4Info gets $20M more for text message advertising
4INFO, the Silicon Valley company that serves advertisements in mobile phone text messages, has raised another $20 million in funding.
The money comes from a previous backer, Peacock Equity, a joint venture between NBC Universal and General Electric Commercial Finance, according to a report in the WSJ. VentureBeat has heard that 4INFO’s advertising rates have plummeted since the onset of the economic downturn in October, though if it’s true, 4INFO would hardly be the only ad… Continue Reading
Sharpcast raises $10M for sync service SugarSync
Sharpcast, the maker of the SugarSync service for synchronizing your files across multiple devices, has raised a $10 million addition to its first round of funding.
I was super impressed when I tried SugarSync last March, because it was the the simplest and most usable sync service I’d seen. You just select the folders you want synchronized, and SugarSync takes care of the rest. But the product didn’t make as big a splash as I’d expected,… Continue Reading
Big Stage Entertainment wants you to take your 3-D avatars from game to game
If you’re going to go to a lot of trouble to create a 3-D avatar, or virtual character, you might as well spread it around. That’s the point of Big Stage Entertainment’s PortableYou program.
The company uses a facial modeling system to render a faithful version of someone’s face by building a 3-D replica from three photos taken from slightly different angles. The photorealistic product can then be imported into video games, virtual worlds, mobile applications… Continue Reading
Big Stage closing a new round of venture money
Next month, personalized video-mashup site Big Stage will launch its public beta. The site lets you upload three high-resolution photos of yourself. It then stitches those photos into a 3-D avatar. You can accessorize your avatar and put your avatar into videos and amusing scenery. You can then share it with your friends.
The company got to show off its 3-D avatar technology to the world during Intel CEO Paul Otellini’s keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show… Continue Reading