Tuesday, November 18, 2008PriceGrabber's Pourzanjani Launches New SiteKamran Pourzanjani, the former CEO and co-founder of PriceGrabber.com, has surfaced at a new venture, Bestcovery.com. According to Bestcovery.com, the new site will help consumers find the best products and services for their needs. The site features expert recommendations for health and beauty, consumer electronics, video games, computers, appliances, and more. Pourzanjani built PriceGrabber from a startup with only $1.5M in capital to a success, later purchased by Experian for nearly $500M. Si (More info...)
posted on Tuesday, November 18, 2008(Full story)
MFLEX Acquires Pelikon LimitedAnaheim-based Multi-Fineline Electronix, a provider of flexible printed circuit and component assembly services to the electronics industry, said Tuesday afternoon that it has agreed to acquire Pelikon Limited. Pelikon develops printed segmented electroluminescent (pSELTM) displays and keypads. MFLEX said it will pay approximately $10.7M, in two year promissory notes, for Pelikon, which is headquartered in London. The deal also include $9.43 in possible earnout, dependent on sales milestones. Pe (More info...)
posted on Tuesday, November 18, 2008(Full story)
introNetworks Adds Mapping FeatureSanta Barbara-based introNetworks, a developer of social networking software for connecting trade show attendees and organizations, has released an update to the firm's software. The firm said Tuesday it has integrated Google Maps into its product to help users returning from tradeshows to find other attendees in their local area or to help members of associations find contacts in a city. The new feature maps out members of a social network on a browseable world map, with additional information (More info...)
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Report: Online Spending StallsOnline retailers are starting to see the impact of a slow economy, according to a report released Tuesday by comScore. comScore, which measures Internet traffic and ecommerce sales, said that online spending in October of this year only grew 1 percent over last year's rates. The firm said the growth was the lowest monthly growth rate since comScore began tracking e-commerce in 2001. The report found that the softness in online retail spending was driven in a big part by negative spending growth (More info...)
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Broadcom: Qualcomm In Contempt, AgainIrvine-based Broadcom is continuing its patent skirmish with San Diego-based Qualcomm, saying Tuesday that Qualcomm has been held in contempt of an injunction entered into last December, covering the use, sale, and import of certain EV-DO chips. According to Broadcomm, Qualcomm has been ordered to retrieve the chips, and destroy them, or to pay Broadcom Qualcomm's gross profits on the sales. Broadcom also said that Qualcomm has failed to pay royalties on legacy EV-DO chips, also violating the in (More info...)
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Gorilla Nation Extends Gawker DealSanta Monica-based Gorilla Nation, which provides ad sales for web publishers, said today that it has extended its deal with Gawker Media to cover advertising sales throughout the UK. The firm had inked an earlier deal with Gawker to represent the firm in Canada. Financial impact of the deal was not disclosed. Gawker publishes the Gawker, Defamer, Jzzebel, Gizmodo, Kotaku, ValleyWag, Lifehacker, and Jalopnik online gossip and media sites. Gorilla Nation said the UK readership of Gawker represent (More info...)
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Central Desktop Targets Enterprise CustomersPasadena-based Central Desktop, which develops project management software-as-a-service, said today that it has released a new version of its services targeted at the enterprise. The firm said its new Enterprise Solution Package is targeted at the mid-market, with enterprise-grade functionality. The new package includes access to the firm's platform, along with new enterprise features such as better security, SLA guarantees, and Salesforce.com integration. Central Desktop offers project manageme (More info...)
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Zacharon Pharmaceuticals Raises $3.5MSan Diego-based Zacharon Pharmaceutical said today that it has raised $3.5M in a Series A financing for the firm's biopharmaceuticals technology. According to the firm, the financing came from Avalon Ventures LLC. The firm also said it has received more than $2.2M in National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grants. Zacharon Pharmaceutical is developing glycan inhibitors which have appications in treating genetic disorders and oncology.
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Interview with Darrius Thompson, OpenCandyLast week, San Diego-based OpenCandy (www.opencandy.com) announced it had raised $3.5M in a venture round for the firm's software recommendation startup. We caught up with co-founder and CEO Darrius Thompson--who was also a co-founder at DivX--to learn more about the startup, the saga behind how the company started, and the funding.
What's the idea behind OpenCandy?
Darrius Thompson: We came from a company called DivX, where we had built a business primarily around consumer software. We go (More info...)
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DivX Sues YahooSan Diego-based DivX said Thursday that it has filed a lawsuit against Yahoo! for breach of contract, after Yahoo notified the firm that it intends to breach its two-year advertising services agreement with DivX. DivX said that Yahoo has informed the firm that it will discontinue making payments required under an agreement with the firm. As a result of the change, DivX also said it has made a revision to its revenue and earnings estimate for the year, reducing its estimated revenue range from $9 (More info...)
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Ethertronics Names New Board MemberSan Diego-based Ethertronics announced Monday that it has appointed John E. Major to its board of directors. Major is currently president of strategic consulting firm MTSG, and has also served as Chairman and CEO of Novatel Wireless. Major has also been at Qualcomm and Motorola, and is on the board of Broadcom and several other firms. Ethertronics is a developer of embedded antennas for wireless devices.
posted on Tuesday, November 18, 2008(Full story)