Wednesday, February 13, 2008deviantART Reports Traffic NumbersLos Angeles-based deviantART, which operates an online art focused community and web site, reported earlier this week that it has received its 50 millionth artist submission. The firm also reported its traffic numbers for January, saying that it received over 23 million unique users and had 7 million members at its web site. deviantART's web site provides an online web site which allows artists to discuss and share their art. deviantART is backed by DivX, which has invested $3.5M in the firm.
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Mandalay Media Completes Twistbox Entertainment MergerLos Angeles-based Mandalay Media said Wednesday afternoon that it has completed its merger with Sherman Oaks-based Twistbox Entertainment. Financial terms of the merger were not disclosed. Mandalay Media said that the current senior management of Twistbox will continue to operate the firm's business. According to SEC filings, prior to the acquisition of Twistbox, Mandala Media was a "shell" company without any operations. Twistbox is an operator of a variety of WAP and mobile sites, games, and m (More info...)
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Move Hires Two New VPsLos Angeles-based online real estate firm Move, Inc. said Wednesday that it has hired on two new vice presidents. The firm said that it has appointed Patty Mitchell as Senior Vice President of Consumer Media, and Steven Brown as Vice President of Advertising Sales. Mitchell was previvously a business consultant at Mitchell Consulting; she has also served at blogging tools firm Six Apart. Steven Brown was most recently at SilverCarrot. Mitchell wil be based out of Move's Northern California offic (More info...)
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Paragon Software Opens Irvine OfficesParagon Software Group, a German provider of data storage and mobile productivity software, announced today that it has opened up a Americas headquarters in Irvine. Paragon said that it has hired on Tom Fedro as the firm's president of the Americas division. Fedro joins the firm from Farstone Technology, where he was EVP of Sales, Marketing, and Operations. Paragon Software's products include software used for hard disk partioning and backup and a variety of applications for handheld, mobile dev (More info...)
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eEye Bolsters MarketingAliso Viejo-based eEye Digital Security, a developer of PC security tools, said Tuesday that it has named John-Marc Clark as the firm's Vice President of Marketing. Clark joins the firm from Qumranet, where he was also VP of Marketing. Clark has also served at Citrix. eEye devevlops intrusion prevevntion, vulnerability management, and other IT security software.
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X PRIZE Foundation Taps Venture Capitalist For Life Sciences HeadSanta Monica-based nonprofit The X PRIZE Foundation said this morning that it has appointed Bard J. Geesaman as the group's Executive Director, Life Sciences. The X Prize Foundation -- which is best known for its successful efforts to send the first commercial vehicle into space with the Ansari X Prize -- said that Geesaman will be responsible for developing, funding and running new prizes in the area of LIfe Sciences. The X PRIZE Foundation said it has a goal of launching $300M in prizes over t (More info...)
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Jazz Technologies Hires Investment BankNewport Beach-based Jazz Technologies, the parent company of Jazz Semiconductor, said today that the firm has hired investment bank UBS Securities as its financial adviser. The company said the move was part of "a review of strategic alternatives to enhance stockholder value," which is generally used in the investment banking community to indicate a firm is looking for a buyer. Jazz Technologies -- which was formerly the blank check acquisition firm Acquicor -- is headed by former Apple CEO Gil (More info...)
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DivX Certifies ChipsetSan Diego-based DivX, a provider of encoding and decoding technology for digital video, said today that the firm has granted DivX Mobile certification to a new media processor chipset from Mtekvision. Mtekvision's MV8722 media processor chip supports playback of DivX video, and is targeted at the mobile market. Financial terms of the licensing deal were not disclosed.
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Networkcar Gets Win In AlabamaSan Diego-based Networkcar, which provides GPS-based fleet management hardware, said today that it has been selected by the Alabama Department of Environment Management. Financial details of the win were not announced. The Alabama department will use Networkcar's systems for GPS monitoring, engine diagnostics, and emissions monitoring for its entire fleet. Networkcar's systems are used to directly monitor a vehicle's on-board diagnostics and email them to fleet managers.
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FastSoft Names ExecsMonrovia-based FastSoft said Tuesday that it has named two new executives. The firm, which is commercializing technology from Caltech for accelerating video distribution and other data over the Internet, said that it has added Diego Dugatkin as VP of Business Development and Product Management, and Hitendra "Sonny" Soni as VP of Worldwide Sales and Customer Service. Dugatkin joins the firm from Ixia; Soni previously served at Clearmesh Networks, Accelerate networks, Xylan (now Alcatel), and Conn (More info...)
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