Tuesday, June 27, 2006Neopets.com Goes MobileMTV's Los Angeles-based Neopets.com division launched a new, mobile version of the company's popular service today with Cingular Wireless, bringing the Neopets characters and activities to wireless phones. The new service, which went live today, allows members to interact, feed, and connect with their Neopet character. Neopets is a popular youth service that allows users to interact with their pets, play games, and buy and sell items. The new mobile service connects directly to existing account (More info...)
posted on Tuesday, June 27, 2006(Full story)
Online Service Providers Fight Child PornA coalition of online service providers, including Woodland Hills-based United Online, AOL, Yahoo, Microsoft, and Earthlink, are teaming up in a new effort to fight child pornography. The coalition announced this morning that they are teaming with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) to fund new technology to identify known images of child exploitation. The new, one million dollar effort will establish a central clearinghouse for known images of child pornography, which w (More info...)
posted on Tuesday, June 27, 2006(Full story)
Interview with Rafat Ali, ContentNext
I had the chance to speak yesterday to Rafat Ali, founder of ContentNext (www.contentnext.com), a company that just received a round of venture capital funding from GreyCroft Partners, a new VC fund headed by Alan Patricof. Santa Monica-based ContentNext operates paidContent.org, MocoNews, and ContentSutra, three online news sites covering aspects of the media and content business. Rafat started paidContent as his own personal blog, and I thought it would be interesting to hear the story (More info...)
posted on Tuesday, June 27, 2006(Full story)
Report: Southern California Tech Jobs Nearly Match Silicon ValleyThe AeA, a trade organization for the high tech industry has released its latest California Cybercities report today, finding that Southern California's tech industry is nearly as large as Northern California's. The report finds that Northern California employs 439,000 technology workers, versus 418,000 high tech workers in Southern California. The report, which reviews the high-tech industry statewide, found that while San Jose/Silicon Valley continues to remain the state's largest technology h (More info...)
posted on Tuesday, June 27, 2006(Full story)
Napster Upgrades Digital Music Service, Adds 1G MP3 PlayerLos Angeles-based Napster has upgraded its digital music service, announcing this morning that its latest version adds the ability to synchronize its subscription music content with MP3 players. The new feature automatically synchronizes subscribers MP3 players with Napster's music library when the MP3 player is docked to a computer. The company also has rolled out a new Napster-branded MP3 player, featuring 1GB flash and support for both WMA and MP3 files. That player will be available to subsc (More info...)
posted on Tuesday, June 27, 2006(Full story)
Warner Licenses Content To Online Video ServiceWarner Bros. Entertainment has licensed its content to the popular online video site GUBA, adding yet another online outlet for the studio's content. GUBA said yesterday that it has licensed more than 200 movie releases plus television shows from Warner for users to either rent or buy. The content will be DRM protected, and available for rental at $1.99 per movie, with purchase of catalog movies at $9.99 and new releases at $19.99. GUBA also said that television titles will start at $1.79 per ep (More info...)
posted on Tuesday, June 27, 2006(Full story)
Streamload Adds Backup, File SynchronizationSan Diego-based Streamload, a provider of online digital media storage, has added new file backup and file synchronization features to the company's service. The company said this week that it has upgraded its Streamload MediaMax tool to now handle regular backups of files and folders to the firm's service, and synchronize files across computers. Streamload said that the new feature also allows friends and family to synchronize their computer folders with the service, making it easier for users (More info...)
posted on Tuesday, June 27, 2006(Full story)
Broadcom Adds RFID, Targets BiometricsBroadcom has launched a new processor that integrates radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, targeting the biometrics industry. The company's new processor is designed to secure personal authentication transactions. Broadcom said that its BCM5890 secure processor includes features that prevent tampering or theft of the software and security keys on the processor. The company said that new processor is being shipped in conjunction with a development platform for creating authentication (More info...)
posted on Tuesday, June 27, 2006(Full story)