Barbie has been deprived of emotions for too long. It’s time she let it all hang out.

United Internet Technologies Inc., an L.A.-based developer of software and hardware that can connect electronic devices to the Internet, hopes to strike deals with the makers of Barbie, Ken and other electronic toys to use that technology to give them a voice, movement and, well, personality.

“We call them robotic companions,” said Ari Potash, manager of investor relations for UIT.

UIT technology enables specially equipped devices to be controlled through the Internet from a local or remote location. When hooked up to an Internet connected device via a serial port or wireless technology, the toys with UIT technology can be made to say or do whatever users want them to.

The company is a subsidiary of publicly traded United Leisure Corp., which will soon change its name to UIT. L.A.-based United Leisure had focused on various video Web projects for clients such as Time Warner Inc.’s World Championship Wrestling.

“The name change reflects the company’s changing business model, which focuses on software development for interactive devices,” Potash said.

That transition has meant declining revenues for United Leisure. The company reported revenues of $220,000 for the quarter ending Sept. 30, down almost 50 percent from a year ago.

Last week, shares of United Leisure were trading at around $2, or about 50 cents above its 52-week low.

Founded by Brian Shuster, former president of United Film Distributors, UIT has inked licensing deals with the likes Time Warner Inc. and NBC.

Shuster, along with CEO Sonja Mikic, former investment director with Schroder Ventures, has also been busy hiring top tech talent from the L.A. pool. They’ve added over 40 staffers to UIT since January of last year.

Last week, the company lured technology maven Andy Rifkin away from arts and crafts site IdeaForest.com, where Rifkin had only been employed as chief technology officer since early September 2000.

Rifkin, who could not be reached for comment, appears to be a good catch for UIT. He has held top technology positions at Mattel Inc., where he was the lead on interactive toy development, and Time Warner, where he headed the company’s interactive television initiatives.

UIT turned to Hollywood special effects guru Stan Winston, known for his work on films like “Jurassic Park” and “Terminator,” to develop prototypes of toy products that can be wired for interactivity.

The company also recruited former Mattel president Bruce Stein to join the company’s advisory board. Stein is currently CEO of Radical Communications, a communications software provider.

Joining Stein on the board are Bob Wynne, former president of Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Sid Ganis, vice chairman of Columbia Pictures.

Where’s Spider-Man?

What’s happening to Stan Lee Media Inc.?

The Encino-based media company founded by legendary comic book creator Stan Lee saw its shares drop precipitously in early December with no explanation from the company. The stock plunged 85 percent to 13 cents a share on Dec. 18, prompting Nasdaq to halt trading.

Then the company lost a $2.2 million bridge loan, laid off most of its 140 staffers and temporarily closed shop. Last week, Stan Lee Media CEO Ken Williams said the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating trading of the stock, and Bloomberg News reported that the company had uncovered evidence of a possible misuse of corporate funds by some former members of the management team.

Williams declined to comment on the possible misuse of funds by former colleagues.

“We’ve suspended normal operations, and we’re in strategic conversations about refinancing the company,” he said.

Founded by Lee in early 1999, the business model called for the company to create Web-based animation that could be franchised elsewhere. Revenue didn’t exactly pour in.

Williams said he is trying to resurrect Stan Lee Media under a model that, not surprisingly, takes the company off line and into traditional production.

Stan Lee Media already has a feature film project in development based on the site’s “7th Portal” title. The company also acquired Conan Properties Inc. in September and recently announced a deal with Warner Bros. to develop a film based on the Conan character.

Stan Lee, who created such characters as Spider-Man, X-Men and the Incredible Hulk, has a powerful brand name that may still be attractive to investors.

Piece of the Pie

As dot-com carnage piled higher and higher through 2000, the founders of L.A.-based Pie.com were busy refining the company’s business model before daring to launch their Web site.

The site, a content and commerce play targeted at young extreme sports enthusiasts, held a lavish launch party in December, a month dominated by dot-com layoffs and deaths.

Pie.com secured its first round of funding in February of last year, well before the meltdown began, according to co-founder and CEO Sebastian Copeland.

“Since spring, we’ve been watching Web sites without solid business models getting butchered, and we’ve been examining what our competitors have been doing,” Copeland said. “In terms of our timing, we were sort of caught between bullet-fire.”

It’s a gutsy move to launch a site like Pie.com now, but Copeland and co-founder Ted Owen are confident they’ve learned lessons from the failures of others.

“Our model was originally not nearly as diverse as it has become,” Copeland said. “We diversified to spread our risks.”

The co-founders established an online and off-line commerce division, snapped up two print publications and licensed the site’s content to Holland-based UPC, a cable company that distributes extreme sports programming in Europe.

As part of its off-line commerce effort, Pie.com owns and operates a retail store in San Diego and plans to open several others in Southern California and Arizona.

The company employs 30 people in L.A. and has been operating with just $2.5 million raised during its seed round from private sources.

Pie.com’s launch follows the recent flop of Irvine-based Bluetorch. A division of Broadband Interactive Group (BIG), Bluetorch had until September been targeting extreme sports fans with daily programming on Fox Sports Net, several print magazines and Internet content. BIG announced in September that it would scale back its Web site, drop its print magazines and lay off half its staff.

Another competitor, San Diego-based Hardcloud.com, joined the valley of damned dot-coms in the middle of last year.

“The name of the game these days is to be careful with how you spend money,” Copeland said.

Staff reporter Hans Ibold can be reached at [email protected].