Tuesday, May 15, 2012Viddy Gets Endorsement From Justin BieberViddy, the Los Angeles online video sharing site which is looking to become the next Instagram, just got some big help today from celebrity Justin Bieber. Bieber threw his celebrity weight in a (gulp) shirtless post of himself posing for the camera late Tuesday, telling his followers on Twitter and elsewhere to check out the site. Viddy, which was co-founded by Brett O'Brien (former founder of Xdrive) and JJ Aguhob, is venture backed by Battery Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Goldman Sachs, (More info...)
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Amazon Explains Studio Process, In VideoAre you wondering how Amazon Studios--Amazon.com's production studio--figured out whether or not it wants to make a movie from a script? In typical Hollywood fashion, it has explained it--with a YouTube video. Amazon has tapped Hollywood vet and former Disney executive Roy Price to head up its movie efforts in Seattle, and has a unit, the People's Production Company, which apparently has been set up in Sherman Oaks to help create scripts and movies as full-budget theatrical feature films based (More info...)
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Fisker Automotive Systems' Supplier Seeks BuyerA major supplier to Irvine-based electric auto firm Fisker Automotive is looking for a buyer, after woes triggered by a recall of Fisker's automobiles in March. A123, the supplier of batteries used in Fisker's automobiles, said Tuesday that it has hired an outside financial advisor to provide it with "evaluation of strategic alternatives" for the firm. Fisker, and A123, saw a huge black eye in March after batteries used in Fisker's automobiles shut down in a Consumer Reports test. Fisker later u (More info...)
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New York Mobile Development Firm Attracted To Silicon BeachA New York-based provider of mobile consulting and development said Tuesday that it has opened up a new Los Angeles office, specifically to become part of the "Silicon Beach" startup scene in the area. Applico, which develops Android, iPhone, and mobile web software, said it specifically decided to open an L.A. office to gain a local presence to the thriving west coast technology scene. Applico said it is planning to staff up to 25 employees in L.A. this year, at its new offices in Santa Monica (More info...)
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On Assignment Closes Apex Systems BuyPublicly held On Assignment, the provider of temporary staffing to the technology, healthcare, and life sciences industries, said Tuesday afternoon that it has closed its acquisition of Apex Systems. The deal had been announced on March 20th. On Assignment said the buy makes it the second largest, IT staffing firm in the United States. The deal was worth approximately $600M, split between $383M in cash plus 14.3 million shares of its stock.
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JibJab Sues White Castle Over Ad CampaignLos Angeles-based humor website JibJab has sued hamburger chain White Castle over use of its name to promote a food item, its chicken rings. According to a report from PaidContent, the lawsuit comes over a social media campaign called "Jib Jab Chicken Wings" run by White Castle. The lawsuit is not the first where JibJab has taken on a major brand for imitating its characteristic parodies; the firm recently settled a lawsuit with Toyota over a similar dustup over a President's Day sale ad by Toyo (More info...)
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ModCloth Gets $25M To Expand In Los AngelesModCloth, an online retailer of vintage fashion and decor, and which revolves around a community of independent designers, said today that it has raised $25M, in part to grow its operations in Los Angeles. The San Francisco company did not details its expansion plans in Los Angeles. The funding round was led by Norwest Venture Partners, and also included Accel Partners, First Round Capital, Floodgate, Harrison Metal, and Jeff Fluhr of StubHub. ModCloth lists a number of positions in its Los Ange (More info...)
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SaneBox Takes On Email OverloadA new startup focused on taming email overload has recently emerged, and looks to have some LA connections. SaneBox has recently launched an email plugin which works with Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Microsoft Outlook, and other email programs, and helps users filter, set up reminders, unsubscribe to unwanted email lists, and much more. Although based in Boston, at least one of the firm's founders are based in Los Angeles. The company offers up its services on monthly or yearly plans, and has yet to raise (More info...)
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X1 Discovery Deploys In Amazon CloudPasadena-based X1 Discovery, the enterprise, e-discovery spinout of X1, announced this morning that its X1 Rapid Discovery product is now available through the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Solution Provider program. Amazon said the use of AWS will allow its software to be installed and operated in an AWS customer's infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) environment. X1 Rapid Discovery is a tool which allows companies to manage their data for electronic discovery, legal, and regulatory purposes. Pricin (More info...)
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Health In Reach Merges With PriceDocHealth marketplace firm Health In Reach, which is led by Scott Sangster, has merged with competing health marketplace PriceDoc, the two firms annoucned this morning. According to the two, they will continue to operate as Health In Reach, and be headed by Sangster. Health In Reach is an online marketplace which allows consumers to find physicians, dentists, and others, gaining access to the costs of specific medical and dental procedures, particularly for those paying out-of-pocket for their medi (More info...)
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Factual Debuts New Location, Mobile Ad Targeting ToolsLos Angeles-based Factual, the developer of application programming interfaces (APIs) and datasets for the location-based and mobile market, has expanded outs its suite of APIs today, with three new APIs focused on location and mobile ad targeting. According to the firm, it has launched a new Geopulse API, which, given a latitude and longitude, will provide everything the company's service knows about a location, including relative density of businesses near a location, types of businesses, near (More info...)
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Campus Explorer Launches Facebook AppSanta Monica-based CampusExplorer.com, the online site which helps students plan their college experience and find colleges, launched a new Facebook application Monday called Campus Explorer Connections. According to the company, which is run by Jerry Slavonia, the new app lets people figure out where their Facebook friends attend or attended college, to help improve their ability to learn about colleges. Campus Explorer is looking to surface information about colleges from alumni and others fro (More info...)
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Blizzard Launches Diablo IIIIrvine-based Blizzard Entertainment said today that it has launched Diablo III, the latest in its action and role playing games series. Blizzard said the game is available in stores in the U.S., Canada, Europe, South Korea, Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau, as well as online. Blizzard said it racked up more than 2 million preorders on the title, and held more than 8,000 midnight launch events to promote the game.
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WD Completes Sale of 3.5 Inch Hard Drive AssetsIrvine-based Western Digital Corp., the hard disk drive manufacturer, said this morning that it has completed its divestituture of certain 3.5-inch hard drive assets to Toshiba. WD sold the assets to Toshiba as part of a deal with regulatory agencies, for approval of the firm's acquisition of Viviti Technologies Ltd. (formerly Hitachi Global Storage Technologies). Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed. Western Digital also said that it has completed its acquisition of Toshiba Storage De (More info...)
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Mindspeed Names VP, GMNewport Beach-based semiconductor maker Mindspeed Technologies said today that it has named Preetinder S. Virk as Senior Vice President and General Manager of its communications convergence processing (CCP) business unit. Virk was previously at Freescale Semiconductor, where he served for more than three years, and prior to that was at Mindspeed, serving as Senior Vice President and General Manager, enterprise and consumer premise equipment (CPE).
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