Archive for March 14th, 2007
Paul Kapustka
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Wednesday, March 14, 2007 |
5:00 PM PT |
With its business still recording losses and saddled with debt, you would think that Internet backbone provider Level 3 would be trying to keep as many customers as it can. That’s why the company’s decision to pull the plug on a small Pennsylvania ISP is puzzling, especially since the ISP heatedly disputes Level 3’s claims of acceptable-use violations.
Is it just a case of he said-she said between Level 3 and (no pun intended) Said, Inc. (owners of ISP Saidcom), or is it the sign of a bigger strategy inside Level 3 to cut costs by lopping off the least-productive customers of some of its recent acquisitions?
Whatever the case, the real losers so far have been the Pennridge, Pa., school district and several hundred area businesses and residents, who have been without Internet service since Level 3 cut it off abruptly on Feb. 22.
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Om Malik
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Wednesday, March 14, 2007 |
1:25 PM PT |
Om Malik
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Wednesday, March 14, 2007 |
12:00 PM PT |
Thank You For Suing! Viacom has just rung the opening bell on a bull market in the video fingerprinting technology start-ups. Not a day goes by when we hear about some tiny tot making claims that they can catch nefarious videos in the act, and help save the YouTubes of the world from legal action.
This hot-button topic is only going to attract more and more players. Yesterday MotionDSP launched its offering (we have seen it - it actually works) joining the long list of names: Attributor ($10 million in funding from the likes of Sigma Partners, Selby Venture Partners, Draper Richards, First Round Capital and Amicus Capital), Audible Magic, Philips and iPharro. Who are we missing?
Where were all these guys, Chad and Steve must be asking themselves, when we really needed them! Does anyone else feel that they are like spam/virus protection companies: you can’t really tell if the technology works or not?
Om Malik
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Wednesday, March 14, 2007 |
11:23 AM PT |
- WebWorkerDaily: Sitting for too long can be injurious to your health
- GigaGamez: Microsoft to cut prices on XBox 360?
- NewTeeVee: NBC, now streaming full length videos
- NewTeeVee: Old (Print) Media no stranger to video
- NewTeeVee: 10 cool YouTube Mash-Ups
Katie Fehrenbacher
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Wednesday, March 14, 2007 |
10:13 AM PT |
Wondering where the world’s largest artichoke is? Not really (it’s 78.5 miles from me). What about the closest brewery? Well, that’s a little closer to the mark and only 3 miles away. You can find a dozen purely novel and occasionally useful mobile location based services like these from a new mobile GPS-based application called WHERE from startup uLocate.
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Katie Fehrenbacher
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Wednesday, March 14, 2007 |
9:17 AM PT |
Nokia will build Sprint Nextel’s WiMAX network in Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin and San
Antonio, Texas. Sprint is aiming to start WiMAX service in these markets in the first half of 2008. Yee-haw.
Om Malik
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Wednesday, March 14, 2007 |
9:12 AM PT |
Microsoft just sent out a press advisory confirming that it is buying TellMe Networks. More details to follow after the press conference which begins in a few minutes. But here are some nuggets which our sources have sent our way:
1. The price is over $800 million but below a billion dollars. Microsoft and Tellme are not disclosing financial details.
2. While Microsoft has been trying to position Microsoft Business Division President Jeff Raikes as the guy who took the lead on this deal, the truth is that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was personally handling this deal. I have confirmed this with two people.
3. Mobile search is the impetus behind this deal, but TellMe is making over $100 million a year from selling automated call-center services to large companies like FedEx.
4. TellMe is going to become an independently run subsidiary of Microsoft.
5. Mike McCue and other senior executives are going to stay with the company. McCue worked at Netscape. Microsoft destroyed Netscape, and now Steve and Bill are making amends, it seems ;-)
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Om Malik
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Wednesday, March 14, 2007 |
8:00 AM PT |
GBrowser, the mythical Google may actually materialize sometime in the distant future, but for now Birmingham, UK-based Glaxstar is building its own GBrowser (as their website tantalizes, “The G****le Web is coming!!”) that hopes to make the web a safer place for the kids under the ages of 12 and bring some much-needed sanity to their parents.
Glaxstar is the brainchild of Ian Hayward, father of three, who wanted to build a safe web experience for his own kids, keeping them away from all the nefarious stuff on the Internet, but without complex software installs, or spending hours on tech-support. Since Glaxstar did custom development around Firefox for clients, he decided perhaps the best way to achieve this simple security was to write a special plugin for Firefox, that is remote controlled by the parents.
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Om Malik
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Wednesday, March 14, 2007 |
6:30 AM PT |
Last week we reported on the web giants Google, Yahoo and eBay setting aside their differences and joining forces with satellite television providers, demanding that they should have some say in what the FCC does with the 700 MHz spectrum.
The spectrum, currently owned by broadcasters, has been used for analog television. But it is set to be turned over to the government in 2009. Due to its broadcast-attractive physics (like its ability to penetrate walls), this spectrum is desirable for both broadband communications in general and public-safety uses in particular.
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