Thursday, September 20, 2007CalAmp Files Patent Infringement SuitOxnard, California-based CalAmp, a manufacturer of wireless products, said Thursday afternoon that it has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against three firms. CalAmp said it has filed complaints against Procon, Inc., Skywatch GPS LLC, and iMETRIK Solutions for infringing on two patents related to vehicle location systems. CalAmp said that the patents were acquired by the firm when it acquired the Aircept Vehicle Tracking Business from AirIQ in March. CalAmp sells equipment and monitoring ser (More info...)
posted on Thursday, September 20, 2007(Full story)
MP3Tunes Courts Software Developers With ContestSan Diego-based MP3tunes, the online music backup and streaming service, is launching a contest geared toward software developers. Michael Robertson, the firm's founder, said in an email Thursday morning that MP3tunes is awarding $10,000 for developers who use the firm's newly released application programming interface (API) to connect the firm's services into DVRs, mobile phones, game consoles, web widgets, and other devices. Robertson said that the contest, which begins today and will run unti (More info...)
posted on Thursday, September 20, 2007(Full story)
Interview with Patrick Harr, CEO of NirvanixSan Diego-based Nirvanix (www.nirvanix.com) recently raised a round of venture capital from Mission Ventures, Valhalla, and Windward Ventures, for its online storage services. The firm is looking to provide outsourced data storage services to businesses, is focusing on the digital media area, and competes head to head against Amazon's S3 storage services. To get some color on the funding, how the firm's service compares to Amazon, and to learn more about the company's team, we spoke to Patrick H (More info...)
posted on Thursday, September 20, 2007(Full story)
Disney-ABC Television, AOL Team On Online DistributionBurbank-based Disney-ABC Television Group and AoL said this morning that they have inked a deal to offer full-length episodes of ABC's popular primetime shows on AOL Video, AOL's online video site. The firms said that they will deliver the video via co-branded version of ABC.com's broadband player. According to the companies, ABC will offer its new episodes on AOL the day after their broadcast premiere; the series include new series The Bachelor, Big Shots, Brothers & Sisters, Carpoolers, Caveme (More info...)
posted on Thursday, September 20, 2007(Full story)
Headplay Ships Headmounted DisplaysSanta Monica-based startup Headplay announced today that its head mounted display systems are finally available for purchase. The firm designs "personal cinema systems" which use an LCoS-based, head mounted display to provide viewing of DVDs, for connection to video game systems and computers. Headplay announced the head mounted display systems, which were designed by IDEO, at DEMO in 2006. The displays are priced at $499.
posted on Thursday, September 20, 2007(Full story)
Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment Creates Interactive Agency UnitCulvery City-based Sony Pictures said Wednesday that it has renamed its Digital Marketing & Production Group as Imageworks Interactive, and joined the unit with its Imageworks animation group. The firm said that Imageworks Interactive will provide a full range of digital marketing services, ranging from visual effects to character animation, web sites, and mobile content. Sony's Digital Marketing & Production Group previously developed web sites and content for Sony; its Imageworks unit was focu (More info...)
posted on Thursday, September 20, 2007(Full story)
WD Updates External Storage LineLake Forest-based WD said this morning that it has begun shipping new versions of the company's My Book external storage products. WD said that its My Book Home Edition, My Book Office Edition, and My Book Essential Edition have been newly redesigned to be smaller and sleeker; the models now support capacities ranging from 320 GB to 1 TB of storage. The firm said that the updated line of storage is available from $129.99 to $379.99. WD is a manufacturer of disk drive and associated disk storage (More info...)
posted on Thursday, September 20, 2007(Full story)
Freespire Adds Paid SupportSan Diego-based Linspire, which develops desktop-focused versions of the Linux operating system, said Wednesday that it has begun offering paid support for users of the company's Freespire operating system. Linspire said that its paid support starts at $24.95 per support incident, and will address issues such as installation support, networking, email set up, and browser configuration. Linspire's Freespire OS is a freely downloadable version of the firm's flagship Linspire OS. The firm is offeri (More info...)
posted on Thursday, September 20, 2007(Full story)
Xoova Shows Healthcare SoftwareSanta Monica-based Xoova, the startup which is developing a nationwide directory of physicians and medical services, said this morning that it is showing its new Profile Manager software at the Health 2.0 conference being held today in San Francisco. Xoova's Profile Manager software allows doctors to update their profiles and schedule online appointments. Xoova is headed by ex-Mapquest head Tommy McGloin, and received a Series A in venture funding from Spark Capital in September of last year.
posted on Thursday, September 20, 2007(Full story)