Monday, November 16, 2009Mobile Messenger Buys m-QubeLos Angeles-based Mobile Messenger said Monday afternoon that it has acquired m-Qube, a mobile messaging aggregator, from parent firm Verisign. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed. Mobile Messenger said that as part of the deal, it is obtaining m-Qube's entire business delivering commercial messaging and premium mobile content to customers throughout North America, as well as carrier relationships. Mobile Messenger said it was m-Qube's largest client.
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Aptera Loses FoundersSteve Fambro and Chris Anthony, two of the founders of Carlsbad-based Aptera, have been ousted from the company, according to a report on Wired.com today. Aptera, which is building lightweight, composite electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, is funded by Idealab and Google, among others. Wired said that Fambro and Anthony were ousted in a confrontation with the company's board, and come after recent layoffs at the firm. (Photo: Aptera's Typ-1 and co-founder Steve Fambro in better times).
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Mahalo Revs Site Design, Home PageSanta Monica-based Mahalo, the online search site headed by Jason Calacanis, rolled out version 3.0 of the firm's web site. The new version of the site is looking to combine search, content, and Q&A. According to an email from Calacanis to his private email list, "Essentially what we're doing is making a bigger and better Wikipedia with a revenue-sharing model." Among other changes, the site's home page now features a prominent "ask any question" box, links to Mahalo Answers and How To pages, as (More info...)
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Fate Therapeutics Raises $30MLa Jolla-based Fate Therapeutics is reporting this morning that it has raised $30M in a Series B financing round. The firm, which develops stem cell therapies, said the funding was led by OVP Venture Partners, and included Astellas Venture Management, Genzyme Ventures, a undisclosed corporate investor, as well as prior investors ARCH Venture Partners, Polaris Venture Partners and Venrock. Carl Weissman of OVP joins the company's board with the funding. Fate Therapeutics' lead candidate is a smal (More info...)
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Brickfish Wins The LimitedSan Diego-based social media marketing firm Brickfish has roped in fashion retailer The Limited, for a pet product launch, the company said today. Brickfish said that The Limited is launching a new line of pet sweaters, and will be using the firm to run a contest to engage pet owners. Financial impact of the win was not disclosed.
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Citrix Online Adds Toll-Free AudioSanta Barbara-based Citrix Online, which develops the GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar online web conferencing products, announced this morning that it has added toll free audio to those services. The firm previously offered either voice-over-IP audio or toll-based call numbers for the web conferencing options. Pricing on the new offering was not disclosed. Citrix Online said the new, toll-free support comes from an effort with Citrix Online Audio, LLC, the firm's subsidiary providing higher quality (More info...)
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Boingo Wireless Expands Down UnderLos Angeles-based Boingo Wireless has inked another roaming agreement for its wireless network, this time in Australia and New Zealand. Boingo said it is in a roaming agreement with Tomizone, which it describes as the largest Wi-Fi service provider in the Australasia region. The new deal adds 4,000 locations to Boingo's network, with an additional 12,000 hotspots becoming accessible in coming months. Tomizone operates more than 16,000 Wi-Fi hotspots in Australia, China, India, New Zealand and se (More info...)
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eSolar Adds Former First Solar COO To BoardPasadena-based eSolar, the Idealab startup developing solar thermal power plant technology, said today that it has added George (Chip) A. Hambro, the retired Chief Operating Officer of First Solar, to its board of directors. Hambro was at First Solar for eight years, through its IPO. Hambro has also served at Goodrich Aerospace and ITT. eSolar is developing technolog for solar thermal power, which are being applied to utility-scale solar power projects.
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Vitesse Announces Fibre Channel ChipCamarillo-based Vitesse Semiconductor, a developer of high speed networking chips, announced this morning that its newest chip is targeted at the Fibre Channel storage hardware market. The firm said its VSC8238-02 clock and data recovery device is designed for migrating legacy Fibre Channel storage hardware to the latest, 8G standard on blade servers and host bus adapters. The chip enables hardware designers to upgrade existing systems without a complete redesign of boards for higher speeds. Vit (More info...)
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