Friday, October 31, 2014

10.31.14

Entertainment:      
·         Starz to possibly launch a standalone streaming service
·         Open Road Films is expanding into the international sales and distribution business after inking a strategic partnership with Glen Basner's FilmNation Entertainment
·         Ridley Scott's commercial production company RSA Films and movie ad agency Wild Card have launched 3 AM, a specialized consultancy firm geared to develop new forms of content and marketing for global audiences
·         Ellen DeGeneres is taking her selfies to a new level, announcing the launch of ellentube, a site and iOS app that pulls together videos related to The Ellen DeGeneres Show and from fans
·         Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea will get a $4.5 billion expansion and upgrade
·         Marriot International signs social stars to create content for Marriot Content Studio
·         Traditional TV viewing has declined by 13 minutes a day over the last year, and Netflix viewers alone are spending 12 minutes more a day on the service
Tech:
·         Nintendo’s first entry into the “quality of life” business, which it plans to release by early 2016, is a device that tracks a user’s level of fatigue by monitoring sleep
·         Slack, the enterprise collaboration platform, has closed a $120MM round of funding, co-led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Google Ventures
·         Autodesk is opening a $100MM 3D printing fund, called Spark Investment Fund, to give money to startups and designers in the 3D printing space
·         Instagram to roll out video ads soon
·         On social media, there are more people talking about GamerGate than online privacy
·         Chinese users can now shop from Alibaba while watching videos on Youku
·         MakerBot, the 3D printer maker, will start offering up 3D printable Hello Kitty collectibles, as part of its MakerBot PrintShop app
·         Hello Kitty has turned 40 today
·         A Pirate Bay co-founder has been sentenced to more than 3 years in prison
·         Starbucks to start delivering in 2015
·         Obama administration officials launched their first-ever holiday contest for 3-D printed (or designed) ornaments
Deals:
·         The Japanese telecommunications giant Softbank is said to be looking at the wireless assets that have been put up for sale by América Móvil
·         Salus Capital Partners, a major RadioShack lender, is attempting to buy a bigger piece of the electronic retailer’s debt in exchange for agreeing to back the company’s store-closing plan
Business:
·         Sony’s mobile unit increased its revenue in the last quarter (its fiscal Q2 2014) by 1.2% to $2.83B, but the company wrote down the valuation of the business by $1.59B
·         GoPro shares spike as they beat analyst’s expectations
·         Citigroup revealed that it’s facing a U.S. criminal probe into the bank’s foreign-exchange business and took a $600MM legal charge
·         Time Warner Cable bled yet more residential video customers in the third quarter of 2014, losing profit in the process
Exec Moves:
·         Andy Rubin, Google’s head of robotics and former head of Android, has confirmed that he is stepping down from the company to launch a new incubator for hardware startups
·         Yahoo! has named Lisa Utzschneider as its SVP of sales for the Americas, nabbing her from Amazon
·         Kelly Kulchak has been named head of current programming at the TV division of DreamWorks Animation
·         Will Rowbotham has exited Caliber Media to join 3 Arts as a lit manager
Retail:
Startups:
·         Los Angeles-based uBeam, a developer of wireless charging technology which uses ultrasound to transmit energy, has raised $10M in a Series A led by Upfront Ventures
Government:
Other:
·         JK Rowling has revealed in a Halloween post that Dolores Umbridge was based on a real teacher


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