Two U.S. content companies made European purchases Thursday.Mforma Group Inc.'s spending spree continued Thursday as the mobile entertainment publisher acquired U.K. gaming company Blue Beck.A 3-year-old creator of console and mobile titles for Electronic Arts, THQ, Jamdat and Mforma, Blue Beck has become a...
SANTA MONICA, Calif.-With the Summer Games in Athens drawing to a close this weekend, Mforma Group Inc. and Verizon Wireless have teamed to launch a mobile track-and-field game.Track & Field '04 allows gamers to compete in seven events, including the long jump, high jump,...
Purse strings are loosening for wireless companies as the industry relaxes the tight fists of the past few years.In spite of the risks, venture-capital companies say wireless is a good place to throw money. In July alone, 41 wireless companies announced $570 million in...
BELLEVUE, Wash.-Flush from two recent successful rounds of funding, Mforma Group Inc. has acquired FingerTwitch, Inc., a San Francisco-based company that adapts games and other applications for wireless use.The mobile entertainment company will use FingerTwitch technologies to develop applications across a broad range of...
BOSTON-Mobile entertainment publisher Chasma Inc. announced a deal to bring wares from online game developer Slingo to mobile devices.The first mobile Slingo games, Slingo Millennium and 5 Card Slingo, are expected to launch in January. Players can access an online "chat-stream" and can create...
Flush from two recent successful rounds of funding, Mforma Group Inc. has acquired FingerTwitch, Inc., a San Francisco-based company that adapts games and other applications for wireless use.The mobile entertainment company will use FingerTwitch technologies to develop applications across a broad range of handsets...
Mobile-game publisher In-Fusio raised $27 million in its latest round of financing. U.S.-based venture-capital firm Insight Venture Partners led the funding round, joining existing investors Banexi Ventures, Partech International, BPSA and Innoven Partenaires. The 6-year-old gaming firm will use the capital to build on...
ORLANDO, Fla.-ClearSky Mobile Media, Inc. has brought the race for the Oval Office to wireless handsets.The mobile entertainment company has launched politically themed content, including ringtones that feature the voices of President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry. The offerings are available through...
The wireless industry enjoyed a flood of investment news last week. Among the announcements:c Wireless broadband provider TeraGo Networks Inc. garnered $6.4 million in financing, bringing total investments in it to $34.8 million in the past four years.c Redline Communications Inc. announced it has...
This week's flurry of investment activity continued Thursday, as several companies reported successful funding rounds. Some notables among Thursday's announcements include: Sorrent raised $20 million in Series C financing led by BA Venture Partners, the California-based mobile entertainment publisher announced. Sorrent officials said the...
It's already been a hectic week for investment in the wireless arena, with several companies scoring millions of dollars in venture-capital funding. Some of the more significant announcements since Monday: Wireless local area network switch start-up Aruba Wireless Networks secured $27 million in financing...
LOS ANGELES-Ring-tone company Xingtone Inc. announced it scored a first round of institutional financing from Siemens Mobile Acceleration. Terms of the deal were not disclosed."This investment is a significant development both for our company and the burgeoning mobile entertainment industry," said Jonathan Schreiber, the...
SK USA Inc., a division of South Korea's technology conglomerate SK Group, announced the introduction of a new company that will focus specifically on the wireless content and entertainment marketplace. SK USA's new SkyZone Entertainment will offer various applications, including wireless games, wallpapers and...
The wireless content business continues its rapid consolidation as two major U.S. players announced international acquisitions.The moves are the latest indication that wireless entertainment and application companies are no longer content to serve domestic markets.First, wireless entertainment heavyweight Mforma Group Inc. announced it purchased...
The wireless content business continues its rapid consolidation as two major U.S. players announced international acquisitions. The moves are the latest indication that wireless entertainment and application companies are no longer content to serve domestic markets.First, wireless entertainment heavyweight Mforma Group Inc. announced it...
New research shows the wireless data and entertainment industry is neglecting its most willing market segments: women and young adults."Females and young consumers have a significantly higher propensity to adopt most mobile interactive services and advanced handset features," wrote research and consulting firm Zelos...
NEW YORK-InfoSpace Inc. said it scored a deal with Major League Baseball to offer ball club logos to mobile-phone users. The deal will allow users to personalize their phones with logos from all 30 MLB clubs."We are very excited to offer our clubs, and...
NEW YORK-InfoSpace Inc. said it scored a deal with Major League Baseball to offer ball club logos to mobile-phone users. The deal will allow users to personalize their phones with logos from all 30 MLB clubs."We are very excited to offer our clubs, and...
CANNES, France-Alcatel scored several new mobile video deals, including an agreement with Hutchison 3G Austria for its video gateway product.Alcatel said it will offer video-streaming services for Hutchison 3G in Austria, as well as video telephony services between mobile subscribers and correspondents using a...
CANNES, France-Alcatel scored several new mobile video deals, including an agreement with Hutchison 3G Austria for its video gateway product.Alcatel said it will offer video-streaming services for Hutchison 3G in Austria, as well as video telephony services between mobile subscribers and correspondents using a...
NEW YORK-Ring-tone powerhouse Zingy announced a major expansion in its deal with recording company BMG. The company said it scored the licenses to BMG's master recordings, which means that Zingy will be able to sell ring tones that sound like actual BMG songs rather...
PRINCETON, N.J.-Wireless gaming startup Kayak Interactive announced it scored a substantial $11.75 million in Series A venture funding. VantagePoint Venture Partners led the round."Our own view of the significant growth in the mobile entertainment market was clearly mirrored by that of the investment community...
LONDON-EMI Music, Downplay, In-Fusio, Omni Entertainment, MmO2, Qualcomm Inc. and Sun Microsystems Inc. are among the newest members of the Mobile Entertainment Forum, the group announced. The organization said the caliber of its new members is further evidence of its position as the leading...
Premium text messaging is now a reality in the United States-essentially creating a new market in the U.S. wireless industry.Most of the nation's wireless carriers have installed the necessary billing and management systems to offer the service-including all of the nationwide operators-and already a...
