Thursday, March 16, 2006Ask.com Names UCSB Prof Chief ScientistOakland, California-based Ask.com Search Technologies (formerly Ask Jeeves) has named Tao Yang, a professor at UC Santa Barbara, to the position of Senior Vice President and Chief Scientist. Yang has been at Ask.com since it acquired Teoma Technologies, where he invested Teoma's ExpertRank search algorithm. Yang has been a professor of computer science at the University of California, Santa Barbara since 1993, and is an expert in the area of parallel and distributed systems, Internet search, clu (More info...)
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SiRF Buys TrueSpanSan Jose-based SiRF Technology Holdings said this afternoon that it has acquired Long Beach-based TrueSpan, a company developing silicon and software for providing high quality digital audio and video to consumers via mobile phones. Terms were not disclosed. TrueSpan is developing technology based on OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing) for delivering high rates of data across radio. TrueSpan had about 30 employees, with the majority in Bangalore, India, and was founded in August o (More info...)
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Ex Apple Execs Launch Acquisition FirmThree ex-Apple executives have launched a new, Newport Beach-based acquisition firm, and have raised $150M in an IPO. The new firm, headed by ex-Apple CEO Gilbert Amelio, Ellen M. Hancock and founder Steve Wozniak, said in its S-1 filing that it is a "blank check" company for acquiring businesses in the technology, multimedia and networking sectors. The firm is listed on the American Stock Exchange as AQR.U. Amelio serves as CEO of the firm, and Steve Wozniak as CTO. The firm also lists Harold L (More info...)
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Luxtera Gets $22M Series CCarlsbad-based Luxtera has closed a $22M Series C investment round. The firm said today that it received the funding from New Enterprise Associates, Sevin Rosen Funds, August Capital, and Freescale Semiconductor. Luxtera is developing semiconductors that combine optical components with CMOS electronics. The company said it would use the funds to accelerate its product launch and move into volume production.
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Neven Deploys Face Recognition SoftwareSanta Monica-based Neven Vision is reporting that it has deployed its face recognition software on Sharp phones for biometrics. The company, which develops facial recognition software that runs on mobile platforms, said this week that NTT DoCoMo has adopted its software for authorizing cell phone user access to applications. NTT DoCoMo has implemented Neven's biometric capabilities as part of its application, as a replacement for a password or PIN number. The venture-backed firm has previously d (More info...)
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DTS Enhances Digital Video CompressionAgoura Hills-based DTS announced yesterday that it has rolled out a new product that supports JPEG 2000 image compression used to encode high quality images for digital cinema. The new DTS Digital Cinema Encoder provides ability to encode video for digital distribution. DTS said that the format provides files that are 30 to 50 percent smaller than competing encoding systems. The encoder is available as turn-key hardware or custom-installed software. DTS said it implemented the encoder in conjunc (More info...)
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Advanced Photonix Leaves Southern CaliforniaCamarillo-based Advanced Photonix, a developer of silicon photodetectors, said yesterday that it has received final approvals to move its operations and corporate offices to Ann Arbor, Michigan. The firm, which had announced the move in January, said that it will complete the relocation over the next 12 months. The firm is moving to Michigan as a result of peronsal property tax abatement, and a business tax credit.
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WebSideStory Adds ExecsSan Diego-based WebSideStory has added two new executives. The firm said that Ron Hegli has joined the company as Vice President of Engineering, and Shaun Lowry as VP Sales for the Western U.S. Hegli was most recently at Akonix Systems, and also served as VP of Engineering for Websense. Lowry has served at competitors Omniture and WebTrends. WebSideStory is a provider of web analytics applications used to analyze web site traffic and e-commerce.
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La Jolla Pharmaceuticals Appoints CEOSan Diego-based La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company announced yesterday that it has appointed a new CEO. Deirdre Y. Gillespie, M.D. has joined the firm, replacing Steven B. Engle, who the company said resigned Tuesday. The firm also said that Craig R. Smith, M.D., a director of the company, has been appointed Chairman. Gillespie joins from Oxxon, and has served at Vical and other firms. La Jolla Pharmaceutical is developing therapeutics for the treatment of lupus.
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