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-- Orange launching 60 TV channels in France: Orange is gearing up to launch a mobile TV service in France that will feature 60 channels of high-quality video on the carrier’s 3G and UMA platform, Unstrung reports. The service is the first of its kind to use 3G and UMA (or Wi-Fi) to offer seamless video content at fast speeds. Orange defines the services as high definition, but that’s unlikely in its truest sense. The LG (SEO: 066570) Secret KF757 will be the first handset capable of receiving the service. -- *Sprint* adds photo/video share services: Sprint (NYSE: S) has tapped VeriSign (NSDQ: VRSN) to allow users to share photos and videos on MySpace, Photobucket and YouTube. The new Picture Mail service is compatible on more than 30 Sprint phones and will come as an upgrade the next time they upload or share a video on their phone. Release. -- *Mobile Streams* teams up with Playphone: Mobile Streams (SEA: MOS) is licensing a suite of content for Playphone to distribute to customers in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Spain, France and Norway. The content includes everything from 200 video clips of the greatest football goals to hidden camera video clips and numerous animated shorts. Release. -- MobileActive limited launches business division: Australian-based MobileActive has launched a new business-to-business division called “Embrace,” which will allow companies, like carriers, to license mobile content. The division joins the company’s two other initiatives, including the mobile content studios called RingRing, and its direct to consumer brand called Mobubblegum.

-- Orange Launching 60 TV Channels In France: Orange is gearing up to launch a mobile TV service in France that will feature 60 channels of high-quality video on the carrier’s 3G and UMA platform, Unstrung reports. The service is the first of its kind to use 3G and UMA (or Wi-Fi) to offer seamless video content at fast speeds. Orange defines the services as high definition, but that’s unlikely in its truest sense. The LG (SEO: 066570) Secret KF757 will be the first handset capable of receiving the service. -- Sprint (NYSE: S) Adds Photo/Video Share Services: Sprint has tapped VeriSign (NSDQ: VRSN) to allow users to share photos and videos on MySpace, Photobucket and YouTube. The new Picture Mail service is compatible on more than 30 Sprint phones and will come as an upgrade the next time they upload or share a video on their phone. Release. -- Mobile Streams (SEA: MOS) Teams Up With Playphone: Mobile Streams is licensing a suite of content for Playphone to distribute to customers in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Spain, France and Norway. The content includes everything from 200 video clips of the greatest football goals to hidden camera video clips and numerous animated shorts. Release. -- MobileActive Limited launches business division: Australian-based MobileActive has launched a new business-to-business division called “Embrace,” which will allow companies, like carriers, to license mobile content. The division joins the company’s two other initiatives, including the mobile content studios called RingRing, and its direct to consumer brand called Mobubblegum.

Visit StreetInsider.com at http://www.streetinsider.com/news.php?st=p&id=4171688 for the full story.

The biggest U.S. Internet service providers, which include the largest phone and cable companies, will roll out updates to their network over the next two months that promise to make some peer-to-peer traffic faster and more efficient, we have learned.

The results won't be immediate for consumers or ISPs, but the updates could make P2P downloads faster or video streams better over time. And just as important, the updates could someday save service providers money on bandwidth and capex -- which their investors would welcome. The upgrades could also potentially rejuvate the peer-to-peer content delivery industry, which -- despite high expectations -- hasn't been able to win much business from big media clients.

The software, dubbed 'P4P', is a product of an industry association whose members include the two largest U.S. phone companies, AT&T (T) and Verizon (VZ); the largest U.S. cable company, Comcast (CMCSA); content delivery networks ('CDNs') like NYC-based Pando, BitTorrent, and Grid Networks; and tech companies like Cisco (CSCO) and VeriSign (VRSN).

What does P4P do? It makes peer-to-peer transfers -- a huge chunk of all the bandwidth used on the Internet -- more efficient by sending more traffic, when possible, across the ISP's internal network -- as opposed to across the broader Internet. It can also prioritize P2P traffic from networks with which ISPs have so-called symbiotic "peering" relationships, which could save them money.

Big ISPs, such as AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast, have been testing the P4P technology for the last year or so and will start rolling it out nationwide in the next 60 days, we understand. The move is especially symbolic for Comcast, which got heat earlier this year from the FCC for disrupting some of its subscribers' P2P transfers, and has since switched to a network management system that doesn't single out P2P.

What might the updates mean for consumers and ISPs?

In the most recent P4P tests, announced yesterday, download speed increased an average 59% over traditional P2P, and up to 150% for the fastest class of users. Efficiency improved, too: The percentage of data delivered interally within each ISP -- best-case scenario -- increased from 14% for normal P2P to as much as 89% for P4P delivery.

P4P won't immediately work with the BitTorrent transfers that music and movie pirates prefer. But it might someday if both ISPs and BitTorrent software makers support the technology. (Hard to tell if this will happen: ISPs understandably don't want to be perceived as helping pirates in any way. But at the same time, they're under pressure to make their networks as efficient as possible. And pirates, of course, want speed.)

Instead, we understand, P4P will initially favor more "legitimate" companies who have participated in the testing process so far. That's potentially good news for P2P companies like Pando, who have had a tough time competing with content delivery giants like Akamai Technologies (AKAM) and Limelight Networks (LLNW).

P2P's pitch has long been "we're cheaper!" but Akamai, Limelight, and smaller competitors have lowered prices so much in the last few years that big media companies haven't had much reason to look at P2P as an alternative. Media companies have also been skeptical about P2P because of several shortcomings, such as the need to download a third-party plugin, sketchy DRM and security features, and the lack of proven reliability.

But consumers have recently shown they're happy to install third-party software when beneficial to them -- millions downloaded Microsoft's (MSFT) Silverlight plugin to watch the Olympics online, for example.

And Pando CEO Robert Levitan says his company has made some much-needed changes, too, like security and reliability improvements, including the ability to connect to Akamai, Limelight, or any CDN to fill in the gaps when a P2P network isn't providing enough bandwidth.

Levitan also says the downturn has gotten media companies to pay more attention to pricing than they did even a few months ago. He says Pando has recently seen "a huge influx of inquiries," and that some media companies who didn't care about CDN pricing six months ago now say it's their "number one issue."

Disclosure: Our parent company shares investors and office space with Panther Express, a content delivery network.

See Also:
With New CEO, Can BitTorrent Figure Out A Business?
Limelight Networks Quarter, Guidance Good
Akamai Beats Q3, Guidance Weak, Stock Jumps

VeriSign (NSDQ: VRSN), which recently sold off its Jamba mobile content division to News Corp (NYSE: NWS) for $200 million, still has a number of divisions that are up for sale, including some in its mobile/telecom sector. A list of them is detailed in its 10-Q for Q308, filed late last week. They include: -- Messaging and Mobile Media: The unit that provides short-messaging, multimedia messaging, and mobile content application services. -- Content Portal Services: Its digital content storefront services, focused primarily on Canada. CPS can be used as a content delivery platform for games, ringtones, and other content services. -- EMEA Mobile Media: The EMEA business, not part of Jamba, provides interactive messaging applications, content portal services, and messaging gateway services. -- Post-pay: Its billing and customer care services to operators. Would be a tough sell in this environment? For sure. Interim CEO Jim Bidzos said in July that he expects the rest of the units to be sold by the end of this year. That timeline may slip now, it seems. More details here. Photo credit: wizardofthefiretopmountain

VeriSign, Inc. (VRSN) provides essential Internet infrastructure services to companies, service providers and website owners. VeriSign has three core offerings: Internet security, registry services and communications services. VeriSign is the gatekeeper of the Internet. Its registry, security and communications services are essential for the smooth functioning of the online world. Moreover, ...

Late on Thursday, media and entertainment company, Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) announced that its fourth fiscal quarter profit fell 13% to $760 million, or 40 cents a share[More...]

With the election now over, focus will turn back to what ails the economy. And front and center will be the continuing housing crisis. Foreclosure rates keep going up and the $700 billion bailout has yet to spur lending. So what is a bank with a collapsing loan portfolio to do? Take matters into their own hands. Bank of America previously announced it would work with delinquent borrowers to try and stave off foreclosures, and now JP Morgan Chase is doing the same. JP Morgan Chase has announced it will delay foreclosure proceedings while it works with struggling homeowners.  Over the next 90 days, the bank will look at loans and determine if the loan is eligible for a reduced interest rate or loan balance. The company has already helped over 250,000 families with over $40 billion in troubled loans, and over the next[More...]

Monday:
Economic Construction (-0.8%), ISM (42.0)
Earnings Allegheny Energy (AYE), DryShips (DRYS), Goodyear (GT), Oshkosh (OSK), Anadarko (APC), Auto Data (ADP), Herbalife (HLF), MasterCard (MA), Mohawk (MHK), Open Text (OTEX), Otter Tail (OTTR), Rock Tenn (RKT), Pitney (PBI), Principal Fin (PFG), Viacom (VIA.B)

Tuesday:
Economic Truck / Auto, Factory Orders (-1.5%)
Earnings Archer D (ADM), Emerson (EMR), FirstEnergy (FE), Graftech (GTI), Jacobs (JEC), Marvel (MVL), Rowan (RDC), RTI (RTI), Vornado (VNO), West Pharma (WST), Blue Nile (NILE), Kendle (KNDL), Ultra Petrol (UPL), Weight Watchers (WTW), W Greatbatch (GB)

Wednesday:
Economic Weekly Crude, ADP (-80K), ISM Services (48.5)
Earnings Agrium (AGU), AMBAC (ABK), Arcelor Mittal (MT), Clean Harbors (CLHB), Cognizant (CTSH), Duke (DUK), GM (GM), Molson (TAP), Quanta (PWR), Sara Lee (SLE), Time Warner (TWX), Transocean (RIG), XTO (XTO), Activision (ATVI), Central Euro Dist (CEDC), Charles River (CRL), Excel M (EXM), Leap W (LEAP), Ormat (ORA), Sina (SINA), Vulcan (VMC), Whole Foods (WFMI)

Thursday:
Economic Weekly Claims (473K), Productivity (1.0%)
Earnings AmBev (ABV), Arena (ARD), Beazer (BZH), Blackstone (BX), Bristow (BRS), DIRECTV (DTV), Dynegy (DYN), Hornbeck (HOS), James River (JRCC), Lamar (LAMR), NASDAQ (NDAQ), OfficeMax (OMX), OM Group (OMG), Toyota (TM), Wendy’s (WEN), Bally (BYI), Fluor (FLR), FMC (FTI), Fuel Systems (FSYS), Hansen Nat (HANS), Priceline (PCLN), Qualcomm (QCOM), Verisign (VRSN), Disney (DIS)

Friday:
Economic Monthly Jobs Report, Wholesale Invs, Consumer Credit
Earnings Cooper Tire (CTB), Ford (F), Sprint (S), TETRA (TTI), Tim Hortons (THI), Sotheby’s (BID)

Schaeffer's Laura Houser takes a look at activity on the Street after the market close

Schaeffer's Laura Houser takes a look at activity on the Street after the market close

Schaeffer's Laura Houser takes a look at today's options activity

Colleen King takes a look at news on the Street after the market close.

OnSecurity is eWeek's weekly look at Internet security trends, products and strategies for the corporate IT manager.