8.15.14

Entertainment:

·         Al Gore sues Al Jazeera claiming that they withheld money from its $500MM purchase of Current TV

o   http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/al-gore-sues-al-jazeera-725762

·         ‘Fury’ to now close the London Film Festival

o   http://deadline.com/2014/08/global-showbiz-briefs-brad-pitts-fury-to-close-london-film-festival-zurich-fest-unveils-first-gala-premieres-more-819387/

·         FXX has acquired the syndication rights to ‘The Simpsons’ and plans to air all episodes in order from Aug 21 – Sept 1

o   http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/watch-the-simpsons-fxx-marathon-trailer-1201283302/

·         Roc-a-Fella Records co-founder, Damon Dash, plans to sue Lee Daniels because he is allegedly owed money on Lee’s film and TV projects

o   http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/tv-film/6221477/damon-dash-makes-move-to-collect-money-from-lee-daniels-films

·         Tom Hanks releases a typewriter app for the iPad

o   http://www.fastcodesign.com/3034408/tom-hanks-releases-a-typewriter-app-for-ipad-and-its-insufferably-twee

·         Warner Bros. is trying to boost its DVD/Blu-ray sales of Edge of Tomorrow by retitling it Live Die Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow

o   http://www.theverge.com/2014/8/15/6006235/edge-of-tomorrow-seemingly-changes-name-for-on-demand-release

Tech:

·         The Skully Smart Helmet for motorcyclists is the fastest fully-funded Indiegogo campaign – raising $1MM in 45 hours

o   http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/14/the-skully-smart-helmet-is-the-fastest-funded-indiegogo-campaign-to-hit-1m/

·         YouTube rolls out a new interface for smart TVs, set-top boxes, and game consoles

o   http://venturebeat.com/2014/08/14/watching-youtube-on-tv-just-got-a-zillion-times-better/

·         Barnes & Noble offers a sneak peak of their new Samsung/Nook tablet with an advertisement that features Grumpy Cat

o   http://mashable.com/2014/08/15/barnes-noble-samsungnook-grumpy-cat/

·         Santa Monica based Science Mobile Labs has emerged from its 18 month stealth period to develop more mobile apps

o   http://recode.net/2014/08/15/tech-studio-science-takes-wraps-off-mobile-lab/

Deals:           

·         Berkshire Hathaway bought a $366MM stake in cable TV operator Charter Communications

o   http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/14/hedgefunds-filings-buffett-idUSL2N0QK2DA20140814?type=companyNews&feedType=RSS&feedName=companyNews

·         Carl Icahn buys a 6.6% stake in Gannett, the publisher of USA Today and more

o   http://deadline.com/2014/08/carl-icahn-buys-gannett-stake-819767/

·         Samsung acquisition of SmartThings for roughly $200MM is now official – the company got its start on Kickstarter

o   http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/14/smartthings-acquired-by-samsung-for-around-200-million/

·         Sprinklr, a social media management startup, preps for its IPO with an acquisition of TBG Digital, which enables advertisers to buy ads through media sites

o   http://venturebeat.com/2014/08/14/social-media-management-startup-sprinklr-bolsters-its-ipo-push-with-tbg-digital-buy/

·         Coke to buy a 16.7% stake in Monster Energy for $2.15B

o   http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/08/14/coke-to-buy-stake-in-monster-beverage-for-2-15-billion/?module=BlogPost-Title&version=Blog%20Main&contentCollection=Mergers%20&%20Acquisitions&action=Click&pgtype=Blogs&region=Body

·         Facebook’s $400-500MM acquisition of LiveRail is official

o   http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/14/facebooks-400m-500m-acquisition-of-video-ad-tech-startup-liverail-is-now-official/

Business:

·         Alibaba has discovered suspicious accounting at its film unit, Alibaba Pictures

o   http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/08/15/alibaba-discovers-suspicious-accounting-at-film-unit/?module=BlogPost-Title&version=Blog%20Main&contentCollection=I.P.O./Offerings&action=Click&pgtype=Blogs&region=Body

Exec Moves:

·         Facebook’s VP of Product Management, Sam Lessin, is leaving the company

o   http://venturebeat.com/2014/08/14/facebooks-vp-of-product-management-sam-lessin-is-leaving-the-company/

Retail:

·         PoachIt is a new e-commerce startup that tracks products across the web to see when they go on sale

o http://www.wired.com/2014/08/poachit/

Startups:

·         GoGoVan, an app that connects van drivers to on-demand delivery services, raises $6.5MM in Series A to expand in Asia

o http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/15/gogovan-raises-6-5m-series-a-to-expand-in-asia/

·         Conversion Logic, helps advertisers track their video campaigns across multiple devises, raises $1.1MM in a ‘founders’ round’

o http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/14/with-1-1m-in-funding-conversion-logic-announces-tools-for-tracking-video-ads-across-devices/

o http://www.socaltech.com/conversion_logic_applies_data_science_to_video_ad_attribution/s-0056486.html

Government:

·         Ukraine troops attacked and partially destroyed a convoy of Russian armed vehicles

o http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-15/ukraine-says-it-destroyed-part-of-armed-vehicles-from-russia.html

Other: