Monday, September 15, 2008Sometrics Rolls Ad Optimization SoftwareLos Angeles-based Sometrics said Monday that the firm has officially launched a new product, Social Ad Manager, which the firm says is designed to help developers and social networking sites optimize their advertising inventory. According to Sometrics, the new tool aggregates both third party advertising and a publisher's own ad inventory, and allows developers and social networking sites to manage that inventory. Sometrics said the software creates custom traffic reports and allows publishers t (More info...)
posted on Monday, September 15, 2008(Full story)
JuiceCaster Adds Picture Messaging For iPhoneLos Angeles-based mobile social networking service JuiceCaster said today that the firm has rolled out a new iPhone app, called Flutter. According to JuiceCaster, the new service allows iPhone users to send picture messages and geo-tagged location data from their mobile phones--a feature that has been missing from Apple's iPhone application lineup. JuiceCaster's free service sends pictures to other mobile phone users, and is targeted at helping users share both pictures and their location inform (More info...)
posted on Monday, September 15, 2008(Full story)
ValueClick Targets Health With New Ad NetworkWestlake Village-based ValueClick said this morning that it has launched into the health and wellness market with a new online advertising network. According to ValueClick, it has created AdRx Media, which includes more than 50 online health and wellness information sites. The new ad network includes sites like Britannica Health, HealthGrades, Healthy.net, Merriam-Webster Medical Dictionary, and more, with what ValueClick said has a "potential reach" of more than 20 million unique visitors per m (More info...)
posted on Monday, September 15, 2008(Full story)
Napster Acquired By Best BuyLos Angeles-based Napster and electronics retailer Best Buy said this morning that they have entered into a definitive agreement where Napster will be acquired by Best Buy. According to the firms, Best Buy will pay $2.65 per share in cash for all outstanding Napster shares, or approximately $121M in total for the firm. Including Napster's current cash and short term investments, the deal has a net value of approximately $54M. Best Buy said that Napster CEO Chris Gorog and other key members of Na (More info...)
posted on Monday, September 15, 2008(Full story)
MySpace Signs Advertisers For Music SiteLos Angeles-based MySpace announced a lineup of advertisers who will be sponsoring the firm's new MySpace Music site this morning, saying that it has signed four brands who will be integrated sponsors of the site. According to MySpace, McDonald's, Sony Pictures, State Farm, and Toyota will sponsor the site, which offers music videos, track downloads, information about music, and other music-related information. According to MySpace, McDonald's will have a presence on its music player and through (More info...)
posted on Monday, September 15, 2008(Full story)
Broadcom Rolls Digital TV ChipsIrvine-based Broadcom announced a new line of digital television chips, which the firm said will focus on the U.S. market. According to Broadcom, its new digital television, system-on-a-chip (SoC) products are targeted at TV manufacturers in the U.S. market, and offer digital video broadcast (DVB) standards, decoding of compressed video streams, Ethernet connectivity, and embedded 3D graphics cores. The firm's new single chip products include both the BCM3548 with WXGA display resolution support (More info...)
posted on Monday, September 15, 2008(Full story)
Venture Conference Highlights SoCal StartupsSouthern California's top startups showed up in force Friday at the Westin South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, for the Technology Council of Southern California's annual VentureNet conference. (socalTECH was a media sponsor of the conference). The conference, held at the Westin South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, featured pitches by eight different companies vying for the attention--and pocketbooks--of venture capitalists. The day started with a keynote by John Suh of Legalzoom.com, and topped off wit (More info...)
posted on Monday, September 15, 2008(Full story)