archives

o Midway Games Raises $42 Million in Private Placement
o Wireless Live TV Streaming Firm Celvibe Adds $2 Million to Second Round
o Sony Localizing Online Games Into Four Languages
o Multimedia Ad Firm Everstream Acquires Ad Technology Firm Music Booth
o Asian Holding Firm Hartcourt Increases Stake in StreamingAsia
o Briefly Noted: AbsolutDirector.com, Metalepsis, Bol.com -
MoodLogic, Iomega, WindowsMedia.com Mobile, JumpTV, NTT DoCoMo
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> Job Postings: Web Producer, Webmaster/Developer, Business Development
Manager, Product Marketing Manager

> Events/Services: "Technical Recruiting & Retention Conference," "Email
Newsletter Tactics," "SpyWorm's SEX* Awards," "Sensory Circus"

Full Job/Event descriptions listed below "Briefly Noted" section or at
http://www.digitalmediawire.com/postings.html

To Post a Job: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/jobs.html
To Post an Event: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/events.html
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o Midway Games Raises $42 Million in Private Placement

Chicago -- Midway Games, a developer and publisher of video games for Sony
and Nintendo game consoles, as well as the arcade, announced on Tuesday
that it has raised $42 million through a private placement of its stock.
Two undisclosed institutional investors purchased $40 million in the
placement; company CEO Neil D. Nicastro also purchased $2 million of the
shares. Chicago-based Midway Games plans to use the funds for game
development and to finance inventory and receivables.
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/f_headline.cgi?day0/211422645&ticker=mwy
http://www.midway.com
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o Wireless Live TV Streaming Firm Celvibe Adds $2 Million to Second Round

Natanya, Israel -- Celvibe, a developer of technology that streams live TV
to wireless devices, announced that it has raised an additional $2 million
for its second round of venture capital financing. China Development
Industrial Bank and an undisclosed individual investor each contributed $1
million to the $12 million round, which is led by the Challenge Fund.
Israel-based Celvibe will use the funds to expand into Asian, European and
U.S. markets as well as for product development.
http://www.celvibe.com/view_pr.asp?id=63
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o Sony Localizing Online Games Into Four Languages

San Diego -- In an effort to expand the appeal of its massively
multiplayer online roleplaying games, Sony Online Entertainment announced
on Tuesday that it is localizing several of its online games. Initially,
Sony will translate games including EverQuest into French, German,
Japanese and Korean using a combination of automated and human
translators. The company's plans include the use of real-time machine
translation for in-game chat, so that players can talk to one another even
if they do not share a common language.
http://www.station.sony.com
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o Multimedia Ad Firm Everstream Acquires Ad Technology Firm Music Booth

Cleveland -- Everstream, an audio and video advertising firm, announced
that it will acquire AdAcoustics and its parent company, New York-based
The Music Booth, for $10 million in stock. AdAcoustics holds patents for
technology related to targeted advertising via cable, satellite, Internet
and wireless networks. AdAcoustics president Robert Wolfe will become
executive vice president and general counsel for Everstream. The merged
company will maintain offices in both New York and Cleveland. Everstream
said that the acquisition of AdAcoustics will allow it to further develop
its "narrowcasting" method, which delivers advertising based on
demographics and characteristics of individual users.
http://www.everstream.com/news/default.asp?nid=142
http://www.musicbooth.com
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o Asian Holding Firm Hartcourt Increases Stake in StreamingAsia

Los Angeles -- Hartcourt, an Asian holding firm developing Internet
services for China, announced on Tuesday that it has increased its stake
in Hong Kong-based streaming services provider StreamingAsia to 85
percent, and intends to merge the company with its publicly-traded Total
Solution System (TSS) affiliate. TSS is also a provider of multimedia and
webcasting services for businesses. In addition to webcasting services,
Hartcourt is also involved with broadband ISPs, online banking and
financial software concerns.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010522/latu048.html
http://www.streamingasia.com
http://www.tss.com.cn/en/index.htm
http://www.hartcourt.com
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o Briefly Noted:

(New York) Interactive entertainment studio Submarine announced on Tuesday
a new film site created for Absolut Vodka that lets users put together
their own films online. AbsolutDirector.com lets filmmakers put together a
movie using 36 scenes from "an obscure 1960's Japanese sci-fi flick." They
then write dialogue for the characters, choose background music and create
screen titles. The movie plays back the edited scenes and speaks the
user-written dialogue using the site's "voice generation" technology.
Directors including Spike Lee ("Malcolm X," "Do the Right Thing") Mary
Harron ("American Psycho," "I Shot Andy Warhol") and Chris Smith
("American Movie") have created films for the site.
http://www.absolutdirector.com

(Los Angeles) Metalepsis, a developer of customizable DVDs and other media
storage discs, said it has developed the first movies for DVD-capable
video consoles like Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation 2. The movie discs
will take advantage of the devices' Internet connection, connecting to
websites that are relevant to the plots of the nonlinear, interactive
films. The combination allows for features like streaming media files from
the Web to be launched from the DVD.
http://www.metalepsis.tv

(San Francisco) Online retailer bol.com -- a division of German media
company Bertelsmann -- announced that it will use technology from San
Francisco-based MoodLogic on its site to recommend music to visitors based
on the genre, tempo or "mood" that the music elicits. The recommendation
software will be used with bol.com's over 500,000 available tracks.
http://www.bol.com
http://www.moodlogic.com

(Roy, Utah) Iomega, a manufacturer of media storage technology and digital
music players, announced the resignation of CEO and president Bruce
Albertson. The company cited "differences" between Albertson and the Board
over the strategic direction of the company. Board members Jonathan
Huberman and Robert Berkowitz will preside over the company's affairs
until a replacement chief executive can be found. Albertson is the second
CEO to quit Utah-based Iomega; Jodie Glore resigned from the company in
1999.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010521/lam138.html
http://www.iomega.com

(Redmond, Wash.) Microsoft announced on Tuesday the release of a new
version of its Windows Media Player, designed to stream audio and video
files over wireless networks to users of its PocketPC brand handheld
devices. The company also announced that partners including MSNBC,
Interscope Records, House of Blues, Filmspeed and The Village Voice will
provide audio and video content for a wireless portal on WindowsMedia.com.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010522/sftu074_2.html

(San Francisco) CNET on Tuesday featured an article on JumpTV, a company
planning to offer live network TV to Internet users. The company hopes to
avoid potential copyright backlash from networks by incorporating
technology that restricts its use only to Canadians, taking advantage of
differing copyright laws that allow for rebroadcast if set royalties are
paid. Montreal-based JumpTV's technology is similar to a company's called
iCraveTV -- which offered U.S. TV shows online -- was sued, and settled
with the networks.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-6006097.html?tag=cd_mh
http://www.jumptv.com

(San Francisco) TheStandard.com is reporting that Japanese cell phone
company NTT DoCoMo is considering charging content providers for putting
their games, horoscopes and other content on the company's wireless
entertainment network. The company currently does not take a cut of the
fees that its 23 million I-mode phone users pay providers to send content
to their phones.
http://www.thestandard.com/article/0,1902,24645,00.html
http://www.nttdocomo.com/top.shtml

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Job Postings:
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To Post Jobs: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/jobs.html

> Screen Actors Guild, Web Producer - Los Angeles

Must have strong visual design skills and be able to work both
independently and as part of a team. Responsibilities will include but not
be limited to Web page creation (HTML), Graphic design / web graphics,
Information design / web architecture, Animation / Flash design, CGI
programming / Java script & Database front-end design. 3-5 years in web
design & scripting OR pertinent degree. Send resume and cover letter to:
jobs@sag.org
http://www.sag.org
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> City of Culver City, Webmaster/Developer - Los Angeles

Exciting opportunity for individual with good front end/graphics web
design skills. The City of Culver City is currently building a new web site and intranet. Requires 2 years of demonstrable experience. This is a temporary position, starting immediately and ending October 2001. Send resume to:
it.department@culvercity.org
http://www.culvercity.org
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> Rare Medium, Inc., Business Development Manager - San Francisco

Develop customer solution strategies and convert them to sales with the
participation of in-house subject matter experts. Ideal candidate will
possesses strong prospecting, persuasive presentation & closing skills
with at least 5 yrs. exp. in professional services industry. Working
knowledge of medium & large-scale web development imperative.
Send resumes to: john.ledterman@raremedium.com
http://www.raremedium.com
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> Wayport, Inc., Product Marketing Manager - Austin, TX

A minimum of 5+ years exp. in product management. Responsibilities include
working w/ external customers & internal engineering in product
definition, developing product features & functionality, as well as
developing product life cycle plans, pricing & product positioning. Must
have a strong financial background, negotiation skills and track record
working with wireless apps.
Send resumes to: debbie.primera@wayport.net
http://www.wayport.net

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Event Postings:
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To Post Events: http://www.digitalmediawire.com/events.html

> Technical Recruiting & Retention Conference, June 3-6 - Palm Desert, CA

You're not the only one who has to recruit through history's most
pronounced labor shortage. You're not the only one who has to finagle new
solutions under big time pressure. So why go it alone? Tap into the
expertise that Computerworld & ITcareers are bringing together at our
annual Conference. Meet hundreds of technical recruiters facing the same
challenges as you.
For more information: Diane_Bailey@computerworld.com
http://www.itcareersrecruiting.com/conf/ctrrc
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> E-mail Newsletter Tactics, June 14-15th - Reston, VA

Learn how to profit from e-mail newsletters! If you already produce one or
several e-mail newsletters, or are thinking about launching one, E-mail
Newsletter Tactics is a must-attend event. For an agenda, go to:
http://seminars.internet.com/email/va01/index.html Special offer for
DigitalMediaWire subscribers -- SAVE 15% off the full conference price.
For details and to sign up, call 203-662-2857
or email aalessio@internet.com
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> SpyWorm's SEX* Awards, September 13 - Los Angeles

Webcasting production house SpyWorm is recruiting 30 filmmakers to each
create a 5-minute "reality-based" short on SEX*. Each candidate gets DV
gear, $100 lunch money and 3 days of post-production services. All
interested filmmakers are encouraged to e-mail their resumes & best short
pitch about SEX* by June 15 to:
pitches@spyworm.tv
http://www.spyworm.tv
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> Sensory Circus, June 9 - Los Angeles

Art, fashion, music, technology and film come together for the debut of
Sensory Circus at the Wyndham Bel Age Hotel. This electric and
sophisticated event will extend throughout every ballroom, terrace and
rooftop, showcasing new bands and DJ's, the latest fashions and visual,
technological and sculpture artists. To submit an artistic work, inquire
about sponsorship or register for the event, please visit:
http://www.sensorycircus.com
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