[opendtv] HP steps in iTunes' toes with Melodeo acquisition

From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 25 Jun 2010 13:45:41 -0500
The reason I copied this is: "... taking on iTunes as consumers slowly shift 
from downloads to streamed content."

Now, THAT's a trend that would threaten radio, more so than iTunes, which 
replaced the cassette player. Looks like a Pandora model is where this industry 
is heading, perhaps, as the pendulum swings back and forth from streaming 
(radio) to recorded (cassettes and iPod) and back to streaming.

This more suits my personal preferences, so I'm intrigued.

Bert

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http://www.rethink-wireless.com/2010/06/25/hp-steps-itunes-toes-melodeo-acquisition.htm

HP steps in iTunes' toes with Melodeo acquisition
Joins music streaming craze as it seeks to create a full cloud content platform
By CAROLINE GABRIEL

Published: 25 June, 2010

Everyone wants to go into the mobile music business, taking on iTunes as 
consumers slowly shift from downloads to streamed content. Spotify has led the 
wave and Apple itself is expected to announce a streaming version of iTunes, 
while Google is poised to announce its own online music service in September. 
Hewlett-Packard has leapt in too, acquiring Melodeo, a provider of a white 
label online music platform for mobile carriers.

The Seattle-based company will expand HP's broadening platform for mobile 
software and media, as does its acquisition of Palm for its webOS 
browser-oriented framework. It is particularly targeting new device formats, 
such as tablets, which are heavily geared to browser/cloud and streamed content 
models, and could start to eat into the PC market that HP dominates. As Apple 
has shown, success in these new devices may well rely on an integrated software 
experience, not just hardware specs.

HP did not dislose the purchase price for Melodeo, but the firm has raised 
about $19m in venture capital, leading the TechCrunch report to speculate on a 
price tag of $30m to $35m. The start-up promises users an "all-in-one mobile 
music system" that is white labelled by operators, including Alltel, AT&T, 
Rogers, 3, China Unicom, TDC and KTF. HP gains two products with the 
transaction - nuTsie (an anagram of iTunes, as many are pointing out) and 
Mobilcast.

As quoted in The Seattle Time, an HP spokesperson said: "Melodeo is one of the 
only companies with technology to aggregate a consumer's digital media, manage 
it in the cloud and stream it to the user on any device, along with additional 
streams of content."
 
 
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[opendtv] HP steps in iTunes' toes with Melodeo acquisition

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