Thursday, December 8, 2011Independa Ties Sensors Into Health Monitoring ServiceSan Diego-based Independa, the venture backed provider of health monitoring systems for the elderly, announced this week that it has launched a new set of health, safety, and activity sensors which connect into its services. The company--which is venture backed by Miramar Venture Partners and CityHill Ventures--develops a service to help monitor vital signs and safety of eldery patients. Independa said its new Artemis platform comes as part of a partnership with Boston Life Labs LLC, and will in (More info...)
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YouMail Axed From Android MarketIrvine-based YouMail, the venture- and angel-backed startup providing an enhanced voicemail service, has just been dropped from the Android market, in a major challenge for the company. YouMail, which is headed by Alex Quilici, explained in a blog post that it believes it was removed from the market due to complaints from T-Mobile, saying that it was "never contacted" by T-Mobile about its app. YouMail says it is now fielding over 50 million calls each month to its service, which offers personal (More info...)
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Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Backs Startup America EffortMalibu-based Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp., the business credit and services firm headed by Internet vet Jeffrey Stibel, said Thursday that it is backing the Startup America Partnership, an effort to accelerate entrepreneurship and grow new jobs in the U.S. D&B Credibility said that it will provide a 10 percent discount on annual purchases of business credit and credibility solutions to participants in the program, committing up ot $2M annually to the effort. Startup America was launched ea (More info...)
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Factual Revs API StackLos Angeles-based Factual, the open data API startup headed by Gil Elbaz, said Thursday that it has updated its application programming interfaces, which makes calls to the APIs faster, more reliable, and more scalable. Factual said its V3 API stack was "re-engineered" to make access faster. The firm said it tapped a number of open source tools for the speed and scaling enhancements, including Varnish, HAProxy, Node.js, and Redis. Factual is heavily backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Index Ventures, (More info...)
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Gores Group Completes Alpheus AcquisitionLos Angeles-based private equity firm Gores Group said this morning that it has completed its acquisition of Alpheus Communications, a fiber network and data center operator in Texas. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. Gores had announced the acquisition in September. Alpheus owns 2,800 route miles of long haul fiber and 3,250 miles of metro fiber miles.
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Mingle Takes On Professional NetworkingIn the second, location-based networking app to launch in the area in as many weeks, Los Angeles-based Mingle said today that it has launched a new, iPhone app which aims to help people meet other local professionals. Mingle said its app helps users find other professionals who might be sitting at the next table or standing in the same line as you. The company--founded in August--said it has created an iPhone app which helps professionals introduction themselves to others nearby, providing infor (More info...)
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Boingo In Nintendo 3DS Airport Wireless Access DealLooking to extend the range of devices supported by its wireless network, Los Angeles-based Boingo said this morning that it has linked a deal with Nintendo, to provide Wi-Fi access to Nintendo 3DS owners. Boingo said the deal will cover 42 North American airports, and give Nintendo 3DS users free access to its wireless network. Financial terms of the deal were not announced. Boingo said the deal will allow Nintendo 3Ds users to stay connected when traveling through one of its managed and operat (More info...)
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StockTwits Connects Firms To Yahoo FinanceSan Diego-based StockTwits, the financial micro messaging service headed by Howard Lindzon, is announcing this morning that it has rolled out a new product aimed at Fortune 500 companies. The firm said the new StockTwits Direct service will help public companies communicate their company news and information to their company's Yahoo! Finance Quote page. StockTwits said the service is being used by HP, Intel, Royal Dutch Shell and Yahoo. The new service costs $1,599 per month to public companies (More info...)
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Hulu Applies Face Matching To ShowsHave you ever wondered what the name of that actor is on your favorite show? Los Angeles-based Hulu has just rolled out a unique feature to the video streaming service today, saying that it is applying facial recognition techniques which will allow its viewers to identify actors in videos, by hovering over their face. The feature--which comes out of Hulu Labs--will provide information about the actor or actress, a link to their Facebook or Twitter account, and more. Hulu said the feature current (More info...)
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Baroda Ventures, Ashton Kutcher Boost Fab.comTwo local investors, Los Angeles-based Baroda Ventures and actor Ashton Kutcher, have helped boost the financing of New York-based fashion flash sales site Fab.com. Both have joined in a $40M, Series B funding for the site, which was led by Andreessen Horowitz. Other investors in the round were Menlo Ventures, First Round Capital, SoftTech VC. Kutcher's investment came via A-Grade Investments. Baroda Ventures is the original investor in Fab.com, having invested in the firm when it was Fabulis, w (More info...)
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Sony's EverQuest II Becomes Free-to-PlaySan Diego-based Sony Online Entertainment said this morning that it has made its massively mutiplayer online game (MMORPG), EverQuest II, free to play for PC users. Sony said that PC users will be able to download and install the game without charge, and access both the base game and a number of expansions. The company did not say why it decided to shift its online play model, only saying it will take the game in "exciting new directions." The game has been available since 2004.
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Nirvanix Wins Entertainment StudioSan Diego-based Nirvanix, the provider of enterprise cloud storage services, said today that it has scored a customer win at Relativity Media, an entertainment studio working on film and television production. Nirvanix did not say what the win was worth, but said Relativity is using its cloud storage to make it easier to access files from multiple locations. Relativity is the studio behind Immortals and Limitless, with its next film being Steven Soderbergh's Haywire. Nirvanix provides a cloud st (More info...)
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Kofax Wins $600K ContractIrvine-based Kofax, the developer of business process automation software, reported today that it has scored a more than $600,000 contract with a U.S. county social services agency. The firm said the unnamed county is using its products to process 20 million documents related to benefit applications, birth certificates, proof of employment forms and other human assistance aid documents.
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