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DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE -- October 23, 2000
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To Subscribe For Free: http://www.digitalmediawire.com
o Japanese Electronics Firms Partner To Develop iTV Standards
o RealNetworks Releases RealAudio 8 With Sony Technology
o Streaming Video Developer Vividon Raises $15 Million Second Round
o News Corp.'s Online Division Lays Off 15% Of Staff
o Universal Tests Music Subscription Service
o WSJ: AOL Expected To Launch Music Subscription Service
o In Midst Of Restructuring, President and COO of NBC Internet Resigns
o Interactive Media Developer Inpix Raises $1.7 Million
o Sprint PCS To Offer Games To Web-Enabled Cell Subscribers
o Briefly Noted: Alchemedia - DigiMarc, The Jenny Jones Show - IUMA,
Pinnacle Systems - RealNetworks, GuinnessWorldRecords.com, Liquid Audio -
Avex, iHigh.com - FoxSports.com, Hollywood.com
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o Japanese Electronics Firms Partner To Develop iTV Standards
Tokyo -- Japanese electronics manufacturers Matsushita, Toshiba, Sony and
Hitachi announced on Monday a joint venture to develop standards for
interactive television. Matsushita and Toshiba will lead the venture, each
taking a 25 percent stake. Sony and Hitachi will each take 10 percent,
with companies including Fuji Television Network splitting the rest. The
join venture will develop industry standards for manufacturing advanced
set-top boxes, which allow the Internet to be accessed from television
sets. The standards will mandate that all set-tops in development be
compatible with all brands of televisions, in addition to making it easier
for software manufacturers such as Liberate Technologies and Microsoft to
develop software for the devices. "This will be Japan's first
comprehensive media platform, covering TVs, data transmission, Internet
and mobile phones," said Toshiba president Tadashi Okamura, at a news
conference. "We expect this project to have an impact on
next-generation
platforms in the U.S., Europe and in Asia." Other companies
developing
set-tops include Phillips, Gemstar-TV Guide and Pioneer.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200-3270654.html
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o RealNetworks Releases RealAudio 8 With Sony Technology
Seattle -- RealNetworks on Monday released its RealAudio 8 software, which
uses technology from Sony to provide what the company says is CD-quality
audio in files that are one-half the size of .mp3 files. Seattle-based
RealNetwork's new software uses a "codec," developed by Sony.
The codec,
called ATRAC3, is a compression technology that makes files smaller so
that they may be transferred across the Internet more quickly. While .mp3s
produce near CD-quality sound when encoded at a rate of 128 kbps, Sony's
ATRAC3 provides CD-quality sound at a rate of only 64 kbps, which allows
for faster transfer over the Internet. RealNetworks' new product manager
Rob Grady said in an Associated Press report that RealAudio 8 also does a
better job in fleshing out the high-end treble and low bass frequencies.
RealNetworks also announced partnerships with a number of companies who
will support the software, including ABC Radio, House of Blues Digital and
ARTISTdirect.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/001023/wa_realaud.html
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-3268944.html
http://www.real.com
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o Streaming Video Developer Vividon Raises $15 Million Second Round
Sudbury, Mass. -- Vividon, a developer of streaming video enhancement
software, announced on Monday that it has raised $15 million in its second
round of venture capital financing. Venrock Associates led the investment
round; other investors included Atlas Venture, Carlyle Venture Partners
and private investor James Dow, former president and CEO of Microcom.
Massachusetts-based Vividon's server technology streams video data at
faster rates to users. The company said it will use the proceeds to
accelerate the production of its servers, and to increase sales and
marketing efforts.
http://www.vividon.com/content/pr6.html
_____________________________________________
o News Corp.'s Online Division Lays Off 15% Of Staff
New York -- News Digital Media, the online division of News Corp. Ltd.,
laid off 15 percent of its news staff on Friday, according to a Reuters
report. The layoffs came in the news division of Foxnews.com, which will
alter its focus to cover breaking national and political news instead of a
broader range of topics such as science and technology. In addition, a
company spokesperson said that 20 employees at Foxsports.com were told
they must relocate to Los Angeles or lose their jobs. Several online media
outlets have faced difficulties caused by the market downturn; last week,
NewMedia.com shut down, and business Internet publisher Red Herring laid
off 25 employees.
http://www0.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/internet/docs/542681l.htm
http://www.foxnews.com
http://www.foxsports.com
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o Universal Tests Music Subscription Service
New York -- Universal Music Group announced on Monday that it has launched
a consumer test for its subscription-based online music distribution
service. Universal said 5,000 music fans are being given the chance to
listen to an unlimited amount of streaming music files from a select
20,000 songs from Universal's catalog. Users will be able to create
playlists of songs in any order they choose, but will not be able to
download the songs to their computers. A Reuters report indicated that
analysts expect major labels to charge about $15 monthly for
subscriptions, however, there will be no charge to the members of LA-based
Farmclub.com who were chosen to participate in the test.
http://www0.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/internet/docs/545949l.htm
http://www.universalmusic.com
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o WSJ: AOL Expected To Launch Music Subscription Service
Dulles, Va. - The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that America
Online, which is expected to merge with Time Warner before the end of the
year, has also confirmed that it will launch a music subscription service.
The company said only that it is "actively working to put together a
service that will take online music to mainstream consumers,"
according to
the article. The AOL service would most likely feature music from Warner
Music.
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o In Midst Of Restructuring, President and COO of NBC Internet Resigns
San Francisco -- In the midst of a restructuring that will likely lead to
numerous layoffs, NBC Internet (NBCi) has confirmed that its president and
chief operating officer, Edmond Sanctis, will resign his posts. The
company said that Sanctis will not be replaced. "Edmond has done a
terrific job for NBCi, having spearheaded the former Snap.com's rise from
55 on the Media Metrix charts to become a top-tier portal that served as
the centerpiece of our newly-launched NBCi.com," said Will Lansing,
chief
executive officer of NBCi. "We wish him well in his future
endeavors."
CNET confirmed from Lansing that NBCi is also planning a restructuring
effort, which will reduce its staff to 600, down from 950 at its peak last
summer.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/001020/ca_nbc_int.html
http://news.cnet.com/news//0-1005-200-3249224.html
http://www.nbci.com
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o Interactive Media Developer Inpix Raises $1.7 Million
Montreal -- Inpix Media, a developer of interactive media content for the
Internet and interactive television, has raised $1.7 million in its first
round of venture funding. Canadian venture firm Investissement Desjardins
led the round. Montreal-based Inpix Media produces multimedia content such
as video on demand for web sites and interactive television. The company
said it will use the funds for marketing and product development.
http://www.desjardins.com/www/fr/sa_part.nsf/cle_unique_web/Document2000101918433230833
http://www.inpixmedia.com
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o Sprint PCS To Offer Games To Web-Enabled Cell Subscribers
Kansas City, Mo. -- Sprint PCS announced on Monday a number of
partnerships with video game companies to offer wireless games to its
web-enabled cell phone subscribers. Targeted at teens, the wireless games
will come from game developers including Boxerjam, FunCaster.com, Froghop
Inc., indiqu, Jamdat MOBILE, MysteryNet, and nGame Limited. LA-based
Jamdat Mobile will launch what is being called the first multiplayer
wireless game to U.S. subscribers, allowing users to play one another in
real-time over the wireless network.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/001023/mo_sprint_.html
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/001023/mo_sprint__3.html
http://www.sprintpcs.com
http://www.jamdat.com
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o Briefly Noted:
(San Francisco) Alchemedia, a provider of content protection technology
for visual content, announced on Monday a partnership with DigiMarc, a
developer of digital watermarking technology. San Francisco-based
Alchemedia's technology prevents Napster-like file sharing through the
prevention of copying, printing and screen capturing of online images.
Under the deal, DigiMarc will embed its invisible digital watermarks,
which can be used to authenticate a work's copyright, into works protected
by Alchemedia technology.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/001023/ca_alcheme.html
http://www.alchemedia.com
http://www.digimarc.com
(Chicago) The Jenny Jones Show announced on Monday a partnership with IUMA
(Internet Underground Music Archive), a site that helps promote unsigned
musical acts. The program will feature live performances by IUMA artists
in segments called "IUMA Cyberjams." The bands will also be
featured on
the Jenny Jones web site.
http://www.jennyjones.com
http://www.iuma.com
(Mountain View, Calif.) Pinnacle Systems, a developer of streaming video
technology, announced on Monday that RealNetworks will use its
StreamFactory technology to encode streaming video content for the web.
Mountain View-based Pinnacle said that signals received via satellite from
RealNetworks' Real Broadcast Network will be encoded for the web, then
sent out to users.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/001023/ca_pinnacl.html
http://www.pinnaclesys.com
http://www.realnetworks.com
(New York) Guinness World Records announced on Monday the launch of its
multimedia web site, guinnessworldrecords.com. The site includes a
database of world record holders and video and audio clips, as well as
downloadable record guidelines for potential record breakers.
http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com
(Redwood City, Calif.) Liquid Audio, a provider of digital music encoding
and distribution, announced on Monday a partnership with Avex, a Japanese
recording company. Under the deal, Redwood City-based Liquid Audio will
provide encoding, distribution and digital rights management for Avex's
catalog of music.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/001023/ca_liquid_.html
http://www.liquidaudio.com
http://www.avex.com
(Atlanta) iHigh.com, a network of sites that provide local high school
sports coverage, announced on Monday that it will provide content to
FoxSports.com. Under the deal, Kentucky-based iHigh.com will provide high
school sports news and statistics to FoxStudentSports.com.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/001023/ga_bull_ru.html
http://www.foxstudentsports.com
http://www.ihigh.com
(Boca Raton, Fl.) Hollywood.com, a network of entertainment sites for film
and theatergoers, announced on Monday a business-to-business, live event
information syndication service. ConcertSource will provide local listings
of concerts and music-related events for both large and small events to
businesses' web sites in 60 U.S. markets.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/001023/fl_hollywo.html
http://www.hollywood.com
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