901am

New Media News Every Morning

YP Corp. acquires LiveDeal

By

livedeal.jpgYP Corp. a leading provider of nationwide Internet Yellow Pages and related services with more than 16 million business listings, announced that it has acquired LiveDeal, Inc. which operates one of the nation’s leading online local classifieds and Yellow Pages marketplaces. Under the terms of the acquisition, LiveDeal shareholders received 15,968,514 shares of YP common stock. LiveDeal will remain an independent entity and a wholly owned subsidiary of YP and the two companies will leverage one another’s content, sales teams and technology to strengthen their individual product offerings.

YP plans to use LiveDeal’s innovative technology platform to converge its four principal marketing channels – directories, mobile services, classifieds and advertising/distribution networks into a first-of-its–kind, hyper-local marketing solution for businesses and consumers.

Rajesh Navar, the founder & CEO of LiveDeal, will serve as president and chief architect of YP Corp. and will also join the YP board, effective immediately.

Originally posted on June 7, 2007 @ 6:32 pm

US mobile web use soars, increasing threefold

By

bango.jpgThe UK based mobile billing company, Bango has published statistics which confirm that the U.S. is at the forefront of mobile web growth with a three fold increase in usage over the last year, taking it to second position behind the UK. The increasing popularity of mobile search as a way of finding new content and services is fueling this rapid rise in mobile web usage.

According to Bango data, the top five countries accessing the mobile web via Bango in April 2007 are the UK at 27%, the US at 21%, South Africa at 11%, India at 9% and Indonesia at 3%. In the first quarter of 2007 the top handset was the Sanyo Katana SCP 6600. The fact that the Sanyo Katana is only available in the United States reflects the rapid growth in mobile surfing by US mobile users. Other popular handsets included the Motorola V360, the Sony Ericsson K750i and the Samsung A900.

“We see that wherever flat-rate data charges are pervasive in a country then there’s much more web browsing,” said Anil Malhotra, SVP of Marketing at Bango. “We expect to see more competitively priced flat-rate data plans in the US which will stimulate further web browsing.”

Originally posted on June 8, 2007 @ 10:30 am

Mygrito social network launches “Tu Grito 2008” political page

By

mygrito.jpgMyGrito.com, the first bilingual social network site targeting the Latino population, announced the launch of “Tu Grito 2008.” It’s where presidential candidates are offered an opportunity to create a profile for MyGrito.com members to familiarize themselves with each candidate. The Hispanic vote is becoming vital to the success of the race for presidency and with this fast growing site, Latino voters can find answers to their political questions.

Launched in January 2007, MyGrito.com has attracted members from across the country and Latin America. With its bilingual angle, it provides a site Latinos can call their own. With a steady monthly growth of 55%, this site has definitely found a niche within the bilingual community that was not previously being served.

Originally posted on June 8, 2007 @ 10:15 am

Onstream Media approved by eBay to provide video hosting services

By

onstream.jpgOnstream Media Corporation, an online service provider of live and on- demand, digital media communications and applications, announced that Onstream Media’s Auction Video Services has become an approved video hosting service by eBay available to all eBay Sellers.

Onstream Auction Video’s patent-pending service provides the eBay seller community with an easy way to create and upload personalized video advertisements for their item listings. The resulting high quality Flash Video files give a consistent, reliable and high-quality viewing experience without latency, buffering or playback delays. In addition, Onstream Auction Video leverages Onstream Media’s flagship Digital Media Services Platform (DMSP) to provide an automated environment for monitoring, tracking and taking down inappropriate content.

“Onstream Auction Video was designed and developed with eBay in mind,” said Randy Selman, president and chief executive officer, Onstream Media. “We are pleased to offer eBay sellers an inexpensive, reliable and high-quality video experience.”

Originally posted on June 7, 2007 @ 8:17 am

EppicSurf.com launches social network on surf culture

By

eppicsurf.jpgEppicSurf.com announced the launch of its new social network created exclusively the surf culture.

Eppic Surf is an online gallery where surfers can collect and share photos of their most recent surf sessions. It’s a place where photographers can display and sell their work and fans can buy prints and posters of their favorites. It’s a worldwide network where surfers and photographers can communicate with each other about everything from boards to lenses to beach conditions. 

”It’s like a surf museum of daily happenings in the surf world, but live and direct where you can communicate with everybody. It’s social networking like MySpace,” company founder Branimir Kvartuc, a professional photographer and amateur surfer in Hermosa Beach, said. Members have profiles where they can send messages and post photos and comments.

Originally posted on June 6, 2007 @ 11:00 am