Tuesday, August 14, 2012Fisker Sets New CEO, Seeking InvestmentAnaheim-based electric automotive car maker Fisker Automotive has set a new CEO, saying that it has named Tony Posawatz as its new Chief Executive Officer. Posawatz comes to the electric vehicle maker via General Motors, where he was head of that company's Volt program. Fisker said Posawatz was GM;s Vehicle Line Director and key leader of Global Electric Vehicle development, head of the company's Chevrolet Volt efforts. Posawatz is the third CEO of Fisker Automotive so far this year, and replace (More info...)
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Planetary Resources Taps NASA JPL TalentPlanetary Resources, the space asteroid mining venture co-founded by Peter Diamandis, has quietly been tapping talent from Pasadena's NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, according to an email from Diamandis sent to backers of the company. Planetary Resources--which has the backing of such folks as space traveler Charles Simonyi (Microsoft), Larry Page (Google), director James Cameron, and others--said that it several of its staff were the lead engineers for designing, building and testing Curiosity (More info...)
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RealtyTrac Names Moyle As CEOIrvine-based RealtyTrac said late Tuesday that it had named Jamie Moyle as CEO of the company. Moyle was most recently President and COO of the firm, and had previously served at Homefacts.com (acquired by RealtyTrac in April) and SkiWest (sold to Overstock.com in 2005). The firm said that former CEO Brandon Moore will serve as a consultant to the company's board. RealtyTrac is a provider of online listings of real estate in the foreclosure process.
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LA Technology Scene: StartEngine Entrepreneurs Mix It Up With MentorsIt's a warm summer night in Westwood and 35 entrepreneurs are mingling with a collection of the new SoCal silicon-set. StartEngine, the startup accelerator, which launched earlier this year with ten hopeful businesses, is now in the middle of its third and largest class to date. At a recent Mentor Mixer for the accelerator, held last Thursday, the group ran through pitches and mixed and mingled with mentors.
"I'm really excited for them," said Howard Marks, StartEngine's co-founder and patron (More info...)
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Poptent In Deal With EdelmanLos Angeles-based Poptent, the startup which is using crowdsourcing to help companies create advertising for their brands, has inked a deal with public relations company Edelman, the two said today. The companies said that Edelman will use Poptent's network of videographers to create video content for Edelman's clients worldwide. Financial details of the deal were not announced by the company. Poptent, headed by Andy Jedynak, employs a network of professional and semi-professional videographers, (More info...)
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PromoJam Tapped For Virgin America, Rock The Vote PromotionA new, voter registration promotion from airline Virgin America and Rock The Vote is tapping Los Angeles-baesd PromoJam for its in-flight, mobile page, PromoJam said today. Virgin America launhced its voter registration effort with Rock The Vote, saying that guests on a new, Reagan National Airpot (DCA) to San Francisco International Airport (SFO) flights will allow those guests to register to vote, using its in-flight entertainment system. The QR-code driven campaign is powered by PromoJam Soci (More info...)
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EdgeCast Powers Fruit Ninja FrenzyPlayers of the mobile game "Fruit Ninja Frenzy"--the latest title from game developer Halfbrick--should be seeing faster load times with the game, thanks to a deal with Los Angeles-based content delivery network provider EdgeCast. EdgeCast said today that it is accelerating delivery of content for the game developer's latest title, in addition to other titles from the company like the popular Jetpack Joyride. Financial details of the CDN deal were not announced. EdgeCast is a provider of content (More info...)
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Sorenson Media In Chip Licensing DealSan Diego-based Sorenson Media, which develops video encoding and decoding software, said this morning that it has licensed its technology to chip provider Sharp Corporation. Sorenson, which is led by Peter Csathy, said it has licensed its technology for use in a system-on-a-chip that will be used for mobile devices. Financial details of the licensing deal were not announced by the company. Sorenson said it provides a software developers kit (SDK) which helps developers to integrate its decoder (More info...)
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JPL's Team Gets Call From ObamaThe NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory team, which successfully landed the robotic Curiosity rover on Mars last week, and is now getting to set to drive across the surface of the surface of the planet, got a call Monday from President Barack Obama, and also released its first, 360 degree view of its landing site. Obama telephoned NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena yesterday, thanking the team for its efforts, as well as making cracks about mission flight director Bobak Ferdowski, who has g (More info...)
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THQ Launches Sequel To DarksidersAgoura-based videogame maker THQ said today that it has released its sequel to Darksiders, Darksiders II, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Windows PCs. The firm said the new title costs $59.99 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation, and $49.99 for PC. THQ will also be rolling out a Wii version of the game later this year. Darksiders is an apocalypse-themed action adventure game.
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LiveViewGPS Debuts Mobile Phone Location ServiceValencia-based LiveViewGPS, a developer of GPS tracking devices, said today that it has rolled out a new, mobile phone location service for cell phones. The firm said its new service, Mobile Phone Locate, is aimed at families and businesses, and helps them locate phones using both GPS and the cell phone network. The firm's services start at $7.95 per month.
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ADVENTRX Names Chief Medical OfficerSan Diego-based ADVENTRX Pharmaceuticals announced this morning that it has named Santosh J. Vetticaden, M.D., Ph.D., as its new Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President. The firm said Vetticaden was most recently at Cubist Pharmaceuticals, and previously served at Maxygen, Scios, Aventis Pharmaceuticals, and American Home Products Corporation. The company said that in total, Vetticaden has over 25 years of experience in the field. ADVENTRX is developing a number of pharmaceuticals, inclu (More info...)
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