Tuesday, January 8, 2013FanMix Spins Out Of SocialEngineFanmix, a startup developing "social inbox" software to manage a user's social conversations on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, blogs, comment threads, and elsewhere, has spun out of Los Angeles-based Social Engine, according to Social Engine co-founder and new FanMix head Charlotte Genevier. According to Genevier, she has left her position as CTO of SocialEngine to work on FanMix and turn it into a "real business". Genevier and Social Engine CEO Alex Benzer had built FanMix as part of their work a (More info...)
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NantWorks, JAKKS Joint Venture Shows Disney-Branded ToysDreamPlay Toys, the joint venture between NantWorks, the technology incubator and development organization run by billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong, and JAKKS Pacific, announced their first products at the Consumer Electronics Show Tuesday in Las Vegas. The companies said they have debuted a line of Disney-branded DreamPlay products, which incorporate technology from NantWorks to provide 3D object recognition, speech, voice, and more. DreamPlay Toys and JAKKS Pacific are planning to launch the li (More info...)
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ParkMe In Partnership With INRIXSanta Monica-based real time parking information provider ParkMe has announced a deal with traffic data provider INRIX, the company said at CES Tuesday, which will bring ParkMe's parking information to INRIX. Financial details of the deal were not announced. According to ParkMe, INRIX will source data from ParkMe's database for both in-car and mobile use. ParkMe said it has information now on over 18,000 parking facilities in North America. ParkMe was founded by Sam Friedman and Alex Israel.
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Docstoc's License123.com Expands To DBAsLicense123.com, the online site run by Santa Monica's Docstoc which helps businesses file for business licenses, has expanded its services to DBA forms, the company said today. The addition of what the firm says is a full database of all the DBA forms from across the country now means that small and other businesses can use the service for both business licenses and DBAs. DBAs are forms required of businesses when they are doing business as something other than their corporate name, and are also (More info...)
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FitOrbit Links Fitness With DatingFitOrbit, the online fitness service which offers up personal trainers and weight loss plans via the Internet, has tied itself with online dating site Chemistry.com, in what might be the first link between fitness and dating. FitOrbit, which is based in Santa Monica, is the online fitness and personal training startup started by Jake Steinfeld of "Body By Jake", offering up handheld guidance of a personal trainer via the Internet, and tracks fitness, meals, workouts, and more for users. Chemistr (More info...)
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Local Hardware Companies Out In Force At CESWho says that Southern California's high tech industry is all about Hollywood and e-commerce? The region's large stable of high tech hardware companies are out in force this week at CES, with San Diego-based Qualcomm leading the charge and the keynote; Irvine-based Broadcom announced a new chip aimed at UltraHD TV Home gateways, MoCA 2.0 and Gigabit DOCSIS products, and more; Irvine-based Vizio announced new HDTVs, smartphones, tablets, and Windows 8 PCs; and Viewsonic, based in Walnut, showed o (More info...)
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FreedomPop, textPlus Partner On Free Wireless Data, Text, and VoiceAre you looking for free mobile data, text, and calling? Two, Internet-enabled communications startups, FreedomPop, and TextPlus said this morning that they are working together to introduce a 100 percent free mobile data, text and calling service, by combining plans and technology from the two companies.
The companies--both of which are based in Los Angeles--said that, starting in the first quarter of 2013, they will integrate the free text and calling services from textPlus with FreedomPop' (More info...)
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Wittlebee Partners With ThreadlessIn what looks to be a great link for Santa Monica-based startup Wittlebee, the children's e-commerce startup out of Science, Inc., the firm said this morning that it has partnered with t-shirt maker Threadless. The company said that it has partnered with Threadless to provide its members with exclusive access to new t-shirts designed by the Threadless community, which will also allow members to vote on which designs the firm should create next. Wittlebee is led by Sean Pervical, and offers up me (More info...)
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Auction.com Raises $91.7M (Update)Irvine-based Auction.com, an online real estate marketplace focused on foreclosure sales and bank owned homes, has raised $91.7M in a private equity funding, according to a regulatory filing by the firm. The filing indicates the capital came from Stone Point Capital, LLC. Details on the funding have not yet been announced by the company, which just announced the hire of the former CFO of SuccessFactors. Auction.com's website allows people to bid on all kinds of real estate, including bank owned (More info...)
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THQ Bankruptcy Sale DelayedThe bankruptcy sale of Agoura Hills-based videogame publisher THQ has been delayed until January 22nd, after a judge ruled yesterday that the delayed sale will allow other interested parties to bid for individual assets or the entire company. THQ also said that the court approved Clearlake Capital Group's bid for the entire company. The ruling came after the company's lenders and others who had complained that the original timeframe for THQ's bankruptcy sale was too short. THQ said the new date (More info...)
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Beachfront Media Hits Three Billion Video ViewsBurbank-based Beachfront Media, the developer of video distribution tools, applications, and other infrastructure--and operator of video discovery site MeFeedia.com--said this week that it has racked up 3 billion video views across its properties, resulting in 1 billion ad impressions for its partners. The firm said those numbers are far above the 450 million video views and 263 million ad impressions it had in 2011. Beachfront said the increase in views came both through the addition of new con (More info...)
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ACTIVE Network Powers Run IrelandSan Diego-based ACTIVE Network, the provider of cloud-based sports registration and other related services, reported a win today with Run Ireland, a website for running events in Ireland. Active said that it is the official technology partner for Run Island, and will handle online registration for events listed on Run Ireland. The two said that Run Ireland is the largest website for running events in Ireland. Financial impact of the win was not disclosed.
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Ceres Claims MilestoneThousand Oaks-based biotech seed developer Ceres said today that it has hit a milestone in its field evaluations, showing that its technology has been demonstrated to provide double-digit percentage increases in yield under drought conditions. The firm--which develops seeds specifically aimed at optimizing yield for both energy and food crops--said its field trials conducted in China show that its drought tolerance genes provide "significant improvements" in yield production in rice. The firm sa (More info...)
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Auction.com Snags CFO From SuccessFactorsAuction.com, the online real estate marketplace based in Irvine, said this morning that it has appointed Bruce Felt, the former CFO of SuccessFactors, as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Felt was CFO of SuccessFactors when it was acquired by SAP. According to Auction.com, Felt led SuccessFactors through its IPO, six acquisitions,and its recent $3.4 billion acquisition by SAP. He also has served at LANDesk Software, Integral Development Corp., FullTime Software, Renaissance S (More info...)
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