Wednesday, September 12, 2012Edmunds.com Plans HackathonSanta Monica-based Edmunds.com is joining the "Hackathon" bandwagon, and is getting set to launch a two-day event at its headquarters to brainstorm and solve problems around the car buying process, the company said today. Edmunds.com did not say how much it plans to award for its hackathon, which it says it will be opening up to auto industry insiders and other "innovative thinkers". Innovative developers with a penchant for creating new applications have had quite a number of local opportunitie (More info...)
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GlySens Scores Funding For Glucose Monitoring DevicesSan Diego-based GlySens, a startup developing implantable, long-term glucose monitoring sensors, has scored an investment round, according to investor West Health Investment Fund. Financial terms of the investment were not disclosed. La Jolla-based West Health announced the funding along with the an investment in Virginia-based RxAnte, a provider of medication adherence and predictive analytics tools for the health care market. The funding came out of the $100M West Health Investment Fund, which (More info...)
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CallFire Debuts New PlatformCallFire, the provider of text messaging and voice applications APIs which is run by Dinesh Ravishanker, has launched a new platform, the company said Tuesday. The firm said it has created a "next-generation" platform, bulit from the ground up, which includes such new features as allowing customers to interact with businesses using SMS and text messages; new call tracking and analytics tools; opti-in voice broadcasting; and interactive voice response (IVR) capabilities. CallFire provides program (More info...)
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Telcentris Opens New York Data CenterSan Diego-based Telcentris, which offers up cloud communications services, said today that it has opened up a new data center on the East Coast. The company--which runs VoxOx and VoxOx In Business, two unified communications services--said the new data center is at an Equinix colocation facility in New York. The firm said the new data center is its first on the East Coast.
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Amazon Studios Releases Digital ComicAn effort in Los Angeles by Amazon.com to find screenplays has resulted in a new digital comic series, the firm said today, Blackburn Burrow. Amazon said the new venture from Amazon Studios will produce four issues of the comic, inspired by a screenplay optioned by Amazon from Jay Levy. Amazon said the digital comic will be a "way to test stories and learn about fan engagement". The company is looking at potentially turning the story into a full blown movie. Amazon Studios is run by Los Angeles, (More info...)
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Interview with Alec Meikle, MYMUSAICTired of that same-old, boring photo slideshow? How do you create a better, more exciting presentation of your photos? MYMUSAIC (www.mymusaic.com), a Los Angeles startup, thinks it has figured that out, and recently launched a service which automatically matches photos to the beat of music, creating an online video of your photos and music. We spoke with founder Alec Meikle to learn about what the service offers and how it's different than what's available from other software.
How did the ide (More info...)
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TVC Capital Closes $75M FundSan Diego-based private equity firm TVC Capital, which is led by Jeb Spencer and Steven Hamerslag, has closed on a new, $75M growth equity and buyout fund, the firms said today. The new fund, TVC Capital II came from private equity fund of funds, institutional asset managers and family offices. TVC said the new fund will focus on investments and acquisitions of software companies and software-enabled service firms. TVC's prior investment include Accordent Technologies (Acquired by Polycom) and D (More info...)
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SpaceX Wins Satellite Launch ContractHawthorne-based SpaceX, the commercial rocket and spaceflight firm headed by Elon Musk, has signed a new satellite launch deal this morning. SpaceX and European firm SES said they are in an agreement to launch three, additional SES satellites on the SpaceX Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. The two said the first mission under contract is for 2015. SES is a commercial satellite operator, and already has a contract to launch a satellite with SpaceX in 2013 (More info...)
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Vitesse Expands In IndiaCamarillo-based Vitesse Semiconductor, which develops chips for the high performance networking market, said today that it has expanded its sales presence in India. The firm said it has linked with WPI Group, a subsidiary of semiconductor distributor WPG Holdings, to handle distribution of its complete product line in India. Vitesse said the move comes as the country of India has been projected to become the second largest mobile broadband market in the next four years. Vitesse said its chips ar (More info...)
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Ostendo Technologies Wins $58.3M ContractCarlsbad-based Ostendo Technologies, a developer of solid state lighting and display technology, reported this morning that it has scored a $58.3M contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory. The firm said the 4-year contract was funded by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), and will focus on developing holographic, 3D displays. Ostendo says it is working on a project to create high performance, holographic (More info...)
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