Shazam, the technology that lets people use their mobile phones to learn the names of catchy songs, has raised $32 million in funding to bolster expansion plans including a TV service. The new funding, led by venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Institutional Venture Partners, will allow Shazam to double its 100-person […]
The BBC has revealed it is testing HD adaptive streaming for connected devices. Andy Armstrong Technical Architect for Programmes and On Demand says in a blog that adaptive bit rate HTTP streaming may be the candidate technology that supports this aim. The test is using Wimbledon feeds and the BBC will be using Adobe HTTP […]
Croatian fixed-line operator Voljatel has acquired two local cable TV operators and is eyeing a third. The two operators in question are Kerman and Antena JD and negotiations are underway for the acquisition of another cable operator in Sibenik, according to Voljatel CEO, Boris Levenski. Financial details of the deals were not disclosed. Voljatel, which […]
Rovi and LG Electronics have signed multi-year licencing agreements that expand their relationship and provide further integration of DivX technology into a wider range of consumer electronics devices. LG’s latest agreements support its plans to continue to promote the technology on devices beyond Blu-ray Disc players, to ultimately include HDTVs, in-car players, set-top boxes, tablets […]
US investment house Criterion Capital Partners, the firm that bought Bebo from AOL exactly a year ago, is now looking to snap up another distressed media asset in Arqiva’s SeeSaw. The buy will save SeeSaw, the failed reinvention of the failed BBC/ITV/C4 Kangaroo project, from closure. No other buyers were found following a strategic review […]
Panasonic expects to see a 59 per cent drop in profits this year as a direct result of the March earthquake and tsunami. Net income, says Panasonic’s guidance, will probably drop to Yen 30 billion ($374m) in the upcoming year to March 2012. There has been a small upside to the catastrophe in that Japan’s […]
Com Hem the Swedish cableco has acquired the cable and IPTV operations of Canal Digital Cable TV for SEK85 million (€9.3 million). The operator is subsidiary of Canal Digital Sweden and has 220,000 subscribers. Com Hem plans to merge the cable network into its own and resell the IPTV business, which has 22,000 customers, to […]
Ireland’s state broadcaster, RTÉ, has announced a redundancy scheme in order to cut a minimum of 70 jobs and save €5 million a year. RTÉ, which is funded partly by licence fee and partly by advertising, said the job cuts were essential in light of a €30 million deficit facing the station this year. The […]
DVR software specialist SageTV has revealed on its website that it has been acquired by Google. The likelihood is that Google will add SageTV’s TiVo-like recording capability to GoogleTV and the Google cloud. “We’re thrilled to announce that SageTV has been acquired by Google,” said the statement. “Since 2002, we’ve worked to change the TV […]
Polish DTH operator Cyfrowy Polsat is facing a changeover of shareholders. Two existing major stakeholders, Zygmunt Solorz-Zak and Hieronim Ruta, are seeking to reduce their holdings, although Solorz-Zak is planning to remain as the platform’s major shareholder. The news emerged in a formal Polish stock-exchange filing. Solorz-Zak would be satisfied with the current share price […]