Friday, December 5, 2014

12.5.14

Entertainment:
·         Please see below for an article on how VR films/tech will be at Sundance
·         Video ad startup Viewbix, which wraps videos in a custom player - so if you’re an advertiser, the player can include your branding, as well as the ability to collect contact information - is announcing that it has raised $3MM in funding
·         Disney just unveiled its digital learning initiative Imagicademy, which will launch on December 11
·         Aaron Paul, the Breaking Bad star, has launched his own app that competes against ‘Yo’
·         RealD said this morning that it has cut its headcount, and will be downsizing its facilities, as part of an expense reduction move
·         The Philadelphia 76ers owners said that the team has been losing on purpose to get a higher draft choice
·         Stephen Colbert announced last night he'd booked President Obama for Monday's special episode of his Comedy Central show
·         CBS has issued a one-line statement saying its programming remains on Dish Network for now as negotiations continue into the evening past a 4 PM PT deadline that CBS had imposed
·         The Doha Film Institute has launched a film fund designed to support Qatari filmmakers
·         Fox Television Group is creating a power cable series supplier by combining prolific units Fox 21 and Fox Television Studios into one entity named Fox 21 Television Studios that will have a portfolio of 20 cable series and pilots
·         Many staffers at the venerable Washington, D.C. journal ‘The New Republic’ announced Friday that they would leave the publication rather than go along with a radical restructuring of the outlet
·         Taylor Swift and Meghan Trainor are among the contenders for Record of the Year honors at the 57th Grammy Awards
·         Please see below for all of the Grammy nominees
·         Please see below for an article on Fullscreen’s CEO talking about paid content
·         Attn:, a new media company targeted at Millennials, has raised $4.1MMin funding from Ryan Seacrest’s Seacrest Global Group, as well as other Los Angeles-based investors such as Troy Carter and Ross Levinsohn
·         BT TV service has become the UK's first TV platform to offer buy-to-keep films on multiple devices in addition to the set-top box
Tech:
·         GitHub is slowly navigating the tricky waters of Internet censorship in Russia, using its own platform to track how it’s doing it in an effort to remain transparent, but also agreeing to block pages that the regulator says offend content regulations
·         The U.S. Marshals Service has completed the second auction of bitcoin seized from the original Silk Road, which consisted of 50,000 BTC, is the latest in a seized BTC sell-off that began in June.
·         Say Media to focus on it publishing platform and exit the media business
·         Facebook took yet another swipe at Snapchat with the re-release of its ephemeral sharing app Slingshot for iOS and Android
·         NASA’s Orion had a successful launch and landing today (this spacecraft might one day carry people to Mars)
Deals:
·         Please see below for an interesting article on why LiveRail agreed to be acquired by Facebook and not go public
·         Qualcomm has invested $7MM in a new, Internet-of-Things startup called Qterics, as part of a strategic investment, according to Qterics' parent Silicon Image
·         Canada’s government on Thursday approved Burger King’s takeover of the doughnuts-and-coffee chain Tim Hortons
·         Keurig Green Mountain has agreed to acquire the rest of the drink system maker Bevyz for about $220MM, adding to its technology capabilities ahead of the introduction of its planned cold-drink platform
Business:
·         SiriusXM agreed to pay $3.8MM as part of a settlement with the attorney generals in 46 states who were investigating the company for allegedly engaging in misleading advertising and billing practices
·         Please see below for today’s top tech funding stories
·         Jamie Dimon who was given a diagnosis of throat cancer last summer, sent an email to his staff on Friday saying a new round of tests “came back completely clear.”
·         With backing from Bain Capital, Virgin Cruises aims to shake up the staid cruise industry, though it will take a number of years to build the ships
·         The Australian mining products maker Bradken said it was weighing a cut-price $730MM takeover proposal from Bain Capital and Pacific Equity Partners, underscoring the urgency the sector faces as commodities prices fall
·         RadioShack will stop matching employees’ retirement-fund contributions as it continues to look at cost-saving measures
Exec Moves:
·         UMG has appointed Mike Tunnicliffe as its first US Head of Brand Partnerships
Retail:
·         Bebe is confirming a security incident that took place over the busy holiday shopping period in November which saw attackers stealing customer’s names, account numbers, expiration dates and verification codes from cards swiped in stores
Startups:
·         SoftBank has invested $7MM in Altaeros Energies, which is based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and makes airborne wind turbines
·         MetaMind, a deep-learning startup, has launched with $8MM in funding
Government:
·         The A-10 Thunderbolt II—better known as the Warthog —has performed a crucial role: attacking hostile targets that threaten troops on the ground (a task called close air support) is going back into battle
Other:


No comments:

Post a Comment