Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

Talk of the day

By Times Staff Writer
Published November 30, 2007

Adobe-Yahoo test ads within acrobat files

Adobe Systems Inc., expanding into the online advertising market for the first time, began testing a service with Yahoo! Inc. to display ads in documents created with Adobe Acrobat. Starting Thursday, publishers can include ads tied to the content of magazine and newsletter articles that are distributed in Adobe's PDF format, the companies said in a statement. Adobe is aiming to bolster revenue growth by taking a slice of Internet ad spending, a market that PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP forecasts will grow 22 percent, to $49.5-billion next year. For Yahoo, the partnership creates opportunities to sell ads after the company failed to crack Google Inc.'s dominance of the Internet-search market.

Verizon Wireless wants to go faster

Verizon Wireless, the second-biggest U.S. mobile-phone company, will build a high-speed network to offer faster video downloads and Internet connections. Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group PLC, Verizon Wireless's joint owners, plan to begin testing the technology next year, according to a statement Thursday. The network will use a wireless standard called Long Term Evolution, developed by the Third Generation Partnership Project. Verizon Wireless, based in Basking Ridge, N.J., is ratcheting up the speed of its networks to encourage customers to spend more on downloads as prices fall for wireless voice calls. Users spent an average $10.59 a month on data such as text messages and ringtones last quarter, the most among U.S. wireless carriers.

Sinatra's family, Warner join forces

Warner Music Group Corp. and the family of Frank Sinatra have formed a joint venture to manage global licensing of music, film and merchandise involving the late entertainer's work, name and likeness, the company said. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The 50-50 partnership was dubbed Frank Sinatra Enterprises. Among other things, the venture will manage content from more than 50 albums by the singer originally released on Warner's Reprise label. The company is particularly interested in mining revenue from online and other new media. Executives at Warner's Rhino Entertainment unit will operate the venture along with a representative of the Sinatra family, the company said.

Film could make hybrids lighter

Exxon Mobil Corp., the world's biggest gasoline maker, has developed battery components that may make hybrid gasoline-electric cars cheaper, lighter, safer and cleaner. The company, based in Irving, Texas, created a type of plastic film used to separate components in lithium-ion batteries for hybrid vehicles, to be unveiled at next week's International Electric Vehicle Symposium and Exposition in Anaheim, Calif. Automakers are building more hybrid vehicles as $90-plus-a-barrel oil and tougher pollution laws linked to global warming boost demand for more fuel-efficient models. Toyota Motor Corp., the world's biggest seller of hybrid vehicles, Honda Motor Corp., General Motors Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. are all researching new designs for lithium batteries to replace heavier, weaker nickel-metal power packs.

[Last modified November 30, 2007, 01:12:24]