Roundup: Microsoft’s team-up with Verizon, Wolfram/Alpha’s demo, and more

Roundup: Microsoft’s team-up with Verizon, Wolfram/Alpha’s demo, and more

Here’s the latest action:

Are Microsoft and Verizon teaming up on an iPhone rival? — That partnership may be the real source of rumors about negotiations between Verizon and Apple, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Stephen Wolfram demos Wolfram/Alpha search engine — Larry Dignan of ZDNet says the… Continue Reading

DRM close to extinction on iTunes?

DRM close to extinction on iTunes?

One of my key predictions for 2009 was that Apple’s iTunes store would go DRM-free. There are always a lot of Apple rumors out there, but I was so confident in this one that I actually made the prediction twice. It turns out that may… Continue Reading

SanDisk and record companies launch slotMusic, or albums on flash cards

SanDisk and record companies launch slotMusic, or albums on flash cards

SanDisk and the record companies are launching a new music format today dubbed slotMusic. The company hopes music companies will publish entire albums on SanDisk flash memory cards that are smaller than a postage stamp and are expected to replace the music CD.

In an age… Continue Reading

Roundup: Tidbits on Jangl’s demise, Virgin considers Helio hookup, VCs looking overseas, and more

Roundup: Tidbits on Jangl’s demise, Virgin considers Helio hookup, VCs looking overseas, and more

updated

The back-story on Jangl’s slow death — Yesterday, we reported on Jangl’s asset sale process. A tipster tells us that Seattle-based WhitePages had offered to buy Internet phone company Jangl for $20 million, but then kept the company in diligence for more than a month and… Continue Reading

MySpace Music days away from an assault on iTunes

MySpace Music days away from an assault on iTunes

Social networking site MySpace and music have worked well together in the past. New bands got recognition, popular bands gained new fans. Now MySpace is looking to extend that relationship by launching a full-scale music store. This launch will be happening sometime within the next… Continue Reading

Roundup: Warner CEO changes online music stance, engineers become scarcer, and more

Roundup: Warner CEO changes online music stance, engineers become scarcer, and more

Here’s the latest action:
1) Warner CEO praises Apple, DRM-free music
2) VMWare is after your engineer blood
3) Berners-Lee warns of walled gardens
4) Microsoft completes $47M acquisition
5) Another VC speaks in favor of taxing himself
6) Joost rolls out new ads
7) Billeo raises $7M for easy payment

Warner Music… Continue Reading

Roundup: CNET sells Webshots, Comcast not alone, fundings and more

Roundup: CNET sells Webshots, Comcast not alone, fundings and more

Here’s the day’s action:
1) CNET sells its photo-sharing site Webshots at loss, may be ready to try again
2) Comcast isn’t the only ISP manipulating traffic
3) Apple may lose Warner Music, too
4) Yahoo’s Cammie Dunaway goes to Nintendo
5) Trusted Opinion, social recommendations, raises $1.3 million
6) JackBe,… Continue Reading

Sony and Warner take mobile music to Asia

Sony BMG and Warner Music are working with Seattle-based Melodeo to take mobile music downloads to cell phones in Asia.

Here is the full statement. John Cook has more here.

Sony BMG Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group are tossing their weight behind Access China Media… Continue Reading

Video is hot — YouTube vs. Soapbox and Everyone else

Video is hot — YouTube vs. Soapbox and Everyone else

YouTube, the two-year-old San Mateo start-up that raced ahead to become the leader of online video sharing, is facing the fight of its life.

Microsoft’s launch of its YouTube clone, called the Soapbox, made official today — see announcement with an offering of a way… Continue Reading

YouTube’s big break? Warner Music signs deal

YouTube’s big break? Warner Music signs deal

Warner Music has agreed to make its library of music videos available to YouTube, and to license its songs to the millions of users who upload their videos to the site.

This could be a huge deal for the San Mateo video sharing start-up. It is… Continue Reading