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Dijji new moniker for Dwango

Dwango Wireless is hoping a change in name helps bring about a change in fortune.

After losing $15 million so far this year, the content provider is rebranding this week as Dijji Corp. The move was necessitated by the company’s separation agreement with Japanese counterpart Dwango Co. Ltd., which was announced in October.

“For the first time, we’ll now be using our own name for the marketplace with a brand we can grow and develop,” said Alexander Conrad, Dijji’s president and interim chief executive officer. “This really represents the next phase of the company’s evolution.”

But for Dijji to survive, that next phase will have to be substantially better than the last one. Dwango lost $15 million through the first three quarters of 2005, and has watched its stock plummet from more than $2 a share in February to less than 20 cents a share last week.

The company slashed 30 percent of its workforce in an October effort to save $1.5 million annually, and severed ties with Beliefnet, which provides faith-based content, in another cost-cutting move.

Dijji boasts an impressive portfolio of brands: it publishes licensed content from ESPN, Napster and Rolling Stone, and has powered text-messaging sweepstakes for USA Today. And the company hopes a new content ratings system and increased off-deck activity will spur uptake of its Playboy-branded offerings. One Canadian operator offers Playboy content through its deck, but U.S. users must go off-deck to access the racy content.

Conrad said the company has no plans to establish a storefront to sell its wares, but would like to establish itself as a consumer-facing brand delivering mobile content for other brands.

“We’re focusing on growing revenue through enhanced distribution,” Conrad said. “Historically, we’ve been 100-percent focused on-deck, and we’re very aggressively pushing to hybrid that with off-deck distribution.”

The clock is ticking for Dijji, though. The company reported $6.6 million in cash and short-term investments as of Sept. 30. It may need a substantial cash infusion soon if it can’t turn the tide.

“We’ve had a few quarterly results that were not as ideal as we would like,” conceded Conrad. “Frankly, we think (the new brand) will evolve into greater recognition in the marketplace (for Dijji).”

In other Dijji news, Dijji’s chief financial officer, Paul Quinn, has resigned his position effective this week to pursue other opportunities.

The company promoted Michael Dunn, currently serving as Dijji’s controller, to the CFO position. Dunn joined the company in September 2004 from WatchGuard Technologies.

Dijji has struggled financially during the year, racking up $15 million in losses during the first three quarters and cutting nearly one-third of its work force this fall.

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