Thursday, March 28, 2013Amazon Betas Gets GreenlightIt looks like Ed Begley, Jr., is hanging out at Santa Monica technology coworking and tech hangout ROC--thanks to a new online series being piloted by Amazon.com. Amazon.com officially announced the greenlighting of a new, comedy pilot called Betas, centered around what it described as "four computer geeks and their quest for nerd fame". The comedy pilot, which is set in the "land of Silicon Valley start-ups", is actually being filmed at ROC Santa Monica, the real-life, startup coworking space w (More info...)
posted on Thursday, March 28, 2013(Full story)
Goodreads Acquired By Amazon.comBook review and community Goodreads, which was founded in Santa Monica by Otis Chander, has been acquired by Amazon.com, Amazon said Thursday afternoon. Financial terms of the buy were not disclosed. Goodreads' site revolves around sharing book recommendations and networking between book readers. Goodreads was venture backed by True Ventures, Mike Jones (now at Science, Inc.), James Currier, Michael Birch, Chris Michel, and Stan Chudnovsky. Amazon.com says that Goodreads now has more than 16 mil (More info...)
posted on Thursday, March 28, 2013(Full story)
Playdek Gets $3.8M For iOS GamesPlaydek, a Carlsbad-based mobile game developer, disclosed Thursday that it has raised $3.8M in a Series A funding round. The round was led by Qualcomm Ventures, and also included IDG Ventures, ff Venture Capital, Deep Fork Capital, Greycroft Partners, Jarl Mohn, and other angels. Playdek most recently announced it is developing an mobile, iOS version of the classic game Dungeons & Dragons, with Wizards of the Coast, and also has a large catalog of other iOS games, including Fluxx, Penny Arcade, (More info...)
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DogVacay Debuts iPhone App For HostsDogVacay, the online peer-to-peer marketplace for dog sitting services, announced today that it has released its own, iPhone application which makes it easier for its hosts to manage bookings through the service. DogVacay said that the new app lets hosts accept bookings, message customers, create custom quotes, and send photo updates from their phone. DogVacay's online marketplace helps dog owners find other owners and pet sitters, who watch their dogs at their own homes, and is an alternative t (More info...)
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RightScale co-founder Siegel Sells Exceptional.io To RackspaceJonathan Siegel, who co-founded Santa Barbara-based startups RightScale, RightCart, and RightSignature, has scored an exit today, and has sold Exceptional Cloud Services, his latest cloud software startup, to cloud hosting provider RackSpace. Financial terms of the acquisition were not announced by the companies. Siegel joins Rackspace as part of the deal. Exceptional was based in San Francisco, and develops tools used for tracking and fixing errors from web applications. Siegel also headed by s (More info...)
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Cornerstone OnDemand Eyes Public SectorCornerstone OnDemand, the Santa Monica enterprise software developer which has done very well providing talent management and software for recruiting, human resources, and other functions, said today that it is now eyeing the public sector to help drive its growth. The publicly held firm said that it is seeing growth in the public sector market, and that it sees the sector's "rapidly growing need" for talent management.
Cornerstone OnDemand said its public sector clients already include such (More info...)
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RealD Signs Russian Cinema GroupLos Angeles-based 3D movie projection provider RealD has scored another overseas win this morning, reporting that it has signed a deal with Moscow-based Mirage Cinema Group. RealD said that it will equip up to 60 auditoriums with its 3D technology for Mirage Cinema Group. RealD says it now has approximately 22,200 screens worldwide using its 3D cinema technology, across 68 countries. RealD did not disclose financial details of the deal, but did say the installation of those screens has already s (More info...)
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OpenX Sets Marketing HeadLos Angeles-based online advertising technology provider OpenX announced this morning that it has named Matthew Reid as its new Vice President of Marketing. Reid previously was SVP of Marketing for Gehry Technologies, and also served at Eucalyptus Systems and Expertcity (Citrix Online), where he was responsible for launching GoToMeeting. OpenX said that Reid will oversee branding, customer acquisition and product marketing. Reid reports to Jason Fairchild, OpenX's Chief Revenue Officer. OpenX is (More info...)
posted on Thursday, March 28, 2013(Full story)