Fountain Valley-based Kingston Technology Inc. is the latest OC tech company trying to capitalize on the Pokémon Go craze sweeping the globe.
The world’s largest maker of memory products for computers and consumer electronics recently held a gym battle that was open to the public at its headquarters where about 75 players captured Pokémon and battled for control of the Kingston Rex Gym.
“Pokémon Go is such a trending topic both on social media and in the news. We have a great opportunity here at Kingston as our redhead logo statue in front of our building is a coveted Pokémon gym,” company spokesman David Leong said, referring to a key territory in the game. “Holding an event is a great way for us to meet face-to-face with local fans and have fun playing the game together.”
The first 50 participants received a Kington branded shirt and hat. Bonus giveaways for those who captured the gym or used event hashtag #KingstonGo included branded socks, Pikachu chewing gum and bags.
Dressing in team colors was encouraged.
The Pokémon Go mobile game, developed in conjunction with Google Inc., Nintendo Co. Ltd. and San Francisco startup Ninantic Inc., has raced past $200 million in revenue since its July 6 release and 23 million active daily users in the U.S. alone—more than Twitter or Candy Crush.
The game, which is on pace to become the most popular ever, has helped usher in the era of augmented reality, a hot segment that applies computer graphics and informational displays or animation to real-world environments through a smart device.
Several other OC companies are hitching onto the popularity of Pokémon Go as they vie for a niche in the segment. The list includes startups Irvine-based Candy Lab Inc., which is focused on developing software for location-based AR experiences, and Well Told Entertainment, an AR and virtual reality production company housed at Chapman University’s incubator the Leatherby Center in Orange.
Emissions-Control Venture
A Lake Forest facility run by the North American unit of Austria-based AVL List GmbH is playing a key role in the development of an emissions control kit developed by Tecogen Inc. in Massachusetts.
Results of the first-phase tests recently concluded at the AVL California Technology Center will be compared to an Ultera kit embedded in a vehicle in second-phase testing in Massachusetts.
The kit, according to Tecogen, has shown consistent emissions reduction to nearly zero on a variety of natural gas stationary engines, on par with super-clean fuel cells, which are an area of focus and innovation at the University of California-Irvine.
Tecogen and a group of strategic investors recently put $4 million into the Ultra Emissions Technologies Ltd. joint venture to fund future automotive emissions research and development efforts related to the new technology.
Tecogen posted sales of $21.4 billion last year.
Broadcom Cuts Update
Broadcom Ltd., which was formed in February after Avago Technologies Inc.’s $37 billion takeover of Broadcom Corp., has concluded its first big round of job cuts at its Irvine operation.
The Singapore-based chipmaker, which has its U.S. headquarters in San Jose, slashed 750 local jobs, according to filings with the California Employment Development Department. That’s about a third of its Irvine operation and 60 more job cuts than the company originally projected in a late January notice to the state agency.
The Business Journal has reported Broadcom is exploring the sale of one or more of the 220,000-square-foot buildings now under construction at its new office campus at the Great Park Neighborhoods development site.
The 750 positions could roughly fill one of those buildings.
Broadcom shifted its headquarters from Irvine after the sale in favor of Avago’s U.S. base in San Jose in a move that also eliminated Broadcom Corp.’s management team except for co-founder Henry Samueli, who maintained his board seat and chief technology officer role.
