Entertainment:
·
Vimeo now works with Chromecast the company announced this
morning, making it one of the more high-profile services to support Google’s
dongle-based media player which plugs into your TV’s HDMI port
·
Kobalt — which has developed platform to help music rights
holders collect royalties more efficiently from across different digital music
services — has raised a $60MM Series C round led by Google Ventures
·
VLC gets first major release across Windows, Mac, Linux,
Android, iOS, Windows Phone, Windows RT, and Android TV
·
ITV is reportedly closing in on a deal to buy John De Mol's
production group Talpa Media
·
A ‘Power Rangers’ fan video has been yanked from YouTube and
Vimeo in light of copyright-infringement concerns, but it can still be seen on
Facebook
·
Saudi Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal is looking to re-launch his
shuttered Al Arab TV channel in defiance of Bahraini and Saudi officials who
shuttered the channel after only one day on air
·
Denis Villeneuve is in negotiations to direct the sequel to ‘Blade
Runner’, with Harrison Ford previously asked but now confirmed to be reprising
his role as Rick Deckard
·
Egyptian telecom mogul Naguib Sawiris is set to shake up
Europe's television industry with a $40MM play for a majority stake in
Euronews, Europe's answer to CNN
·
Will Smith’s con artist comedy “Focus” has opened moderately
with $900,000 in Thursday night showings in the U.S.
·
A single tweet on average can add $560 to a film’s opening
weekend, according to a new study that Networked Insights shared with Variety
·
Lenny Kravitz has canceled his scheduled tour of Asia and
Australia, citing "unforseen scheduling issues."
·
Average UK TV set viewing falls in 2014
o
http://www.rapidtvnews.com/2015022737379/average-uk-tv-set-viewing-falls-in-2014.html#axzz3SsDxxGda
·
Content services protection and enhancement technology
provider Viaccess-Orca is celebrating a major win with Orange for the latter's
new over-the-top (OTT) multiscreen service in France
Tech:
·
As expected, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
passed new net neutrality regulations today on a vote of 3-2, with the
Commission’s two Democratic appointees joining Chairman Tom Wheeler in voting
yes
o
http://www.videonuze.com/article/videonuze-podcast-262-candid-discussion-of-net-neutrality-s-risks
·
Please see below for an interesting article on how Google’s
silence helped net neutrality
·
Twitter has announced new measures to expand the process for
reporting user safety concerns, and a system that uses phone numbers to prevent
those who repeatedly harass others from creating new accounts
·
Ron Johnson — Apple's former retail genius who fell from grace
thanks to a short-lived, tumultuous stint as the CEO of JCPenny — just led a
$16MM investment in the e-commerce startup Nasty Gal to help it expand its
brick-and-mortar presence
·
Swiss watchmakers show off a new line of smartwatches
·
Facebook updated its gender identification settings once again
on Thursday, adding a “custom” option to the list of pre-set gender designations
users can select from
·
China has dropped some of the world’s leading technology
brands from its approved state purchase lists while approving thousands more
locally made products in what some say is a response to revelations of
widespread Western cyber surveillance
·
Ericsson has joined what seems a growing line of companies
taking Apple to court for patent infringement
Deals:
·
Los Angeles-based Demand Media has
sold its social media software arm, Pluck, to New York-based Sprinklr, the
companies said Thursday
Business:
·
Microsoft is planning to cut 9,000 jobs at two Chinese phone
manufacturing plants that originally belonged to Nokia, and will move some of
the production to Vietnam.
·
GameStop will likely increase the number of its Spring Mobile
stores after the company bid for the right to take 163 leases over from
bankrupt electronics retailer RadioShack
·
Fifteen years ago, tech stocks peaked and started to come
screaming back to Earth. These days, they’re enjoying another upswing. The U.S.
stock index known for being tech heavy — the Nasdaq Composite COMP, -0.12% — on Thursday traded within 1.2% of the all-time
closing high hit on March 10, 2000
Exec Moves:
·
Los Angeles-based i.am+, the smart
watch maker founded by will.i.am, said Thursday that it has named Phil Molyneux
as the company's new President and Chief Operating Office
·
David Ring, one of Universal Music
Group’s top digital business executives, is leaving the company
Retail:
Startups:
·
SKULLY, which has developed the most
advanced technology ever applied to a motorcycle helmet, has raised $11MM in
its Series A
·
PlayFab, a company that aims to make
running live games easier, said today that it had raised $7.4MM in series A
funding, on top of $2.5MM raised last year. Benchmark led the round; general
partner Mitch Lasky is joining PlayFab’s board
Government:
·
Germany's parliament approved an extension of Greece's bailout
today after Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble spoke in favor of the deal,
telling parliament: "We Germans should do everything possible to keep
Europe together as much as we can."
·
Western powers should consider Russia's legitimate security
concerns over Ukraine, a top Chinese diplomat said in an unusually frank
display of support for Moscow's position
Other:
·
Taking the stand on Thursday during in the high-profile gender
bias trial that pits Pao against Kleiner Perkins, Biglieri testified that
before Pao and Vassallo filed complaints in 2012, the company merely posted
flyers that mentioned the policy in offer letters and on the walls of its
office buildings
·
Irving Kahn, the oldest Wall Street investor, has died at age
109
·
Leonard Nimoy, immortalized as Spock on ‘Star Trek’, died
Friday morning at age 83
·
Police say nine people were found dead at five crime scenes
near Tyrone, Missouri early Friday morning
