Wednesday, February 4, 2009


THQ To Lay Off 600
Agoura Hills-based THQ, a developer and publisher of video games, said Wednesday that it is making "additional cost reduction actions" which includes the layoff of approximately 600 people, or 24 percent of the company's workforce. THQ said the move was a response to the continuing uncertainty in the market. The firm said that the cuts include a reduction in product development spending by an additional $70M, through "studio dispositions" and other project and headcount reductions. THQ also said (More info...)
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Melissa Data Buys Data Provider
Rancho Santa Margarita-based Melissa Data, which develops contact data verification and other software for mailing list management, has acquired M1 Data and Analytics, the firm said today. Melissa Data said that it acquired M1 from Metro One Telecommunications. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. M1 Data provides services for purchasing, updating, and analyzing consumer and business information, used by telecommunications firm for 411 directory assistance information.
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ARTISTdirect Names Villard CEO
Los Angeles-based ARTISTdirect, which operates a music focused information website and runs MediaDefender, which looks for copyright violations on the Internet, said Wednesday that it has appointed interim CEO Dimitri Villard as its permanent CEO. Villard--who is a member of the Tech Coast Angels, and is a co-founder and Chairman of USC Keck School of Medicine spinout Pivotal BioSciences--has been interim CEO since March for the firm. The announcement for the publicly held firm--which is traded (More info...)
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GameFly Buys Game News Site
Los Angeles-based GameFly.com, an online video game rental service, said Wednesday that it has acquired Shacknews.com, a news site focused on video game information. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. According to GameFly, the deal also included a videogames related download site, FileShack.com. Shacknews.com provides information about PC games, trailers and betas for consoles, and more. The firm was founded in 1995 by Steve Gibson. GameFly said it plans to maintain the edito (More info...)
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YouMail Rolls BlackBerry Voicemail
Irvine-based YouMail, a venture backed startup offering personalized voicemail services, said Wednesday that it is shipping a new, visual voicemail application for the BlackBerry. The firm said the application allows users to scroll through incoming voicemail messages, see information about the call, listen to the call, or forward the voicemail to a blog or social networking web site, among other features. YouMail said the application--which runs on Pearl, Curve, Bold and Storm--is free, and wor (More info...)
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EdgeCast Gets Win With NaviSite
Los Angeles-based EdgeCast, a provider of content delivery network (CDN) services, is in a partnership with NaviSite, a provider of enterprise application hosting, to deliver NaviSite's services to customers, the firms said Wednesday. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. NaviSite said it will use EdgeCast as part of its services for caching, electronic file delivery, streaming of rich media, web portal and API tools, and more. EdgeCast's services are used to deliver large files, med (More info...)
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Slacker Ships BlackBerry App
San Diego-based Internet radio firm Slacker has shipped a BlackBerry Storm version of the company's Internet radio services, the firm said today. The new application--which the firm said is available for free--comes just a few weeks after the company rolled out an iPhone version of its services. Slacker operates a music service which streams music to PCs, Slacker's own line of music players, plus the iPhone and BlackBerry. Slacker offers a personalized stream of music, which is updated via a net (More info...)
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Katalyst Teams With Slide On KatalystHQ Distribution
Hollywood-based Katalyst Media, the online content production firm headed by Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg, said Tuesday that the firm has inked a partnership with social media firm Slide to publish the firm's original web series through its widgets. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. According to the firms, Slide will be the exclusive distributor of a season of KatalystHQ, which is focused on "life at corporate headquarters of Katalyst Media." The web series is a parody on the (More info...)
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Interview with Peter Hoskins, ManiaTV
The convergence of the Internet and the entertainment business has made Los Angeles a hotbed of activity in the online entertainment industry, attracting companies from all over the country interested in connecting Hollywood with the Internet. Los Angeles-based ManiaTV (www.maniatv.com) is one of the companies, having moved here in 2007 from Denver to take advantage of the local talent. We spoke to the firm's CEO, Peter Hoskins, about how the company is making a business out of original programm (More info...)
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Borrego Solar Lands $14M
El Cajon-based Borrego Solar Systems, a developer of grid-tied solar electric power systems, announced this morning that the firm has received $14M in a venture financing round. The firm, which installs commercial, residential, and public solar power systems, said it will use the funding to fuel a major geographic expansion of its services. Source of the venture financing was not disclosed. As part of the funding, Borrego Solar said it ahs added John Robert Wallace and Stan Chang to its board of (More info...)
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Autobytel Names New CFO
Irvine-based Internet automotive marketing firm Autobytel Inc. reported yesterday that it will promote Curtis E. DeWalt to chief financial officer, effective March 1. DeWalt, Autobytel said, has been with the company since October 2007 and is currently controller and senior vice president of finance. He will succeed Monty Houdeshell, Autobytel said, who is leaving the company but is expected to work on special assignments as a consultant. Before joining Autobytel, Autobytel noted, DeWalt was vic (More info...)
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