Tuesday, September 30, 2008Conexant Boosts OutlookNewport Beach-based semiconductor maker Conexant Systems said Tuesday afternoon that it has boosted its earnings guidance on better gross margins. According to the firm, its core operating income and core net income for Q4 of fiscal 2008 will exceed the guidance previously provided by the company. The firm said the boost came as a result of a richer-than-anticipated product mix, and increased core gross margins of 54 to 55 percent. The firm's shares were up 39% on Tuesday at the close of the mar (More info...)
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KidZui Links With Parenting MagazinesSan Diego-based KidZui, a provider of a kid-friendly web browser, has inked a deal with Parents.com, the online site for the American Baby, Parents, and Family Circle magazines. According to KidZui, it is in a new partnership with Parents.com, to enhance KidZui and to introduce more companies to its services. Financial details of the partnership were not released. KidZui said that editorial content from Parents.com wil be integrated into its parent site, and Parents.com will recommend KidZui's w (More info...)
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MPAA Sues RealNetworksThe Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has filed an anticipated lawsuit against RealNetworks, the group said Tuesday afternoon, asking a federal court to stop Seattle-based RealNetworks from distributing its new RealDVD software, which allows consumers to copy and view DVDs on their PCs. According to the MPAA, RealDVD violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) because its software illegally bypasses the copyright protection built into DVDs that protect movies against theft. T (More info...)
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FreedomSpeaks.com Targets Developers With APILos Angeles-based FreedomSpeaks.com an online web site focused on political social networking, said Tuesday that it has launched a new application programming interface (API) targeted at helping developers tap into information about publicly elected officials. The firm said its API provides access to over 10,000 public official profiles. The firm--which is currently trying to raise its first round of funding from investors--is providing a REST API which allows any web developer to retrieve infor (More info...)
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PeopleSupport Gets Clearance On MergerLos Angeles-based PeopleSupport, a provider of business process outsourcing services, has gained clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust act for the firm's merger with Mumbai, India-based Essar Group and its Aegis BPO unit. According to PeopleSupport, the waiting period under the act has expired without a request for further information from the Federal Trade Commission. The clearance is a milestone along the firm's way to acquisition by Aegis BPO, a unit of Essar Group. PeopleSupport an (More info...)
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Broadcom Taps Firm For Wi-Fi PositioningIrvine-based Broadcom is adding Wi-Fi positioning features into its chipsets by tapping the technology of Skyhook Wireless, the firm said Tuesday. According to Broadcom, it is using Skyhook to add Wi-Fi positioning capability as part of its location based services infrastructure. The technology, which uses Wi-Fi signals from geolocated access points to pinpoint the location of cell phones, will supplement positioning data from GPS, assisted-GPS, and cell tower signals. Financial details of the r (More info...)
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Hollywood Gets Sued By RealNetworksA group of movie studios is being sued by RealNetworks, in a pre-emptive strike to protect RealNetworks new DVD copying service. RealNetworks, which recently launched a new service called RealDVD, which allows owners of DVDs to copy their DVDs to a hard drive for later viewing, said that it is filing suit against the DVD Copy Control Association, Inc., Disney Enterprises, Inc., Paramount Pictures Corp., Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc., Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp., NBC Universal, Inc., War (More info...)
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Eventful Launches Concert AlertsSan Diego-based event listing service Eventful has launched a new service to allow its users to track concerts. The firm released a new service today it calls Artist Tracker, which emails alerts to its users about musicians and artists performing in town. According to Eventful, the new service will let users indicate which performers they like, and receive alerts whenever those artists come to town. Eventful provides an online service for sharing and promoting local events. The firm is venture b (More info...)
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Interview with David Sacks, Geni and YammerOur interview this morning is with David Sacks, CEO of Geni.com, an online family tree and social networking site, as well as Yammer, the instant messaging startup spun out of Geni.com at TechCrunch50. David has a unique perspective on the Southern California technology environment, having been the COO of PayPal before its acquisition by EBay, and having had the full Silicon Valley experience. We sat down with David to catch up on what Geni and Yammer are doing, plus got his insights into entr (More info...)
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eSolar Inks Technology License Deal With Sundrop FuelsPasadena-based solar thermal technology developer eSolar has inked a deal with another clean technology firm, Sundrop Fuels, the company announced today. According to eSolar, it will supply its heliostat and sun tracking technology to Sundrop Fuels, and also make that technology available to other prospective partners and customers. eSolar said the multi-million dollar deals calls for it to supply solar collecting equipment to Colorado-based Sundrop Fuels, a Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and (More info...)
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XRoads Signs Security ProviderIrvine-based XRoads Networks, a developer of bandwidth management hardware and related services, said today that Virtual Graffiti, an IT solutions provider, will use the firm's products to offer Internet redundancy and balancing services. According to XRoads, Virtual Graffiti will offer its ZeroOutages service, a service which provides transparent redundnacy, active balancing, and other services for boosting data center reliability. Virtual Graffiti is a provider of security services, including (More info...)
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Leads360 Names New CEOLos Angeles-based Leads360, a developer of lead management software, has tapped Dan Morefield as the firm's new President and CEO, the firm announced this morning. Morefield is the former COO of Experian Consumer Direct, as well as CIO at Overture Services. Morefield has also served at PayMyBills and at Home Savings of America. According to the firm, founding CEO Jeff Solomon becomes Senior Vice President and will focus on product and technology development at the company. Leads360's software is (More info...)
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