Thursday, March 29, 2012THQ Chops 114 Employees, Refocuses Warhammer EffortsAgoura Hills-based game developer THQ said Thursday afternoon that it is cutting 114 employees, and that it has "refocused" its efforts on its Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium development efforts. The company said it is transitioning Warhammer 40,00 from a massively multiplayer, online game to a new, immersive single player and online "multiplayer experience". As a result of the moves, the firm said it is chopping its staff. THQ explained that decision came because of the additional investment (More info...)
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Row 44 Offers VOD, Without BroadbandIn an interesting shift of its strategy, Westlake Village-based Row 44, the provider of in-flight broadband systems for the commercial airline industry, said this week that it will offer up its new, wireless video-on-demand (VOD) service to airlines--even if they don't want to tap into the firm's satellite broadband wireless services. Row 44 said its new entertainment service allows passengers to stream movies and television on-demand, via their Wi-Fi devices. Row 44 did say that airlines can la (More info...)
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SpaceX, Aiming At Carrying NASA Crews, Names Safety PanelNot content to simply carry cargo to the International Space Station, Hawthorne-based Space Exploration Technologies said Thursday afternoon that it has assembled an outside, independent safety advisory panel which will help it achieve its goal of carrying astronauts to the Space Station. The company--run by technology mogul Elon Musk--said it has added Dr. Leroy Chiao, former NASA astronaut and ISS commander; Dr. G. Scott Hubbard, Former Director of NASA Ames Research Center, Stanford Universit (More info...)
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Hulu Swizzles Android UILos Angeles-based Hulu said Thursday that it has launched a brand new, Hulu Plus user interface for its Android tablet users, as it launches on to an additional, seven Android tablets supporting its premium video service. Hulu said that the new app includes a new design featuring horizontal "trays" to swipe through to browse through TVs and movies. Hulu has adapted its app to better take advantage of the plentiful screen real estate on Android tablets, compared with the firm's other smartphone a (More info...)
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Quarterly Gets $1.25MIn yet more money for the subscription e-commerce sector in Los Angeles, Quarterly, a startup which delivers monthly, curated gifts from cultural influencers via subscription, has raised $1.25M in a funding round. The funding was first disclosed in a regulatory filing this week. The funding included True Ventures and Collaborative Fund. Quarterly--which currently has closed its subscription services "due to high demand", delivers interesting gifts to people every three months, based on the style (More info...)
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Praedicat Raises $8.0M, Spins Out Of RANDCulver City-based Praedicat, a spinout of the RAND Corporation, has raised $8.0M as part of its formation, according to a regulatory filing from the firm this week. The new company--which was announced by the RAND Corporation and Risk Management Solutions, Inc. earlier this month, will provide provide consulting services and software to the property and casualty insurance industries, including developing tools and technology for the liability insurance industry. RANd said earlier this month that (More info...)
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Report: UCLA Among Top Schools For GooglersThat giant sucking sound you hear? That might be Google picking up a bunch of new employees from the University of California, Los Angeles--at least, according to a new analysis from the Business Insider. In an informal analysis of Apple and Google, looking to pick apart the culture of the two dominant tech firms, UCLA is identified as being among the top five universities of Google employees. UCLA ranks with Stanford, UC Berkeley, MIT, and Carnegie Mellon as the top source of Google employees, (More info...)
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ShoeDazzle Expands Into ApparelSanta Monica-based ShoeDazzle, the online, subscription commerce startup founded by LegalZoom's Brian Lee, Kim Kardashian, Robert Shapiro, and MJ Eng, is making a major expansion today, saying that it is launching a new apparel collection to its offerings. The company--which originally launched as a subscription service to deliver new shoes and handbags to women--said it will now include an entire new category of apparel. The service said it will include lingerie and dresses, and outfits which c (More info...)
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Interview with Matt and Amanda MacNaughton, PromoJamWhat's the best way to get the word out about your brand on social media? For a number of high profile brands, it's by using the software and services of Los Angeles-based PromoJam (www.promojam.com), which just announced a round of funding to accelerate it efforts last week from Golden Seeds and the Band of Angels. We spoke with Matt and Amanda MacNaughton, the brother and sister team behind PromoJam, to hear more about the company's platform.
What is PromoJam?
Amanda MacNaughton: PromoJa (More info...)
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Cornerstone OnDemand Takes On RecruitingSanta Monica-based Cornerstone OnDemand, the developer of software-as-a-service for HR and talent management, is further expanding its suite of cloud services today, with a new product aimed at social recruiting. According to the company, its new Recruiting Cloud software helps companies manage job requisitions, posts jobs across both traditional job boards and social networks, creates career websites, managed employee referral programs, and much more. The product expansion is the second for the (More info...)
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Games2Win Finds New InvestorGames2Win, the provider of online casual games backed by Clearstone Venture Partners, has scored an investment from Nirvana Venture Advisors, according to a number of Indian business publications. The firm is one of the companies which Clearstone has invested in as part of its efforts in India. According to reports, Nirvana Venture Advisors acquired a 10 percent stake from early stage investors Nexus Venture Partners and ICICI Ventures, along with some employees. Clearstone apparently remains an (More info...)
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Illumina Gets Increased Offer From RocheSan Diego-based Illumina, the manufacturer of genetic analysis tools and systems, has received a new, unsolicited offer to take over the firm from Roche. Roche said it is now offering to acquire Illumina for $51.00 per share in cash, up from its earlier, unsolicited offer of $44.50 per share in cash for Illumina. Illumnia issued a statement late Wednesday telling stockholders to defer taking any actions on the offer until the firm has time to review Roche's revised proposal. Illumina's board had (More info...)
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GenMark In Patent Deal With PerkinElmerCarlsbad-based GenMark Diagnostics, the developer of molecular diagnostics testing systems, reported this morning that it is in a licensing agreement with PerkinElemer. GenMark said it has been granted a non-exclusive license to PerkinElmer's microfluidics patent portfolio. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. GenMark said the deal will provide it with "maximum flexibility" to expand its platform.
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