Caroline Kahl

Podbop

Just spotted on Soulcreation, Claudio´s blog, something new and great: Podbop, a very nice new service for music lovers. They mashup events from eventful.com and link it to MP3's band sites and labels. This way they make it easy to listen to a band's music before you go and check them out live in a venue near you.
We need that in Brazil as well, venues we got so much!

One billion downloads

Apple Computer’s iTunes Music Store has passed the 1 billion-download mark, less than three years after it launched and just days before a planned press event where the company will unveil new consumer products.
Wonder whether iTunes ever comes to Brazil. They do not sell to Brazil and Brazilian credit card holders cannot shop on the American site.

Girlfriend X

This software is probably what the men´s world desperately needs: a new breed of "relationship management software," combines the tongue-in-cheek attitude of a Bud Lite commercial with an obsessively detailed personal information manager, offering the male version of the relationship quizzes and checklists often found in women's magazines. Yield Generator included ;-)

Digital Cities in Brazil

Porto Digital in Recife may have to confront competition if Dário Berger, mayor of Florianópolis (state of Santa Catarina), realises what he plans: a Brazilian Silicon Valey in his city. Nowadays 300 IT- and software development companies generate revenues of about R$ 400 million p.a. and wants more.

Please dear politicians in Rio, we have a port, a beautiful centro which needs revitalization, Lula gave us the tax incentive to attract foreign VC funds to invest into tech companies, what we miss is that YOU, HERE give us the support and we will make Rio the center of technology in Brazil!

Porto Digital is located on the historical ground of the Old Recife Quarter and adds an urban redevelopment component to the project by recovering the city’s old harbor and port area. Several buildings have been renovated with an area of allover 22,000 square meters meanwhile restored.
The neighborhood’s current infrastructure is suited to host ITC companies thanks to its excellent road network and banking services, as well as the fact of being only 7 kilometers away from the largest airport in the northeastern region. As a further feature, 7 kilometers of optic fiber cable and 26 kilometers of duct have been installed, making it one of the country’s most modern urban areas in terms of communication.
In adition to the redevelopment of urban and technology infrastructure, there are appropriate sectoral policies in place and a full set of tools to complement Porto Digital’s structuring projects. 
Among them are the Investment and Promotion Fund, the Human Capital Fund with a focus on vocational training, and the Guaranty Fund offering guarantees of up to 70% for loans by public banks to software companies. The Municipal Act 16.731/01 also benefits companies through financial incentives allowing for a reduction of up to 60% of the local sales tax on services (ISS). 
In the four years since it started operations, Porto Digital was able to transfer 1,600 jobs to this city area and to attract 10 companies from other regions in Brazil, as well as four multinational corporations, in addition to hosting two technology centers.

Global giants like Microsoft, Oracle, Nokia, IBM e a Motorola, amongst others, are clients of Porto Digital companies. Their research, design and technology centers develop products and applications  for the world.

Copa do Mundo, Soccer and Technology

The number of my posts about the Soccer Wold Championship scares me, for I am just the typical woman who does not care much about that sport but enjoys listening to men talking enthousiastically about it (and not understanding a word when the name dropping starts but admiring the sparks in their eyes when it comes to their favourite teams). And I only started understanding the offsite rule when I went diving into the ocean in Ipanema one stormy day with Fabian and Stefan, and Stefan got hit by a mega wave.. cause he was offsite.
Technologically speaking it is just amazing what I read today: vai ser um show de alta technologia! The first Copa in high resolution transmitted for the widescreen format around the globe through fibre optic lines. My beloved Brazil just did not define its standard HDTV yet, what a pain! But lucky you subscribers of Pay TV NET Digital or Sky cause they are based on digital transmission.
But subscribers of Brazilian operator TIM and its service Tim TV Access will be able to assist the games on their cellphones.
Besides, Deutsche Telekom is one of the offical sponsors and is responsible through its IT branch T-Systems for the hi-tech supply and infrastructure in the stadiums.
In order to provide a worldwide estimated audience of 3,5 billion people with information, 15.000 journalists will be covering the event really professionally equipped.
Each one of them gets a laptop with Wi-Fi connection, 1-2Mb bandwith to send home the latest news about the game, with the stadium in Berlin itself offering 3.000 access points around the green grass. WOW!

VoIP on mobile network

Telefónica Móviles España and Outsmart will introduce at 3GSM in Barcelona a new service of voice over IP communications through a PC and a mobile network. The "Plug 'n Talk" service is a preloaded softphone on a USB memory stick. Clients will receive a movistar number, preloaded with EUR 15 prepaid credit, and will be able to make and receive calls though their PCs, using the Telefónica Móviles mobile network. More...

Skype and Google fund Fon

Fon just raised $21.7 million from Google, Skype, and Sequoia Capital. The cash infusion has been led by Index Ventures, the same company that also backed Skype. More.

Japan against Europe, US out

After Brazil ruled out the use of the US standard of digital TV, it is now the turn of Japan and Europe to convice the Brazilian government. Japan just offered a huge package of investments into infrastructure and equipment to conquer the market which has around 60 million TVs today. E "O modelo a ser adotado no Brasil será o da América Latina"...

Electronic Sellthrough

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group and arvato mobile anounced a JV!
In2Movies is a new digital download platform for the sale of movies, TV content in Germany Switzerland and Austria. Launch in March.
In2Movies´s platform is based on Peer-to-Peer, offering the consumer legal downloads onto his PC parallely to release of the DVD. The company plans to offer more download options for mobile devices and the DVD recorder in a later version.

Cool, your baby is out - congrats M., you did it!
And pls put Brazil higher on the list of roll out countries, tá?!