Another search engine can be counted in Google’s numbers, Google Movies (google.com/movies). The service has been launched in the US, but a more robust version is available in France. Previously, typing a film title into the Google search bar would likely be headed with a result from French site AlloCiné (French for “blockbuster”), a go-to for movies, TV series and celebrity news. But now, that coveted spot at the top of a Google Search results list will be taken by a Google movies link. Users will be directed to a new page that is aesthetically identical to the austere pages of other Google services.  This page has current screenings and ratings from film critic publications.

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French telecom provider Orange launched the Cinema Series, a subscription-based, multi-platform TV service, yesterday. The cable service brings Internet-style viewing to French TV.

“Orange is offering cinema addicts a new way of watching films and TV series. Apart from traditional broadcasting, all programs are available on demand and can be watched on any screen at any time depending on the circumstances.”

There are five channels: Orange cinemax, for HD blockbusters; cinehappy, a family channel; cinechoc, for action films; cinenovo, for independent films; and cinégéant, for classic films.

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French president Nicolas Sarkozy was a victim of online bank fraud. “Small amounts” of money were stolen from his bank account in a phishing scam. The attack, which happened last month, was revealed in Le journal du Dimanche.

“[This] proves the system of Internet checking is not infallible,” French secretary of state for consumer affairs Luc Chatel said. “These cases are sufficiently rare that we haven’t had to really organize ourselves, but [are] sufficiently serious for us to reflect on how to improve the system.”

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U.S. broadband is thirty times slower than Japan’s.  If American speeds keep growing as slowly as they are now, it will take the U.S. 100 years to reach Japan’s current level, according to the Communications Workers of America’s second annual Speed Matters survey.

“The United States has not made significant improvement in the speeds at which residents connect to the Internet. Our nation continues to fall far behind other countries.”

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The 2007 CES in Las Vegas will turn out to be a great one for digital television. How will we watch television in the future, on what equipment, and where - these questions were at the centre of the debate. All the major operators have taken up their positions on this subject: the mobile phone manufacturers, who all made their own announcements and presented their products, the TV manufacturers, who have declared war over the biggest flat screen, and the big software designers such as Microsoft, which is launching Vista and, most importantly, its home Media Server… and, echoing this theme, Apple’s response straight from the San Francisco MacWorld Expo with the launch of Apple TV.

However, there was one original newcomer that caught everyone’s attention this year. And it could well revolutionise our way of watching TV. SlingMedia, a company set up in 2004 in Silicon Valley, is launching the new version of SlingBox.

The principle behind SlingBox is so simple. You connect it to your TV reception system, whatever that may be: conventional aerial, cable, TiVo…. and of course to your DVD player. You also connect it to the Internet and then you can access your content from anywhere in the world, from any computer and from most mobile phones…

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With less VC firms in competition, a pool of talented entrepreneurs and a broadly connected consumer base, Europe is a wonderful place to be a VC right now, according to Frédéric Court (picture right). A veteran of corporate banking in London, Milan and New York as well as an entrepreneur in his own right, Court was recently in San Francisco, CA for the Web 2.0 Summit.

What major differences do you see between the way VC do business in Europe and in the Silicon Valley?

In Europe, there are less than 10 VC firms that have more than $200 million. There are four times as many in the US. Typically, a European VC will be on four to seven boards while an American one might have as many as 10. Because of bigger funds available and of time constraints, there is a temptation for an American VC to write bigger checks. But big and quick IPO are not as common as they were in the late 90s and it is harder to make a profit on your investments. Often American VC have to invest with no visibility. It took courage to fund YouTube in 2005 when it was essentially a video dating site. We prefer to put in a little bit of money on a good idea and then give more when the concept has proven itself.

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This Special Report on Europe contains the European Innovation Scoreboard results (France is keeping pace) and a progress report on the future European Digital Library (EDL).

- How many Europeans have triple play (broadband internet access, VoIP telephone and IPTV)?
- What are the desires and practices of today’s internet users?
- You want to go study and/or work in Europe but don’t know where to start?
- Will Germany get fiber optics?

This Special Europe Report provides answers.

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According to a study published in late August by Forrester Research, only 8% of Europeans had triple play service (bundling high-speed Internet, VoIP and IPTV services) as of June 30, 2006. That’s not much, but still up from 5% in 2005.

This European Consumer Technology Adoption Study (ECTAS) conducted by Forrester Research surveyed 25,447 consumers across seven European countries (France, United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Spain and Sweden). A similar study had already been conducted mid-year 2005.

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With its i2010 project, the European Commission hopes to establish an open and competitive, single information and communication market in Europe. It is therefore trying to battle against any kind of competition-hampering national or European monopolistic situation liable to stymie universal access to new technologies and paralyze the market. Deutsche Telekom, Europe’s telecommunications leader, recently experienced being the object of this scrutiny.

Already in financial difficulty and having just recently revised downward its 2006 and 2007 targets, the company was then hit by new tribulations that shake its leading position: On Monday August 21st, the European Commission endorsed a proposal submitted by the German telecom regulator Bundesnetzagentur (BNetzA) that requires Deutsche Telekom to immediately open up its ultra-high-speed network to competitors.

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The European Commission published the results of the fifth European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) on January 12. Brussels believes that, if the current trend continues, the gap between the 25 member states of the European Union and the United States will not narrow. Northern countries—Finland, Sweden, Denmark—scored the best, but Germany and Switzerland also did well.

Five key aspects of innovation were examined: innovation drivers, knowledge creation, innovation and entrepreneurship, application, and intellectual property. According to the Commission, the EU invests nearly one third less in research than does the United States, a disparity that is increasing rather than decreasing.

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