Thursday, December 20, 2012POP Charger Project To Give Out Full RefundsRemember the POP Charger, that mega-recharging device being developed by Edison Junior? Well, apparently, it's not happening. Edison Junior said that it is refunding the full, $139,170 raised in its Kickstarter campaign to develop the device, after the company received word from Apple that it would not be approved to the use the new Apple Lightning charger as part of the device. Edison Junior, which is headed by serial entrepreneur Jamie Siminoff, said that it had applied to Apple to include two (More info...)
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Silicon Beach LA Boots Up Effort To Showcase Region, Via BusWhat's the best way to show off what Silicon Beach has to offer? A new startup Silicon Beach LA, focused on creating a community portal for the Los Angeles and Silicon Beach community, launched Thursday, saying that it has launched a Kickstarter campaign to create a Silicon Beach themed-bus (nicknamed "Monica"), which will help promote the region at events. The group is currently soliciting sponsors for the bus, which it says will go to tech and media events throughout the year, including such e (More info...)
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MyLife Moves To WestwoodLos Angeles-based MyLife.com, the online, unified social networking service headed by Jeff Tinsley, said today that it has moved to a new, corporate headquarters in Westwood. MyLife said its new headquarters at 1100 Glendon Avenue has 19,000 square feet, and will support its growing staff and business. The new headquarters are among a cluster of technology companies who are just around the corner from UCLA. MyLife's new building is in the same building as incubator Elevator Labs, compliance soft (More info...)
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Club Caveman Hits iTunesClub Caveman, the mobile application being developed by a team of Silicon Beach veterans, has just been released on Apple's iTunes store, six months after the group started a funding effort on Kickstarter for the mobile, interactive caveman app. The app--which currently sells for $0.99 on the iTunes store--lets users interact with a cute, humorous caveman who responds to both touch and voice commands from users. The app runs on both iPhone and iPad.
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GoPro Gets $200M From FoxConnGoPro, the maker of the very popular line of action sports cameras, has just received $200M from Apple iPod manufacturer FoxConn (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.), in a deal that values GoPro at $2.25 billion. GoPro--which has operations in San Diego--announced the deal this morning, saying that the investment gives Hon Hai Precision an 8.88 percent stake in the company. FoxConn's founder and CEO, Terry Gou, will join GoPro's board as part of the deal. GoPro's cameras are among the most pop (More info...)
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Amazon Studios Sets Plans For Six Series PilotsAmazon Studios, the Southern California-based effort by e-commerce giant Amazon.com to produce its own, original content for Amazon Instant Video, has just greenlighted six series pilots for production, the company announced this morning. Amazon Studios said the six, original comedy series are the first, pilot productions since it launched, and will be posted to Amazon Instant Video for free viewing; in an interesting twist on the selection process for an original series, Amazon said it will sel (More info...)
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Maker Studios Lands $36M More For YouTube ContentCulver City-based Maker Studios, which develops YouTube channels and content, said today that it has raised $36M in a funding round. The investment was led by Time Warner Investments, and also included Greycroft Partners, Downey Ventures (Robert Downey, Jr.) Elisabeth Murdoch, M+C (Jon Miller, Jimmy Yaffe of News Corp.), and Jon Landau (Avatar). Maker Studios is among the top producers of content for YouTube, with over 5,000 channels. The new funding brings the company's total raised to $44M.
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Wallaby Debuts Android AppWallaby Financial, which develops a cloud-based credit card recommendation service to help users get the most out of their various reward and other credit cards, has debuted a new Android app, the company announced this morning. The Pasadena-based company, which is led by Matthew Goldman, said its free Android app makes a credit card recommendation in real time based on the type of transaction, limited time offers, and other information, so that users can maximize their rewards. The new app come (More info...)
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Invested.in Powers Crowdfunding For Black IsleLos Angeles-based crowdfunding software firm Invested.in is powering a new campaign for Black Isle Studios, a subsidiary of Interplay, which is looking to revive a game called Project V13. The game studio developed Baldur's Gate and Fallout 2. Financial impact of the deal was not disclosed. Invested.in is the crowdfunding software firm which is part of the Amplify LA accelerator.
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Sonos Gets Plug On Late Night with Jimmy FallonSanta Barbara-based Sonos, the developer of the popular, whole home audio systems, got a big endorsement this week, when its SONOS PLAY:3 was featured on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. SONOS was featured on the annual gift-highlighting on the late night show. Sonos did not say how it was selected for the show.
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MEI Pharma Gets $27.5M In PIPESan Diego-based MEI Pharma, a publicly traded developer of oncology drugs, said today that it has completed a $27.5M private placement. The new funding was led by Vivo Ventures and New Leaf Venture Partners. MEI Pharma said the new funding will go to advance clinical development of its lead drug candidate, which is an oral histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor. That compound is being used to treat myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), acute myeloid leukemia and myelofibrosis.
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NextWave, AT&T Get FCC Approval On AcquisitionSan Diego-based NextWave Wireless said last night that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved the transfer of control of its various spectrum licenses to AT&T, the last remaining regulatory approval required under the merger agreement between the companies. NextWave said it now expects the merger to occur in the first quarter of 2013. AT&T and NextWave reached a deal for AT&T to acquire NextWave's spectrum in August, in a deal worth $25M and up to $25M more in contingent paymen (More info...)
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Novatel Wireless Hits Three Million LTE DevicesSan Diego-based Novatel Wireless, the developer of mobile broadband devices, reports this morning that it has now shipped more than three million of its 4G LTE products. Novatel Wireless is the maker of the popular portable MiFi hotspot devices, including its latest, the 4G LTE MiFI Liberate, which is being shipped by AT&T. Novatel's MiFi hotspots turn any 4G cell phone connection into a portable wireless WiFi hotspot. Novatel also makes wireless modem cards and M2M modules.
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ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Get Research FundingACADIA Pharmaceuticals, which is developing treatments for central nervous system and neurological disease, said this morning that it has received funding from Fast Forward LLC, a nonprofit established by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and EMD Serono, a subsidiary of Merck. ACADIA said the $545,000 from the two will go towards preclinical studies for its AC-186 compound, which is being approached as a new treatment of multiple sclerosis. ACADIA said the new funds will go towards resear (More info...)
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