Monday, September 18, 2006Google's Picasa Goes OnlineGoogle's Picasa photo organizer has added new web photo sharing features to its desktop photo application, as Google said Monday evening in its blog that it has rolled out a new version of the software. The new version of Picasa allows you to post and share your photos online for free on a new Google Web Album service, and also allows download photos from their friends. The Web Album service allows users of the Picasa software to upload photos to both private and public web addresses, and allows (More info...)
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Eventful Raises $7.5MSan Diego-based Eventful, which operates a calendar and events web site called Eventful.com, said late Monday that it has raised $7.5M in a Series B funding. The round of funding was led by Bay Partners, and also included previous investors Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Omidyar Network and Esther Dyson. Eventful was previously known as EVDB. As part of the funding, Neal Dempsey and Neil Sadaranganey of Bay Partners will join the company's board. Eventful's web site lists events and allows users to se (More info...)
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Napster Looks For BuyerLos Angeles-based Napster has hired UBS, an investment banking firm, to evaluate its strategic alternatives. Napster said late Monday that it is looking to enhance sharholder value, either through a new strategic partnership or sale of the company. The firm said that it has $97M in cash as of the close of the first quarter, and annual revenues of $100M. The company also disclosed that it has more than half a million subscribers. Napster operates a music download service that goes head to head ag (More info...)
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UCSB, Intel Develop First Hybrid Silicon LaserResearchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Intel Corp. announced today that they have created the world's first silicon chip that can produce lasers, using standard silicon manufacturing processes. The researchers said today that the first electrically powered Hybrid Silicon Laser will enable low-cost, high-bandwidth silicon photonics devices. The breakthrough promises to help connect computer chips with photonics, instead of wires, which is expected to make it much easier t (More info...)
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Streamload Partners With EmbarqSan Diego-based Streamload, a provider of online digital media storage, is in a new deal to provide online storage and backup services to customers of Embarq a high speed Internet provider. Streamload said this morning that Embarq will provide up to 25 GB of online storage for free to its users through Streamload's technology. Embarq is using Streamload's new Web Services API to integrate Streamload's storage services into its internet services. Embarq is headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas. (More info...)
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BiggerBoat Goes LiveBeverly Hills-based BiggerBoat, a venture-backed entertainment search engine, went live this morning with a beta of its services. The firm, which is backed by First Round Capital and Zone Ventures, has been working on a search engine that provides entertainment focused search results. The search engine, which is at www.biggerboat.com, allows users to search for either music or movies, with specialized searches for both of the categories. The search engine provides a higher level of information o (More info...)
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Interview with Eden Jarrin, CEO of Be JaneLast Thursday, we spent the day at VentureNet, a venture capital conference run by the Technology Council of Southern California. The conference presented local technology firms to an audience of venture capitalists. One of the companies presenting there was Burbank-based Be Jane (www.bejane.com), which got very high marks from the panel of venture capital investors. Be Jane is a content and media company that combines both an online web site, video, and other media properties around home improv (More info...)
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Gizmo Project Targets BusinessSan Diego-based SIPphone is targeting businesses with its voice-over-IP and internet calling software and services, with a new program focused specifically on small and mid-sized businesses. SIPphone said this morning that it is offering a free calling plan for businesses worldwide, and that it has tied in the open source Asterisk PBX software into its services. SIPphone's new Gizmo Project for Business program allows companies to set up a corporate account for paying for telephone calls, suppor (More info...)
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Teledyne Completes Rockwell Scientific AcquisitionLos Angeles-based Teledyne Technologies announced today that it has completed the acquisition of Rockwell Scientific Company LLC for $167.5M in cash. Thousand Oaks-based Rockwell Scientific provides research and development and infrared and visible light imaging sensors. The firm was previously owned by Rockwell Automation and Rockwell Collins. Teledyne said that Rockwell Scientific had revenues of $114M in the fiscal year ended September 30, 2005.
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3Tera Rolls Out Grid Operating SystemAliso Viejo-based 3Tera said today that it has introduced a new, grid operating system targeted at the utility computing market. 3Tera said that it will offer utility computing software for transactional Web applications, allowing hosting provider to offer utility computing services to customers. The firm is targeting Web 2.0 and software-as-a-service firms who need to deploy Web applications. The company's grid operating system services are similar to Amazon's EC2 virtual computing and grid com (More info...)
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eEye Names Shuffles ExecutivesAliso Viejo-based eEye Digital Security, a security research and software firm, said today that it has named both a new CEO and new CTO. Current CEO and CTO Firas Bushnaq will become Chairman of the firm. Ross Brown has been named CEO of the company, and Marc Maiffret has become CTO. Brown was most recently the firm's COO, and Maiffret was most recently Chief Hacking Officer. The firm also said it has named Kamal Arafeh as SVP Worldwide Sales and Marketing. Arafeh was most recently at Astaro, an (More info...)
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Xirrus Gets PatentWestlake Village-based Xirrus has received a patent on its wireless arrays, saying today that it has received US Patent D526,973 from the US Patent and Trademark office. The patent covers the physical housing of the firm's Wi-Fi array. The patent names Dirk Gates and Ian Andrew as inventors, and was originally filed in November of 2004, and granted August 22nd, 2006. Xirrus develops wireless Wi-Fi arrays that the firm is targeting at the enterprise market.
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Perfect Market Adds To BoardPasadena-based Perfect Market Technologies, which operates Snap.com, said this morning that it has appointed Rishad Tobaccowala to the company's board of directors. Tobaccowala is head of Denuo, a unit of Publicis Groupe, a consultancy focused on trends in digital, interactive and evolving traditional marketing disciplines. Snap.com provides an online search engine, and is an Idealab company.
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Sendio Names Operations DirectorNewport Beach-based Sendio has named a new Director of Operations and Business Development, saying that it has appointed Karen Jaffe to the position. The firm said that Jaffe has worked with Bell Laboratories, IBM, and AT&T. Sendio is a provider of enterprise anti-spam software that uses sender address verification to screen messages.
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