Tuesday, October 7, 2008


X PRIZE Foundation Finds Lunar X PRIZE Sponsor
Santa Monica-based nonprofit the X PRIZE Foundation has added another firm as a "preferred partner" for the firm's Google Lunar X PRIZE, the challenge to send a robot to the surface of the moon. According to the X PRIZE Foundation, AGI, a developer of analysis software for the national security and space communities, will offer discounted services to teams competing in its competition. The X PRIZE Foundation is offering $30M to the first, privately-funded team to send a robot on the moon, travel (More info...)
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Teleflip Assets Sold, Says Creditor
Santa Monica-based Teleflip, which operated a service which allowed users to send and receive email using text messages, has been sold to an undisclosed buyer, according to creditor Hercules Technology Growth Capital. HTGC said that the firm received $650,000 from the sale of Teleflip, which the firm said occurred this month. Teleflip was venture backed by GRP Partners, and apparently went out of business sometime in August after failing to find additional capital. HTGC had invested $1M in debt (More info...)
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Audyssey Labs Gets Win At Volvo
Los Angeles-based Audyssey Labs, a sound equalization technology firm founded by a number of well known innovators in the audio industry, announced Tuesday that the firm's technology has been chosen by Volvo Cars. According to Audyssey, Volvo will use its MultEQ acoustical correction technology to calibrate new cars equipped with Volvo's top of the line sound systems. Financial impact of the deal was not disclosed. Audyssey's MultEQ product was originally developed to calibrate home theater syst (More info...)
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San Diego Colo Provider Acquired By Private Equity Firm
San Diego-based American Internet Services, a Internet data center co-location provider, said Tuesday that the firm has been acquired by an investor group lead by private equity firm Seaport Capital. The company did not disclose terms of the acquisition, but said that other investors in the acquiring group were Viridian Investment Partners and DuPont Capital Management. According to AIS, the firm's day to day operations will continue to be run by its current senior management team. American Inte (More info...)
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Chumby Links With Pandora
San Diego-based Chumby, which makes Internet connected, alarm-clock sized devices, has added music from Internet radio station Pandora to its widget offerings, along with other information from music-related companies. According to Chumby, its players can now tune into personalized radio stations from Pandora, including use for its alarm clock function, and will also provide updates on bands from Rollingstone.com, content from UsMagazine.com, and music videos from Avot Media. Business details be (More info...)
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iRise Signs GM
El Segundo-based iRise has signed on automotive giant General Motors as a customer for its application simulation software, the firm said Tuesday. According to iRise, General Motors is deploying its visual modeling technology as part of developing new IT systems at the company. iRise said that the win comes thanks to Capgemini, a provider of consulting, technology, and outsourcing services. Financial impact of the customer win was not disclosed. iRise explained that GM is using its software for (More info...)
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Emergent Game Technologies Hires VP
Calabasas-based Emergent Game Technologies, which develops technology for the video game industry, said this week that it has hired on Katie Morgan as the firm's Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Emergent said that Morgan joins the firm from SouthPeak Interactive, where she had been for ten years. Morgan has also served at Time Warner, Apple Computer, and Procter and Gamble. Emergent Game Technologies develops a game engine, Gamebryo, which is used to create game titles for the Wii, PLAYSTA (More info...)
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Tsavo Names General Manager For SEO Unit
Santa Monica-based Tsavo Media, the new startup venture of former Userplane founder Michael Jones, said Tuesday that it has named Steve Schepke as General Manager of Tsavo Agency, a new unit focused on providing monetization services to content providers. According to Tsavo, Schepke joins Tsavo from Commission Junction. Schepke has also served at Proceed Interactive, a search and interactive marketing agency, and Terra Firma Marketing, where he was founder. Tsavo said that its Tsavo Agency will (More info...)
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Boingo Wireless Teams With MLB On Playoff Games
Los Angeles-based Wi-Fi hotspot operator Boingo Wireless has inked a deal with MLB Advanced Media, the interactive media arm of Major League Baseball, to stream playoff games at its airport locations, the firm said late last night. Boingo Wireless said it will allow its customers to purchase special, four-hour passes to MLB.TV to allow those customers to watch every Divison Series and American League Championship Series games being broadcast by TBS. Boingo said the special four-hour passes will (More info...)
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Nexeon MedSystems Gets $24M
Nexeon MedSystems, a newly formed company focused on developing stents and other medical devices, announced this morning that the firm has raised $24M in funding from SurModics, Inc., Guidant Corporation, and other private investors. The firm, which has R&D operations in Carlsbad, California with its headquarters in Charleston, West Virginia, said the funding will go towards development and clinical trials for the firm's coronary stent system. The firm was formerly known as Paragon Intellectual (More info...)
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AMO Gets Approval On Medical Device
Santa Ana-based Advanced Medical Optics said this morning that it has received FDA approval on a medical device for opthalmic surgery. According to AMO, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted premarket approval to the firm's Healon D viscoelastic, a device used as a surgical aid in cataract extraction, intraocular lens implantation, corneal transplant, and glaucoma filtration surgery. The firm said it plans to ship the new medical device int he fourth quarter.
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Nexsan Targets Storage-as-a-Service
Thousand Oaks-based Nexsan, which develops data storage products, announced Monday that it has rolled out an upgraded product which it says is specifically targeted at storage-as-a-service providers. According to Nexsan, its archiving system, Assureon 6.0, includes new features such as secure, physical separation of archives between users, and MAID power consumption technology which powers down inactive drives, features which are important to storage-as-a-service providers. The firm said that fi (More info...)
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