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Wireless pioneer Motorola has struck a deal with both IBM and Toshiba to provide the computer manufacturers with its Bluetooth-enabled computer products. Bluetooth is a wireless protocol that allows devices to communicate via short-range radio over distances up to 30 feet. The technology—developed jointly by Ericsson, Toshiba, IBM, Intel and Nokia—is projected to enable links between cell phones and computers or handheld devices and cars. (A Bluetooth-enabled car kit is expected from Motorola later this year.) Motorola doesn't have a corner on the market, however, as The Bluetooth Group Web site shows. The technology is an open standard: Lucent, Texas Instruments and Philips Electronics, among others, are also developing products. Merrill Lynch has projected the market for Bluetooth products to top $3.4 billion by 2005. As for the Bluetooth chips the government has already installed in our heads, there was no word at presstime what purpose they might serve… Ads in the July issue of Wired magazine, on newsstands today, will feature brand-new technology courtesy of Digimarc. When Digimarc-coded ads are shown to a Web camera on a computer running the Digimarc MediaBridge reader software, the computer will launch a browser instantly connecting readers to advertisers' Web sites. So far, the number of consumers who read Wired, have a Web camera and run the MediaBridge software is estimated at 13… Online music guide Listen.com promoted Sean Ryan from VP of Business Development to the position of President/COO. Ryan will continue to work closely with Listen.com CEO Rob Reid in developing strategic business partnerships and strategic partnerships for beating Tomb Raider III… Webnoize will hold a two-day Venture Forum in New York City, Sept. 7-8, to bring together financial management and new media pioneers to consider "new economy business models, content strategies, consumer trends and technologies driving the digital entertainment economy." Anyone still awake and interested is invited to attend the Webnoize 2000 annual conference in L.A., Nov. 13-15… Online video and DVD purveyor Reel.com announced it is shutting its virtual doors. Hollywood Entertainment, which purchased the site for a reported $100 million in July '98 and is the parent company of brick-and-mortar Hollywood Video, will continue to use Reel's database for its video stores. "Unfortunately, the business model of rapid customer acquisition required large losses and significant cash funding," said Hollywood Entertainment CEO Mark Wattles. "I guess we invested too much in that Carrot Top flick, ‘Chairman Of The Board.'"… Stepping into the streaming media game is dot-com upstart Singingfish.com, which proclaims "to deliver the most comprehensive, relevant and updated multimedia search results to their most valuable asset—the end-user." Um, whatever that means. The site will draw upon its database of 2.5 million media clips—from music and video-related MP3s to sports and breaking news clips. Said a spokesman for Singingfish, "We hope to help Web enthusiasts find the Pamela Anderson/Tommy Lee footage faster than any other service."… The MTVi Group has partnered with the CDDB music recognition protocol. Thus, when fans listen to their favorite music on CDDB-enabled media players, they can receive related artist information from MTV.com, VH1.com or SonicNet.com. Like the Digimarc technology, the information is mostly ad-driven, pointing fans to Santana's line of shoes or Britney Spears collectibles, but what are music fans anyway if not gaping voids waiting to be filled with useless crap?… Reciprocal Inc. and Microsoft Corp. announced today that Reciprocal became the first clearing service to process one million digital rights management transactions using the Microsoft Media Rights Manager. Reciprocal currently has relationships with just over 50 percent of the music industry, including Sony Music, BMG Entertainment and Zomba Records. "Digital rights management is the fundamental enabler for digital media e-commerce," said Will Poole, VP of Microsoft's Digital Media Division. Insiders noted that it was the first time inten days Poole had completed a sentence without using the words "infrastructure," "paradigm" or "synergy."… With its launch of www.dealwithepic.com yesterday, Epic U.K. became the first British record company to take advantage of the Web when looking for new artists. The site invites the pop stars of tomorrow to download their material directly to the label's A&R scouts. "The system is set for auto-response," said Epic's Tony Martin, "which means that we don't actually ever have to handle or listen to your tape."