http://www.helsinki-hs.net/news.asp?id=20020320IE7
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o Charter Delays Deployment of Microsoft Interactive TV Software

New York -- Cable TV operator Charter Communications, which had an
expansive agreement with Microsoft to deploy the company's software for
set-top boxes used to deliver interactive television, has delayed its
deployment of the software, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
Charter was expected to announce deployment of the software following a
recent technology trial, but told the Journal that its choice of a
software provider is "still being looked at." That statement was qualified
by adding that the Charter's goal is still "to continue to develop this
relationship with Microsoft." Microsoft marketing director Ed Graczyk told
the Journal he still expects the software "to be deployed across Charter's
network in large volumes."
http://www.msnbc.com/news/726826.asp?0dm=C13MT
http://www.charter.com
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o Video Server Software Firm Thirdspace Raises $16 Million in Second Round

Maidenhead, U.K. -- Thirdspace, a developer of video server software,
announced on Wednesday that it has raised $16 million in its second round
of funding from video-on-demand provider Concurrent Computer Corp. and
Alcatel. As part of the deal, Atlanta-based Concurrent will take a
minority stake in London-based Thirdspace and receive licenses for
Thirdspace's patented technologies. Concurrent and Thirdspace will
collaborate to develop and market technology that allows DSL service
providers to deliver TV and video services over their existing copper
lines, expanding from Concurrent's products that provide video-on-demand
to cable TV operators.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020320/200103_1.html
http://www.thirdspace.tv
http://www.ccur.com
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o Sen. Hollings Threatens Budget Cuts Over FTC, DOJ Merger Review Changes

Washington -- Sen. Fritz Hollings (D-S.C.), chairman of the Senate
Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State and Judiciary, has
threatened to cut budgets at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and
Department of Justice (DOJ) following the two groups' recent announcement
that they would change the way they review mergers between media and
entertainment companies, Wired News reported. Hollings vocally opposed the
changes, which he says require Congressional authority.
"What we'll have to do is come here and cut that budget around so we get
their attention," Hollings said at a Committee hearing on Tuesday. "Do
away with the political positions. Sometimes when you cut pay, you get
their final attention. This administration has run amuck." The FTC is
asking for $176.5 million from Congress for fiscal year 2003, an increase
of $20.53 million over last year's appropriation, according to Wired News.
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,51184,00.html
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/175308.html
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2002/02/clearance/ftcdojagree.pdf
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o RealNetworks Begins Foreign Distribution of RealArcade Games Service

Seattle -- RealNetworks, a provider of media delivery technology,
announced on Wednesday the launch of several foreign-language versions of
its RealArcade paid online game subscription service, and distribution
deals with several foreign partners. The company launched French, Italian,
German, Spanish, Dutch and Portuguese versions of RealArcade. Internet
service provider Telstra will market and distribute RealArcade in
Australia; StarHub Internet will distribute the service in Singapore;
Tiscali will cover European countries and South Africa; and RDS will
distribute RealArcade in Brazil. Seattle-based RealNetworks said that
since its release in May, 450,000 have installed RealArcade, downloading
over 15 million games to date.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020320/sfw054_1.html
http://www.realarcade.com
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o NTT DoCoMo to Launch I-Mode Wireless Internet Service in U.S. This Year

Orlando, Fla. -- NTT DoCoMo plans to launch its popular Japanese I-Mode
wireless Internet service in the U.S. in the second half of this year,
CNET reported. Company president Keiji Tachikawa made the announcement
from the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA)
Wireless 2002 conference in Orlando, Florida. AT&T Wireless, in which NTT
holds a 15 percent stake, is preparing for the launch of I-Mode, which
will offer cell phone users text messaging and wireless access to the Web.
http://news.com.com/2100-1033-863424.html?tag=cd_mh
http://www.nttdocomo.com
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Los Angeles Venture Association (LAVA)
INVESTMENT CAPITAL CONFERENCE 2002
Sources of Capital for Growth Companies
Thu. April 4, 2002 * Westin Bonaventure, Los Angeles

IS FUNDING AVAILABLE IN THE CURRENT MARKET? -- YES!
Over 65 Speakers & 70 Sponsors
LEARN WHERE THE CAPITAL IS -- AND HOW TO GET IT!

http://www.lava.org

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STREAMING MEDIA WEST 2002 - April 23-26, Los Angeles Convention Center

INTERACTIVE BROADCASTING FORUM: April 24. The Interactive Advertising Bureau will be hosting a series of compelling discussions on how
Interactive Broadcasting is rapidly emerging as the next generation
advertising platform.

MPEG-4 FORUM: April 25. In association with the M4IF, these sessions
dedicated to MPEG-4 will educate and inform attendees on the current
specifications of MPEG-4, guidelines for it's use, and it's significance
to business.

For your FREE Exhibition pass or to save $200 on your full Conference pass
visit http://www.streamingmedia.com/west
Or contact register@streamingmedia.com or 888 301-8890

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o Briefly Noted:

(Santa Clara, Calif.) Palm Digital Media, a division of handheld device
maker Palm, announced that it has partnered with publisher Simon and
Schuster and advertising firm Streetbeam to launch a wireless promotion
for author Stephen King's latest collection of short stories.
Manhattan-based owners of Palm devices can download an excerpt from
"Everything's Eventual" via an infrared beam delivered from one of 100
outdoor advertising kiosks located in the city.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020319/sftu130_1.html
http://www.streetbeam.com
http://www.peanutpress.com/S=cc76969387330c3c4ea40e3d33fc8dfdP
JjzGcCoAA0AAH38rQs2103941/book.cgi/0743237048

(San Francisco) Listen.com, provider of the Rhapsody digital music
subscription service, announced on Wednesday that jazz music magazine Down
Beat has come on as a distribution partner for Rhapsody. San
Francisco-based Listen.com has built a Down Beat-branded version of
Rhapsody that the magazine will offer its subscribers. The service will
offer a 25,000-track library of recordings from over 1,300 jazz and blues
artists for $7.50 per month.
http://www.listen.com
http://www.downbeat.com

(Culver City, Calif.) Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment announced on
Wednesday the March 27 online premiere for its trailer to the upcoming
"Spider-Man" film. The trailer is being shown on the Internet using
Apple's QuickTime streaming video player before it is screened to theater
audiences. Sony will offer English, French, German, Italian and Spanish
versions of the trailer on its site.
http://www.sony.com/spider-man

(San Diego, Calif.) DivXNetworks, a developer of video compression
technology, announced on Wednesday a marketing and technology partnership
with digital rights management provider LockStream. Under the agreement,
Seattle-based LockStream will integrate San Diego-based DivXNetworks'
MPEG-4 video decoder into its format-independent media player, which
contains security technology to prevent unauthorized copying. The two
companies will jointly market the resulting software.
http://www.divxnetworks.com
http://www.lockstream.com

(Tokyo) Seagate Technology, a hard drive manufacturer, said on Wednesday
that electronics manufacturer Toshiba will use Seagate's 80GB hard drive
in its upcoming personal video recorder. The Toshiba RD-X1 will also
feature a DVD-RAM drive, allowing recorded TV programming stored on the
hard drive to be copied onto DVD.
http://www3.toshiba.co.jp/dvd/e/index.htm
http://www.seagate.com

(New York) Major League Baseball Advanced Media said on Wednesday that it
has added daily streaming video clips from each fantasy player on a user's
team to its Fantasy Baseball game offering. The video will aid fantasy
game players in making trades and choosing lineups for their teams in the
online game. MLB.com's Fantasy Baseball online game is available for
$19.95 per team per season.
http://www.mlb.com

(San Francisco) ECast, a developer of Internet-connected touchscreen
kiosks that offer entertainment content in public venues, announced on
Wednesday that it has licensed adult content from Playboy.com for its
network of kiosks. Playboy-branded game titles, developed by Midway
Amusement Games, will be available on a pay-per-play basis in bars and
other kiosk locations.
http://www.ecastinc.com/about/press_release/q1_2002_playboy.html

(Sunnyvale, Calif.) Verity, a provider of e-commerce infrastructure
software, announced that it is providing search technology to Pressplay, a
digital music subscription service joint venture between Sony Music and
Universal Music Group. Sunnyvale-based Verity's software includes a
function called "fuzzy search," which delivers artist and song results
when a name is spelled incorrectly or phonetically.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020319/sftu090_1.html
http://www.verity.com

(Irvine, Calif.) Game developer Interplay Entertainment said on Wednesday
that it has renewed its license from Infogrames Interactive to develop
games based on the "Dungeons and Dragons" franchises "Baldur's Gate" and
"Icewind Dale." Interplay division Black Isle Studios is currently
developing "Icewind Dale II" for the PC, "Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance"
for Microsoft's Xbox(TM) and additional Baldur's Gate sequels.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020320/202053_1.html
http://www.interplay.com
http://www.blackisle.com

(Austin, Texas) Ain't It Cool News, a website that offers insider
information on movies in production, is currently featuring a review of a
rough cut of "Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones." The review is
written by the site's founder, Harry Knowles, who was given a screening of
the film in a hotel room during the South by Southwest Festival in Austin
last week.
http://www.aintitcoolnews.com/display.cgi?id=11796
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