Entertainment:
·
Allegedly, Al Pacino is in talks with Marvel to join the
Avengers
·
London-based JukeDeck has received a small seed funding
round for its platform (because they won the Le Web startup competition), because
their app composes original music based on a user’s settings, giving video
creators, games developers and other users a simple way of sourcing music
o
http://techcrunch.com/2014/12/11/automatic-music-generator-jukedeck-wins-le-web-startup-competition/
·
Video startup Zype unveiled its online video platform today,
which it says can help publishers grow and monetize their audiences
·
Google has a new app available on the Play Store that
provides some insight into how it will bring live content to its Android TV
platform
·
Net2TV has announced this morning that its 18 branded OTT
programs will be added to ARRIS Market, a platform for cable operators to
combine OTT and traditional linear programming
·
Sony emails are being unearthed from the pile of data
hackers dumped online, and one thread shows executives making racist jokes
about movies President Barack Obama might like
·
Reed Hastings predicts that broadcast TV will last until
2030
·
Comedy Central star Amy Schumer will host the 2015 MTV Movie
Awards
·
Sling Media (part of Charlie Ergen's empire at Dish Network
and EchoStar) just launched an ad and social-media campaign that ridicules TV
Everywhere
·
Tugg Inc. said it has closed its Series A funding in a round
led by production and distribution company Broad Green Pictures
·
Carmike Cinemas and Marcus Theatres just joined the Digital
Cinema Distribution Coalition, as did a smaller player, Wehrenberg Theatres.
DCDC handles satellite delivery and technology, and now has all of the five
largest U.S. exhibition chains including Regal, AMC, and Cinemark.
·
Please see below for the nominees for the 2015 Golden Globe
Awards
·
Fandor CEO Ted Hope will deliver this year's keynote speech
for the Prime Time conference in Ottawa in March 2015
·
Sony Pictures' internal workings in the wake of a
devastating cyber-attack last month, execs in the studio's TV division have discussed
selling a majority of Crackle and more
·
TruTV and Tumblr are partnering on a TV-meets-social deal
that could net Tumblr users a possible show on the network
·
IM Global is launching a music division
·
SoundCloud has raised a $150MM round from unidentified
investors, less than a year after the company brought in $60MM from
Institutional Venture Partners and the Chernin Group
·
Please see below for an interesting article about Hollywood
and technology, in relation to the Sony hack
·
The ownership of connected TV devices in the US grew 5%
quarter-on-quarter in Q3 2014 and 28% year-on-year to reach 168 million units
according to research from Strategy Analytics
o
http://www.rapidtvnews.com/2014121136403/us-connected-tv-device-ownership-climbs.html#axzz3Lbz0Xt5m
Tech:
·
Facebook recently launched a new tool for online advertisers
called Atlas, and part of the company’s pitch is that it can explicitly
establish a link between online ads and offline purchases
·
Robinhood, an iOS app that is going live in the App Store
today, uses swipes and taps to make trading stocks feel more like checking your
email
·
Mobile video game recording service Kamcord has raised a
$15MM Series B round of funding from GungHo, Tencent, Wargaming, and several
other investors
·
Spotify’s new “Top Tracks In Your Network” is a
personalized, constantly updated playlist based on what the people you follow
are listening to
·
Google has introduced offline video playback for YouTube
mobile users, but it’s only available on Android devices in India, Indonesia or
the Philippines
·
Indiegogo brings its crowdfunding app to Android, beating
Kickstarter to the punch
·
Google is shutting down its Google News service in Spain due
to new legislation that will require the company to pay publishers for displaying
any portion of their work
Deals:
·
Microsoft has acquired HockeyApp
to add its developer tools to its mobile effort
·
LendingClub’s valuation is roughly
$8.9B after it went public today
·
Open Text is to acquire Actuate
for $330MM
Business:
·
Chinese phone company Xiaomi has said it is ready to talk to
Ericsson to overcome a temporary ban that was slapped on its smartphone
business in India
·
Tape recording employee conversations – and playing them
back to them – may have helped insulate Bridgewater Associates from frivolous
lawsuits, the hedge fund’s founder, Ray Dalio, says
·
"Why should I cut production?" said Saudi Arabia’s
oil minister Ali Al-Naimi in response to questions over whether he thought it
would be necessary to reduce output prior to OPEC's next meeting in June
·
Activist investor Starboard Value has bought a 6% stake in
Staples
·
eBay is weighing a plan to "eliminate thousands of jobs
early next year,"
·
Merrill Lynch told its 14,000 brokers on Wednesday they will
get higher bonus payments in 2015 for attracting new clients and assets but
eliminated pay for servicing clients with less than $250,000
·
Please see below for a list of the 50 best companies to work
for, according to Glassdoor users
·
Qualcomm confirmed Wednesday that it plans to cut 600 jobs,
with half the cuts coming in California
Exec Moves:
·
Hasbro's board just elected
Lionsgate Vice Chairman Michael Burns to be an independent director, effective
immediately
Retail:
Startups:
·
Hinge announced it has raised an
additional $1MM, which will fund Hinge’s rapid expansion into new cities to
compete against Tinder
·
Woven Digital, owners of Brobible
and Uproxx, it has raised $18MM in Series A funding
·
Thailand’s Page365 has raised a
$420,000 seed round as it seeks to become a hub for retailers
·
Ring, the smart doorbell startup
led by Jamie Siminoff, has raised $4.5MM in equity and another $2.5MM in debt
financing
Government:
Other:
·
Harvard University
astrophysicists Avi Loeb and James Guillochon have realized that some of the
fastest stars in the Milky Way can approach the speed of light
·
Our Bad Media bloggers are
accusing The New Yorker’s Malcolm Gladwell of plagiarism
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