Friday, December 16, 2011Hello Music Launches iPhone AppLos Angeles-based Hello Music, a startup providing a deal marketplace for musicians, said Friday that it has launched a new, iPhone app. The company said the app provides musicians access to instruments, gear, and services. Hello Music, which is headed by Rick Camino, offers up daily, members-only deals on music instruments and equipment. The firm said the iPhone app is free and available in the iTunes App store. Hello Music is backed by private equity.
posted on Friday, December 16, 2011(Full story)
Zynga IPO Rewards SoCal InvestorsDespite a cool reception for the IPO of social games maker Zynga Friday, the IPO of the company still rewards a couple of Southern California investors. Among the biggest winners of the IPO of Zynga is San Diego-based Avalon Ventures, which owned 32,169,401 shares of Zynga before the IPO, a stake which was worth $321M based on Zynga's opening price this morning. Zynga looks to be among the most visible exits from that firm's portfolio yet. Dreamworks' Jeffrey Katzenberg also looks to have benefi (More info...)
posted on Friday, December 16, 2011(Full story)
TrueCar Draws Honda's IreAuto maker Honda is taking direct aim at Santa Monica-based TrueCar, with threats to pull advertising allowances from dealers who list below invoice on the site, according to a report from the LA Times. The Times says that Honda believes the pricing damages its brands and is hurting the company, forcing its dealers to compete each other for offering the best deal. TrueCar--headed by Scott Painter--provides auto buyers with the ability to get upfront pricing for their vehicles, through relations (More info...)
posted on Friday, December 16, 2011(Full story)
Rovio Wants To Rival Disney, As It Heads Towards IPORovio, the Finnish maker of the popular Angry Birds games, is talking up an initial public offering saying that it is looking to rival Burbank-based Walt Disney Co. as a media company. Rovio, now says it is planning an IPO on the Hong Kong stock exchange in 2013, according to an interview in a Finland paper. Rovio said its goal is to be worth as much as Walt Disney Co. is on the markets. Disney is valued at around $65 billion.
posted on Friday, December 16, 2011(Full story)
Hulu Uniques Rise To 34.5M ViewersLos Angeles-based Hulu, the online video streaming service, appears to be steadily growing its online audience, based on the latest numbers from comScore. comScore released its latest Video Metrix report Thursday, showing that Hulu had 34.5 million unique viewers in November. That's up from 31.9M in October, and 29.2M in September. Hulu said that the new data shows a unique audience growth of 23 percent year over year for the streaming video site. Hulu offers up streaming of television content f (More info...)
posted on Friday, December 16, 2011(Full story)
Qualcomm Stadium To Become Snapdragon StadiumSan Diego-based Qualcomm is planning to rename Qualcomm Stadium to "Snapdragon Stadium", as part of a promotion of the company's mobile Snapdragon mobile processors, the company is announcing today. The firm said the move, the San Diego Chargers, the City of San Diego and The San Diego Bowl Game Association, will be unveiled today at the stadium. Qualcomm did not say how much it is spending to replace the exterior signs, scoreboard, and other brand assets at the stadium. Qualcomm's Snapdragon pr (More info...)
posted on Friday, December 16, 2011(Full story)