Wednesday, February 8, 2012USC Project Uses Tweets To Predict OscarsCan you use Twitter to predict who is going to win the Academy Awards? That's the idea behind a project being run by the University of Southern California Annenberg Innovation Lab. IBM, and the Los Angeles Times. According to the groups, they are working on an analysis of millions of public tweets to attempt to pick the Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Picture categories of the 84th Academy Awards. The effort is applying language analysis and language software from IBM to try to distinguish pos (More info...)
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Oversee.net Sells Moniker, SnapNamesLos Angeles-based Oversee.net, the domain name and Internet marketing firm, has sold off its Moniker and SnapNames units, to KeyDrive S.A.. Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed. Moniker and SnapNames handle live domain auctions. According to Oversee, the sale helps it to focus on its core monetization and vertical markets division. KeyDrive S.A. is a provider of domain registration, monetization, and aftermarket services based in Luxembourg. Oversee.net had acquired Moniker in January (More info...)
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paidContent Sold To GigaOmpaidContent.org, the online news site started by Rafat Ali, and later sold to Guardian Media, has been sold to GigaOM, the online news and media site founded by Om Malik. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. According to paidContent, the combined group will now have more than 20 writers and editors on both the East and West coasts and in Europe. paidContent said that Guardian News & Media will take a minority stake in GigaOm as part of the acquisition; GNM was advised by Coady (More info...)
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Startup Looks To Take On United Online's Classmates.comA new startup emerged Tuesday with its target on United Online's Classmates.com service, hoping to connect people with their high school classmates. Silicon Valley-based SchoolFeed said it raised $1.75M to create a new service which helps people find their classmates via online "yearbooks", in conjunction with Facebook. The funding came from First Round Capital, Crosslink Capital, InterWest, and SK Telecom. The competition comes even as United Online appears to have been beating a quick retreat (More info...)
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OVGuide Buys Live MatrixLos Angeles-based OVGuide, the online video guide site backed by Baroda Ventures, said today that it has acquired Live Matrix, a provider of an online guide to live events on the web. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. As part of the deal, OVGuide said it has appointed Sanjay Reddy, co-founder and CEO of Live Matrix, as its new CEO. Reddy replaces Peter Lee, who was serving as CEO of OVGuide. Lee is a partner at Baroda Ventures, the principal backer of OVGuide, and will remai (More info...)
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SpaceX Sets Satellite LaunchesHawthorne-based Space Exploration Technologies, the commercial rocket firm of Elon Musk, has set the schedule for two upcoming satellite launches, the company announced this morning. SpaceX said that it will launch two satellites for Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Limited (AsiaSat) in 2014, from Cape Canaveral. The firm said the launch of the two communications satellites (AsiaSat 6 and AsiaSat 8) will be in the first half of 2014. SpaceX reports it now has a manifest of 40 launches o (More info...)
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Ceres Cuts IPO Pricing RangeThousand Oaks-based Ceres, the developer of seeds for producing renewable bioenergy feedstocks, has cut its estimated IPO pricing range, ahead of its anticipated IPO this week. In an updated S-1, Ceres now estimates that it will price at between $16.00 and $17.00 per share. Ceres had earlier estimated pricing at between $21.00 and $23.00 per share. Ceres uses agricultural biotechnology to develop specific strains of seeds, which are optimized for biofuel and biochemical yields. The company is ve (More info...)
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Soraa Unveils LED Lighting ProductSoraa, the UC Santa Barbara spinout funded by Khosla Ventures, NEA, and NGEN Partners, has unveiled its first product, a new LED lighting lamp. Soraa, which was started in Goleta, said its Soraa LED MR16 lamp is intended as a replacement for traditional, halogen MR16 bulbs. The new lamp uses Gallium Nitride substrate technology to provide halogen-equivalent brightness, without a requirement for fans, and which the firm says will have a payback within months. Pricing on the LED lamps has not been (More info...)
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Cornerstone OnDemand Promotes ThreeSanta Monica-based Cornerstone OnDemand, the developer of software-as-a-service for talent management, learning, and human resources management, said today that it has promoted three of its executives. THe firm said it has promoted Vincent Belliveau to Senior Vice President and General Manager EMEA, promoted Kirsten Maas Helvey to Senior Vice President of Consulting Services, and promoted Dave Carter to Senior Vice President of Sales. All three have been at Cornerstone OnDemand through its recen (More info...)
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Illumina Rejects Hostile Bid From RocheThe board of directors of San Diego-based Illumina, the life sciences tools and analysis systems firm, said last night that it has rejected the unsolicited offer from Roche. The company called the offer "grossly inadequate", saying the takeover offer of $44.50 per share in cash "dramatically undervalues" the company and its prospects. Illumina also called the timing of the offer "blatantly opportunistic", saying a drop in its stock price recently was "temporary" due to a softness in research fun (More info...)
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Ambit Biosciences Names Chief Medical OfficerSan Diego-based Ambit Biosciences, the developer of biopharmaceuticals for the treatment of cancer, inflammatory disease and other conditions, said this morning that it has named a Chief Medical Officer. The company said it has appointed Athena Countouriotis, M.D., to head up development of its lead compound, quizartinib (AC220), which is targeted at treating acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Countouriotis was previously at Pfizer, and also has served at Bristol-Myers Squibb and Cell Therapeutics.
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