CBS Corporation Announces the Creation of the CBS Interactive Audience Network

New Deals Signed with AOL, Microsoft, CNET Networks, Comcast, Joost, Bebo, Brightcove, Netvibes, Sling Media and Veoh, Solidify CBS's Position as the Most Widely Distributed Professional Content Provider Online

NEW YORK, April 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS) announced today the creation of the CBS Interactive Audience Network which will initially include new content deals with a host of online distributors including AOL, Microsoft, CNET Networks, Comcast, Joost, Bebo, Brightcove, Netvibes, Sling Media and Veoh. The agreements, building on the Company's existing arrangements, solidify CBS's position as the most widely distributed professional content provider on the Web.

All content will be advertiser supported and free to the consumer. CBS will begin selling the CBS Interactive Audience Network in the coming weeks, including the upcoming Upfront marketplace. Advertising revenue will be shared between CBS and its partners. All content will be available domestically with select clips and full-length sports programming distributed worldwide.

"Today marks an important step in our strategy to distribute content broadly across the online interactive landscape on an open, non-exclusive basis," said Leslie Moonves, President and Chief Executive Officer, CBS Corporation. "Each of these partners offers value to our audience and our advertisers, who can now come to CBS not only for the most watched network on television, but for the most widely distributed professional content online."

"CBS's ability to partner with leading next-generation interactive platforms is the best way for CBS to evolve from a content company to an audience company," said Quincy Smith, President, CBS Interactive. "It's really all about the user and in building the CBS Interactive Audience Network, we are bringing our content to each unique platform of their choice. In remaining open to all online distributors and community builders - big and small - we can learn more about our existing audience, be exposed to new ones, and flexibly cater to their changing consumption habits."

A rotating list within a specified viewing timeframe of programming from entertainment, news and sports will be offered including CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTI-GATION, LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN, SURVIVOR, SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING, CSTV GAME OF THE WEEK, CBS EVENING NEWS WITH KATIE COURIC, among others, including classic programming from the vast library of CBS Television Distribution.

CBS has previously entered into existing and ongoing content distribution arrangements with Yahoo!, Apple iTunes, Microsoft's Xbox, Amazon UnBox and many others.

Mirroring the online strategy, CBS Mobile also employs direct agreements with each of the three largest US wireless carriers - AT&T/Cingular, Verizon Wireless and Sprint - as well as leading next generation platforms such as Qualcomm MediaFLO.

"This is definitely a progressive approach to content distribution, not only due to its scope, but also because it allows consumers to share and engage with content," said Curt Hecht, chief digital officer at GM Planworks and a leading digital expert across Starcom MediaVest Group, one of the world's largest media communications organizations and a division of Publicis. "By pushing beyond simple cable and satellite as distribution outlets, CBS is finding new ways to leverage the reach and scale of the portals, while also giving consumers the control they increasingly demand to share content. This is an exciting new business model and valuable to SMG as we pursue new and enduring consumer connections."

Rino Scanzoni, Chief Investment Officer with Group M, a leading global media investment management company under WPP, one of the world's largest communications services groups, added, "Our clients are looking for quality content to resonate their message and for maximum distribution to activate results. CBS will clearly achieve both these objectives, hands down."

Online partners included in the CBS Interactive Audience Network include: -- AOL - AOL is one of the largest Web networks in the United States and attracts more than 108 million unique visitors a month. "CBS produces some of the best shows on television, and has one of the richest libraries of classic programs anywhere, so their decision to make their content available on AOL is very exciting for consumers," said Kevin Conroy, Executive Vice President, AOL. "We are delighted to be a distribution partner for CBS. This will further increase the amount of high quality content available on Video.AOL.com and across our network of Web properties." -- Microsoft - CBS content will be available on MSN Video, one of the leading licensed content sites on the internet. MSN Video consumers will be able to search for, browse and play content from CBS as well as other MSN Video content partners in the MSN Video player, a seamless and easy-to-use experience. MSN Video streams hundreds of millions of videos every month, to an MSN worldwide audience that is over 460 million unique users monthly. "With one of the most popular programmed video services on the web, MSN video is the best place to go for access to all the best high quality, licensed video content in one place," said Kevin Johnson, President, Platforms and Services Division, Microsoft. "Our alliance with CBS will allow us to provide consumers an amazing array of video content in a safe and legal manner. The addition of CBS's most popular content is another great win for MSN customers, for our content partners at CBS, and for our advertising customers." -- CNET Networks, Inc. - TV.com, a popular brand in the CNET Networks (NASDAQ: CNET) portfolio and a leading content and community site for TV fans will create an interactive environment for the hit television franchise CSI where TV.com's audience can discuss the latest buzz around the show. "TV.com attracts today's most passionate and engaged TV fans by creating a community that enables viewers to deepen their bonds with their favorite shows and connect with other fans," said Neil Ashe, CEO, CNET Networks. "We have millions of people coming to the site each week to discuss CSI and create buzz about a show that they love. We're excited to work with CBS to feed our audience's desire for more content and interactivity for one of today's hottest television franchises." -- Comcast - CBS content will appear on Comcast's entertainment sites, including Comcast.net, the company's video-rich portal and Fancast, a new national entertainment site scheduled to launch this summer, where people will be able to search and discover television and movie content, while managing their viewing experience across multiple devices. Comcast is the nation's leading provider of cable, entertainment and communications products and services. -- Joost - Through Joost, the world's first broadcast-quality Internet television service, viewers can watch CBS programs through a customizable platform with advanced television viewing features such as links that lead to more information or related websites based on the content; and a variety of plug-in applications, such as instant messaging, message boards and news tickers. "Joost is a long-term solution for content owners seeking to expand their audiences in the online world. A state-of-the-art global distribution platform, Joost is the perfect place for CBS to offer its channels, brands and premium programming to online audiences," said Yvette Alberdingkthijm, executive vice president of content strategy and acquisition for Joost. "By working with Joost, CBS can get closer to its audiences while retaining maximum programming flexibility and control over its channels." -- Bebo - Bebo is a global social networking website which aims to bring together like-minded individuals who are creative, expressive and socially aware. Bebo has over 31 million members worldwide and is the largest social network in the U.K., Ireland and New Zealand and one of the top 3 social networks in the U.S., Canada and Australia. "Bebo is committed to providing the best environment for people to express themselves, discover their passions and communicate and collaborate with others", said Michael Birch, Co-founder and CEO, Bebo. "Bebo users spend more time on Bebo than on any other website and our partnership with CBS ensures that its favorite CBS content reaches this highly engaged audience." -- Brightcove - Brightcove will feature ad-supported CBS video channels on its popular consumer destination, Brightcove.com. Fans of hit CBS programs will be able to post comments and interact with other viewers, remix content through interactive editing tools, and share videos through personal channels on Brightcove.com. For long-form CBS content, Brightcove will also provide a full-screen theatre-mode viewing experience. "The CBS commitment to open and broad distribution across the Web marks another major milestone in the evolution of Internet TV," said Jeremy Allaire, chairman and chief executive officer, Brightcove. "We are thrilled CBS has chosen Brightcove.com to expand the distribution of award-winning news and entertainment programming. The partnership will bring our community exciting new opportunities to engage deeply with some of the most compelling shows on television today." -- Netvibes - Four CBS Universes will debut on the new Netvibes Universe Network, leveraging the power of Netvibes to distribute and provide personalized content to users. All CBS content will also be published across the Netvibes Ecosystem, the web's leading collection of user- generated feeds, modules, and personalized homepages. Starting Monday, CBS Universes will be available for: CBS News ( http://www.netvibes.com/cbsnews ), ShowBuzz ( http://www.netvibes.com/showbuzz ), CSTV ( http://www.netvibes.com/cstv ), and SportsLine ( http://www.netvibes.com/sportsline ). "Netvibes Universe makes it easy for everyone to collect, customize and share rich media content online, throughout over 150 countries and 80 languages. Anyone who visits the new CBS Universes can instantly access their favorite CBS shows, sports, and news feeds, and personalize it exactly the way they want it," said Netvibes Founder and CEO, Tariq Krim. -- Sling Media - Sling Media will distribute free, ad supported, full length as well as clip-based video content from CBS via Sling's forthcoming video destination and its enhanced SlingPlayer software, which will be launched for both Slingbox and non-Slingbox customers this summer. In addition, Sling Media plans to integrate the same CBS content into additional platforms including its forthcoming SlingCatcher. "We are excited to extend our business relationship with CBS by offering our current and future audiences access to great long form programming from CBS that covers the spectrum from drama and comedy to sports and news," said Jason Hirschhorn, president of the Sling Media Entertainment Group. "CBS is proving they are a leader in the digital media space by embracing new platforms for content distribution. The announcement is an example of true ubiquity as evidenced by the cast of both new and established partners. We are proud to be working with them on this endeavor." -- Veoh - CBS content will be made available to viewers on the Veoh Network through branded, customized channels on Veoh.com and the Veoh Player application. Utilizing Veoh's state-of-the-art peer-to-peer technology, CBS fans will be able to watch their favorite shows in a full-screen, DVD-quality format for a truly unique viewing experience that makes Veoh a leader in Internet Television. "We welcome CBS to our growing stable of media partners. CBS is one of the most respected entertainment brands in the business and we are excited to offer its vast and impressive catalog of high quality, entertaining and original programming to our viewers as part of the CBS Interactive Audience Network," said Dmitry Shapiro, CEO of Veoh Networks. "Veoh's large and growing audience and unique technology enable traditional media to expand their brands through increased audience distribution by enabling viewers to watch when and where they want."

CBS also announced that Akamai Technologies, Inc. will serve as the content delivery network to power the CBS Interactive Audience Network.

"Akamai is excited to extend its long-standing relationship with CBS by providing comprehensive media delivery and syndication technologies that will support CBS's new offerings for online viewers," said Robert Hughes, Executive Vice President of Global Sales, Services and Marketing, Akamai Technologies, Inc. "Syndicating thousands of digital assets online requires a solution that ensures business policies and rights associated with the content stay intact. By leveraging Akamai's advanced media delivery solutions, CBS is able to maintain control of their high-value media, while providing online consumers around the world with a consistently high-quality experience."

CBS Corporation is a mass media company with constituent parts that reach back to the beginnings of the broadcast industry, as well as newer businesses that operate on the leading edge of the media industry. The Company, through its many and varied operations, combines broad reach with well-positioned local businesses, all of which provide it with an extensive distribution network by which it serves audiences and advertisers in all 50 states and key international markets. It has operations in virtually every field of media and entertainment, including broadcast television (CBS and The CW - a joint venture between CBS Corporation and Warner Bros. Entertainment), cable television (Showtime and CSTV Networks), local television (CBS Television Stations), television production and syndication (CBS Paramount Network Television and CBS Television Distribution), radio (CBS Radio), advertising on out-of-home media (CBS Outdoor), publishing (Simon & Schuster), interactive media (CBS Interactive), music (CBS Records), licensing and merchandising (CBS Consumer Products), video/ DVD (CBS Home Entertainment) and motion pictures (CBS Feature Films). For more information, log on to http://www.cbscorporation.com/ .

Website: http://www.netvibes.com/
Website: http://www.cbscorporation.com/

Samsung Ultra Video SGH-F500 Mobile Phone Gets DivX Certification

DivX Inc. announced the DivX Certification of the Samsung Ultra Video (SGH-F500) mobile phone, which features an unrivaled design and brings a superior range of multimedia experiences to consumers including high-quality DivX video playback.

The SGH-F500 is the first mobile phone to achieve DivX Certification to ensure true interoperability between the device and the over 70 million DivX Certified consumer electronics devices in the world today.

A member of Samsung's Ultra Edition line of handsets, the SGH-F500 offers users the latest in video features with a large LCD that has a unique swivel design so video content can be watched optimally. In any viewing situation, the phone is said to offer unparalleled access to high-quality DivX movies on the go, either from the user's own collection, from DivX's own Stage 6 video Web site, or through other mobile content services.

"The addition of DivX Certification to the Samsung SGH-F500 mobile handset opens a broad ecosystem of digital media that can be taken on the road while preserving the kind of high-quality experience that video aficionados demand," said Kevin Hell, President of DivX Inc. "DivX is working to build a common digital media language that offers real interoperability across devices and platforms, and innovative devices like the Samsung Ultra SGH-F500 phone are an important piece of that ecosystem."

Products that bear the DivX Certified logo have undergone a rigorous testing program to ensure a high-quality DivX media experience, including reliable video creation and playback, interoperability with other DivX Certified devices and the visual quality users expect from DivX.

The DivX Certified Samsung Ultra Video SGH-F500 phone will be available later in 2007.

Huawei completes mobile WiMAX trials in Japan

Huawei Technologies has completed two trials of its mobile WiMAX platform in Japan. The trials were held for cable TV operator Reinan Cable Network and Beam Planning. Beam plans and designs regional information networks for municipal governments. The trials were carried out in cooperation with Fujikura, power and communication cables maker. The Huawei WiMAX platform uses technologies, such as MIMO and OFDMA, to ensure higher flux and comprehensive coverage. The trials are part of the u-JAPAN Plan, a Japanese government initiative to realise broadband coverage throughout Japan by 2010.

Out of the Gate: OpenTV up on ad deal

OpenTV Corp. shares gained ground in heavy early trading Tuesday after a Kaufman Bros. analyst said the company's technology will be key to a partnership between Google Inc. and EchoStar Communications Corp.

Google will sell and select some of the ads for Dish Network, EchoStar's satellite TV network using an automated formula to target them to a specific audience. Dish Network, the second-largest satellite TV network in the U.S., has 13.1 million subscribers.

Analyst Todd Mitchell called the deal "the beginning of the end of television advertising as we know it," and said OpenTV's Middleware will be necessary for future targeted advertising efforts. OpenTV's Middleware is the industry standard and its products will be necessary for targeted advertising, he said.

Mitchell said the San Francisco-based company already has ties to Google and EchoStar, which should enable the OpenTV to get involved in the ground-breaking deal.

Three of the five analysts reporting to Thomson Financial rate OpenTV shares at "Buy," with two rating the stock at "Neutral."

OpenTV shares gained 8 cents, or 3.2 percent, to $2.60 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

This will be the largest advertising platform on earth

NEWS Corporation and NBC Universal will launch a free online video site featuring full-length movies and television shows in a challenge to Google's YouTube.

The move underscores how serious a threat YouTube has become to media companies, which fear losing a new generation of viewers that are as likely to be found in front of computers as television screens.

Another media company, Viacom, last week sued Google for $US1 billion ($1.24 billion) over unauthorised use of its videos on YouTube.

While NBC and Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation (the parent company of News Limited, which is the publisher of NEWS.com.au) compete fiercely for television and movie audiences globally, their partnership shows the risks executives are willing to take to regain control over content as more consumers look to YouTube, or Apple's iTunes, for entertainment.

The two companies also enlisted three of Google's largest rivals - Yahoo, Microsoft and Time Warner's AOL - as distributors of the entertainment on their websites.

"This is a game changer for internet video," News chief operating officer Peter Chernin said in a statement.

"We'll have access to just about the entire US internet audience at launch. And for the first time, consumers will get what they want - professionally-produced video delivered on the sites where they live," he said.

The internet video market is key to the future of media and will be vast enough to accommodate competition, analysts said. But one missing element they noted is the ability for users to upload their own videos - a function that has made YouTube so popular with the younger audience.

"There's plenty of room for multiple players," said Richard Greenfield of Pali Capital. "It's still not clear how user-generated content is going to fit in and it's still not clear that all of these companies won't do a deal with Google over time," he said.

YouTube can still distinguish itself with its popular tools for users to share homemade, as well as professionally produced, material. "It's not actually going to take away from YouTube because it's as much about the social experience as the video. So YouTube is going to be fine," said James McQuivey, an analyst with Forrester Research.

While free to viewers, the site will be paid for by advertising and has already signed on marketers Cadbury Schweppes, Cisco Systems and General Motors.

NBC and News sought to woo additional media companies into its partnership, including Viacom and CBS, which are both controlled by Sumner Redstone, according to people familiar with the matter.

Viacom said it welcomed the new venture as a vehicle for spreading entertainment online while protecting copyright holders. CBS said it would continue to discuss the possibility of working with the venture, among other initiatives.

Google and YouTube representatives were not immediately available for comment.

Executives briefed on the project, the name of which has not been disclosed, say it will include its own site as well as allow partners to feature video on their individual websites.

The venture includes a new internet media player, which will be embedded on partner sites and carry branding of both, they said.

Advertising revenue is likely to be split between the site carrying the content and the company that produced the entertainment, though financial terms were also not released.

While the site will allow users to edit - or "mashup" - some video, it apparently does not have a component for uploading home-made videos.

NBC said separately that it will introduce social networking and video sharing functions to NBC.com, in what could be a challenge not only to YouTube but its new partner, News Corp's MySpace social network.

Time for a reminder on why Riverbed (RVBD) is a good Buy

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Riverbed Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq:RVBD), the performance leader in wide-area data services (WDS), announced today the results of its semi-annual customer survey conducted in March 2007; over 500 customers responded, representing 435 organizations. The results show that Riverbed’s customers are highly satisfied with Riverbed’s products and technical support. The results also reveal purchase motivations, with acceleration of applications selected by respondents as their primary motivation for purchasing Riverbed’s Steelhead® WDS appliances. Of the respondents who evaluated alternatives, more than 170, representing 130 organizations, chose Riverbed’s Steelhead appliances over Cisco’s WAAS offerings, and 155, representing 148 organizations, selected Riverbed’s Steelhead appliances over Juniper’s WX or WXC appliances.

Riverbed® conducts its customer survey twice annually. The survey looks at customer satisfaction with Riverbed’s products, technical support and professional services, customer purchase motivations, applications accelerated by Riverbed’s Steelhead appliances, other vendors considered in the purchase process and why customers chose Riverbed.

“Ease of integration and application performance are important buying criteria for organizations of all sizes who are considering WDS products,” said Zeus Kerravala, senior vice president of Enterprise Research at the Yankee Group. “Riverbed’s high customer satisfaction rate shows that the company delivers on its promise of speed, scale and simplicity.”

Customer satisfaction: 87% of the respondents gave Riverbed an overall company rating of eight or higher, on a scale of 1-10, while a full 41% of respondents gave Riverbed a perfect score of 10 out of 10. Product performance, hardware and software quality and management capabilities were all highly rated, with performance at 8.88. Riverbed’s technical support also received exceptional scores, with expertise of support engineers coming in at 8.75 out of 10.

Purchase motivations: Riverbed surveyed the customer base to track their primary and secondary purchase motivations. Nearly 80% of respondents purchased Riverbed’s Steelhead appliances to accelerate applications. The ability to reduce bandwidth costs, consolidate IT, and facilitate disaster recovery processes were also strong buying considerations. Over 70% of respondents selected IT consolidation as either a primary or secondary motivation for purchasing, while over 60% named disaster recovery as a primary or secondary motivation.

Other vendors considered: Customers who chose Riverbed, when they did consider products from other vendors, considered products from Cisco, Juniper Networks, and others.

Why Riverbed over the Competition: The top three reasons that respondents chose Riverbed over the competition were that the Steelhead appliances deliver faster and better performance, are easier to deploy and manage and offer broader support for application acceleration. Other considerations were pre-sales and support, range of features, scalability, product stability and Riverbed’s position as the market leader.

Applications Accelerated: The customers surveyed are accelerating a broad range of applications, with Windows File Sharing, Microsoft Exchange, Web-based applications (e.g., SharePoint, Web Front), MS-SQL back-end applications, custom applications, client/server business applications (e.g., Oracle, SAP), FTP, backup/replication (e.g., SnapMirror, DPM, DoubleTake), thin client, CAD and document management (e.g., Interwoven, Documentum) rounding out the list of top ten applications.

About Riverbed’s Steelhead Appliances

Riverbed’s WDS solutions enable organizations with more than one office to overcome a host of severe problems, including poor application performance and insufficient bandwidth at remote sites. By speeding the performance of applications between distributed sites by five to 50 times and in some cases up to 100 times between enterprise datacenters and remote offices, Riverbed’s award-winning Steelhead WDS appliances enable companies to consolidate IT, improve backup and replication processes to ensure data integrity, and improve staff productivity and collaboration. Steelhead appliances have been deployed in organizations ranging from the world’s largest corporations with offices around the globe to small companies with a couple of sites that are just miles apart. To learn more, view Riverbed’s demo: www.riverbed.com/pr/jack.

Very ,Very, Very Low flying Harrier Jump Jet!

The Da Vinci Code Virtual Tour

Take a full screen 360 Virtual Tour of the places & locations from Dan Browns fiction "The Da Vinci Code". Start HERE to begin this amazing tour!

OpenTV Launches on DishTV, India`s First and Fastest-Growing Satellite Service

SAN FRANCISCO, March 14 (ANTARA/PRNewswire-AsiaNet) --

Deployment Achieved in Record Time



OpenTV Corp. (Nasdaq: OPTV), a leading provider of enabling technologies for advanced television and cross-platform interactive services, today announced that it has successfully integrated and downloaded its Core2 software to over 1,400,000 set-top boxes for DishTV. DishTV, part of the Essel Group of companies, has launched advanced digital television services that include a new guide, interactive cricket, multi-angle interactive news, and a suite of games from OpenTV's PlayJam service. The integration and deployment of the software and services took less than four months, an industry record for a launch of this size.

The next phase of deployment will introduce further applications as well as a PVR built around OpenTV's PVR2 software. With over one million subscribers and an expected annual growth rate of 100% per year, Essel Group expects to deploy similar OpenTV-enabled services to a portion of its Siticable customer base, India's largest at approximately 6.5 million subscribers, as Sitibase converts its cable systems from analog to digital. Conax conditional access is used by DishTV.

According to Mike Ivanchenko, Senior Vice President & Managing Director, Asia Pacific, at OpenTV, "We're delighted with the speed with which our team was able to launch DishTV services. The Indian market is a huge opportunity for OpenTV, and being able to serve a vast and growing number of subscribers quickly and without technical problems is imperative in order to be successful. With analysts projecting a compound annual growth rate of 10% for the Indian pay TV market, we expect to see 70 million digital subscriber households by the year 2010, and OpenTV is well-positioned to be able to meet their needs for advanced digital television services."

"Working with OpenTV has resulted in a mutually beneficial partnership that has dramatically accelerated the growth of digital television in India," said Jawahar Goel, Additional Vice Chairman of Essel Group. "The basic boxes we have deployed are perfectly suited to the Indian market, but difficult to deploy. OpenTV's speed in launching with these boxes will enable subscribers to immediately take advantage of 'enhanced cricket' and other interactive services for which viewers have been clamoring."

About Open TV
OpenTV is one of the world's leading providers of solutions for the delivery of digital and interactive television. The company's software has been integrated in over 81 million digital set-top boxes and digital televisions around the world. The software enables enhanced program guides, video-on-demand, personal video recording, enhanced television, interactive shopping, interactive and addressable advertising, games and gaming and a variety of consumer care and communication applications. For more information, please visit www.opentv.com.

About Essel Group
Essel Group has a vast range of national and global business interests that include media programming, broadcasting and distribution, packaging, entertainment, online gaming, and telecom.

Essel Group has always been a pioneer-Zee TV was the first Indian satellite channel, Siticable the first MSO, Esselworld the first theme park, Playwin the first online lottery, Essel Propack the world's number one in packaging-all revolutionary concepts in their respective fields.

Continuing with the same path-breaking tradition, the group has recently launched DishTV, India's first DTH service, which in a short span of time has established itself as the leading content provider with in India, bringing to the viewers a new era of premium quality TV viewing. DishTV is going to provide its live service on Kingfisher premium airline, the second airline in the world to deploy such capability.

Google Finance adds Google Video

Google has added the addition of video to the pages of it's Google Finance.

Clearwire Corp (CLWR) IPO - And They’re Off!

Clearwire IPO Priced at $25 Per Share

Clearwire Corp., a wireless Internet services provider founded by cellular phone pioneer Craig McCaw, raised $600 million in its initial public offering which valued the entire company at just over $4 billion.









Clearwire is rolling out a next-generation wireless technology known as WiMax, which offers higher speeds and greater range than today's Wi-Fi. WiMax is also seen a potential threat to cellular carriers and the investments they've made in their wireless infrastructure.

The company said Thursday it sold 24 million shares priced at $25 each on Wednesday night. The price was at the upper end of the its expected range of $23 to $25 each.

The shares begin trading Thursday on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker symbol "CLWR."

The Class A shares being sold represent about 14.8 percent of the company's combined total of nearly 161.6 million Class A and B shares.

Proceeds from the sale are projected to total $559 million after underwriting fees and the company said it will use them for market and network expansion, spectrum acquisitions and general corporate purposes.

Clearwire was founded in October 2003 by McCaw, a Seattle-based billionaire, who founded McCaw Cellular, which was eventually acquired by AT&T.

In July 2006, chip maker Intel Corp.'s venture capital arm agreed to invest $600 million in Clearwire as part of a $900 million deal, which included mobile phone maker Motorola Inc.

McCaw would own a nearly 49 percent voting stake and 34 percent equity stake in the company after the sale.

The underwriters, which include Merrill Lynch & Co., Morgan Stanley, and J.P. Morgan Securities, have been granted the option to purchase up to an additional 3.6 million shares of common stock to cover any over-allotments.

If the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full, the company will receive additional proceeds of roughly $85 million.

Clearwire Corp (CLWR) IPO Today

Clearwire Corp. plans to sell 20 million shares today at $23 to $25 a share in a bid to raise about $480 million in its IPO.

The wireless broadband network operator plans to trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol CLWR.

The Kirkland, Wash.-based company, founded by telecommunications pioneer Craig O. McCaw, launched in its first market in 2004.

As of Dec. 31, the company offered services to more than 9.6 million people in the U.S. and Europe. Underwriters on the IPO include Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan.

Last month, Clearwire agreed to pay $300 million for 2.5-gigahertz spectrum currently controlled by AT&T Inc.'s BellSouth regional unit.

Watch Out YouTube, Global TV JOOST Got Better!

In the few months since Google paid $1.65 billion to acquire YouTube, both companies have tried to come up with a formula to turn the hugely popular online video site into a moneymaking venture.

Friday, YouTube announced a deal with the BBC, creating a channel for the British network's most popular shows. On Monday, it announced a similar deal with the National Basketball Association.

But at least one partner has expressed unhappiness with its YouTube deal. Last month, NBC, which promoted its fall lineup on the site, demanded that YouTube take down some unauthorized videos. And now more media companies are flirting with smaller YouTube competitors, such as Revver and iFilm. Last month Joost, signed a content deal with Viacom, which owns MTV and Comedy Central.

Without a deal with Viacom, YouTube is left without some of its most popular clips from Comedy Central's "South Park" and "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart." Viacom, which walked away from a YouTube deal last month, claims that traffic to its Web sites such as Comedycentral.com and MTV.com has increased since it put more video there, allowing visitors to embed clips on their own blogs or other Web sites.

The Joost team has a few things going for it, good lineage when it comes to getting traction with a new product (Kazaa, Skype); founders (Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom) with deep pockets and the ability to attract more; and the byproduct of those two—plenty of publicity/hype. (Joost is feeding the buzz with a time-proven gimmick: make the beta hard to get into and urge people to ask those already in the beta for a token to get access.) Their contention: they shouldn’t be grouped with the others because Joost is real TV for the web. If the player is half as good as Joost’s ability to get juice, they really could be on to something.

For now, it’s by invitation only, but by this summer it will be open to the public. You’ll download the free Joost software, then use it to watch channels ranging from Lime, a lifestyle station, to National Geographic. And potentially thousands more, from anywhere, in real time — and without the stuttervision that dogs streaming video today. It’s the creation of a team of 60 top engineers — veterans of Apple, Flickr and Firefox.

Joost says it’s about to announce a pact with JumpTV to carry some programming it has rights to from 270 stations in 70 countries; that deal will launch with prerecorded Spanish and Arabic programming. The goal eventually is to stream some of the stations live.

Mamma.com Announces New Hire, New Offices

Montreal's Mamma.com Inc announced that Michele Chaboudy has joined the Company as Senior Vice-President Business Development for Software Licensing.

She will work from the company's new offices in the San Francisco Bay Area, anticipated to open during the first quarter of 2007, she will be responsible for all aspects of the Company's software licensing business unit, with an important focus on the United States market.

"As we are preparing to launch new products and services in 2007, we are also ready to intensify our sales and marketing effort," said Martin Bouchard, President and CEO of Mamma.com Inc. "Michele's broad experience and extensive network of contacts will be key factors in growing our customer base, as well as increasing our presence in the US. We are pleased to have an experienced person like her on board."

Prior to joining the Company, Chaboudy served as CMO/General Manager of Digital Publications for NewsStand Inc. and was responsible for business development, account management, operations, product management and corporate communications for NewsStand Inc., a leading, world-wide digital edition processor and distributor of newspapers, magazines and other print material world-wide.

Prior to working at NewsStand Inc., she served as the Vice President of Marketing for Zinio Systems leading their strategic marketing and web design, and prior to working at Zinio, she served as the Vice President of Marketing for CBS MarketWatch.com where she was on the executive team that lead the company through an initial public offering in 1999.

Chaboudy also launched Wired News for Wired Digital in 1997. Chaboudy has given presentations at several online media conferences, worldwide, on topics of online marketing, digital rights management and online content distribution.

"I am very excited to join this highly regarded technology company in the search and online advertising industry. I look forward to expanding our presence in the US and worldwide," said Chaboudy. "The potential for our award-winning technologies is outstanding and I am eager to get started with this new challenge."

Mamma.com Inc. provides search technology for both the Web and desktop space, delivered through its properties, www.mamma.com and www.copernic.com respectively. The Company is also a top provider of online marketing solutions to advertisers, providing keyword and graphic ad placement on its large publisher network.

Microsoft adCenter launches in Canada

I had breakfast this morning with some of the people at last nights Microsoft adCenter launch party. Jason Dailey - Lead Search Media Strategist in Microsoft's Digital Advertising Solutions group spoke on behalf of their team at the "As The World Searches" meeting hosted by Profectio.com.

It would appear from listening to all the speakers Martin Byrne - Yahoo! Search Marketing, Eric Morris - Google and Julie Batten - Non-linear creations that Canada needs to be educated into the virtues of SEM. As a country Canadians are very much online compared to other countries in the world (19.4 million users of Canadian Sympatico / MSN, 17.2 million users of Hotmail and 14.2 users of Windows Live Messenger. December 2006, ComScore Media Metrix).
however if the SEM agencies were to get together there would be a greater awareness of how powerful a tool search can be.

Good Luck to Susie Pashos of Bell Sympatico msn and Chau Le of Microsoft in making adCenter Canada a success.

Cell Phone Barcode Readers

According to a report in the Financial Times, some of the world’s leading mobile communications companies are to meet today to consider a plan that would help turn handsets into personal barcode readers – a move that could stimulate the first big mobile-driven advertising market. By pointing their camera phones at special 2D barcodes printed on advertisements or product packaging, users would be able to find out more information or instantly download coupons or other marketing offers, supporters of the plan say.

Though already common in Japan and South Korea, the use of mobile phones to read 2D barcodes remains rare elsewhere. The newspaper said progress has been held back by the lack of common technology that would let any phone read any barcode, and then complete the routing needed to link back to the relevant information on the web. Today meeting, prompted by an alliance between the technology and marketing giants Hewlett-Packard and Publicis, has been called to try to promote standards in this area. Companies due to attend include Nokia, Ericsson, Vodafone and Deutsche Telekom.

What is IPTV?

IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) is a system where a digital television service is delivered using the Internet Protocol over a network infrastructure, which may include delivery by a broadband connection.

For residential users, IPTV is often provided in conjunction with Video on Demand and may be bundled with Internet services such as Web access and VoIP. The commercial bundling of IPTV, VoIP and Internet access is referred to as a Triple Play.

Adding the mobile voice service leads to the Quadruple Play denomination. IPTV is typically supplied by a broadband operator using a closed network infrastructure. This closed network approach is in competition with the delivery of TV content over the public Internet. This type of delivery is widely called TV over Internet or Internet Television.

In businesses, IPTV may be used to deliver television content over corporate LANs and business networks. Perhaps a simpler definition of IPTV would be television content that, instead of being delivered through traditional formats and cabling, is received by the viewer through the technologies used for computer networks.

IPTV is moving rapidly towards mass-market adoption. The involvement of incumbent telecoms operators in most major markets by 2007 (France, Spain, Italy, UK, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands, for example) will provide the marketing, word-of-mouth and - for the many conservative-minded television viewers yet to switch to digital TV - the credibility that could boost the market for all IPTV providers.

Several early IPTV deployments are now reaching subscriber figures where they must be taken seriously, including Telefonica in Spain, which has over 200,000 subscribers for its Imagenio television service (launched commercially November 2004). The Spanish company is predicting one million customers by 2008. France Telecom (launched December 2003) doubled its customer count during 2005, ending the year with 200,000 subscribers for its MaLigne TV service too.

The pace of deployment is accelerating: Telekom Austria launched its aonDigitalTV video-over-DSL service in Vienna in March 2006 and KPN in the Netherlands is preparing for a second quarter (2006) commercial launch. Deutsche Telekom is hoping to roll out its 100 channel broadcast TV (including HDTV) and VOD service late summer 2006 and BT has scheduled late summer/autumn for its hybrid DSL/DTT offering.

Competition is also increasing. Utility companies continue to launch television services but the main rivals to the big telcos are alternative broadband providers using Local Loop Unbundling (LLU). The second half of 2006 and 2007 will also see the expansion of incumbent telcos into territories outside their domestic markets - where necessary using LLU to compete with their peers on ‘leased’ networks.

France Telecom has already announced that it will launch IPTV in Spain, the UK and Poland this year, followed by the Netherlands (not to mention Mauritius, Senegal and the Ivory Coast). Meanwhile Telecom Italia - through its subsidiary HanseNet - is adding television to its existing telephone and DSL services in Germany, starting in Hamburg. Telecom Italia also launched television services in France (via Telecom Italia France’s AliceBox triple-play service) in January. Meanwhile, Deutsche Telekom subsidiary T-Online is taking IPTV to Hungary, with a planned commercial roll-out of TV-over-DSL in Budapest and other major cities later this year.

And to add further spice to this market, existing Pay TV operators from the satellite and cable world are buying into DSL. BSkyB bought UK DSL network provider Easynet in January (2006) to give itself a two-way network and exploit the “exciting opportunities that now exist to combine quality entertainment with significant high-speed connections.” Europe’s largest satellite TV provider has told investors that it intends to introduce IPTV some time after 2007. Meanwhile, UPC Austria (part of the pan-European UPC group owned by Liberty Global) has agreed to acquire the Austrian xDSL provider Inode - so establishing a national footprint, initially for high-speed data and voice.

All this activity is underpinned by network upgrades across the continent, with BT in the UK now committed to delivering ADSL speeds up 8Mbps from 5,300 telephone exchanges in the UK - putting broadband in reach of 99.6 per cent of the country. France Telecom and Telefonica, among others, are using ADSL2+ and Deutsche Telekom will deploy television services exclusively on VDSL, using the 50Mbps fibre/copper network being built by its fixed network infrastructure division, T-Com. T-Com expects VDSL in 40 cities by the end of 2007, putting 11 million homes within reach of the planned IPTV service.

So with high-speed networks available and expanding their reach, multiple service launches and growing subscriber figures, the big questions are how much market share IPTV providers can take from satellite and cable, and whether they can make money - if indeed, video revenues are their real motive rather than simply reducing churn on voice/data customers. Are there digital TV newcomers who will choose IPTV ahead of digital terrestrial - and are these the customers IPTV providers want? And can companies differentiate their services sufficiently from cable and satellite to tempt existing Pay TV subscribers away from them?

Internet protocol television (IPTV) is seen as a big future money-spinner for telecoms firms

Ericsson Bids $1.4B for Tandberg TV, Tops Arris

STOCKHOLM—Telecom equipment maker Ericsson on Monday offered 9.8 billion crowns ($1.38 billion) cash for Norway's Tandberg Television, topping an earlier accepted bid from Arris Group.

Ericsson, which in December paid $2.1 billion for network equipment vendor Redback, said it was bidding 106 Norwegian crowns ($17.23) for each Tandberg share.

The offer represents an 18.2 percent premium to Tandberg's volume-weighted average price over the last three months and is 10.4 percent above the 96 crowns offered by Arris, a U.S. communications technology company.

Analysts had long expected a counter-bid for Tandberg TV, saying the company had a strong foothold in a market revved up by fast-growing bandwidth and demand for television systems.

Shares in Tandberg, which offers a range of video and TV services over the Internet, shot up 11.5 percent to 111.75 crowns by 1235 GMT.

Ericsson shares were 0.6 percent higher at 26.05 crowns.

Paul Handeland, analyst at ABG Sundal Collier in Oslo, said Ericsson's deep pockets would probably scare off Arris, but that other systems operators, such as German giant Siemens or France's Alcatel-Lucent, may be interested.

"Tandberg TV is trading above the bid price due to market belief in either a bumped-up bid by Ericsson or a potential competing bid ... possibly from the likes of Siemens or Alcatel-Lucent," Handeland said.

Ericsson said it had bought 11.7 percent of Tandberg shares and that owners of another 13 percent had signed on to its bid.

Swedish holding company Industrivarden said it sold its 7.4 percent stake in Tandberg to Ericsson, while Norwegian conglomerate Orkla sold it a 3-4 percent stake.

"IPTV for cable and telecom operators is the biggest networked multimedia opportunity going forward," Ericsson Chief Executive Carl-Henric Svanberg said in a statement.

"Ericsson and Tandberg Television is a strong combination with a unique ability to offer complete IPTV solutions."

Tandberg had revenues of $350 million in 2006 and made an operating profit of $56 million.

"Strategically it is sensible, and raising exposure to the IPTV segment is something they have talked about," said one analyst, who added that the price was reasonable.

In mid-January, Arris bid $1.2 billion in cash and stock—or 96 crowns per share—for Tandberg, an offer that Tandberg TV's board recommended to shareholders.

Tandberg said it would review Ericsson's offer. Its Chief Financial Officer, Fraser Park, declined to say if he thought the Ericsson bid was friendly or hostile, but said the company would maintain contact with Arris.

eWorld Interactive, Inc. Set to Acquire Mojo Mediaworks to Bring Leading Content to the People's Republic of China

SHANGHAI, CHINA, Feb 20, 2007 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX News Network) --

eWorld Interactive, Inc. (the "Company", "eWorld") (OTCBB: EWIN) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a Letter of Intent to acquire Mojo Mediaworks Limited ("Mojo") and its subsidiaries. Mojo Mediaworks Limited, currently operates in the USA, China and Philippines, engages in self-developed contents tailored for the China and Philippines Markets in the form of casual online games (Slingo), Interactive TV/SMS Game show (Slingo Interactive Games show) and contents sourced from international developers and other Hollywood majors such as the CBS Paramount TV reality drama (America's Next Top Model - China version) and mobile games (America's Next Top Model Mobile Games). Mojo Mediaworks Co., Ltd. will create "integrated cross media platforms viewership" bundles, in a fully interactive manner and deliver that to advertisers and broadcasters for revenue generation. Mojo holds a 7 year licensing agreement for the Slingo branded suit of games for S.E. Asia. Slingo is one of the most popular online games with an exciting combination of the best features of bingo and slots. Slingo holds the distinction of being "One of America's most played online games" with over 3 billion games played according to AOL Urc/Slingo.com.

eWorld CEO Guy Peckham stated, "We are delighted to begin working with such a top-notch team that has demonstrated time and time again the ability to bring great programs and games from abroad into the China market. Mojo's connections to leading producers in Hollywood and beyond will ensure a steady stream of exciting and new content creating a rich experience for users on our www.eworldchina.cn platform." The Mojo acquisition will have an immediate impact with the creation of China's Next Top Model which follows the format of the hugely successful American reality series "America's Next Top Model" launching in Q2 of 2007 and the launch of the Slingo platform in China.

"This is a natural fit for content and distribution in China. The eWorld platform will allow Mojo's unique programming to reach millions of users in the near term. eWorld's team have a long history of success in internet gaming in China and we look forward to working together with them to extend that success into the social networking space," concurs Mr. Kin Mak from Mojo.

About eWorld:

eWorld are the developers of eworldchina.cn, an online community focused on entertainment content provided by both leading professional content producers and amateur content produced by users of the website. The online platform allows users to create and define their own personal space in the community then interact with and within the community on multiple levels. Users can interact user-to-user, user-to-group, user-to-club, user-to-community and through voting and rankings. These users then have access to and can interact with entertainment content provided by leading partners and affiliates producing music, television, film, gaming and more. The Company creates circular interaction among its website users and the content programming consumers thus continuously involving the audience. Revenues are derived through a combination of advertising sales, sponsorships and promotions, subscriptions and services fees as well as revenue sharing deals with partners and affiliates.

Contacts: eWorld Interactive, Inc. Guy Peckham CEO 1-38-1613-5001 Website: www.eworldchina.cn

MOJO MEDIA WORKS LICENSES OPENTV PARTICIPATE

First deployment to drive interactive games and gaming business in the Philippines

OpenTV Corp. (NASDAQ GM: OPTV), one of the world’s leading providers solutions for the delivery advanced television and cross platform interactive services, today announced a multi-year licensing agreement for its OpenTV Participate™ system with Mojo Media Works (Mojo), a Shanghai-based content provider and interactive entertainment operator with operations in mainland China and the Philippines.

Mojo, whose first project with OpenTV is the launch of an extensive multiplatform interactive games and gaming business in the Philippines, will use the OpenTV Participate system as the backbone of its operations. The initial service will involve the management and distribution of the U.S. gaming format Slingo™ via kiosks in boutiques around the country. SMS TV services will be deployed shortly afterwards followed by other platforms such as Web, WAP, and J2ME Mobile applications in the future.

The OpenTV Participate system will allow Mojo to manage their entire business centrally with controlled access available for local boutique managers and cashiers. Mojo will use OpenTV Participate’s single account login and centralized loyalty and CRM modules, allowing them the ability to build an ongoing relationship with their customers from their very first day of operation. OpenTV will also create special engines for Mojo’s unique TV gaming formats as well as provide the powerful OpenTV Participate participation TV module for live TV, web, and SMS-based participation.

David Turnaroff, CEO of Mojo Media Works and a U.S. entertainment industry veteran, says, “We looked far and wide for the right system to manage our vision for the business which uses TV as the primary funnel and multiple platforms as the means of interactive participation. Nothing came close to the power, flexibility, and product features of the OpenTV Participate system, which is effectively our cross platform strategy in a box. Our confidence in the OpenTV Participate product has been enhanced by the highly capable product team whose knowledge adds significantly to our ability to deliver our business plan.”

“We are delighted to be working with Mojo Media Works and look forward to a long and fruitful partnership,” said Mike Ivanchenko, Senior Vice President & Managing Director, Asia Pacific at OpenTV. “Mojo is precisely the kind of forward-thinking client the OpenTV Participate system was designed for, and we are excited that they plan to use the full capabilities of the system in such an ambitious way.”

About OpenTV

OpenTV is one of the world’s leading providers of solutions for the delivery of digital and interactive television. The company’s software has been integrated in over 73 million digital set-top boxes around the world. The software enables enhanced program guides, video-on-demand, personal video recording, enhanced television, interactive shopping, interactive and addressable advertising, games and gaming and a variety of consumer care and communication applications. For more information, please visit www.opentv.com.

OpenTV Selected by Numericable, France's Largest Cable Operator, for Advanced Digital Television Services

Customer Services to Include High Definition, Video on Demand, and PVR

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- OpenTV Corp. (Nasdaq GM: OPTV), a leading provider of enabling technologies for advanced television and cross-platform interactive services, today announced that YPSO / Numericable, the leading cable broadband operator in France, Belgium, and Luxembourg, has selected OpenTV as a key technology partner for the roll-out of its advanced digital television services.

Enabled by OpenTV's latest generation of middleware, OpenTV HTML Browser(TM), OpenTV PVR2(TM), and OpenTV Core2(TM), YPSO / Numericable will be able to select the best STB manufacturers and provide its subscribers interactive TV, PVR, video on demand (VOD), and high definition services. These services will be integrated with the Kudelski Group (SWX Swiss Exchange: KUD) solution set also selected by YPSO / Numericable, which includes solutions from Nagravision, Quative, and Lysis.

Pascal Dormal, Director of Business Development, Altice Group said, "YPSO and Altice have selected OpenTV solutions with integrated PVR, HD, and HTML because it is the most advanced middleware platform in the market. OpenTV provides unmatched portability and a proven track record in supporting the commercial deployment of advanced digital television services such as high definition, personal video recording, and video on demand."

Ben Bennett, OpenTV's Senior Vice President and Managing Director for OpenTV EMEA, said, "OpenTV is extremely proud to be selected as a strategic partner of YPSO / Numericable. This opportunity validates OpenTV's continued leadership position in deployment of its advanced digital television solution for the European broadband industry and we look forward to continuing our long term leadership presence in the French digital television arena."

About OpenTV

OpenTV is one of the world's leading providers of solutions for the delivery of digital and interactive television. The company's software has been integrated in over 73 million digital set-top boxes around the world. The software enables enhanced program guides, video-on-demand, personal video recording, enhanced television, interactive shopping, interactive and addressable advertising, games and gaming and a variety of consumer care and communication applications. For more information, please visit http://www.opentv.com/.

About YPSO / Numericable YPSO / Numericable offers video, digital and analog, data and voice to 9.5 million homes in France. YPSO / Numericable has been constituted through the acquisition of Est Videocommunication, France Telecom Cable, TDF Cable, NC Numericable, UPC France and Noos, Coditel Brabant and Coditel Luxembourg. For more information, please visit http://www.numericable.fr/.

About the Kudelski Group

The Kudelski Group (SWX: KUD.VX) , is a world leader in digital security. Its technologies are used in a wide range of applications requiring access control and rights management, whether for securing transfer of information (digital television, broadband Internet, video-on-demand, interactive applications, etc.) or to control and manage access of people or vehicles to sites and events. The Kudelski Group is headquartered in Cheseaux-sur- Lausanne, Switzerland. For more information, please visit http://www.nagra.com/.

Website: http://www.opentv.com/
Website: http://www.numericable.fr/
Website: http://www.nagra.com/

Viacom lands video deal with Joost

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Viacom Inc.., engaged in a public battle with top Internet online video service YouTube, said on Tuesday it has agreed to offer its videos to Joost, the Internet video service created by the founders of Skype.

Hundreds of hours of programming from Viacom's MTV Networks, Paramount Pictures movies studio and BET Networks will be available to Joost users for free.

The deal comes amid a public quarrel between Viacom and Google Inc.'s YouTube over protecting copyright owners material.

Failing to reach a distribution deal, Viacom in February demanded the removal of over 100,000 video clips from YouTube that were uploaded by users without the company's authorization.

Top media companies Viacom, News Corp. and General Electric's NBC Universal have discussed launching a competitor to YouTube, but sources said earlier that differing interests have stalled plans.

Traditional media companies are courting online users as viewers split their leisure time surfing the Web and digital media devices like Apple Inc.'s iPod.

Joost, which uses Internet peer-to-peer file sharing technology to deliver videos, was founded by Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis and launched in January.

Warner Music Group and TV production company Endemol have also signed deals with Joost.

OpenTV (Strong Buy) Powers NBC's Live Interactive Events on 'Heroes'

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- OpenTV Corp. (NASDAQ: OPTV) , a leading provider of enabling technologies for advanced television and cross-platform interactive services, today announced that its OpenTV Participate(TM) solution is powering live, web (PC) based interactive services for the current series of NBC's hit primetime show, "Heroes."

The new 'two screen' interactive services, which are created, scheduled, managed and analyzed using OpenTV Participate's production tools, are being synchronized with the "Heroes" broadcast each Monday night across all continental US time zones. Audiences are invited to interact with the broadcasts by entering live polls and offering their own predictions on the outcome of the storylines, all with real time statistics fed directly to their PCs. NBC is also able to use the OpenTV Participate system to create and manage sponsored polls and questionnaires as well as advertiser brochure requests.

The OpenTV Participate system deployed for "Heroes," which is hosted for NBC by OpenTV at its data center, makes use of one of OpenTV's proprietary technologies designed to enable seamless live updates to be pushed to very large numbers of simultaneous PC users. During the series, NBC creative teams have complete control over the creation and management of all events with detailed analysis of all activity available at producers' desktops during or after the show. Data from all transactions, including data from sponsor calls to action, are stored in a secure database which can be queried for trend and retention analysis using OpenTV Participate's built in CRM tools.

Jon Dakss, NBC's Director of ITV Technology Product Development, said, "The OpenTV Participate solution presented NBC.com with important new options for live two screen interactivity and we felt that a show like 'Heroes,' which has an audience that is seeking out a rich, multi-platform viewing experience, was the ideal show to try it on. The product is also flexible enough for us to experiment with timings and event types during the series, allowing us to explore new ideas on-the-fly."

Arik Faingold, General Manager and CTO for the OpenTV Participate product, said, "The OpenTV Participate team has dedicated significant resources towards enabling seamless cross-platform interactivity on a mass scale and in a single, business-oriented system. We are therefore delighted that NBC has chosen to use OpenTV Participate for such a high-profile primetime show."

About OpenTV

OpenTV is one of the world's leading providers of solutions for the delivery of digital and interactive television. The company's software has been integrated in over 73 million digital set-top boxes around the world. The software enables enhanced program guides, video-on-demand, personal video recording, enhanced television, interactive shopping, interactive and addressable advertising, games and gaming and a variety of consumer care and communication applications. For more information, please visit http://www.opentv.com/.

About NBC Universal

NBC Universal is one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80% owned by General Electric and 20% owned by Vivendi.

Website: http://www.opentv.com/

Riverbed Announces Systems Integration Agreement With HP

Agreement Aligns Riverbed’s Value to HP Network Solutions

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Riverbed Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:RVBD), the performance leader in wide-area data services (WDS), announced an agreement to make its WDS solutions available worldwide as part of the HP portfolio of networking services. The terms of the agreement enable Riverbed’s complete family of WDS solutions, including its Steelhead® appliance and Interceptor™ product lines, to be integrated with HP networking services.

”Riverbed can now access HP’s broad market reach, technical competence and strong customer loyalty to extend the value proposition we provide to customers,” said Dave Peranich, senior vice president, worldwide sales at Riverbed®. “Strengthening our companies’ existing relationship, this agreement builds a foundation for faster time-to-market with the integrated solutions.”

Riverbed’s wide-area data services (WDS) solutions enable distributed organizations of all sizes to overcome a host of severe problems, including poor application performance and insufficient bandwidth at remote sites. By speeding the performance of applications between distributed sites by five to 50 times, and in some cases up to 100 times, Riverbed’s award-winning Steelhead WDS appliances enable companies to consolidate IT, improve backup and replication processes to ensure data integrity, and improve staff productivity and collaboration. To learn more, view Riverbed’s demo: www.riverbed.com/pr/jack.

“Riverbed’s Steelhead appliances complement HP’s branch office consolidation and data center replication solutions,” said Brian Brouilette, vice president, technology services mission critical, networking and education services at HP. “As a result of this agreement, HP customers can get complete network design, implementation, and support services for their Riverbed products.”

Microsoft files with FCC for wireless device, Zune iPhone?

Microsoft submitted a filing to the FCC for a prototype of a wireless device that could be used to talk over the Internet (VoIP), which would make it an Internet Phone, or I-Phone. The filing is similar to the one Apple filed ahead of its iPhone unveiling, except Microsoft is not going the cellular route with what many believe to be its Zune phone. Microsoft chose OFDM technology, which Sprint and privately-held Clearwire have tested and deployed. Microsoft claims the device will be used for "consumer broadband access and networking." Sufficiently vague.

The announcement makes the iPhone saga that much weirder. Here's a potential music phone (Zune-phone), which everyone expected to weakly compete with Apple's iPhone. Unexpectedly, Microsoft goes the VoIP route. Meanwhile, Apple is fighting Cisco's trademark of "IPhone" by arguing that a VoIP phone and a cellular phone are effectively different things. A VoIP-enabled Zune certainly won't drum up the fanfare Apple has with its iPhone, but it just might give Apple's trademark lawyers a headache.

Facebook and Comcast's Ziddio Partner to Create User-Generated TV

Companies Enable Users to Speak Out on Personal and Life Topics Through Video, to Be Documented in TV Series 'Facebook Diaries'

PALO ALTO, Calif. and PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Facebook, the Internet's leading social utility, and Ziddio.com, a national
multiplatform user-generated video site recently launched by Comcast
Interactive Media, today announced a partnership that will allow Facebook
users to create and share user-generated videos and give them the chance to
become part of a new television series titled "Facebook Diaries."
Beginning in March, the companies will kickoff a program that includes
contests asking users to submit short video segments about their lives.
Throughout the contests, Facebook users will be encouraged to upload, view,
share and rate the videos. Selected videos will be featured prominently
online on Facebook and Ziddio.com and on television including Comcast's ON
DEMAND service.
Submitted videos will also form the basis for the new television
series, "Facebook Diaries," to be produced by R.J. Cutler, the
Oscar-nominated, Emmy award-winning producer of TV shows, including
"American High" and "30 Days." Cutler will choose from the best submissions
and weave them together to produce ten half-hour episodes that will air
online and on television.
"Video sharing is extremely popular among Facebook's 16 million users,"
said Owen Van Natta, chief operating officer, Facebook. "Through our
partnership with Comcast, we are making it even easier for the Facebook
community to share video content in a trusted online environment and giving
them the opportunity to tell their stories on TV."
"Ziddio has leveraged Comcast's powerful reach in broadband and
television to create a nationwide site that elevates the world of
user-generated videos to a cross-platform experience," said Amy Banse,
president, Comcast Interactive Media. "We are excited to connect this
phenomenon with the Facebook community and bring Ziddio to its unique
demographic."
"Everyone has a story to tell and 'Facebook Diaries' is a really new
and exciting way for people to share their experiences," said producer R.J.
Cutler. "The concept is a fresh spin on entertainment and programming, and
I think it's truly groundbreaking. Facebook and Comcast are terrific
partners for this and I can't wait to get started."
Once the contests launch in March, Facebook users can begin uploading
video by joining the Ziddio-sponsored group on Facebook or through Ziddio
at http://www.ziddio.com. To join Facebook, people can authenticate into a
school or work network, or they can join a regional network by registering
at http://www.facebook.com.
Ziddio is a new multiplatform user-generated site launched last year by
Comcast Interactive Media. The site brings together premium networks and
partners to host co-branded contests with unique prizes and the chance for
users to showcase their content across multiple platforms -- online, on
Comcast's ON DEMAND service and on linear networks.
About Facebook
Founded in February 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook helps people
better understand the world around them by developing technologies that
facilitate the spread of information through social networks. The site has
over 16 million registered users in over 47,000 geographic, work-related,
collegiate, and high school networks, and according to ComScore's
MediaMetrix report, Facebook ranks as the seventh-most trafficked site in
the United States. Facebook is privately held and headquartered in Palo
Alto, Calif.
About Comcast Corporation
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) (http://www.comcast.com) is
the nation's leading provider of cable, entertainment and communications
products and services. With 24.2 million cable customers, 11.5 million
high-speed Internet customers, and 2.5 million voice customers, Comcast is
principally involved in the development, management and operation of
broadband cable systems and in the delivery of programming content.
Comcast's content networks and investments include E! Entertainment
Television, Style Network, The Golf Channel, VERSUS, G4, AZN Television,
PBS KIDS Sprout, TV One and four regional Comcast SportsNets and Comcast
Interactive Media. Comcast also has a majority ownership in Comcast
Spectacor, whose major holdings include the Philadelphia Flyers NHL hockey
team, the Philadelphia 76ers NBA basketball team and two large multipurpose
arenas in Philadelphia.
About R.J. Cutler
R.J. Cutler is an Oscar-nominated, Emmy award-winning producer,
director, filmmaker and president of Actual Reality Pictures, which
specializes in the development and production of non-fiction projects for
film and television. Over the course of his career, Cutler has garnered
numerous awards and nominations including an Emmy for creating, directing
and executive producing American High (PBS & Fox) and an Oscar nomination
for the highly-acclaimed documentary The War Room. Cutler's previous
projects include: THIN (HBO), 30 Days (FX), Oh Baby, Now What? (A&E),
Black.White (FX), Flip That House (TLC), Freshman Diaries (Showtime), The
Residents (TLC), American Candidate (Showtime), Military Diaries (VH-1),
Bound for Glory (ESPN), A Perfect Candidate, Making Dazed (AMC) and The War
Room. He also produced the nightly National Public Radio series Heat, which
won the 1991 Peabody Award for Excellence in Broadcasting.
Facebook(R) is a registered trademark of Facebook, Inc. Other names may
be trademarks of their respective owners.

SOURCE Comcast Corporation

Riverbed Technology, Inc. Reports Record Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2006 Financial Results

• Quarterly Revenues Increase by 37% Sequentially and 219% Year-Over-Year
• Over 300 New Customers Added

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Riverbed Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq:RVBD), the performance leader in wide-area data services (WDS), today released financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2006.

Revenues for the fourth quarter of 2006 were $33.8 million, which represents a sequential increase of 37% from the immediately preceding quarter and a year-over-year increase of 219% from the fourth quarter of last year. The net loss on a GAAP basis for the fourth quarter of 2006 was $2.4 million, or $0.04 per share, compared to a net loss of $3.1 million, or $0.16 per share, in the third quarter of 2006 and a net loss of $4.7 million, or $0.43 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2005. Riverbed’s fourth quarter of 2006 GAAP results included $4.8 million of non-cash stock-based compensation expenses.

Excluding the impact of stock-based compensation in all periods, assuming preferred shares were converted as of the later of their issuance or the beginning of the respective periods, and including dilutive shares in the fourth quarter of 2006, the non-GAAP net income for the fourth quarter of 2006 was $2.4 million, or $0.03 per share, compared to a non-GAAP net loss of $1.0 million, or $0.02 per share, in the third quarter of 2006 and a non-GAAP net loss of $4.2 million, or $0.09 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2005.

Revenues for the year ended December 31, 2006 were $90.2 million, a 293% increase from $22.9 million in the prior year. The GAAP net loss for the full year 2006 was $15.8 million, or $0.59 per share, which compares with a GAAP net loss of $17.4 million, or $1.85 per share, in 2005.

”Our early and rapid success in the WDS market is testament to our innovative technology, strong competitive position and the business-critical need for wide-area data solutions,” noted Jerry Kennelly, Riverbed® president and chief executive officer. “As market acceptance and understanding of the capabilities of WDS grows, the Global 2000 are embracing our solutions to overcome the competing demands of globalization and IT centralization.”

”The fourth quarter of 2006 marked the first quarter in which Riverbed was profitable on a non-GAAP basis, demonstrating the operating leverage in our model,” said Randy Gottfried, Riverbed chief financial officer.

2006 Highlights

Riverbed’s focus on delivering industry-leading performance, scalability, and simplicity to distributed organizations of all sizes was reflected in a number of key business initiatives and milestones.

• Initial public offering—Riverbed successfully completed its initial public offering, raising $87.5 million, net of underwriting discounts and other transaction expenses. Riverbed’s IPO was the best performing IPO of 2006 as reported in the Wall Street Journal.
• Industry recognition—Riverbed’s Steelhead® Appliance product family was recognized for its excellence by many well-respected trade publications in 2006, including InfoWorld (the Best WAN Accelerator of 2006 and 2007), Byte and Switch (WAN Optimization), Network Computing (Well-Connected Award, Remote Office Solution), and eWeek (Excellence Award, Top Products of 2006, and Top Five Storage Developments of the Year). In addition, Gartner positioned the company in the Leaders quadrant in the "WAN Optimization Controller Magic Quadrant" published in October 2006 and authored by Andy Rolfe and Joe Skorupa. This report positions vendors in one of four quadrants based on the companies' vision and ability to execute on that vision.
• Product innovation – Riverbed expanded its product line both at the high- and low-ends of the market, providing customers with the speed, scale and simplicity needed to meet the demands of a decentralized workforce and centralized data. The company began shipping the next generation of the Riverbed Optimization System (RiOS™), version 3.0, as well as the Interceptor™ appliance and eight new Steelhead appliances that deliver high scalability and acceleration for up to one million simultaneous connections at 4 Gbps throughput. In addition, the company introduced two new smaller-scale Steelhead appliances that meet the needs of small remote offices and large-scale deployments.
• Expanded patent portfolio — Riverbed was awarded a patent on its core WDS technology. This system patent is the foundation for Riverbed’s proven technology for speeding application performance by 5X to 50X and in some cases up to 100X and addresses the limitations of geography for global businesses.
• New customer growth—Riverbed rapidly grew its customer base in 2006. In January, the company announced its 500^th customer and by end-of-year had over 1,600 customers.
• Customer Wins—Riverbed expanded its success with customers to global brands, announcing Liz Claiborne, Hilton Grand Vacations, Asiana Airlines, the UK Royal Navy and LG Electronics.
• Global Expansion—Riverbed expanded its presence in 2006, establishing additional offices worldwide.

Mitsubishi Motors Corporation Consolidates IT Infrastructure With Riverbed Steelhead Appliances

Improves Data Security and Reduces Operational Costs and Overhead

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Riverbed Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq:RVBD), the performance leader in wide-area data services (WDS), today announced that Mitsubishi Motors Corporation has deployed Riverbed’s Steelhead® appliances. The company has designed and is deploying a centralized file server environment that supports four offices and over 5,000 users. Riverbed’s Steelhead appliances are the core enabling technology for this initiative, which allows Mitsubishi Motors to improve data security and reliability, reduce operational costs and resources, and improve application performance.

Mitsubishi Motors became an independent company in 1970 when the automobile division was spun off from Mitsubishi Heavy-Industries, producing cars, trucks and buses for over thirty years. In 2003, the company was reborn again as the new Mitsubishi Motors, a manufacturer specialized in passenger cars. Mitsubishi Motors has 10 offices in Japan and 11 sites located outside of the country, including design centers in the United States, Australia and Germany and production centers in Thailand, the Philippines, Australia and the Netherlands.

With this project, Mitsubishi Motors centralized file servers at four sites in Japan and consolidated that infrastructure into their data center. This consolidation eliminates the need for file servers and tape backup in the remote sites, ensuring that data was more secure and significantly reducing costs and operational overhead. In order to move forward with the project, the company needed to ensure that the performance of critical applications did not suffer performance degradation. Riverbed’s reseller partner, Netmarks, recommended that the company consider Riverbed’s Steelhead appliance as a solution that would enable IT consolidation without affecting user performance.

Mitsubishi Motors selected Riverbed® over the competition because the company’s solutions delivered the best performance for the broad set of applications and protocols important to Mitsubishi Motors, including NFS. The company has implemented the Steelhead appliances at four sites in Japan with over 5,000 users, enabling Mitsubishi Motors to eliminate over 50 servers and move critical data into its protected data center. The Steelhead appliances have reduced WAN traffic by over 90%, while delivering LAN-like performance to end-users located at the remote sites.

“Accessing file servers across a WAN was thought to be impossible due to the effects of latency — regardless of how much bandwidth is available. But with Riverbed’s Steelhead appliances, we are now able to consolidate our file servers, while ensuring performance that is nearly equal to that of local area networks,” said Yasuhiro Nishikawa, Expert of IT Planning & Control Dept., Corporate Affairs Office, at Mitsubishi Motors Corp. “Installation of Riverbed’s Steelhead appliances can substantially reduce operational management costs, and centralized management can enhance security levels.

About Riverbed’s Steelhead Appliances

Riverbed’s wide-area data services (WDS) solutions enable organizations with more than one office to overcome a host of severe problems, including poor application performance and insufficient bandwidth at remote sites. By speeding the performance of applications between distributed sites, by five to 50 times and in some cases up to 100 times between enterprise datacenters and remote offices, Riverbed’s award-winning Steelhead WDS appliances enable companies to consolidate IT, improve backup and replication processes to ensure data integrity, and improve staff productivity and collaboration. Steelhead appliances have been deployed in organizations ranging from the world’s largest corporations with offices around the globe to small companies with a couple of sites that are just miles apart. To learn more, view Riverbed’s demo at http://www.riverbed.com/pr/jack.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements relating to the expected demand for Riverbed’s products and services, and statements relating to Riverbed’s ability to meet the needs of distributed organizations, grow market share or grow the market as a whole. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions that, if they do not fully materialize or prove incorrect, could cause our results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties that could cause our results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements include our ability to react to trends and challenges in our business and the markets in which we operate; our ability to anticipate market needs or develop new or enhanced products to meet those needs; the adoption rate of our products; our ability to establish and maintain successful relationships with our distribution partners; our ability to compete in our industry; fluctuations in demand, sales cycles and prices for our products and services; shortages or price fluctuations in our supply chain; our ability to protect our intellectual property rights; general political, economic and market conditions and events; and other risks and uncertainties described more fully in our documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. More information about these and other risks that may impact Riverbed’s business are set forth in our Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed with the SEC, including the “Risk Factors” section in our final Prospectus dated September 20, 2006, and in our Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on October 31, 2006. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to us as of the date hereof, and we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

About Riverbed

Riverbed Technology is the performance leader in wide-area data services (WDS) solutions for companies worldwide. By enabling application performance over the wide area network (WAN) that is orders of magnitude faster than what users experience today, Riverbed is changing the way people work, and enabling a distributed workforce that can collaborate as if they were local. Additional information about Riverbed (Nasdaq:RVBD) is available at www.riverbed.com.

Riverbed Technology, Riverbed, Steelhead, RiOS, Interceptor, and the Riverbed logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Riverbed Technology, Inc. All other trademarks used or mentioned herein belong to their respective owners.