Fuji TV sues Livedoor for $292 million
March 26, 2007
By YURI KAGEYAMA, AP Business WriterMon Mar 26, 8:51 AM ET
The Japanese broadcaster Fuji TV sued former dot-com luminary Livedoor on Monday for $292 million in damages over losses it absorbed after buying a stake in the since disgraced Internet portal company.
The lawsuit, filed by Fuji Television Network Inc. in Tokyo District Court, seeks compensation for the loss in value of nearly 134 million Livedoor shares the Tokyo-based broadcaster bought in 2005 for 44 billion yen ($373 million) as part of an alliance.
Fuji took a substantial loss when it later sold the shares to Livedoor’s new partner, Usen Corp., for about 9.5 billion yen ($80.5 million).
Livedoor Co. shares plunged after the company was raided by prosecutors last year, its top executives were arrested on charges of securities laws violations, including falsifying earnings, and the shares were delisted.
A new tool to meter usage of mobile phone content could help kick-start the market for mobile advertising.
March 26, 2007
This should read as an ominous warning…
ohn Blau, IDG News Service
MeterDirect, launched Monday by M:Metrics Inc., is an “on-device” service that measures how smartphone owners use mobile content such as games, videos and music, providing useful information for advertisers to plan media strategies.
The service, targeted at advertisers, mobile phone operators and others, “gives a much more granular look at mobile content consumption, similar to what media buyers and planners expect in the Internet,” said Paul Goode with M:Metrics.
As part of the service, a select number of smartphone users agree to download the MeterDirect application to their phones and allow the software to track how they use mobile browsing, messaging, multimedia and general applications such as games.
The application records, for instance, what Web pages are clicked, how many text messages are sent and received and which games are played. The data is retrieved at the end of each day.
The service will be initially available in the U.S. and the U.K., where 1,100 smart phone users have agreed to download the software.
M:Metrics plans to extend the service to Germany, France, Spain and Italy later this year. The goal is to have about 1,000 people using the application in each market.
Helio announces new “Ocean” phone
March 26, 2007
Mobility By Mark Raby Monday, March 26, 2007 09:14 Los Angeles (CA) - Helio today announced its latest cell phone, which it claims is the world’s first to include both a Qwerty keyboard and a numeric keypad. The phone, named the Helio Ocean, uses 3G cellular technology for wireless entertainment and communication. It has a 2.4 inch, 260K color QVGA screen, a 2 megapixel digital camera, and playback capabilities fr MP3, AAC, WMA, and MPEG4. It comes with an internal memory of 200 MB and a micro SD card slot, which allows for up to 2 GB of additional storage. In another rarity for a phone, the Ocean also has a built-in USB port for transfer of music and video files directly from a computer. It also has advanced e-mail and messaging features, including a universal hub for six different e-mail programs (Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail, Gmail, Earthlink, and Helio’s proprietary e-mail application), as well as support for all major IM programs. The Ocean can also alert users about when their friends are online, regardless of the instant messenger being used. The Ocean is set for release later this spring and will carry a suggested retail price of $295.
Researchers say racing games may cause more accidents and more road rage
March 19, 2007
Tuan Nguyen - March 19, 2007 4:39 AM
Several days ago, DailyTech reported that researchers at Britain’s BSM driving institution conducted a study that revealed gamers who play driving games tend to drive faster in real life.
A new study by researchers at the Allianz Center for Technology in Germany and researchers at Munich’s Ludwig-Maximilians University now say that racing video games could be a contributing factor to people’s bad driving habits such as competitive behavior, recklessness and performing risky maneuvers. According to the report, people who play these games and drive cars are more likely to drive recklessly and get into accidents than people who don’t play racing games.
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High-tech slots could transform gambling
March 19, 2007
By RACHEL KONRAD, AP Technology Writer Sun Mar 18, 10:07 PM ET
REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. - Engineers at PureDepth Inc. spent years developing tools for helping the military plot 3-D maps of war zones, eventually licensing top-secret technology to the U.S. Air Force and Navy.
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But the Silicon Valley startup hit the jackpot in October when it inked a deal with International Game Technology Inc., the world’s largest maker of slot machines.
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“The LCD vs. plasma debate is over,”
March 19, 2007
claimed Sony Australia deputy managing director Carl Rose in a January press release based on figures from market research group GfK. “Consumers and retailers alike are showing their increased understanding of which technology is best for a future that’s in high definition.”
In claiming victory for LCD, Rose conveniently forgot to mention that Sony abandoned the plasma market last year.
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And speaking of Skype…
March 15, 2007
Skype to connect buyers with sellers
By David Meyer
Special to CNET News.com
Published: March 15, 2007, 9:23 AM PDT
The latest software from the Luxembourg-based Internet telephony specialist, acquired by the online-auction king in 2005, enables users to offer services over the company’s Internet voice and video network.
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Vodafone shows Internet calling on cellphones
March 15, 2007
HANOVER, Germany (Reuters) - Vodafone, the world’s most international cellphone carrier with over 200 million subscribers, showed Internet-calling for cellphones with Skype, which it said it may launch in the future.
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Google to adopt new privacy measures
March 15, 2007
SAN FRANCISCO - Google Inc. is adopting new privacy measures to make it more difficult to connect online search requests with the people making them — a move it believes could prevent showdowns with the government over the often sensitive data. Reports MICHAEL LIEDTKE, of AP.
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