Tuesday, July 30, 2013SpaceX Wins Canadian Launch ProgramHawthorne-based commercial space rocket developer Space Exploratoin Technologies said this afternoon that it has been awarded a launch reservation contract to support the Canadian space program. SpaceX said the company will carry three satellites to orbit on a Falcon 9 rocket in 2018, via a contract with MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA) . Financial details of the contract win were not announced. The satellites will go towards Canada's needs in the area of maritime surveillance, dis (More info...)
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Pong.com Takes On Casual Games SharingSanta Monica-based Pong.com said today that it has launched a new website aimed at becoming a "Pinterest for Flash Games". The company's website features Pinterest-like links to different online casual games, and lets users "repong" the games they like, comment on games, and more. The website said it lets users organize and share their favorite flash games through the service, and also features user member profiles and other social features.
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Bottlenose Lands $3.6M For Social Media AnalyticsBottlenose, a brand new startup in social media analytics, has raised $3.6M in a Series A funding round. The company said the funding round was led by ff Venture Capital, and also included Lerer Ventures, Transmedia, Advancit, as well as other leading funds and angel investors. Bottlenose said that its software is helping brands and agencies, including Pepsi, FleishmanHillard, Razorfish, and DigitasLBi, to map and track trends in social networks. Bottlenose is headed by Nova Spivack. The firm is (More info...)
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Boingo Wireless Signs WildcatsLos Angeles-based Wi-fi and communications provider Boingo Wireless reports today that it has been selected by the University of Arizona, to design, build and manage a distributed antenna system on campus. Boingo said the antenna system is being used to create a campus-wide, cellular network, covering the 56,000-seat Arizona Stadium, including all fan areas and the Steward Observatory Mirror Laboratory, as well as the nearby student residence halls. Boingo Wireless said that the network will be (More info...)
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Sapphire Energy Pays Off Government LoansIn what might be one of the first successful examples of an energy startup company making effective use of taxpayer guarantees, San Diego-based Sapphire Energy, which is developing algae-based crude oil technology, said it has completely paid of a loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Sapphire Energy had been awarded $54.5M in a loan guarantee in December of 2009, to help build an algae-to-crude oil commercial demonstration facility in Columbus, N.M.
Sapphire said that plant (More info...)
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PowerGenix Signs Testing Deal With PeugeotSan Diego-based advanced battery developer PowerGenix said today that it has signed a testing contract with French car maker PSA Peugeot Citroen. According to PowerGenix, Peugeot has signed an "innovation" contract where Peugeot will evaluate the use of PowerGenix' Nickel-Zinc batteries as a replacement for lead-acid batteries. A spokesperson for the firm said that, however, Peugeot has not been signed up as an actual customer of the company. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Pow (More info...)
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Kwikset Aims At Smartphone Crowd With New Door LockIt looks like the humble front door is the center of a lot of innovation nowadays, as a number of vendors have started to try to figure out how to combine the ubiquitous smartphone with unlocking your front door. The latest in that area comes from a venerable name in locks--Kwikset, which announced a brand new product called the Kwikset Kevo. According to Spectrum Brands Holdings, which owns the Kwikset brand, it has teamed with Unikey Technologies to launch a smartphone-enabled door lock, which (More info...)
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Cie Games Names VPsLong Beach-based Cie Games, which publishes the Car Town mobile and social games, has named two new executives this morning. The company said it has named Matt Nutt as Vice President of Business Development and Operations, and Chong Ahn as Executive Producer overseeing mobile game design and creation. Cie Games said it now has nearly 65 million registered players on its Facebook game Car Town. Nutt was previously at Square Enix, and also served at Blizzard ENtertainment and Expedia/Microsoft. Ch (More info...)
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XIRSYS Takes On WebRTC HostingOne of the newest web standards to emerge in the world of video hosting and streaming is WebRTC, a new open source project specifically aimed at allowing web browser applications to support real time communications. To address that, a new, local startup, XirSys has launched a new infrastructure-as-a-service aimed at hosting WebRTC applications and services. The Valencia-based startup announced today that it has launched, and has opened up a beta test of its service to developers. The new startup (More info...)
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JustEnough Software Expands In EuropeNewport Beach-based JustEnough Software, which develops pricing and demand optimization software for the retail, wholesale, an direct-to-consumer markets, said this morning that it is expanding in Europe. The company said it named Ian Nicol as Regional Director for Europe, and Keith Newton as its new European Sales Director. Nicol will head up a new office in London, and previously served at Revionics and Retail Express Limited, as well as JDA Software, Armature and ACI Ltd.
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