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Al Gore may not have created the Internet but he is Chairman and one of the co-founders of Current Media, parent company of Current TV. Now, he and his colleagues are getting ready to take it public.

Current TV was founded in 2002 and launched in 2005 as a 24/7 cable and satellite TV network focused on news and information. The channel and its affiliated website differ from traditional programming in that they rely heavily on user/audience participation.  Relying on what they’ve named “Viewer Created Content” (VC2), approximately a third of Current TV’s on air broadcasts comes from non-fiction submissions.  It’s news from pop culture to politics from young adults, in their own perspective.

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Building successful companies from the seed of a startup is usually a long process, one of those things characterized as “more of a marathon than a sprint.”   Joost, and some of their Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) competitors got off to a very fast start, maybe too fast.

It was revealed Thursday that Joost’s CTO Dirk-Willem van Gulik is the leaving the startup next month to become Chief Technical Architect for the BBC.  He’ll work on their sites and likely, Project Kangaroo.

The change may be nothing more than the attrition of a volatile market (tech talent is always in demand).  On the other hand, taking into account the similar departure of rival Babelgum’s CTO in November, it may indicate the honeymoon is starting to end for some IPTV companies.

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Microsoft opened the Consumer Electronics Show with the boast that their Xbox Live on-demand platform would soon offer more than double the number of titles available on demand from Cable and Satellite providers.  Not to be out done, Comcast, the nation’s largest cable TV provider (and 2nd largest broadband service provider) used the trade show stage as opportunity to issue a reply.

During another keynote, CEO Brian Roberts unveiled several content initiatives Comcast has planned for 2008. Click to Read More

Advertising may be nearer the core of Microsoft’s future plans but that doesn’t mean they’re shying away from other software and entertainment endeavors. Television and PC convergence has been a focus in Redmond for more than a decade.   Many signs suggest that attention not only remains, but is growing.  Looking beyond the obvious Xbox 360 and Xbox Live related activities, a quietly executed recent reorganization, seems another hint.

According to a recent article from CNET’s news.com, in October, Microsoft rolled several television focus areas in to a single group.   Named the Connected TV group, the newly formed organization houses HD DVD efforts, Media Center software and Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) efforts.   Under the larger umbrella of the Entertainment and Devices division, the group is led by the IPTV Group’s previous directors.

Combining groups theoretically increases efficiency and collaboration.  The timing suggests there is a high probability Microsoft will unveil product or make announcements relating to the group at the Consumer Electronics show this January in Las Vegas.

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Employees at San Francisco based PlayFirst and Palo Alto based Vuze  should all enter the holiday period smiling and reassured.  Wednesday, both the Casual Gamer and IPTV startups closed substantial Series C Financings.

•PlayFirst
For PlayFirst, the deal brought $16.5m of holiday cheer.  DCM led the round and existing investors including Mayfield Fund, Trinity Ventures and Rustic Canyon Partners also participated.   Including prior rounds, the new investment brings the cumulative investment in PlayFirst to $26.5m

PlayFirst was founded in 2004.   They were one of the first gaming companies Click to Read More

Few new technologies have generated more PR and press coverage during periods of the past year than IPTV: peer to peer television broadcast over the net. Companies like Joost have billed themselves as TV’s future. Joost’s raised huge pools of funding, recruited a high profile CEO, even partnered with talent agency Creative Artists . Then they went quiet. Not much has been said about Joost in a while. Yesterday, they captured a few new headlines with the announcement of a partnership with the NBA. Today, they added PBS. Joost is back in the spotlight.

In partnering with the NBA, Joost will launch a channel showing current and classic NBA highlights on the Joost platform. The web distribution channel will be similar to other programming the NBA makes available via digital media, including offerings on YouTube and MySpace.

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Some years holiday presents come early, some late.  Over the past few weeks, a good handful of companies have gotten their gifts from venture capital firms.  From Red Room to Spotzer, MixerCast and Edgecast to 56.com and Kyte.TV, here’s the latest Venture Roundup: Metue’s regular recap of companies recently receiving funding.

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