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New Media News Every Morning

MailTank launches version 3.0

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MailTank Version 3.0MailTank released version 3.0 of its email platform, a leading customer service email management program, in time for Apple iPhone craze.

The features of the new MailTank includes unlimited storage, chained templates which allows users to automatically send follow up emails to customers, and message notifications that lets users know if an important message has arrived, or if work starts to pile up.

“The walls of the office are truly coming down,” said Christian Winter, the CEO and co-founder of MailTank. “3.0 is more than ready for prime time and is a perfect match for the wave of innovation in business class cell phones — like iPhone, HTC Advantage, Nokia E90 Communicator and even Palm Folio.”

MailTank 3.0 has an iPhone-compatible interface, coming to Apple users with the same feature set of its desktop counterpart. With these latest developments, MailTank takes emailing, both traditional and mobile, to the next level.

Originally posted on July 17, 2007 @ 5:27 am

Court rejects webcasters’ motion to delay royalty rates

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Federal court of appeals rejects webcasters’ motion to delay the onset of internet radio royalty rates passed by the Copyright Royalty Board early this year.

The new fees are set to kick in on Sunday as scheduled, as the webcasters’ party failed to “satisfy the stringent standards required for a stay pending court review.”

The Digital Media Assocation, headed by executive director Jonathan Potter, is hopeful that webcasters could still make amends with the music industry and the royalty board. In the meantime, Internet radio stations will be “forced to make very difficult decisions about what music, if any, they are able to offer. The result will certainly be fewer outlets for independent music, less diversity on the Internet airwaves, and far fewer listening choices for consumers.”

This agreement made by the Copyright Royalty Board requires internet radio stations to pay .08 cent per song played online, retroactive to 2006, which rises up to .19 cent by 2010. Also, stations ahave to pay a minimum of $500 royalty payment per channel. It was because of this that webcasters around the world staged a day of silence last July 26 as a plea for reconsideration.

Originally posted on July 13, 2007 @ 5:13 am

Warner dismisses suit against Imeem

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Imeem, Warner MusicWarner Music Group dismisses copyright infrigement claims against Imeem, a social networking site that centers around music and other forms of media, and licenses its songs and music video as they continue to stream on the music network.

Alex Zubillaga, Warner Music’s executive VP of digital strategy and business development, said the deal “opens the door for imeem and WMG to develop new strategies and products that will help introduce a more vibrant media marketplace to the social networking environment.” Imeem has about 16 million users to date.

Warner sued Imeem in May for inviting users “to flock to its website to copy, adapt, distribute and perform unlicensed sound recordings and music videos.” Information concerning the financial aspect of the deal was not disclosed.

Originally posted on July 13, 2007 @ 5:45 am

Veteran magazine editor Michael Caruso launches TheDailyTube.com

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TheDailyTubeVeteran Magazine Editor Michael Caruso launched TheDailyTube.com, a startup that searches the best videos online and stores them in one platform for easier update and access.

TheDailyTube allows users to subscribe through email such that they automatically get the best and must-see videos without having to browse endlessly through online video sharing sites.

“I’m a big fan of YouTube, Grouper, Funny Or Die and other video websites,” says Caruso. “But who has time to wade through thousands of videos to find the hidden gems? If I have five or ten minutes, I want to see the best new stuff right away. I talked to friends and realized there were a lot of people who had the same frustration.”

Currently, TheDailyTube is composed of a team of internet-savvy websurfers, editors and writers who scouts the net for new videos everyday, filtering the funniest, smartest, and most creative ones, and posts them to TheDailyTube under various categories such as Humor, Celebrities, Music, Sports, etc. Users can either view these videos through the site, or they can sign-up for the free email-service so that they get feeds through email.

Michael Caruso has been known for his past involvement with popular magazines such as Men’s Journal, Details, Vanity Fair, and at the present, with newly-launched business magazine Conde Nast Portfolio.

Originally posted on July 12, 2007 @ 7:47 am

Universal Pictures, Google, launch the ultimate Bourne video game

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Universal Pictures and Google collaborate to launch a unique promotional avenue for the movie “The Bourne Ultimatum” — a new online game dubbed as “The Ultimate Search for Bourne with Google”

Inspired by the three Bourne movies, players assume the identity of an intelligence agent to track Jason Bourne across three continents using, yup, you got it, Google tools and gadgets, while answering clues along the way. The game is set to launch simultaneously in seven countries on Monday, July 16, and will run until the film’s opening on August 3.

“This is a great opportunity for us to bring the power of Google search products to help players across the globe hunt for Bourne online,” Google product manager Dylan Casey said. “We’re always looking for creative and engaging ways to connect people with the information they’re seeking, and this collaboration is a terrific example of that.” Apparently, this promotional video game done by Google and Universal team-up is the second of it’s kind, the first one being the Da Vinci Code.

Ultimate Search for Bourne with Google

The Ultimate Search for Bourne with Google can be found at www.google.com/bourne or www.searchforbourne.com.

Originally posted on July 12, 2007 @ 5:55 am