Category: News

Hulu has officially announced that its SVP of content Andy Forssell will become its acting CEO when founding CEO Jason Kilar leaves the company at the end of the month. Kilar made the announcement himself Thursday afternoon on Hulu’s blog, writing:

“You know Andy well; he’s been a critical senior executive and has been here from the start of this great adventure. Andy exemplifies the Hulu culture and has been central to Hulu’s journey, helping to grow this company from 2 content partners and no revenue to over 450 content partners and approximately $700 million revenue in 2012.”

It’s been an open secret that Forssell was on the shortlist to become Hulu CEO for some time. I first heard a rumor about this in early January, and Adweek wrote that he was a likely candidate later that month. However, there were also a number of other names floating around, including at least one executive from Hulu co-owner Disney.

Speaking of co-owners: The fact that Forssell only got the job as acting CEO has a lot to do with Disney and News Corp. disagreeing over Hulu’s future. News Corp. wants to steer Hulu towards a paid subscription future, whereas Disney prefers the free, ad-based part of Hulu’s business. Finding a permanent CEO for a company whose future is in flux is apparently not that easy, which Kilar indirectly acknowledged in his blog post:

Disney and News Corporation are currently finalizing their forward-looking plans with Hulu, and the senior team has been working closely with them in that process. Once the plans are finalized, a permanent decision will be made regarding the CEO position.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that both Disney and News Corp. are considering buying the other partner out to take over majority control of Hulu. Comcast, the third studio major owner, is barred from making any decisions on Hulu’s future due to the NBC-Comcast merger conditions.

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On Thursday, Apple rolled out an update for OS X Mountain Lion. The latest iteration, which sports the 10.8.3 version number, delivers a significant number of improvements and bug fixes, among which is support for Windows 8 in Boot Camp as the main highlight.

OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.3 now comes with Safari 6.0.3, which touts improved scrolling while zoomed in and for Facebook, better performance on websites with plug-in content as well as bug fixes. Users can now redeem iTunes gift cards from the Mac App Store using the built-in camera and use Boot Camp on Mac devices with a 3TB hard-drive onboard.

Apple has also enhanced the compatibility with IMAP servers in the Notes app, the reliability for Microsoft Exchange accounts in the Mail app and for Xsan as well. Also, the Slideshow screensaver now displays subfolder photos.

OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.3 includes bug fixes related to URL files (no longer causes app crashes), Logic Pro (more responsive with plug-ins), audio stutter on 2011 iMacs, Contacts (prints cards in order and the addresses in the right location), Messages (display the correct order after resuming from sleep) and Active Directory accounts (keeps accounts locked in and fixes lag when logging on slow networks), among others.

Google might be upsetting a lot of people with some of its recent “spring cleaning,” but its latest batch of updates to BigQuery should make data analysts happy, at least.

With the latest updates — announced in a blog post by BigQuery Product Manager Ju-kay Kwek on Thursday — users can now join large tables, import and query timestamped data, and aggregate large collections of distinct values. It’s hardly the equivalent of Google launching Compute Engine last summer, but as (arguably) the inspiration for the SQL-on-Hadoop trend that’s sweeping the big data world right now, every improvement to BigQuery is notable.

BigQuery is a cloud service that lets users analyze terabyte-sized data sets using SQL-like queries. It’s based on Google’s Dremel querying system, which can analyze data where it’s located (i.e., in the Google File System or BigTable) and which Google uses internally to analyze a variety of different data sets. Google claims queries in BigQuery run at interactive speeds, which is something that MapReduce — the previous-generation tool for dealing with such large data sets — simply couldn’t handle within a reasonable time frame or level of complexity. Of course, if you want to schedule batch jobs, BigQuery lets you do that, too, for a lower price.

This constraint — and therefore the potential benefits of something like Dremel and its commercial incarnation, BigQuery — wasn’t lost on the Hadoop community, which itself had been largely reliant on MapReduce processing for years. In the past year, we’ve seen numerous startups and large vendors pushing their own Dremel-like (or MPP-like) technologies for data sitting in the Hadoop Distributed File System. If you happen to be in New York next week, you can hear some of the pioneers in this space talk about it at our Structure: Data conference.

Background aside, the ability to join large data sets in BigQuery is probably the most-important of the three new functions. Joins are an essential aspect of data analysis in most environments because pieces of data that are relevant to each other don’t always reside within the same table or even within the same cluster. And joining tables of the size BigQuery is designed for can take a long time without the right query engine in place.

Kwek offers an anecdote from Google that shows why joins, and the new aggregation function, are important:

[W]hen our App Engine team needed to reconcile app billing and usage information, Big JOIN allowed the team to merge 2TB of usage data with 10GB of configuration data in 60 seconds. Big Group Aggregations enabled them to immediately segment those results by customer. Using the integrated Tableau client the team was able to quickly visualize and detect some unexpected trends.

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An interview with Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO and author of Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead. For more, see the April issue of HBR.

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A written transcript will be available by March 22.

NowThis News, the video news app launched last year on iOS by former Huffington Post executives Ken Lerer and Eric Hippeau, launched on Android Thursday afternoon.

As we reported last fall, NowThis provides “a combination of original and third-party news videos” aimed at mobile users. There are about 1,500 videos available so far, and the company plans to add more.

NowThis is also launching an updated version of its iPad app soon. Among other things, the app will allow users to save up to 100 videos to their iPads for offline viewing.

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A grand jury has charged Matthew Keys, social media editor at international news service Reuters, with helping the hackers’ group Anonymous to break into the computer system of the publisher of the Los Angeles Times in order to alter its website.

The allegations are set out in a stunning indictment revealed by the U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday. Keys faces three federal charges: one for conspiracy and two related to sharing malicious code. The indictment (via Politico) also shows an instant messaging session in which Keys and a hacker named “sharpie” gloat over hacking the Times and commiserate that the publisher has locked Keys out of the system.

Key’s biography page at Reuters is still up for now and says he was hired in 2012 and is currently Deputy Social Media Editor, a relatively senior position that involves sharing newswire stories over platforms like Twitter and Facebook. Here’s a screenshot:

The indictment also states that Keys’ decision to supply passwords from the Tribune Company, his former employer, allowed Anonymous to alter a political story in the LA Times to say that “uber skid Chippy” take his place as head of the Senate and that Democrats should “suck it up.” The hacked version of the story stayed up for 30 minutes.

The indictment says the Anonymous communications took place in December of 2010 and describe Keys at that time as a “recently terminated employee” of radio station Fox 40.

If convicted of all the charges, Keys faces a maximum of 15 years in prison. In the event of a guilty plea, he could offer information in return about his co-conspirators in return for a shorter sentence. The indictment also states the federal government wants him to forfeit a MacBook Pro, a Toshiba hard drive and personal property.

Reuters’ Twitter account, which Keys presumably had a role in overseeing, continued to tweet regular business news on Wednesday. The Reuters Legal account has likewise so far made no mention of the hacking.

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If you use RSS feeds to keep up with the news, Google probably broke your heart yesterday by announcing that it’s shutting down Google Reader on July 1. Reader, aside from being a great web RSS reader, provided the syncing backend for many RSS readers in the iOS App Store, including Reeder, Mr. Reader and Newsify. I’ve been using Google Reader to sync my feeds for five years, so I’ve come to rely on it heavily for my news.

But recently I’ve also come to rely on several news aggregation apps (most of which are really just RSS readers with special features). Real RSS readers will still be around when Reader’s gone, especially given the market opportunity Reader’s demise presents for companies like Digg — which announced Thursday it would pick up where Google Reader leaves off — but it can’t hurt to have options for consuming news on your  mobile device. Sometimes I’ll find articles in these apps that I wouldn’t have found in my more focused list of RSS feeds.

Here are five good iOS apps — all of them are free — that you can personalize to help you keep up with the news:

Zite

Zite bills itself as a personalized digital magazine, and it’s actually been around for awhile (it was acquired by CNN in 2011). Zite’s interface is kind of boring, but it’s also straightforward. When you first start Zite, you can choose from a list of default topics for it to pull articles from. You can also add your own topics through the search interface. A newsfeed displays rectangular article previews for your top news. You can like or dislike the articles Zite shows you, and that data is used to find other articles you might like. You can switch between topics by swiping left or right, and view which topics an article has attached to it by swiping up.

Flud

Flud is unique in that you can follow articles that other users are sharing. Each user also gets a Flud iQ score, which measures your influence on the service based on your activity. Besides following other users, you can also search for new sources to draw from, which are added to a favorites menu. Flud’s interface is more interesting than Zite’s, with large article previews and pretty red buttons. However, the large previews mean only two article previews can fit on the screen at one time, so scrolling through them ends up feeling tedious at times.

Circa

Unlike the others on this list, Circa doesn’t show you full articles from a source. Instead, Circa has editors that condense articles into nuggets of information called “points.” Rather than reading the full text of the article, you swipe through a list of points. Because the articles have to be condensed by humans, Circa has a feature where you can follow an article, so you’ll get notified whenever a new point is added to it. You can’t add new sources or topics to Circa, and it only comes with four topics by default. If you’re fine with that caveat and like things straight to the point, Circa’s worth checking out.

Flipboard

Flipboard’s been pretty widely covered by now, but it can’t hurt to throw it in. Flipboard has a sort of homescreen where you can add and arrange topics. As implied in its name, you “flip” through articles rather than scrolling a list, which means you also have to flip through the ones you might not be interested in.The biggest strength of Flipboard is that you can add a multitude of social networks as sources, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google+. You can even add your Google Reader account as a source — until it shuts down.

Pulse

The thing that stands out about Pulse’s app is its interface. Instead of a list of articles, you’re shown a vertically scrolling list of sources and under each is a horizontally scrolling list of articles from that source. The advantage of this is that it allows Pulse to fit nine article previews in one view. Flud only fits two, for comparison. The disadvantage is that it requires a little more scrolling to get through your articles, since they’re arranged horizontally. The headline text is rather small too, and there’s no way to change it. Old eyes beware.

What’s your favorite news aggregator? Are there any you’ve tried that aren’t on the list? Tell us in the comments. 

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Spending her formative years growing up living in the White House seems to have worked out for Chelsea Clinton. The daughter of former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State (and presumptive 2016 presidential candidate) Hillary Clinton has just purchased a posh apartment in Manhattan.

The New York Post is reporting that the 33-year-old and her husband have purchased an apartment right across from Madison Square Park. The 5,000 square foot living space cost a reported $10.5 million. The apartment reportedly has four bedrooms and six and a half bathrooms.

Both Bill and Hillary were spotted touring the apartment building last week. An unnamed source cited by the post stated that Chelsea and her husband found their new home “while out walking”.

Chelsea Clinton attended Stanford University during her father’s final term, before attending graduate school at Oxford in England. After graduating, she move to New York City, where she has worked for consulting and investment companies. In 2010 Clinton married Marc Mezvinsky, the son of a former congressman and a former congresswoman. Mezvinsky is an investment banker who has worked for Goldman Sachs and 3G Capital Management.

Today, Foursquare is releasing an update to their Android app that they say will help put recommendations front and center, right when you open the app.

“When you’re in a new city or neighborhood, Foursquare will show you popular places, sites, and must-see attractions. When you’re on your home turf, we’ll tell what spots are “new and notable” – places that have recently opened in your area,” says Foursquare.

Foursquare says that the new app will also highlight places on your to-do lists and uses that to make timely recommendations.

Back in February, Foursquare updated their Android app to display a map right when you open the app, complete with friends who are checked-in nearby and recommendations. That update also improved the Explore tab and made some tweaks to search.

You can grab the updated app today from Google Play.

After a two month drought, the Wii U is finally getting two of its most highly anticipated launch window titles – LEGO City Undercover and Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate. The former will be launching next Monday, and Nintendo has a final launch trailer to coincide with the release:

Beyond a few tired movie references, LEGO City Undercover still looks charming as ever. The game has also been getting mostly positive reviews with a few middling scores thrown throughout.

LEGO City Undercover will launch exclusively for Wii U on March 18.

New Enterprise Associates, the venture capital firm, has launched NEA Studio, a new, New York-based 12-week program program for designers who found mobile and Web startups and who will work alongside NEA investors and design experts, including IDEO founder David Kelly. According to NEA, designers best suited for the program will be able to “take a side project to a full company with the three-month period.”

PRESS RELEASE:

New Enterprise Associates (NEA) today announced the launch of NEA Studio, a new program for designers founding mobile and web startups in New York. During the course of a 12-week program, designer-founders will work alongside NEA investors and a diverse team of experts from the design, startup and NEA portfolio communities including Liz Danzico, Designer, Chair & Co-Founder of the MFA in Interaction Design program at New York’s School of Visual Arts; IDEO founder David Kelley and New York Location Director Albert Lee; and Adi Tartarko, Founder and CEO of Houzz.

“Creating an amazing user experience is both art and science, and design plays a more important role than ever in developing a product–especially mobile and Internet applications,” said Dayna Grayson, Partner at NEA. “More and more designers are founding companies–it’s no longer the exclusive purview of technologists and business entrepreneurs. This is something we’d like to see more of in the market, and founding NEA Studio allows us to actively and directly support designer founders as they move to the next stage.”

Designers best suited for the program will take a side project to a full company within the three-month period. They will have access to shared workspace at the NEA Studio in Union Square, conduct weekly office hours and sessions with NEA investors and advisors, and receive a stipend to help fund their work during the program. NEA Studio will also hold weekly networking events including program participants, investors, advisors, and other members of the New York startup and design communities. Applications for the 12-week program are being accepted through March 31, 2013. The program kicks off April 30, 2013.

In addition to Danzico, Lee, Kelley and Tatarko, program advisors include Josh Berman, Co-Founder & CEO, BeachMint; Cameron Koczon, Partner, Fictive Kin; Akshay Kothari, Co-Founder & CEO, Pulse; Stew Langille, CEO, Visual.ly; Michael Lebowitz, Founder and CEO, Big Spaceship; Barbara Messing, CMO, TripAdvisor; Jill Nussbaum, Executive Director of Product and Interaction Design at the Barbarian Group; Hugo Van Vuuren, Partner, The Experiment Fund; and Rus Yusupov, Co-Founder, Vine.

“We hope this program will offer designer founders a jump start in building their product, and a network of key relationships to help fuel those efforts as they move forward,” said Tony Florence, General Partner at NEA. “As NEA has grown more deeply involved in the New York tech ecosystem, we’ve learned that it’s not only a thriving startup community, but one that is teeming with design talent. We’re excited to support and learn from the designer founders who come through the NEA Studio.”

The NEA Studio shared workspace will be at work–bench, an enterprise software cooperative located in New York’s Union Square. Committed to furthering technology with a purpose, work-bench provides members with a platform to scale their ventures, including a purposefully designed 32,000 square foot space, a growing catalog of member resources, and a powerful network of partners.

About NEA

New Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA) is a leading venture capital firm focused on helping entrepreneurs build transformational businesses across multiple stages, sectors and geographies. With more than $13 billion in committed capital, NEA invests in information technology, healthcare and energy technology companies at all stages in a company’s lifecycle, from seed stage through IPO. The firm’s long track record includes more than 175 portfolio company IPOs and more than 290 acquisitions. In the U.S., NEA has offices in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area; Menlo Park, California; and New York City. In addition, New Enterprise Associates (India) Pvt. Ltd. has offices in Bangalore and Mumbai, India and New Enterprise Associates (Beijing), Ltd. has offices in Beijing and Shanghai, China. For additional information, visit www.nea.com.

SOURCE New Enterprise Associates

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The owners of feline internet sensation Grumpy Cat have applied for trademarks over a wide-range of merchandise such as cell phone covers, beer mugs and video games. The cat’s lawyer, however, says the owners will “try to be cool and stay righteous” about kitty-related fan art, and will only go after “dirtbags” who defiantly attempt to cash in.

The plan comes as the fame of Grumpy Cat, a Snowshoe Siamese with a perpetually dour expression, continues to grow. Last week, the cat stole the show at the tech and music festival, SXSW, where people lined up for hours to take pictures with her. Grumpy Cat was also hired by BuzzFeed but had a bad first day.

The trademark applications, which also cover hoodies and comedy videos, were filed in January on behalf of Ohio-based Grumpy Cat Incorporated. Los Angeles lawyer, Kia Kamran, confirmed by email that the company is controlled by Tabatha and Bryan Bundesen, the siblings who own the cat and helped build its fame.

Kamran, who also represents Mike Tyson, says he hasn’t filed any Grumpy Cat lawsuits yet but probably will soon in response to the “current wave of infringers that are popping up.” He adds that, while he’s sensitive to the cultural dimensions of internet memes, he’s had to take action on behalf of other clients, Nyan Cat and Keyboard Cat.

Standing up for the feline will be a challenge, however, since Grumpy Cat is a cat not a person. Unlike human celebrities, animals can’t invoke “personality rights” which let them control their image. The Bundesens, if their application is successful, will nonetheless be able to control the commercial use of the phrase “grumpy cat” and photographs they own of the cat.

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Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL) has appointed Robert O’Brien to lead its global real estate group. O’Brien, already a vice chairman with Deloitte in the U.S., will also continue as the U.S. real estate leader.

PRESS RELEASE:

NEW YORK, March 14, 2013 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL) announced today that Robert T. O’Brien has been appointed to lead its global real estate group. O’Brien, a vice chairman with Deloitte in the United States, will also continue as the U.S. real estate leader.

In his DTTL role, O’Brien will focus on sharing emerging trends and best practices with the network of member firms around the globe to help ensure a consistently high level of client-service excellence worldwide. Backed by a 10-member Global Real Estate Executive Committee, O’Brien will work with the member firms to develop regional teams in emerging markets, enhance service programs for Deloitte’s largest global clients, and leverage its deep industry expertise across consulting, tax, audit, enterprise risk and financial advisory services. O’Brien will work closely with Chris Harvey, Global Lead, Financial Services Industry, DTTL.

“To capture growth in the next few years, many major real estate players are diversifying their portfolios across geographic markets and asset classes. As the economic recovery matures, we are seeing an increase in cross-border capital flows in the real estate industry,” said O’Brien. “Investment activity in emerging markets is strong. The dramatic flight to quality in the developed markets is now leading to favorable opportunities in secondary and tertiary locations,” he said. “Further, around the world we see commercial real estate leaders getting more active in capturing the benefits of technological innovation, like cloud computing and advanced analytics, to drive business decisions and maintain a competitive edge.”

O’Brien’s background, spanning 29 years, includes significant global client relationships, initial public offerings, acquisitions, dispositions, workouts and bankruptcies. He has advised some of the largest public real estate investment trusts, private equity real estate funds and hospitality clients.

“Real estate continues to evolve as a global industry,” said Chris Harvey. “With a strong presence in every major financial center and emerging market around the world, Deloitte’s real estate practices offer clients an entry to a global network with the ‘on- the-ground-expertise’ so vital to real estate.”

O’Brien has been the U.S. member firm’s real estate practice leader for three years. Prior to that he served as the U.S. member firm’s audit and enterprise risk management leader for its real estate practice, as well as Deloitte’s global real estate funds initiative leader.

O’Brien joined the Deloitte U.S. firm in 1983 upon graduation from John Carroll University with bachelors of science in accounting. In 1989, he earned a MBA in finance with highest honors from Northwestern University’s J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, with a concentration in real estate and international business. He is a CPA and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He serves as a Board Associate of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts, and is a Trustee and Foundation Governor for the Urban Land Institute.

About Deloitte

Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee, and its network of member firms, each of which is a legally separate and independent entity. Please see www.deloitte.com/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited and its member firms.

Deloitte provides audit, tax, consulting, and financial advisory services to public and private clients spanning multiple industries. With a globally connected network of member firms in more than 150 countries, Deloitte brings world-class capabilities and high-quality service to clients, delivering the insights they need to address their most complex business challenges. Deloitte has in the region of 200,000 professionals, all committed to becoming the standard of excellence.

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Apparently there is some new Samsung phone being announced later today, but for the past 24 hours Google owned the news cycle for all of the wrong reasons. Yesterday the company tried to quietly announce its latest round of spring cleaning, but an app included in that list, Reader, got a bit more attention than the company likely wanted.

Now companies are stepping all over one another in a rush to fill a void that is apparently much larger than Google would have you believe. Feedly, perhaps the biggest competitor, already posted detailed instructions on how to get rid of Reader and move to its service. The company claims this move was “something we have been expecting for some time: We have been working on a project called Normandy which is a feedly clone of the Google Reader API – running on Google App Engine. When Google Reader shuts down, feedly will seamlessly transition to the Normandy back end. So if you are a Google Reader user and using feedly, you are covered: the transition will be seamless”.

Now, today, Digg follows suit with its own announcement about working on an alternative for disenfranchised Google Reader customers. In an earlier announcement Andrew from Digg states: “We’ve heard people say that RSS is a thing of the past, and perhaps in its current incarnation it is, but as daily (hourly) users of Google Reader, we’re convinced that it’s a product worth saving. So we’re going to give it our best shot. We’ve been planning to build a reader in the second half of 2013, one that, like Digg, makes the Internet a more approachable and digestible place. After Google’s announcement, we’re moving the project to the top of our priority list. We’re going to build a reader, starting today”.

The company is asking for help and suggestions with the project and hopes to make it the best alternative for angry Googlers, which many of us here at BetaNews seem to qualify as today.

If the petitions that have sprung up around the web today are not enough to get the search giant’s attention then at least user’s will have a fair amount of alternatives to choose from.

Photo Credit: metalstock/Shutterstock

Long after a war is over, land mines continue to maim and kill. In Minescape: Waging War Against Land Mines, artist and photojournalist Brett Van Ort shares a collection of photographs documenting the tragic and unforeseen consequences of leftover land mines from the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Through unsettling photographs of deceptively innocent landscapes, descriptions of the various types of land mines and chilling images of prosthetic limbs and metal joints, Minescape reminds us of the lingering threats of war that often remain in times of peace.

Minescape is the first TED Book to be released in conjunction with a print edition, and will complement an art book to be published by Daylight Books in April 2013. This will also mark one of the first projects from the newly launched Daylight Digital. But the TED Books version of Minescape will be a little different, pairing Van Ort’s moving photographs and personal accounts with Joel Whitney’s globe-trotting investigative essays. It also includes multimedia features that detail the continued impacts of land mines as well as innovative techniques for landmine detection, allowing photography lovers and academics-alike to go beyond the images.

Minescape is available for Kindle and Nook, as well as through the iBookstore. Or download the TED Books app for your iPad or iPhone. A subscription costs $4.99 a month, and is an all-you-can-read buffet.

After their purchase of BioClinica, a clinical train management services firm, and the medical imaging and cardiac safety services company CoreLab Partners, middle market firms JLL Partners and Ampersand Capital Partners have combined the two companies under the name BioClinica.

PRESS RELEASE:

BioClinica(R), Inc., BIOC 0.00% , a global provider of clinical trial management services, announced today that JLL Partners and Ampersand Capital Partners, two leading middle market private equity firms, have completed their acquisition of BioClinica and CoreLab Partners and have combined the two companies under the name BioClinica.

This merger brings together two of the most experienced and trusted authorities in medical imaging management for clinical trials and creates a new standard in imaging core lab services, cardiovascular safety monitoring, and eClinical trial management solutions.

“The unification of BioClinica and CoreLab Partners will enhance the existing service quality and technological innovation supported by scientific and medical expertise that have long been hallmarks of these two companies,” said Mark Weinstein, who will lead the newly combined company as President and CEO. “This merger produces a stronger BioClinica that is better able to support pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device development.”

Dan Agroskin, Managing Director of JLL Partners said, “JLL has spent a significant amount of time gaining an understanding of the pharmaceutical outsourcing sector and, as a result, we are pleased to have made these two acquisitions. This combination brings together two industry leading companies that we are confident will continue to deliver a strong service offering to their customers. We are excited by the growth potential of this newly formed platform, and we look forward to working with the talented management of BioClinica and CoreLab Partners as they continue to enhance their best-in-class capabilities.”

The combination of BioClinica and CoreLab Partners establishes a clear industry leader for imaging core lab services and further complements BioClinica’s other service offerings. BioClinica is better positioned to offer customers comprehensive support for clinical trials with extensive capabilities, including:

Scientific and Medical Expertise

– Unmatched scientific and medical expertise in therapeutic areas where imaging is critical such as oncology, neurology, musculoskeletal, and cardiology

– A comprehensive suite of cardiovascular safety monitoring services with unrivaled scientific and technical leadership

Industry-Leading Technologies

– Longstanding experience working across all imaging modalities

– Combined strength in image acquisition protocols, electronic transfer, management, and central review of medical images

– Leading eClinical solutions for clinical trial management, electronic data capture, randomization, and supply chain forecasting and optimization

Recognized Clinical Trial Experience

– A combined total of 50 FDA approved drugs, including 33 in oncology

– Demonstrated flexibility to engage in multiple partnership models and the independence to collaborate with a sponsor’s choice of full-service Contract Research Organizations (CROs)

– Global operational support in North America, China, Japan, Germany, The Netherlands, and France

Follow BioClinica on the Trial Blazers blog at http://www.bioclinica.com/blog, and on twitter at http://twitter.com/bioclinica.

About the BioClinica, Inc. Merger Transaction

On March 13, 2013, JLL Partners completed its acquisition of BioClinica through the short-form merger of an entity affiliated with JLLPartners and BioClinica. BioClinica is the surviving entity in the merger and is now wholly-owned by affiliates of JLL Partners, Ampersand and certain other investors. As of the close of business on March 13, 2013, BioClinica will no longer trade on the Nasdaq Global Market.

In connection with the transaction, KeyBank National Association, CIT Finance LLC and U.S. Bank National Association acted as the lead arrangers and joint bookrunners for the financing, which consisted of $100 million of senior secured facilities, including a $75 million term loan facility and $25 million revolving facility, undrawn at close.

Excel Partners acted as financial advisor to BioClinica, and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP acted as legal counsel to BioClinica. Robert W. Baird acted as financial advisor to CoreLab Partners and Edwards, Wildman Palmer LLP acted as legal counsel to CoreLab Partners and Ampersand Capital Partners. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Simpson Thacher Bartlett LLP acted as legal counsel to JLL Partners.

About BioClinica

BioClinica is a leading global provider of integrated, technology-enhanced clinical trial management services. A 2013 merger with CoreLab Partners created a new standard for imaging core lab services including electronic transfer, management, and independent review; cardiovascular safety monitoring including automated ECG, Thorough QT studies, Holter monitoring, ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and pulse wave analysis; and eClinical solutions for electronic data capture, randomization, clinical trial management, and clinical supply chain forecasting and optimization. BioClinica offers unmatched scientific expertise with a team of respected medical researchers and board certified, sub-specialty trained radiologists, cardiologists, nuclear medicine physicians and oncologists. With more than 28 years of experience and over 3,300 successful trials to date, BioClinica has supported the development of many new medicines through all phases of the clinical trial process. BioClinica operates state-of-the-art, regulatory-body-compliant imaging core labs on two continents, and supports worldwide comprehensive cardiovascular safety, and eClinical and data management services from offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. For more information, please visit www.bioclinica.com.

About JLL Partners

JLL Partners is a leading New York-based private equity investment firm with approximately $4 billion of capital under management. JLL Partners’ investment philosophy is to partner with outstanding management teams and invest in companies that they can continue to grow into market leaders. JLL Partners has invested in a variety of industries, with special focus on the healthcare and pharmaceutical services industries. For more information, please visit www.jllpartners.com.

About Ampersand

Ampersand Capital Partners, based in Boston, is a leading private equity firm that focuses on middle market growth equity investments in the Healthcare sector. Ampersand Capital Partners leverages its unique blend of private equity and operating experience to build value and drive long-term performance alongside its portfolio company management teams. For more information, please visit www.ampersandcapital.com.

Certain matters discussed in this press release are “forward-looking statements” intended to qualify for the safe harbors from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In particular, the Company’s statements regarding trends in the marketplace and potential future results are examples of such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements include risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the consummation and the successful integration of current and proposed acquisitions, the timing of projects due to the variability in size, scope and duration of projects, estimates and guidance made by management with respect to the Company’s financial results, backlog, critical accounting policies, regulatory delays, clinical study results which lead to reductions or cancellations of projects, and other factors, including general economic conditions and regulatory developments, not within the Company’s control. The factors discussed herein and expressed from time to time in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission could cause actual results and developments to be materially different from those expressed in or implied by such statements. The forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this press release and the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstance. You should review the Company’s filings, especially risk factors contained in the Form 10-K and the recent Form 10-Q.

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Twitter’s now-iconic hashtag could be taking flight and it may start appearing on Facebook, the Wall Street Journal first reported Thursday afternoon. The move to start taking advantage of the hashtag, a symbol that users are starting to recognize across the web, could help Facebook build on the idea of organizing content by topic and give advertisers new opportunities.

By organizing content through hashtags, Facebook could allow advertisers to specifically target discussions on the site, as Mike Isaac explains further for AllThingsD, which would make sense from a platform perspective. But it would be a strong acknowledgement on Facebook’s part that Twitter has developed a dominant social strategy, which would be especially interesting.

Facebook announced news feed and Timeline redesigns within the last week that have focused strongly on content like news articles or music or book suggestions. The addition of the hashtag could fit in with this strategy and help people congregate around particular discussions and group more content into these areas. Although how exactly the company would roll out an official hashtag feature or integrate it into the platform is anyone’s guess right now.

A Facebook spokesperson said the company does not comment on rumors. Twitter did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The hashtag originated on Twitter after users wanted to organize their topics more clearly on the site, which we wrote about in 2010:

“On August 23, 2007, the Twitter hashtag was born. Invented by Chris Messina (then with the consulting firm Citizen Agency, now an open web advocate for Google), the first tweet with a hashtag read as follows: “how do you feel about using # (pound) for groups. As in #barcamp [msg]?”

Today, hashtags make tweets more meaningful and findable, traits that many users appreciate. No conference or speech is complete without a hashtag these days, binding together the ad-hoc community of observers and their pithy comments and memorable quotes.”

The primary reason it would make sense for Facebook to adopt hashtags lies with advertising. Advertisers want to pay for their products or offerings to show up around searches and information that show intent on the part of the user. So if you search for #SuperBowl on Facebook, advertisers would know that you were at least interested in football or watching the Super Bowl or purchasing snacks to eat during the Super Bowl, and therefore might be especially interested in those products. While Twitter’s discovery options have struggled slightly, the use of hashtags to categorize content for advertisers has been more of a success and makes sense that Facebook would want to adopt.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
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• How consumer media will change in 2013
• Examining the rise of crowd labor platforms in 2012
• The state of cross-platform media measurement

Omaha, Neb.-based Transgenomic, a biotech company, has secured an $8 million term and revolving credit facility from Third Security LLC, a life sciences investment firm with offices in Radford, Va.; Palm Beach, Fla.; and San Francisco.

PRESS RELEASE:

Transgenomic, Inc. TBIO -8.33% today announced that it has secured an $8.0 million term and revolving credit facility from Third Security Senior Staff 2008 LLC, Third Security Staff 2010 LLC, and Third Security Incentive 2010 LLC (collectively, the “Third Security Investors”), which are entities affiliated with Third Security, LLC, a leading life sciences investment firm. Proceeds from the facility will be used to refinance the Company’s outstanding debt with Forest Laboratories and to help fund working capital requirements.

The facility consists of a $4.0 million term loan and a revolving credit line that will have up to $4.0 million available for draw against eligible accounts receivable. The 42-month term loan is structured to have an interest-only period until January 2014, followed by a 33-month amortization period. The revolving credit line also has a 42-month duration. The new line of credit, combined with the $8.3 million raised in its recent private placement of common stock, provides the Company with substantial capital to continue building its presence as a leading personalized medicine company.

“The $8.0 million facility provides us with a non-dilutive vehicle to repay our existing debt and also provides additional growth capital at attractive terms,” said Mark P. Colonnese, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. “This facility is another tangible show of support from Third Security, who has been a knowledgeable and helpful partner with the Company for several years. With our current cash position, this increased credit capacity, and our market presence, we are well positioned to execute further on our strategic growth plan.”

About Transgenomic

Transgenomic, Inc. (www.transgenomic.com) is a global biotechnology company advancing personalized medicine in cardiology, oncology, and inherited diseases through its proprietary molecular technologies and world-class clinical and research services. The Company is a global leader in cardiac genetic testing with a family of innovative products, including its C-GAAP test, designed to detect gene mutations which indicate cardiac disorders, or which can lead to serious adverse events. Transgenomic has three complementary business divisions: Transgenomic Clinical Laboratories, which specializes in molecular diagnostics for cardiology, oncology, neurology, and mitochondrial disorders; Transgenomic Pharmacogenomic Services, a contract research laboratory that specializes in supporting all phases of pre-clinical and clinical trials for oncology drugs in development; and Transgenomic Diagnostic Tools, which produces equipment, reagents, and other consumables that empower clinical and research applications in molecular testing and cytogenetics. Transgenomic believes there is significant opportunity for continued growth across all three businesses by leveraging their synergistic capabilities, technologies, and expertise. The Company actively develops and acquires new technology and other intellectual property that strengthens its leadership in personalized medicine.

About Third Security

Third Security is an independent, private venture capital investment firm with offices in Radford, Virginia, Palm Beach, Florida and San Francisco, California. The Third Security management team consists of life-science focused investment professionals dedicated to managing the risks and challenges of high growth, technology-driven businesses. More information is available at www.thirdsecurity.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release constitute “forward-looking statements” of Transgenomic within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those with respect to management’s current views and estimates of future economic circumstances, industry conditions, company performance and financial results, including the ability of the Company to grow its involvement in the diagnostic products and services markets. The known risks, uncertainties and other factors affecting these forward-looking statements are described from time to time in Transgenomic’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any change in such factors, risks and uncertainties may cause the actual results, events and performance to differ materially from those referred to in such statements. Accordingly, the Company claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 with respect to all statements contained in this press release. All information in this press release is as of the date of the release and Transgenomic does not undertake any duty to update this information, including any forward-looking statements, unless required by law.

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Are functional hashtags on their way to your Facebook news feed?

According to the Wall Street Journal, the answer is yes – but not in the imminent future.

They quote people familiar with the matter who say that Facebook is “working on incorporating the hashtag,” but it’s unclear exactly how long the company has had these plans or how close they are to fully realizing the concept.

As you’re probably aware, Facebook lets users tag people using the @ symbol but does not support links when users use the #.

Besides the obvious plus of being able to organize and subsequently search and browse topics, hashtags would give Facebook another structure to build ads around. Plus, anyone looking to do any viral marketing on Facebook would welcome the chance to steer conversation using hashtags. It’s sure worked for Twitter.

Oh yeah, and your idiot cousin wouldn’t look so idiotic anymore when she uses hashtags on Facebook.

Medigus, an Israel-based medical device company, has raised $8 million from OribMed Israel Partners LLC, an affiliate of the healthcare investment firm OrbiMed Advisors. In exchange, OrbiMed was issued 30.7 percent of Medigus’s shares.

PRESS RELEASE:

Medigus Ltd. (tase:MDGS), a leading medical device company dedicated to the development of innovative endoscopic procedures and technologies, announced today the closing of a private equity placement of $8 million to OrbiMed Israel Partners Limited Partnership, an affiliate of OrbiMed Advisors LLC, a leading healthcare investment firm. OrbiMed has been issued 39.9 million ordinary shares of Medigus, which account for 30.7% of Medigus’ shares.

Upon the closing of the investment, Dr. Nissim Darvish, Senior Managing Director at OrbiMed Israel, was appointed chairman of the board of directors of Medigus. In addition, Anat Naschitz and Erez Chimovits, both Managing Directors at OrbiMed Israel, and Chris Rowland joined the board.

“We are proud to welcome OrbiMed as our largest shareholder, and are grateful for their confidence in our company and for their vision,” said Medigus’ CEO Dr. Elazar Sonnenschein. “At the critical juncture where we stand, namely the transition from R&D operations to the commercial marketing of our systems in several markets worldwide, the great expertise and financial liquidity offered by OrbiMed will help the company maximize the commercial potential of our SRS™ innovative endoscopy system for the treatment of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) in the US, Europe and East Asia.”

“We are excited about Medigus and look forward to working together towards commercial success,” said Dr.Nissim Darvish and Ms. Naschitz. “Medigus is well positioned to become a leader in minimally invasive surgery, due to its innovative technology, high quality standards and talented personnel. The company offers an appealing combination of market-ready products and a broad pipeline.”

About Medigus Ltd.

Medigus (tase:MDGS) is a medical device company headquartered in Omer, Israel, specializing in developing innovative endoscopic procedures and devices. Medigus is a pioneer developer of a unique proprietary endoscopic device for the treatment of GERD, one of the most common chronic diseases in the western world. In addition, Medigus has developed the world’s smallest camera for endoscopic use as well as for other medical and industrial applications.

Based on its proprietary technologies, Medigus designs and manufactures endoscopy systems for partner companies, including major players in the medical device industry. Medigus has an advanced technology platform that includes all necessary elements for performing a wide range of endoscopic procedures. The platform includes multiple rigid, semi-flexible and flexible video endoscopes, as well as respective endoscopy suites.

About OrbiMed Advisors LLC

OrbiMed is a leading investment firm dedicated exclusively to the healthcare sector, with approximately $6 billion in assets under management. OrbiMed invests across the spectrum of healthcare companies worldwide, from venture capital start-ups to large multinational companies. OrbiMed manages a series of private equity funds, public equity funds, royalty funds and other investment vehicles.

Contact: Miri Segal-Scharia Hayden/ MS-IR LLC Tel: +1-917-607-8654 [email protected]

SOURCE Medigus Ltd

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