Tuesday, October 13, 2009


Report: Gizmo5 In Acquisition Talks With Skype
Voice-over-IP service Skype is in the midst of negotiations to buy San Diego-based Gizmo5, according to a report in TechCrunch. According to the report, Skype is looking to pay around $50M for Gizmo5, which develops voice-over-IP based, Internet calling software based on the SIP standard. Gizmo5 was founded by Michael Robertson, the founder of MP3.com. The report says that the firms are still early in terms of negotations. Gizmo5's Robertson would not comment on the report. Gizmo5 has develops a (More info...)
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Calacanis/Keiretsu Tiff Heats Up With Lawsuit
A personal campaign by Santa Monica-based Mahalo.com's CEO, Jason Calacanis, to put pressure on for-profit angel investment firms to stop charging entrepreneurs to pitch, has ramped up, as Calacanis said Tuesday that he has been informed that Keiretsu Forum is filing a lawsuit against him. No details on the lawsuit have been released by either of the parties. Keiretsu Forum was the initial target of the effort by Calacanis to stop the practice of charging entrepreneurs to talk with investors. Ca (More info...)
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Fugoo Gets $40M
Chino-based Fugoo, which is developing a Windows-based platform for home appliances, has raised $40M in a funding round, according to a regulatory filing by the firm today. Source of the funding was not disclosed. The startup was founded by John Hui and Chris Chung--the co-founders of eMachines--and Wayne Inouye, former CEO of eMachines and Gateway. The firm launched in January, saying that its platform will enable things like digital photo frames, Internet connected clocks, and other home consu (More info...)
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TrueCar Rolls Out New Dealer Cost Tool
Santa Monica-based TrueCar, the online automobile pricing firm headed by Scott Painter, has rolled out a new tool that the firm says gives the actual dealer cost structure for new automobiles. The firm said its new TrueCost service allows consumers to see the actual cost structure for new vehicles, and get an exact breakdown of the cost to dealers for those vehicles. The firm claims the tool will help prevent unrealistic low offers from consumers, and back-and-forth tactics by dealers. TrueCar e (More info...)
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Materia, BASF In Technology Licensing Deal
Pasadena-based Materia, the advanced chemical technology firm spun out of Caltech, said Tuesday that it has licensed its metathesis technology to specialty chemical firm BASF. Financial terms of the license were not disclosed. According to Materia, BASF will use the technology in research and development of certain specialty chemicals. Materia's olefin metathesis catalyst technology has a very wide range of uses in the chemistry industry, and is based on reserach from Professor Robert Grubbs at (More info...)
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EdgeCast Partners With Turkish Firm
Los Angeles-based EdgeCast Networks, a provider of content delivery network (CDN) services, reports today that it has signed on a Turkish provider of telecommunications services, Dogan Telekom. EdgeCast said that Dogan is offerings its content delivery services to customers in that country. Financial details of the win were not disclosed. EdgeCast said Dogan's customers can now stream their content from its centers in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia, rather than relying on its servers (More info...)
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AudioMicro Adds 13,000 Tracks
Los Angeles-based AudioMicro.com, a startup providing stock audio tracks and music, said Tuesday that it has added just over 13,000 record label owned, production music tracks to the service. The firm said the new tracks are being made available as part of its new offering, "The Premium Collection". Pricing on the new tracks will cost around $3 per minute, with packages available for $9 per month. The firm is targeting producers of digital media, including web site designers, online film produce (More info...)
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Pathology Inc. Gets Series A
Torrance-based Pathology, Inc., a provider of pathology and molecular diagnostics services, has received a Series A investment, according to lead investor ABS Capital Partners. ABS said that Pathology, Inc. will use the funding to retire founding shareholders, as well as for growth and and investment in new technologies. As part of the investment, Vicki DiFrancesco has been named CEO, and Steve Pierece was named CFO. Mark Anderson and John Stobo, both of ABS Capital, will join the firm's board a (More info...)
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Sonos Adds iPhone Support
Santa Barbara-based Sonos, a maker of multi-room, digital music systems, has just rolled out a new product targeted at iPhone users, the firm said Tuesday. According to the company, it will soon be rolling out the Sonos ZonePlayer S5, a $399 player which connects directly to the iPhone. The new device uses the iPhone as a controller for the whole home music system, and also allows users to stream their music from their iTunes library. According to Sonos, the new system works with either the iPho (More info...)
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Applied Semantics' Elbaz Launches Data Mashup Startup
Gil Elbaz, one of the co-founders of Applied Semantics--the firm that developed the technology behind Google's AdSense--has launched a new startup, Factual. According to the Los Angeles-based firm, it is developing an online platform which allows anyone to share and mash open data. The new site--driven by an application programming interface the firm has named the Factual API--allows developers to connect their data with data from others. Factual said its products are being used by such companie (More info...)
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WD Announces New Media Player
Lake Forest-based storage firm WD has announced a new, media player product, which the firm said will provide 1080p, HD video stored on USB and network hard drives. The firm said its new WD TV Live HD media player is the second generation of players from the firm, and can stream or transfer movies from a PC, Mac, or network storage device to any HD television. The new player supports plaing video, music, and photos; connection to Pandora's Internet radio service; Ethernet and WiFi connectivity; (More info...)
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Epicor Gets Win At Styles For Less
Irvine-based Epicor said Monday that it has signed retailer Styles For Less as a customer. The firm said that Styles For Less selected the firm's Epicor Retail software suite, to support chain expansion, streamline operations, and strengthen the firm's processes. Financial details of the win were not disclosed. Epicor said Styles For Less will pilot the project this month, with rollout beginning in January 2010 to its corporate headquarters and all 120 of the chain's store locations.
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