Wednesday, October 26, 2011Yowie Powers Town Hall For Presidential Candidate Gary JohnsonShut out of the Republican party's televised debates, Republic Presidential Candidate and former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson has taken his campaign online--using the technology of Santa Monica-based Yowie. Yowie--which develops interactive streaming technology which allows people to conduct video chats with friends and celebrities--said that candidate Johnson will participate in a live, un-moderated online video town hall on November 2nd, at 5pm PT, using its platform. Yowie said the town h (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, October 26, 2011(Full story)
Launchpad LA Gears Up For New ClassLos Angeles-based Launchpad LA, the business mentoring and acceleration program which has been spearheaded by Mark Suster and Adam Lilling, looks to be gearing up for its third class. The group--which last ran a program in early 2010--has recently opened up an application page for its 2011 Winter Term, and has been sending out invites for a launch event in early November. According to the group's web site, it will kick off the next class in November 2011, and continue until early spring 2012. La (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, October 26, 2011(Full story)
Google Offers Launches In San DiegoGoogle Offers, the daily deals service in beta at Google, has expanded into Southern California, starting in San Diego, Google said Wednesday. Google said it has added San Diego, along with Balitmore, Minneapolis, and San Jose to a beta of the service. Google OFfers is a direct competitor to Groupon, LivingSocial, and many other daily deals sites. Google Offers is launching with a $10 for $20 worth of food at San Diego's Crazee Burger. It looks like the next two, Southern California markets bei (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, October 26, 2011(Full story)
Hulu Rolls Out On Sony BRAVIA, PS3 In JapanLos Angeles-based Hulu, the online television and film streaming site, has expanded its distribution in Japan, via a deal with Sony. According to Hulu, it has launched on Sony BRAVIA HDTV and Sony's PlayStation 3 gaming consoles, as the first non-gaming app to be distributed on the PS3 in Japan. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Hulu announced its entry into the Japanese market on September 1st. Access to Hulu on those devices requires a monthly subscription to Hulu's Japanese se (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, October 26, 2011(Full story)
Mahalo Cuts 25 PercentSanta Monica-based Mahalo, the online content and information site run by Jason Calacanis, has laid off 25 percent of its employees, according to a report today. AllThingsD, which confirmed the cuts with President Jason Rapp, said the move is part of a shift to product online videos.
posted on Wednesday, October 26, 2011(Full story)
GotCast Expands Into Canada, Puerto RicoSanta Monica-based GotCast, the online casting service which helps connect talent and casting directors, has expanded into Canada and Puerto Rico, along with 35 other new markets, according to the firm's CEO, Alec Shankman. Shankman said in an email to supporters of the site that the company also has added over 20,000 people into its database over the last two months. GotCast's service helps casting directors find actors and other talent, and also has been running a number of promotional contest (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, October 26, 2011(Full story)
ReachLocal Strengthens Ties To GoogleWoodland Hills-based ReachLocal, the online marketing firm which helps small and medium sized businesses place online ads, has strengthened its ties into Google AdWords today, saying it has been added to the Google AdWords Premier SMB Partner (PSP) Program. Google announced the new program this morning, to help small and medium sized business connect with others to place advertising on AdWords. Google did not say how many partners have been added to the program. ReachLocal has officially been ti (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, October 26, 2011(Full story)
Virgin Galactic Hires First PilotMojave-based Virgin Galactic, the commercial spaceflight operation being launched by Richard Branson, said today it has hired its first, official pilot for its commercial operations. The firm said it interviewed more than 500 applicants to find the first astronaut pilot to join its flight team, tapping former USAF test pilot Keith Colmer to the position. The hire comes just a week after an unveiling of Virgin Galactic's new commercial spaceport operation in New Mexico last week. Colmer joins the (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, October 26, 2011(Full story)
Vuguru, Stan Lee's POW! Entertainment Tie On Digital Content DealBeverly Hills-based Vuguru, the online digital content production studio run by Michael Eisner, and POW! Entertainment, the entertainment and multimedia firm headed by comic book legend Stan Lee, said today that two have inked a deal to product original, digital content, to be distributed across multiple platforms. Financial arrangements between the two firms were not announced, however, they said the deal will include both studio quality films and episodic series. Stan Lee is known for creating (More info...)
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Analytix On Demand Acquires Firm, Becomes CentraMedIrvine-based Analytix On Demand, a developer of business intelligence software for the healthcare market, said Tuesday that it has acquired healthcare consulting and education firm Integrated Revenue Management, Inc.. Financial terms of the buy were not announced. As part of the acquisition, Analytix On Demand said it has renamed the company CentraMed. The firm said it will offer up healthcare business intelligence and consulting to hospitals, physicians, and payers.
posted on Wednesday, October 26, 2011(Full story)
uSamp Launches Self-Serve Survey SiteEncino-based uSamp, which operates online polling and surveying services for businesses, said today that it has launched a new product aimed at self-service surveys. The firm said its new SurveyBuilder platform allows anyone to create their own panels, via a self-service interface. The new product is aimed at small and midsize businesses, academia, and non-profits. The new service is aimed at market research or consumer research campaigns. uSamp said the service is free, but that users can also (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, October 26, 2011(Full story)
Nantworks Buys ZiosoftLos Angeles-based Nantworks, the business incubation and technology development firm headed by LA billionaire Patrick Soon-shiong, has acquired Ziosoft, a provider of medical imaging and visualization software. According to Ziosoft, which develops supercomputing software for 4D and 5D medical imaging, it has joined NantWorks, and is now wholly owned by Soon-Shiong's new company. Financial impact of the acquisition were not disclosed. Ziosoft's software is used to improve the diagnosis of CT and (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, October 26, 2011(Full story)
j2 Global Buys Irish Online Backup ServiceLos Angeles-based j2 Global Communications announced today that it has acquired C Infinity, an Ireland-based online data backup and hosting services targeting the business market. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. j2, which is headed by Hemi Zucker, said it did not expect the financial impact of the deal to be material. The acquisition is the third one in the online data storage space for j2 Global in the past year. The company said it is looking to expand its offerings for business (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, October 26, 2011(Full story)
MeLLmo Expands In EuropeSan Diego-based MeLLmo, the developer of the Roambi mobile business intelligence software applications for the iPhone, said today that it has expanded in Europe, and has opened up offices in the UK, France, Spain, and Germany. MeLLmo said it hs named Ali Shirnia as its Vice President and General Manager of EMEA, in its EMEA headquarters in London. Shirnia joins from Vodafone UK, and also has served at Speechwork International, Wicom Communications and EMC. The European expansion comes about a mo (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, October 26, 2011(Full story)
Microsemi Shuts Down Another Factory In ThailandFlooding in the country of Thailand is further impacting the operations of semiconductor maker Microsemi Corporation, the Aliso Viejo-based firm said this morning. Microsemi said that continued flooding in the country has forced a shutdown of its second facility in Thailand, outside the city of Bangkok. Microsemi had already been forced to shutdown its operations in Ayutthaya, Thailand. Microsemi said it expects some revenue effect in the current quarter, and probably impact over two to three qu (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, October 26, 2011(Full story)