Friday, September 5, 2008Blizzard Goes Into Music Biz, Via iTunesIrvine-based computer games maker Blizzard Entertainment said Thursday afternoon that the firm has released a "wide selection" of music from the firm's popular games into iTunes. According to Blizzard, it is releasing six soundtrack albums to iTunes, including soundtracks from StarCraft, Diablo II, Warcraft III, World of Warcraft, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, and World of Warcraft: Taverns of Azeroth. The Blizzard soundtracks are available as both per-song and album pricing, at a stan (More info...)
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iRise Gets Win With Insurance FirmEl Segundo-based iRise, a provider of software for helping companies prototype their web applications, said this week that it has scored a win at First American Title Insurance Company. Financial impact of the deal was not disclosed. iRise said that the insurance firm, which is a subsidiary of The First American Corporation, has chosen its products to visualize its software applications. iRise's tools are used to work through business and functional requirements of web applications, before they (More info...)
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Napster Inks Deal With LenovoLos Angeles-based digital music service Napster said Friday morning that it has inked a co-marketing agreement with PC marker Lenovo. Napster said that it will offer a free, 14-day trial on most new Lenovo notebook and desktop PCs in the U.S. and Canada. Financial impact of the deal was not disclosed. Napster offers both subscription and download-to-own online music services; the firm is currently embroiled in a proxy battle with dissident shareholders who want control of its board, and has hire (More info...)
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Newport Media Gets Design WinLake Forest-based Newport Media, which develops semiconductors for broadcasting audio and video, has scored a design win with Longcheer Holdings LTD, a manufacturer of 2G and 3G cellular handsets. Longcheer Holdings said that it will use Newport Media's products for three different GSM/GPRS handsets, for digital television broadcasting (DVB) capability. Financial impact of the design win was not disclosed. Newport Media's chips are used by electronics firms to add DVB and other digital audio and (More info...)
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Strix Partners With Wireless Parking Meter FirmCalabasas-based Strix Systems, a developer of wireless mesh networking hardware, said Thursday that the firm has inked a partnership with Digital Payment Technologies, a supplier of parking meters for the parking industry. According to the firm, the two have certified DPT's parking pay stations to connect to Strix wireless mesh networks. DPT's systems are used by municipalities and others to accept parking payments via credit card and other methods. The two firms said they have their first joint (More info...)
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Geni Touts Traffic NumbersLos Angeles-based Geni.com, the high profile genealogy site started by former PayPal founder David Sacks, is touting its traffic numbers, saying Thursday that the firm has exceeded 1 million unique visitors to the web site for the first time. The firm--which is venture backed by the Founders Fund and Charles River Ventures--claims that its site's largest family tree now includes over 600,00 people built by over 40,000 users. Geni's web site offers Web 2.0-style tools to draw a family tree and li (More info...)
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National Lampoon Buys Widget Site ZingFuLos Angeles-based comedy firm National Lampoon said Thursday that it has acquired ZingFu.com, an online web site focused on e-cards. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. National Lampoon said it acquired the site from Zing Fu Enterprises, LLC. ZingFu's online web site allows users to send e-cards to their friends, or post them to blogs or other social networking web sites. The site allows users to upload their photos and add borders and other decorations. The acquisition is the latest (More info...)
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DriveCam Names CEOSan Diego-based DriveCam, which develops driver safety systems, said Thursday that it has named Brandon Nixon as the firm's CEO and added him to the firm's board of directors. Nixon was most recently SVP at ViaSat, and has also served at Enerdyne Technologies, Boatracs, Hewlett-Packard, Texas Instruments, PCSI/Cirrus Logic, and SAIC. Nixon has also served as a genreal partner with private equity firm Housatonic Partners. The appointment of Nixon follows the retirement of former CEO Bruce Moeller (More info...)
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MP3tunes Links With LogitechSan Diego-based MP3tunes, the online music storage startup run by MP3.com founder Michael Robertson, said Thursday that the firm has linked its service with Logitech. According to MP3tunes, its Music Locker service is now available with Logitech's new Squeezebox Boom network music player. The music player will be able to connect with the firm's online music storage service. MP3tunes offers an online storage service which allows users to store and listen to their Mp3 music files.
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