Monday, May 11, 2009


Ixia Buys Catapult Communications
Calabasas-based Ixia said late Monday afternoon that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Catapult Communications, a developer of 3G and 4G wireless networking test products. According to Ixia, it will pay $9.25 per share in cash for publicly traded Catapult, or approximately $105M. The deal is worth $63M after accounting for Catapult's cash and investments. Ixia said the acquisition will complement its IP performance test systems and service verification products. Catapult supp (More info...)
posted on Monday, May 11, 2009(Full story)

ModernMom.com Takes On Mommy Sites
Television celebrity Brooke Burke and Internet entrepreneur Lisa Rosenblatt said Monday that they have acquired ModernMom.com, an online site focused on mothers, and relaunched the site--powered in part by content from Demand Media, the online media firm headed by Rosenblatt's husband, Richard Rosenblatt. According to ModernMom.com, it will include "thousands" of articles and videos from Demand Studios, focused on the interests of mothers. Brooke Burke and Lisa Rosenblatt will act as co-CEOs for (More info...)
posted on Monday, May 11, 2009(Full story)

Lieberman Software Hires Channel Head
Los Angeles-based Lieberman Software, a developer of software for enterprise password management, said today that it has hired on a new Director of Channel and Business Development, Steve Sheinbaum. The firm said that Sheinbaum joins the firm from Marshal Software, and has also served at CipherTrust and Nokia. Lieberman's software is used for identity and security management.
posted on Monday, May 11, 2009(Full story)

Sorenson Media Jumps Into Internet Video Hosting
San Diego-based Sorenson Media, a developer of video encoding and decoding software, said Monday that it has branched out into the Internet video services market with a new offering to allow customers to encode, upload, and publish their videos. According to Sorenson, it has rolled out Sorenson 360, which is is calling a "video delivery network" to help small and medium-sized businesses publish their videos to the Internet. According to the firm, it will offer the video services starting at $99 (More info...)
posted on Monday, May 11, 2009(Full story)

Interview with Ricardo Solar, LetSimonDecide.com
Last week, Ayax Systems launched LetSimonDecide.com, a new website targeted at helping people make major decisions. We caught up with Ricardo Solar, the firm's CEO, to learn more about the site. What's the idea behind LetSimonDecide? Ricardo Solar: The idea is to help people make decisions, any type of decision. The whole premise, is that the world is saturated with too many options, alternatives, and information. Many people find it difficult to figure out the best course of action, so th (More info...)
posted on Monday, May 11, 2009(Full story)

Report: Cleantech Investments Also Drop in Q1
Clean technology investments were not immune from the global slowdown, showing a 69 percent drop in capital and 48 percent decline in deals in Q1, according to a recent analysis by Ernst & Young. According to the firm, clean technology firms received "markedly less" investment in Q1 2009 compared with previous quarters. The report, based on data from Dow Jones Venture Source, found that $277M was raised across 24 deals in Q1. Within the clean technology sector, the energy storage sector was the (More info...)
posted on Monday, May 11, 2009(Full story)

Xirrus Gains Certification
Thousand Oaks-based Wi-Fi equipment maker Xirrus disclosed today that the firm has received ISO 9001:2008 certification. The certification is a quality management system showing that companies follow certain standards for quality in their manufacturing processes. Xirrus claimed that it was "one of the first companies in the world" and the only Wi-Fi networking vendor to achieve the certification.
posted on Monday, May 11, 2009(Full story)

CalAmp Signs Distributor
Oxnard-based CalAmp, a developer of wireless tracking products, announced today that it has partnered with automotive distributor MOC Product Company, to market GPS-based stolen vehicle recovery solutions to automotive dealers. Financial details of the partnership were not disclosed. According to the two companies, MOC will market GPS products from CalAmp under its Ecotrac brand name. CalAmp is a developer of wireless communications systems.
posted on Monday, May 11, 2009(Full story)