8.27.14

Entertainment:

·         Vimeo announces distribution partners for their VOD capabilities with BFS Entertainment & Multimedia Limited, Drafthouse Films, Gaiam, Gravitas Ventures, Inception Media Group, MarVista Digital Entertainment and X-Treme Video

o   http://www.thewrap.com/vimeo-announces-new-distribution-partners/

·         At an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences event, neuroscientists and cognitive psychologists determined that movies/filmmakers manipulate the viewer’s brain through the mechanisms of attention and perception

o   http://www.wired.com/2014/08/how-movies-manipulate-your-brain/

·         Disney files patents to use drones in their park shows

o   http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/27/disney-files-patents-to-use-drones-in-park-shows/

·         A breakdown of how celebrities are founding and investing in apps

o   http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/27/the-hollywood-ification-of-the-app-store/

·         eOne signs a first-look deal with Rumble Films

o   http://deadline.com/2014/08/entertainment-one-david-lancaster-deal-whiplash-eye-in-the-sky-825494/

·         Napa Valley Film Festival to go on despite the major earthquake

o   http://deadline.com/2014/08/napa-valley-film-fest-says-the-show-must-go-on-despite-quakes-sets-lineup-825410/

·         Piers Morgan is allegedly the most hated UK personality on Twitter

o   http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/piers-morgan-hated-uk-personality-728398

·         Hulu acquires Starz’s cult comedy ‘Party Down’

o   http://variety.com/2014/digital/news/hulu-acquires-party-down-will-stream-entire-series-1201291861/

·         Tudou founder, Gary Wang, launches Light Chaser Animation to compete against Pixar and Dreamworks

o   http://www.fastcompany.com/3034905/the-recommender/meet-the-chinese-entrepreneur-gunning-for-pixar-and-dreamworks

Tech:

·         Apple to launch its largest iPad to consumers in early 2015, it will be 12.9 inches diagonally

o   http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-26/apple-said-to-prepare-new-12-9-inch-ipad-for-early-2015.html

·         Dropbox drops their prices as the cost of a gigabyte nears zero, now users can store a terabyte of data at their standard rate of $9.99 per month

o   http://www.wired.com/2014/08/dropboxs-plan-to-stay-relevant/

·         Spotify launches smart TV integration by signing deals with Phillips, Bose, and Panasonic

o   http://venturebeat.com/2014/08/27/spotify-launches-smart-tv-integration-signs-deals-with-phillips-bose-and-panasonic/

·         Facebook announces a new option for international ads that will allow marketers to target certain types of smartphone network connections

o   http://mashable.com/2014/08/27/facebook-international-ads/

Deals:           

·         Kleiner Perkins invests in Snapchat, valuing the company at $10B

o   http://online.wsj.com/articles/snapchat-fetches-10-billion-valuation-1409088794?tesla=y

o   http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/26/snapchat-raising-a-new-round-at-a-10b-valuation/

·         Facebook has hired the team from an audio production company, WaveGroup Sound, that specializes in sounds for games (not an acquisition)

o   http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/26/facebook-acquires-a-sound-studio-to-help-power-its-app-factory/

·         Google acquired Zync to make it easier for movie studios to render their visual effects in the cloud

o   http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/26/google-acquires-zync-to-bring-visual-effects-rendering-to-its-cloud-platform/

·         Square is in the process of raising more funds, and has valued his company at $6B

o   http://recode.net/2014/08/26/square-raising-new-investment-at-6-billion-valuation/

Business:

Exec Moves:

·         Western Digital hires a new CFO – Tim Leyden

o   http://www.socaltech.com/western_digital_names_new_cfo/s-0056644.html

·         YouTube’s music monetization company, AdRev, names a new president – Brian Felsen

o   http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/digital-and-mobile/6229425/giant-youtube-music-monetizer-adrev-names-new-president

Retail:

Startups:

·         Zuli raises $1.65MM to prepare for pre-orders for its smart plug

o http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/27/smart-plug-startup-zuli-raises-1-65m-and-kicks-off-new-pre-orders/

·         Google to open a startup campus in Seoul

o http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/26/google-to-open-campus-for-startups-in-seoul/

·         Jessica Alba’s startup The Honest Co., which sells eco-friendly baby products, readies itself for an IPO by raising $70MMM at a valuation of nearly $1B

o http://www.businessinsider.com/jessica-alba-honest-co-raises-70-million-at-a-nearly-1-billion-valuation-2014-8

Government:

Other: