Berlin start-up Metaversum, the developer and operator of the virtual world Twinity, has won a new investor in the form of Balderton Capital. The exact amount has not been released but it’s understood to be in the ‘multi million Euro’ range. Metaversum is adding to investment from VC Grazia Equity. Balderton, better known in its previous incarnation as Benchmark Capital Europe, is the fund that invested in and exited from Bebo and MySQL, the former to the tune of $140 million.

Twinity, currently in its private beta phase, is positioning itself as a virtual world “linked closely with reality.” You can get an apartment in New York, for example.

Reviewers of Twinity’s beta are thin on the ground but Maria Bäcke, a PhD candidate in Digital Games at Blekinge Institute of Technology in Karlskrona, Sweden - said the beta version of Twinity is “a very nice environment” and avatar customization tools “pretty good”, but another felt the world is pretty locked-down and feels like it’s ‘on rails’, which may well be the intention.

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Back in November of last year, we wrote about a citizen journalism site in Vermont that was being sued for content posted on the site. As we noted at the time, it seemed quite clear that the site itself was protection by section 230 of the CDA, which provides a safe harbor for sites, preventing them for being liable for content contributed by users. It would appear that a judge agrees and has dismissed the lawsuit, citing the safe harbor provisions of the CDA. Another victory for falsely blamed sites.

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ReadWriteWeb has discovered the existence of a stealth Google project, called DreamAds. It is a very ambitious project, topping even the wireless balloons which Google is also looking into. Essentially DreamAds is Google's latest plan to extend AdSense - this time into our dreams. It may sound far-fetched, but an inside source at Google told us that it is very possible thanks to the latest in cheap magnetic resonance scanning and mind-reading techniques developed at Stanford University. Our source also revealed the thinking behind DreamAds: Google is aiming to become the first company to monetize a totally wasted period of time in human life: sleep, which takes up almost 1/3 of our lives.

We discovered a reference to the DreamAds project via a piece of commented-out code on a hidden Google webpage that an alert reader sent us. We followed up with our inside sources at Google and it turns out that this project is real! We even have an exclusive concept design of the new product (see below).

How It Works

DreamAds appear only during your REM sleep, as a footer overlay to your dream. According to scientists, things that we see during our sleep are up to 10 times more influential than the things that we see in our real life. And this is exactly what makes DreamAds a potential cash-cow for Google.

DreamAds works with a very light apparel that you put on your head. It is said to be so light that you won't even feel it and so it won't disturb your sleep in any way. The apparel will be distributed for free, starting with a beta rollout in San Francisco - dates as yet unknown. Here is a concept drawing of the device, which we got from our Google source:

Full image

On the business model, we were told us that the ultimate goal is a CPA model (Cost Per Action), whereby ads are embedded into dreams so that users can 'action' them. However the current technology isn't that sophisticated. So in the first version of DreamAds, Google will start with a 'Cost Per Impression' based ad model.

Conclusion

This is an intriguing product that has the potential to take Adsense to the next level. Google will probably be able to make around $500 per DreamAds apparel user. And with the upcoming CPA version, the high relevancy could increase Google's revenues to $5,000 per person. Think about that: $5,000 * 1 billion users means an unparalleled distribution model for advertisers and a gigantic revenue source for Google.

Our source didn't confirm this, but we've heard a rumor that Google has already started a private beta program with a limited number of trusted testers in the Mountain View area. ReadWriteWeb will stay on top of this story and bring you updates as they happen. In the meantime, please share your thoughts in the comments.

Scribd sent us an announcement yesterday that it insisted is not an April Fool’s joke. The YouTube for documents, as it’s been lovingly dubbed, is now letting you send in your physical paper documents so that Scribd can scan them and upload them to your account.

Titled the “Convert Your Paper to iPaper,” this latest aspect of Scribd’s service is not only a Google-sized project in terms of its aspirations to “unlock the world’s information,” but it’s completely free for users, and even non-users. Most services that convert physical content into digital content will charge you for it. Even those that merely scan images will still charge you for it (and understandably so).

But Scribd is looking to be really aggressive in its continued domination of its space, and it’s opening up its service in order to accommodate those documents that were created prior to the days of the word processor. Even those documents that have been printed but since deleted or lost can now have new life as a re-digitized, shareable piece of content.

Folks without scanners no longer have an excuse. Scribd wants every piece of information to be saved and accessible in iPaper format. Plus, it’s the green thing to do (in the long run). It’s great that Scribd is offering an option to do all the heavy lifting for the rest of the world. No word on what the turnaround time is for getting your documents digitized, but click here for more information.

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Filed under: Gaming, HDTV

Ok, here we go again. Despite Microsoft's attempt to quash Xbox 360 Blu-ray rumors, they're back... with a vengeance. According to "industry sources" speaking to DigiTimes, Lite-On is developing built-in Blu-ray Disc drives for the "next generation" Xbox 360 game console. Lite-On is expected to begin shipping the new BD players for assembly in the second half of 2008. DigiTimes also claims that the new, presumably smaller Xbox 360 will reduce the power supply from 210-watts to 170-watts. So... care to comment, Microsoft?

Update: As noted by our readers, Falcon-based 360s are already running at 175-watts.

 

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Filed under: Gaming, HDTV

Ok, here we go again. Despite Microsoft's attempt to quash Xbox 360 Blu-ray rumors, they're back... with a vengeance. According to "industry sources" speaking to DigiTimes, Lite-On is developing built-in Blu-ray Disc drives for the "next generation" Xbox 360 game console. Lite-On is expected to begin shipping the new BD players for assembly in the second half of 2008. DigiTimes also claims that the new, presumably smaller Xbox 360 will reduce the power supply from 210-watts to 170-watts. So... care to comment, Microsoft?

Update: As noted by our readers, Falcon-based 360s are already running at 175-watts.

 

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If you create a new document in Google Docs, you’ll see a number of options in the “File” pull down menu. One of those options, which as far as I can tell wasn’t there yesterday, is “New airplane.” It’s right there after “New document.”

Choosing it opens a new file with folding instructions to build a paper airplane.

Why? Dunno. This is strange even for Google. Even on April Fools.

First reader to print it out, fold it properly, video it actually flying, upload the video on YouTube or any other video sharing service and post a link in the comments below gets a 2GB iPod Shuffle in the color of your choice. And we’ll give a second one to whoever can get the most distance from their plane (this is going to be somewhat subjective, I’ll make the final decision) (this is always entertaining). Thanks for the tip, Jonathan Chard. The pdf of the image is here.

More Google April Fools Craziness:

• Google And Virgin Team For Human Settlement On Mars
• Google Wake Up Kit
• YouTube RickRolls Users
• Gmail April Fools Not Very Funny. On the Upside, They Started A Wikipedia War
• Google Launches Future Search
• 2007
• 2006

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Filed under: Cellphones, GPS

 

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What it does

If you love going to live shows and seeing your favorite artists but often find yourself finding out about the latest concert after tickets have already sold out, then check out BeeThere and never miss another show. BeeThere is simple to use and offers multiple ways to find out about the latest shows. Perhaps the easiest method is just to enter the name of the event, band, or artist followed by your postal code and find out instantly if there is an upcoming event. Register and take advantage of other features which include the ability to upload artist names from your iPod or manually, and then have Beethere notify you with an email when one of your selected artists is coming to a town near you.

In their own words

“BeeThere is a grassroots and community driven phenomenon, originally created as a labor of love by music-and-tech-geek Carl Eklof. BeeThere employs cutting-edge technology, and contributions from music-community members to bridge the gaps between the digital realm, and the real world of people who like to get together and rock-out.”

Why it might be a killer

BeeThere is the ultimate portal for all live shows and it will become incredibly popular with music lovers everywhere. BeeThere will become a real player because of the wealth of information that they gather and the fact that they notify you whenever your favorite artists are coming to town.

Some questions

Have they thought about incorporating the ability to buy tickets right from the site? This would be a great value added service for them to pursue.

Updates


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What it does

If you are a podcaster or blogger looking for a way to make your podcasting completely interactive and user friendly, then Innertoob is the service for you. Innertoob allows you to upload any mp3 or flash link and then create the most dynamic podcast possible. Make real time comments directly on the screen and create easy to click on time posts, allowing people to click on the parts of the recording that you have commented on. People can respond to these comments in real time so that your file becomes a constantly changing resource where people can discuss things in real time. Users can also easily change the screen size and clicking from one time post to the next is simple. So if you are looking for a way that allows you to have a real time discussion on your podcast, then look no further.

In their own words

“Innertube.com is a new web application to help podcasters and bloggers create interactive show notes and blog about media files on the web in a more timely way.”

Why it might be a killer

By allowing people to make interactive comments directly within the video or audio file and have listeners respond in real time, Innertube has built a platform that should become an important part of the podcasting and blogging space.

Some questions

Are they considering an enterprise version that would allow corporate customers to use this as a webinar tool? The platform seems to be an ideal application in this space that could challenge some already well-established players.

Updates


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