Entertainment:
·
Immersis is a new panoramic VR projector that was inspired by
Pixar’s lamp and ‘War of the Worlds’
·
Please see below for an interesting podcast questioning its
linear-only business model
·
Universal and Focus Features’ ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ kicked
off its North American release at 2,830 engagements last night, racking up the
second-highest Thursday night preview ever with $8.6MM
·
MCN Omnia Media has launched GlamboothTV, a new division
focused on women’s lifestyle
·
Just under 5-months after Gov. Jerry Brown signed a more than
tripling of California's $100MM Film and TV Tax Credit Program, the form the new
$330MM incentives will take today moved one vital step closer to being
solidified.
·
James Franco is returning to his TV roots with a starring role
in the 9-episode Hulu Original Series ‘11/22/63’, from J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot
Productions and author Stephen King
o
http://deadline.com/2015/02/james-franco-cast-112263-hulu-series-j-j-abrams-stephen-king-1201372265/
·
John Malone’s pan-European cable giant Liberty Global said
Friday that its pay TV subscriber losses in 2014 were its smallest in eight
years
·
Bob Dylan will be hitting the road in April for a month of
shows supporting his new album, ‘Shadows in the Night’
o
http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/touring/6472731/bob-dylan-announces-monthlong-spring-tour
·
The Planning Commission of Nashville decided Thursday night
(Feb. 12) to halt new applications for development within the city's historic
Music Row neighborhood for 12 to 18 months
·
Please see below for a video
of Ashton Kutcher, tech investor, actor and partner of actress Mila
Kunis, opening up about his personal life, and sharing advice from some of the
world's most successful people, at a tech conference in Australia
·
Drake released an album-length (or a mixtape) batch of songs
called "If You're Reading This It's Too Late" on iTunes
·
See below for how increasing device penetration and an
abundance of new entertainment services and video streaming are driving up
mobile bandwidth requirements
·
comScore has announced a strategic alliance with WPP's data
investment management division, Kantar
Tech:
·
President Obama is poised to sign an executive order today
aimed at encouraging companies to share more information about cybersecurity threats
with the government and each other through new private-sector led information
sharing and analysis organizations
·
Yesterday, Xiamoi’s President and former Chief of Android
unspooled a two-hour presentation detailing why and how the company had in four
short years become the world’s third-largest smartphone maker
·
Please see below for an interesting article on gaming Silicon
Valley’s system
·
Foursquare has just made an update to the app that allows new
users to onboard without creating an account, finally allowing the app to be
used as a discovery-first tool
·
Google is shutting down its Google Helpouts service on April
20, 2015
o
http://techcrunch.com/2015/02/13/google-pulls-its-helpouts-mobile-applications-from-the-app-stores/
·
Mattel’s venerable View-Master, the stereoscopic photo viewer
so familiar to kids, is now using Google Cardboard Virtual Reality technology
to bring life to those old 3D images
·
Apple made its iWork for iCloud apps available to anyone,
regardless of whether or not they have any Apple hardware, so long as they have
or sign up for an Apple ID
·
Scarab is a wearable device in the works whose makers are
aiming to build a comprehensive environment monitoring device which contains 16
sensors to gather all sorts of environmental data-points such as UV exposure,
noise levels and other pollutants
·
Line has released a new service that will allow brands, SMEs
and other business users to tap into its platform communicate with customers
and consumers
·
Apple has introduced groups to TestFlight, the app beta
testing tool it acquired with its purchase of Burstly last year
o
http://techcrunch.com/2015/02/12/apple-brings-groups-to-testflight-for-easier-ab-testing/#tZicGQ:RIK
·
LinkedIn has examined the value of offering an open API to all
developers, and found said program not to be in the company’s best interest
·
Tactus is bringing back the physicality of keyboard to your
digital screen, and the startup’s first consumer product, the Phorm, is about
to bring a tactile experience back to your iPad mini’s software keyboard
·
As Pinterest’s monetization plans materialize, the social
network is pulling the plug on affiliate networks. Pinterest warned select
“power pinners” this evening that it will now “automatically remove all
affiliate links, redirects and trackers on Pins.”
·
Please see below for an interesting article on Facebook’s
Internet.org
Deals:
·
Kuaidi Dache and Didi Dache, China’s
two biggest taxi-calling apps, are reportedly considering a merger
·
Lyft is going back to investors for
another round of funding - the company is looking to raise another $250MM at a
$2B valuation
·
Santa Monica-based private equity
investor Clearlake Capital said this morning that it has acquired enterprise
service management software company FrontRange, and will merge it with another
of its portfolio firms
·
British Gas announced it will buy
AlertMe, a developer of platforms for running various domestic “smart” devices,
in a deal worth $100MM
·
The International Consolidated
Airlines Group, the parent company of British Airways, has offered to pay about
$1.5B for Aer Lingus but must win the support of the discount carrier Ryanair
and the Irish government, the airline’s two largest shareholders
·
The Japanese brewer Asahi Group said
on Friday that it would acquire the wine retailer Enoteca from the private equity
firm Unison Capital
Business:
·
Software analytics company New Relic is off to an impressive
start as a publicly traded company, beating analysts’ estimates today. The
stock was up more than 4&% after markets closed
·
Mojave-based Virgin Galactic has set up shop in a new location
in Long Beach, saying Thursday that it has opened up a new, 150,000 square foot
facility at Long Beach Airport, where it intends to fill a significant number
of open positions at the company
·
Prices of imported goods posted their biggest drop in six
years in January, more evidence that plunging oil prices have tamped down
inflation in the U.S.
Exec Moves:
·
David Unger has become co-CEO of Three Six Zero Entertainment,
a new venture that will create a bridge for the youth music-centric company to
branch into entertainment management and production
·
Lucasfilm has promoted Lynwen Brennan, Industrial Light &
Magic’s president and general manager, to general manager
Retail:
Startups:
·
Bento, which is a small, agile
company with a goal to revolutionize financial services for the economic heart
of the US: Small and Medium Businesses, just raised $2.5MM in seed funding
·
PriceMatch, a personalized revenue
management company focused on individualizing revenue management for hotels,
raised $9.1MM in its Series A
Government:
·
Argentine President Crisitina Fernández de Kirchner is being
investigated over an alleged cover-up of Iran's role in the 1994 bombing in
Buenos Aires
·
The International Monetary Fund agreed on Thursday to throw a
new $17.5B lifeline to Ukraine, hoping to stabilize the country as it teeters
on the edge of default
Other:
·
Journalist David Carr has died at 58
·
Nootropics, more colloquially known as “smart drugs,” are in
the zeitgeist
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