Wireless Federation

Yahoo! and RealNetworks’s digital music service Rhapsody America and Viacom’s MTV Networks unveiled a broad strategic relationship in digital music. Rhapsody will be the exclusive on-demand music service for Yahoo!, replacing Yahoo! Music Unlimited. Yahoo! and Rhapsody also intend to collaborate on other digital music services such as music downloads. The partnership introduces Rhapsody’s subscription music service to the largest online music audience through Yahoo! Music. In the coming months, Yahoo! Music Unlimited subscribers will be migrated to Rhapsody’s digital music service through a simple process that will convert Yahoo! Music Unlimited subscribers’ music libraries to Rhapsody. Current Yahoo! Music subscribers will have the opportunity to maintain their existing pricing tiers for a limited time period after migration to the Rhapsody service. Additional details will be communicated to Yahoo! Music subscribers closer to the date when account migration begins. The partnership coincides with an announcement by Yahoo! that it has acquired FoxyTunes, the company that developed a toolbar plug-in that enables users to control more than 30 desktop and web-based music players. Rhapsody delivers five million songs a day to music lovers through more consumer touch points than any other service.

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The cash will allow PlayPhone to expand into international markets this year and build on its existing business. The company currently runs its own-branded D2C site and powers mobile destinations for brands including Sega, ABC, Bandai, Lycos and RealNetworks.

“PlayPhone’s D2C distribution model has established a new standard in the mobile entertainment industry during the past year,� said Ron Czerny, CEO of PlayPhone. “We have emerged as a clear and dominant force in mobile media and we look forward to expanding our business internationally and introducing exciting new services with leading entertainment brands.�

PlayPhone also announced that Sharon Wienbar, MD at Scale Venture Partners, has joined its board of directors.

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Broadcastbuyer writes…RealNetworks Inc., is powering the delivery of the first TelecomTV interactive mobile TV service to industry delegates at 3GSM, the world’s largest telecoms conference.

Offering a choice of live, archive and interactive on-demand programming, TelecomTV mobile brings TelecomTV’s must-see content to mobile devices wherever and whenever telecoms executives need it, powered by Real.

TelecomTV is the official event TV partner to the 3GSM World Congress 2007, and will broadcast its 3GSM TV service to congress delegates on large screens at the Fira Barcelona, online, and on mobile devices. The TelecomTV Mobile service broadcast from Barcelona will feature live TV channels, on-demand industry video footage, an interactive conference guide and congress news as it unfolds.

To provision the interactive mobile TV service for TelecomTV, Real has partnered with weComm, a leader in interactive mobile data solutions, to embed its RealPlayer into a weComm client application that drives an interactive user experience. TelecomTV’s 3GSMTV service is streamed over a 3G network through Real’s Helix Media Delivery System to the weComm client on the device which then uses RealPlayer to playback the content.

Intuitive and easy to use, the TelecomTV client application not only provides interactive ‘now and next’ channel information and one-click fast channel switching, but sections for archived video-on-demand, dynamically pushed news stories and an interactive 3GSM show guide which provides an EPG (Electronic Programme Guide) grid-style view of the entire conference agenda with detailed session information and full search capability.

As part of 3GSMTV’s video-on-demand offering, TelecomTV will also deliver a diverse range of content from the 3GSM Awards and panel discussions featuring the industry’s top executives, to features on the latest wireless technology and content creation.

Alongside TelecomTV’s routine channel line-up, which includes ‘Executive Insight’, ‘The Main Agenda’ and ‘Telecoms Insider’, the dedicated text news section will push headlines dynamically to users allowing them to submit comments to TelecomTV’s editors or to forward clips to colleagues using integrated MMS. The application also supports on-screen interactive banner advertising within TelecomTV mobile. 

Richard Baker, GM for Technology, Products and Solutions EMEA at RealNetworks said, “Extending the TelecomTV business intelligence brand beyond the PC and into the mobile domain is a perfect strategic fit with Real’s increased focus on mobile entertainment solutions. We have emulated the set-top-box experience on a range of mobile handsets while making the technology totally transparent to the user. People will find it refreshingly easy to navigate between news stories, programmes and interactive VOD components. The result is a compelling TV experience.”

3GSM attendees with compatible handsets interested in registering for the service can do so either at the TelecomTV stand at 3GSM or via the TelecomTV website. The service can be delivered over any 3G-enabled network which means that audiences can access the 3GSM TV service remotely without needing to be physically present at the event.

“RealNetworks’ expertise in enabling content-rich mobile TV means that we can deliver TelecomTV content straight into the pockets of the industry’s decision-makers on the show floor,” said Sean Carr, Managing Director, TelecomTV. “TelecomTV understands that time will be at a premium at 3GSM World Congress 2007, and so we have made it easy to view developments as they happen using the first edition of TelecomTV Mobile. This industry is so dynamic that mobile is becoming the content delivery channel of choice, and we fully expect this new service to expand as more executives experience its convenience.”

TelecomTV is the world’s first entirely Web-based TV channel that provides video streaming, live Webcasting and interactive media services to the global ICT sector. TelecomTV is viewed every day by 30,000 decision makers who rely on up-to-the-minute news, analysis, and interviews with industry thought leaders to make their strategic business decisions.

TelecomTV is the official WebTV provider to the industry’s most important events, with leading associations including the GSMA, the ITU, the TeleManagement Forum, the IEC and IBC. In association with the GSMA, TelecomTV will be reporting live from 3GSM World Congress 2007 in Barcelona broadcasting 3GSM TV on large screens at the venue, online worldwide, and on the mobile.

Since its first broadcast in 2000, TelecomTV has interviewed influential industry leaders such as Sir Richard Branson, Chairman of Virgin Group, and Stelios Haji-Ioannou, Founder of EasyGroup.

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