Yahoo! Rollup: Buys Meedio, Contemplates WiFI, Gets More China Flak
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Written By Reprise Media | April 20, 2006 | Share This
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We’re rolling, rolling on down to Rio with these bits of Yahoo newsmaking:
Does this mean they’re breaking up with TiVO? Beta News says that Yahoo! picked up technology, intellectual property, and staff members from Meedio, a software maker specializing in linking computers to television sets, organizing media and giving PCs TiVo-like DVR functionality; the deal does not include existing Meedio products. Incorporating the technology could allow Yahoo! users to enjoy services such as Flickr from the living room couch. No word on what this means for an existing Yahoo!-TiVo deal that already offers “similar, but more basic” services.
WiFi art thou? Techcrunch has a screen shot of a survey seen by some Yahoo! users pertaining to something called Yahoo! On-the-Go, a WiFi access service that would allow free instant messaging and VOIP calls from “more than 30,000″ worldwide hot spots. They’re also dangling full internet access for a fee: 2 hours for $2.95, or a month for $7.95. Of course at this point it’s just a survey for a theoretical product, but it looks like they’re taking aim at a service Skype is testing called SkypeZones, which provides WiFi access for VOIP calls for a small fee.
Say it ain’t soo, Yahoo The San Francisco Chronicle reports that yet more serious charges are being leveled at Yahoo! regarding the jailing of a Chinese dissident. Reporters Without Borders claims that evidence used to help convict Jiang Lijun, including an unsent email draft, were provided by Yahoo!’s Hong Kong branch. The human rights watchdog admits, however, that a friend of Jiang’s (who testified against him) also had access to the Yahoo! email account, and could have been the party who turned over the information. For its part, Yahoo! says they are unaware of the case and has officially condemned actions by the Chinese government that punish free expression.
Topics: Yahoo! |