Monday, February 11, 2013Karlin Ventures Sets Up Community Office HoursAre you an entrepreneur looking for a sympathetic ear from a local venture capitalist on your idea? Karlin Ventures, one of the newest venture capital funds to emerge in the Los Angeles area, said today that it has launched a new "community hour" with Santa Monica's ROC, where the venture capital investment will help provide feedback on startup ideas and chat with companies. Karlin said its will be holding office hours every Thursday, starting February 21st, at ROC Santa Monica, as part of an ef (More info...)
posted on Monday, February 11, 2013(Full story)
Sonos Speeds Up Music Access With EnhancementsSonos, the developer of whole-home, easy to use music systems, said today that it will be launching a new update to its software, to help make it easier for users to access their music faster. The Santa Barbara company said it has added new enhancements, including allowing users to add tracks, albums, playlists, and radio stations from any source to a list of favorites; the addition of a new homepage widget for playing and pausing tracks on Android; improved search on Android; as well as better (More info...)
posted on Monday, February 11, 2013(Full story)
Study: Cell Phones Still Not For The Dinner Table
A new study, issued today by the USC Annenberg Center for the Digital Future, says that the majority of Americans still don't think pulling a cell phone out at a meal is appropriate. The study found that 62 percent of Americans feel that it's not at all appopriate to have a cellphone on the table during dinner, with 76 percent saying that texting is not all all appropriate, 80 percent panning browsing on the web, and 84 percent saying you shouldn't talk on the phone at a meal.
Not s (More info...)
posted on Monday, February 11, 2013(Full story)
Crash, Backed By Idealab, Debuts App For Finding Tourist AttractionsWhat's the best way to find local tourist locations? How about a mobile app which taps the power of its users to find cool and unique spots in their city? Newly funded and launched startup Crash--backed by Idealab--said today that it has launched its iOS-based attraction discovery app and website. The startup, led by Erick Laubach, said that the application lets anyone be their own tour guide, and explore attractions which "make a city unique." The app lets users check in, post photos of attract (More info...)
posted on Monday, February 11, 2013(Full story)
MediaShift Buys TravoraGlendale-based MediaShift, a newly formed online advertising company, said today that it has acquired travel advertising network Travora Media. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The company said it will be enhancing Travora's offering with its technology for advertisers and publishers, to help them with deeper audience segmentation and richer data insights. Glendale-based MediaShift (currently operating as OTCBB traded JMG Exploration), is in the midst of a reverse merger with shel (More info...)
posted on Monday, February 11, 2013(Full story)
Four Local Startups Who Are Helping You Find Romance For Valentine's Day
Looking to find some romance this valentine's day? Everyone knows that Southern California is already home to quite a few online dating sites, like eHarmony, but how about startups? Just ahead of Valentine's Day, here are four local, Southern California startups who are focused on matching you up with your potential romantic partner.
1. Let's Date
Let's Date, the latest startup out of startup studio Science Inc., thinks it's got your number with its iPhone app--which uses your (More info...)
posted on Monday, February 11, 2013(Full story)
CBS, Amazon Tie In Streaming Deal For Under The DomeCBS and Amazon.com announced a deal this morning, which will bring exclusive access to the upcoming CBS "Under the Dome" series to Amazon Prime Instant Video, Amazon's video-on-demand service. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. The companies said that Amazon Prime members will get access to the series four days after broadcast, and will also be able to purchase and download episodes for playback offline.
The licensing deal is part of a growing trend of online video streaming se (More info...)
posted on Monday, February 11, 2013(Full story)
Snapchat Raises $13.5MVenice Beach-based Snapchat, the developer of a popular mobile application which lets users take "self destructing" mobile photos of themselves that they can send to friends, has raised $13.5M in a Series A funding, according to multiple reports. The funding came from Benchmark Capital, led by Mitch Lasky. The New York Times said the funding valued the company at between $60 and $70M. Snapchat develops a somewhat controversial application popular for "sexting". The firm's CEO is Evan Spiegel.
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Ranker Hits 1M Votes In JanuaryRanker, which is backed by Draper Associates, Rincon Venture Partners, Siemer Ventures, Data Collective, Gil Elbaz, Tech Coast Angels, and the Pasadena Angels, has hit 1 million votes on its site in January, the company said last week. Ranker's website lets users create "top 10 lists" and lets other users vote those lists up and down. The startup, headed by Clark Benson, said that both user interaction via voting as well as traffic has been growing for the company; the company said voting activi (More info...)
posted on Monday, February 11, 2013(Full story)
Alchemy Networks Launches New ChannelsAlchemy Networks, one of YouTube's Premium Channel partners, which is focused on African American consumers, said last week that it has launched a new set of premium channels. The company said its new YouTube channels are aimed at the hair, beauty, fashion, and urban lifestyle categories, all specifically aimed at African American culture. Alchemy said it has two premium channels funded by YouTube, including Kaleidoscope, targeted at 18-34, multicultural urban consumers, and FWD, which is launch (More info...)
posted on Monday, February 11, 2013(Full story)
RealD Loses James Cameron From BoardLos Angeles-based 3D film technology provider RealD announced this morning that filmmaker James Cameron has resigned from the company's board of directors. The company said that Cameron has left the board due to his work on Avatar 2 and Avatar 3. Cameron said he is leaving the baord due to the increasing demands on his schedule from the two projects. RealD develops 3D movie projection technology.
posted on Monday, February 11, 2013(Full story)
Infinitely Virtual Debuts New ServiceSanta Monica-based Infinitely Virtual, the provider of virtual servers and other cloud hosting services, said today that it has rolled out a new product. The firm said its Dell RemoteScan service provides desktop scanner services, allowing businesses to scan documents into any application on any server. Infinitely Virtual offers up hosted version of software from Intuit, Microsoft, and others. The company said the new service costs $9.99 a month per scanning station.
posted on Monday, February 11, 2013(Full story)