Monday, October 31, 2011NetPlenish Gets Funding From 500StartupsVentura-based NetPlenish, a startup which is developing a service which will provide automated replenishment of items, combined with an automatic price comparison engine, has quietly raised funding from 500 Startups. The firm confirmed it had raised funding a "couple of months ago" from the well known Silicon Valley startup accelerator, according to CEO Dave Compton. Size of the investment was not disclosed. NetPlenish is developing a service which will automatically price compare items you orde (More info...)
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Chill Powers Boy Band Mindless Behavior Video ReleaseLos Angeles-based Chill, said today that it has partnered with artist management company Atom Factory, to power a "social experience" around a video by band Mindless Behavior. Chill's Mindless Behavior site allows fans of the teen band to chat while watching the latest video from the band. Financial details of the deal were not announced. Chill's site turns what has been a solo experience--watching a video--into a social one, by allowing users to chat in real time while watching a synchronized v (More info...)
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Interview with Mike Macadaan, UrbandigHave you ever visited a city, and had a tough time figuring out where the real locals hung out, where the genuine experience--as opposed to the tourist experience--could be found? That's the problem Urbandig (www.urbandig.com) is looking to solve. One of Urbandig's co-founders, Mike Macadaan-- the former VP of User Experience at MySpace, and creator of the technology conference Twiistup--sat down to talk to us about the company.
What's the idea behind Urbandig?
Mike Macadaan: It's actually (More info...)
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BeautyMint Goes LiveBeautyMint, the celebrity skincare service started by Jessica Simpson and BeachMint, the e-commerce meets celebrity startup headed by Josh Berman and Diego Berdakin, has gone live, and started taking signups this morning. The new startup offers up personalized skin care products, developed in conjunction with Jessica Simpson and Beverly Hills skincare expert Nerida Joy. The subscription-based service opened up signups with an eighteen part questionnaire to collect information on a woman's skin t (More info...)
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YouTube's New Content Partners A Who's Who Of SoCal StartupsNot suprisingly, the announcement by YouTube late Friday of a new initiative to provide original content programming channels on the site was a who's who of Southern California content and media startups. Among the list of dozens of partners were DECA, EQAL, Katalyst, Machinima, Demand Media, Maker Studios, My Damn Channel, and Vuguru--just to name a few local content producers involved. Google is partnering with programmers to launch more than a hundred original content channels on the video si (More info...)
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Demand Media Powers New YouTube Original ChannelsSanta MOnica-based Demand Media is one of the new partners for YouTube, in the big original content programming push by Google's video site, the firm said today. YouTube, in a bid to bolster the content on the site, is launching a new original channels initiatives with plans to launch over 100 new channels in the next year. Demand Media, which is headed by Richard Rosenblatt, said it is partnering with YouTube on multiple channels, including eHow Home, eHow Pets& Animals, and LIVESTRONG, all of (More info...)
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BetterWorks Expands Perks To Entertainment, Auto Care, PetsSanta Monica-based Betterworks, the employee perks operator run by prolific Los Angeles investor Paige Craig, has expanded its menu of employee perks into the areas of Entertainment, Auto Care, and Pets. BetterWorks said it has added entertainment options, such as access to stand-up comedy events, golf lessons, flying lessons, and more to its menu, along with auto care services and pet grooming and care services. The new categories are just a few of the many services it offers up to employees of (More info...)
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Iteris Buys Berkeley Transportation SystemsSanta Ana-based Iteris, a provider of traffic management systems, said today that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Berkeley Transportation Systems, a developer of transportation performance management products. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. Berkeley transportation Systems products are used by government agencies to analyze how well transportation systems are running.
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Disney-ABC, Netflix Extend Streaming DealBurbank-based Disney-ABC Television Group and DVD rental and video streaming business Netflix said this morning that the two have extended an existing, licensing agreement. The two said that the deal will allow Netflix to continue to stream library episodes from ABC Studios, Disney Channela, and ABC Family. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed. As part of the deal, the two said that Netflix will also be adding new content to its lineup, including the series "Switched at Birth", (More info...)
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NetDNA Chops Pricing, Takes On Amazon CloudFrontLos Angeles-based content delivery network (CDN) provider NetDNA said today that it has chopped its pricing and is restructuring its business model, aiming at taking on competing services as Amazon CloudFront. The CDN provider said it is charging six cents per gigabit for the first 10 terabytes of data, to one cent per gigabyte for users exceeding 5 petabytes for its CDN services. As a result of the changes, NetDNA said it has been winning customers away from Amazon CloudFront, the CDN service p (More info...)
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Novatel Ships Three Million MiFi DevicesSan Diego-based Novatel Wireless reports today that it has now shipped more than three million of its MiFi mobile hotspot devices. Novatel Wireless has been shipping the devices since 2009. Novaltel's MiFi is a small, portable device which uses a cell phone connection to create a miniature WiFi hotspot for a user; the device was the first on the market to create a portable WiFi hotspot for users with cell phone connections, although the feature has become common now for such devices as Android p (More info...)
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Illumina Names Medical HeadSan Diego-based Illumina, the developer of life science tools and systems, said this morning that it has named Dr. Daniel S. Grosu, M.D., as its Vice President and Chief Medical Officer. Grosu was previously at Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, and has also served at Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals and Siemens Medical Solutions.
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