Silicon Valley Wire

Microsoft Acquires San Francisco-Based Teleo

San Francisco -- Looking to expand its Internet telephone offerings,
software giant Microsoft said that it has acquired San Francisco-based
Teleo, a maker of voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) software and
services that allow people to place phone calls from PCs to traditional
phones. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Microsoft said
that it plans to combine Teleo's technology with the existing VoIP
investments of its MSN group. Founded in 2003, Teleo is a privately held
company whose initial planned service offering, also called Teleo, was
designed to allow customers to use their PC to make phone calls to cell
phones, regular phones or other PCs. The service has since been
integrated with Microsoft's Outlook and Internet Explorer products to
facilitate click-to-call dialing of any telephone number that appears on-
screen. Members of Teleo's executive team will continue to work closely
with MSN following the acquisition, and a number of Teleo product
developers are expected to join the MSN ranks.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050830/sfw022.html?.v=24

Shareholders Approve ScanSoft's Acquisition of Nuance Communications

Menlo Park, Calif. -- ScanSoft, a Massachusetts-based maker of speech and
imaging software used to automate a range of manual processes, said on
Wednesday that its proposed $221 million acquisition of Menlo Park-based
voice-automation software maker Nuance Communications has been
approved by shareholders. Approximately 98% of ScanSoft shares voted in
favor of the deal, as did about 99% of those from Nuance. Under the deal,
expected to close next month, Nuance shareholders will receive 0.77 shares of
ScanSoft stock, and $2.20 of cash, for each share of stock that they own. The
companies, which first announced the deal in May, expect to save about $20-
$25 million a year by cutting staff, closing offices and consolidating other
expenses. The combined company, to be called "Nuance," currently automates
more than 20 million contact center and directory assistance calls a day.
http://tinyurl.com/9fa8g

Emeryville-Based Gracenote to Buy Philips' Assets

Emeryville, Calif. -- Gracenote, an Emeryville-based provider of digital
entertainment technology and content, said on Wednesday that it will acquire
the audio identification and fingerprinting technology of Dutch technology
giant Royal Philips Electronics for an undisclosed sum. The company also
said that it has entered into a long-term research and development agreement
with Philips Research. Under the terms of the agreement, Philips will take an
equity stake in Gracenote and serve as a technology advisor. Gracenote said
that the acquisition will further extend its lead in the digital entertainment
technology market and allow it to expand into significant new markets,
including chip-based recognition, embedded technologies for devices such as
car stereos and music and advertising monitoring.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?K1DD325BB

Reports: Cingular to Market Motorola iTunes Phone

Cupertino, Calif.-- According to published reports, Cupertino-based Apple
and Motorola plan to introduce a cell phone with iTunes music player
software next week. Apple said that it plans a major music-related
announcement on September 7, but did not provide additional details. The
New York Times cited Roger Entner, an analyst with market research firm
Ovum, who was told by an industry executive that the iTunes phone would be
marketed by Cingular Wireless. Such a phone would allow users to transfer
songs from their computers directly onto the phone, bypassing data charges
associated with downloading full-length tracks over wireless networks on
other music phones.
http://tinyurl.com/c7w43 
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/30/technology/30apple.html 

Report: Icahn's Group May Attempt to Quadruple Time Warner Stake

New York -- Hoping to turn up the pressure on Time Warner, a group led by
billionaire financier Carl Icahn is considering quadrupling its stake in the
media giant to 10%, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. Icahn has
been trying to get the company to implement his plan for increasing
shareholder value, which includes a massive stock buyback and the divestiture
of Time Warner's cable television unit. Icahn's group, which includes SAC
Capital Advisors, Jana Partners and Franklin Mutual Advisors, currently owns
about 2.6% of the company. Increasing its stake to 10% could cost more than
$6 billion. Icahn two weeks ago met with Time Warner CEO Dick Parsons in
what he described as a "good and productive discussion with a lively
exchange of ideas." He is recommending that the company spin off its cable
television business and repurchase $20 billion in stock. Plans for America
Online were not disclosed.
http://tinyurl.com/d9trc

California Gets First State Conviction for Felony Internet Piracy

Los Angeles -- A California man has pleaded guilty to felony conspiracy to
commit grand theft of movies, music and games, in the first criminal Internet
file-sharing case to be brought in the state. Los Angeles County District
Attorney Steve Cooley said that 34-year-old Los Angeles resident Jed
Frederick Kobles ran an Internet file-sharing hub called UTB Smokinghouse,
which offered free downloads of films including "A Beautiful Mind" and
"Terminator 3," in addition to music videos from Madonna and episodes of
"The Simpsons." Under the felony conviction, Kobles could face a sentence
ranging from probation to a maximum of three years in prison.
http://da.co.la.ca.us/mr/082605b.htm

Impact of Hurricane Katrina Slows Some Major U.S. Web Sites

San Mateo, Calif. -- As Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast,
several popular web sites had difficulty maintaining their performance and
availability, according to new information from San Mateo-based Keynote
Systems, a provider of site performance measurement services. For a period of
about three hours on Sunday night, some of the graphic content on
weather.com was not available, and the availability of other content on the site
also dipped for about 35 minutes on Monday morning. Both CNN.com and
USAToday.com, although both stable and available, also showed some
degradation of performance on Monday morning, with home pages taking up
to 10 seconds to load, or about three times as long as normal. In addition, the
National Weather Service's site went from its usual availability rate of 94%-
98% to just 29% for a short period. Keynote's performance index measures the
average download time for the home pages of 40 important sites from the 25
largest metropolitan areas of the U.S.
http://www.keynote.com/

Walnut Creek-Based Reply Inc. Raises $17 Million in Funding

Walnut Creek, Calif. -- Reply Inc., a Walnut Creek-based provider of a variety
of  consumer online services and e-marketing tools, said on Tuesday that it has
raised $17 million in a new round of venture capital funding, led by BA Venture
Partners. ORIX Venture Finance and private investors led by CEO Payam
Zamani also contributed to the round, which the company plans to use to
continue expanding in the online real estate, automotive and financial services
markets. Founded in 2001, Reply bills itself as a source to help consumers make
more informed decisions about big purchases. The company's online marketing
and referral services support a network of more than 13,000 real estate agents,
auto dealers, financial institutions and other service professionals throughout the U.S.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050830/sftu038.html?.v=24

San Jose-Based eBay Completes Acquisition of Shopping.com

San Jose, Calif. -- EBay, the San Jose-based online auction giant, said on
Tuesday that it has completed its $634 million acquisition of Shopping.com,
a provider of online comparison shopping services and consumer reviews.
The deal was first announced on June 1. Shopping.com operates web sites
in the U.S., the U.K. and France, and has approximately 50 million unique
visitors a month, according to comScore Media Metrix. As of June 30,
Shopping.com had approximately $148 million in cash, cash equivalents,
and marketable securities.
http://investor.ebay.com/releases.cfm

Fremont-Based NextWeb Acquires Southern Cal.-Rival 1st Universe

Fremont, Calif. -- NextWeb, a Fremont-based provider of fixed-wireless
Internet services for businesses, said on Tuesday that it has acquired the
assets of 1st Universe, a fixed-wireless service provider in Southern
California. Though financial terms of the deal were not disclosed,
NextWeb said that it is believed to be the largest cash acquisition in the
fixed-wireless broadband industry and the largest of its type in the Orange
County area. The deal will combine 1st Universe's coverage area in the
greater Orange County area with NextWeb's extensive network
throughout California and Nevada. NextWeb, which last week announced
$3.5 million in new funding,  currently provides service to more than
2,500 corporate accounts in etropolitan markets in California and Nevada,
including the San Francisco Bay Area, the Greater Los Angeles area,
Orange County and Las Vegas
http://tinyurl.com/clp7p

Oakland-Based Pandora Media Launches Online Music Discovery Service

Oakland -- Pandora Media, an Oakland company formerly known as Savage
Beast Technologies, said that it has launched its online music discovery service,
which bases its recommendations on more than five years of musicological
study by 30 analysts. The company's "Music Genome Project" studied over 400
musical traits for each song contained in the database, resulting in connections
between songs that reach beyond genre or style. The service lets users enter an
artist or song title, then creates a tailored radio station stream containing songs
that share key musical traits, and provides links to buy them from Amazon or
iTunes. Pandora will offer the service for free to users for the first 10 hours, in
addition to selling unlimited use subscriptions for $3 per month.
http://www.pandora.com

Namco, Sony BMG Settle Over Use of "Pac-Man" Sounds in Lil' Flip Song

San Jose, Calif. -- Japanese video game publisher Namco said that it has
reached an out-of-court settlement with major record label Sony BMG over the
alleged use of sound effects from Namco's "Pac-Man" game in a song by Sony
artist Lil' Flip. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but the agreement
will result in the dismissal of copyright infringement claims brought by Namco
against Sony BMG in federal court in New York. The song in question is Lil'
Flip's "Game Over," from his 2004 album, "U Gotta Feel Me." "Namco and
Sony BMG are pleased to have resolved this matter and we look forward to
continuing our business relationship in the spirit of our mutual respect for
intellectual property," the companies said in a joint statement.
http://tinyurl.com/8yxop

Federal Government to Award 20 Major IT Contract in Fiscal '06

Reston, Va. -- Twenty information technology contracts will be awarded by the
federal government in fiscal 2006 with a combined potential value of $250
billion, according to a report released on Tuesday by INPUT. "2006 looks to be
a banner year for small business awards with nearly all acquisitions setting aside
a significant amount of contracting dollars for small businesses," said Darren
Bezdek, the manager subcontract opportunities for INPUT. Bezdek said that the
General Services Administration's Alliant Small Business GWAC "may
represent the largest IT contract ever awarded exclusively to small business."
The Department of Homeland Security also is expected to award three major
contracts carrying a combined ceiling value of $50 billion.
http://www.input.com/external/resources/about_news_detail.cfm?article_id=1061 

S.F.-Based Granite Venture Closes New $350 Million Tech Fund

San Francisco -- Granite Ventures, a San Francisco-based venture capital
firm focused on early-stage technology companies, said on Monday that it
has closed a new $350 million fund. The firm said that Granite Ventures
II will focus on investment opportunities in early-stage communications
and software companies. Granite, which began as the early-stage venture
capital group at Hambrecht & Quist in 1992, and has been independent
since 1998, now has more than $1 billion under management. The firm
has invested in more than 80 companies, including NetBoost, Siebel
Systems, Sierra Wireless and Tumbleweed Communications.
http://www.granitevc.com/html/news/2005Q3/082905.html

Petaluma-Based Teknovus Raises $13 Million in Third Round

Petaluma, Calif. -- Teknovus, a Petaluma-based maker of Ethernet
chipsets used in broadband access networks, said on Monday that it has
raised $13 million in its third round of venture capital funding, led by
Palo Alto-based Focus Ventures. Infotech Ventures, Komura, Venture
Tech Alliance of San Jose and current investors Mitsubishi, Partech
International, Portview Communications, Samsung Ventures America,
SUITgrowth Fund and U.S. Venture Partners also participated in the
round, which increased the company's total funding to $33 million.
Teknovus is hoping to further cash in on the growing fiber-to-the-home
market in Asia, especially in China, Japan and Korea.
http://www.teknovus.com/teknews_08_29_2005.html

The Enterprise Network Lands $2 Million Federal Grant

San Jose, Calif. -- The Enterprise Network (TEN) of Silicon Valley, a
support organization for technology entrepreneurs with facilities in Santa
Clara and San Jose, said on Monday that it has been awarded a $2 million
grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce to support economic
development and job creation in Silicon Valley. The Economic
Development Administration (EDA) grant will be used to modernize
TEN's Sobrato Center for Innovation in San Jose. TEN said that it will
soon announce an architecture and engineering team for the planning
phase of the project, followed by construction this fall to upgrade the
72,000 sqare-foot facility to support entrepreneurs and start up companies
in nanotechnology, biotechnology and information technology. When
fully modernized, the facility will offer state-of-the-art laboratories and
clean rooms, a video conference facility, training rooms and office space
for technology startups and early stage companies. TEN has helped
launch over 60 companies, including eBay, iPrint, Right Works and
Vertical Networks. 
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050829/295544.html?.v=1

Verizon Wireless Expands Wireless Internet Services in Bay Area

Walnut Creek, Calif. -- Verizon Wireless, the wireless telecommunication
giant with regional headquarters in Walnut Creek, said on Monday that it
has launched its BroadbandAccess wireless Internet access service for
businesses and V CAST wide-area wireless broadband multimedia
service for consumers throughout the Bay Area. The company was the
first to deliver wide-area wireless broadband services to the area, with the
launch of its network at three Bay Area airports earlier this summer.
Currently, the services are available from San Francisco, along the
Peninsula through San Jose and in the East Bay including Alameda and
Contra Costa Counties. The company plans to further expand its network
in the area before year's end.
http://news.vzw.com/news/2005/08/pr2005-08-26n.html

HP's Snapfish Adds One-Hour Photo Feature Through Walgreens

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Palo Alto-based Hewlett-Packard said on Monday that
it has added a feature to its Snapfish online photo site that allows users to
order prints online and pick them up at select Walgreens in as little as an
hour. The new in-store pick-up service, which includes 4 x 6-inch, 5 x 7-
inch, 8 x 10-inch and wallet-sized prints, is available at certain Walgreens
locations in Boston, New York and San Francisco. Snapfish expects
approximately 4,000 Walgreens stores to be participating by September,
with additional retail chains expected to be added over time. HP
completed its acquisition of San Francisco-based Snapfish in April, and
announced a deal to host Walgreens' new online photo site in July.
http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2005/050829a.html

Survey: Most Teens Have Free Reign Over Mobile Phone Usage

Gaithersburg, Md. -- Most North American parents aren't supervising the
mobile phone use of their teenaged children, according to a new survey
commissioned by Ace*Comm. The online survey of 1,000 teens found
that more than one-third (38%) of teens use their mobile phones to text-
message their friends during school, while 30% play video games on their
phones while in school and 26% use their phones to talk to people their
parents would not approve of. The survey also revealed that on average,
teens spend almost as much time on their mobile phones as they spend
doing physical activity. In addition, half of those surveyed said that they
would rather have their TV privileges restricted than their mobile phone
use.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050829/295159.html?.v=1   

Survey: Teachers Using Technology for Administration, Not Teaching

Herndon, Va. -- With scores of area children returning to school on
Monday, a new survey by CDW Government revealed that 86% of
teachers now rely on computers for administrative functions, though only
54% also integrate them into their daily curriculum. The majority of
teachers surveyed said that they are most comfortable with using
computers for daily administrative functions such as email, attendance
and posting information about classes on school intranets. While more
than 85% of teachers believe that they are "well to adequately trained" on
Internet, word processing and email software, however, about 27% said
that they have little to no training with integrating computers into lessons,
and more than 26% have little to no training on instructional software.
"Teachers are focused on using technology as an aid to respond to the
increasing administrative requirements of K-12 education," said Chris
Rother, CDW-G's vice president for education, state and local sales.
"While the resulting productivity improvements are good news for
educators and administrators, the focus on administrative applications
may reduce efforts to leverage technology to improve classroom
instruction and student learning."
http://newsroom.cdwg.com/news-releases/news-release-08-29-05.html

Report: Consumers Willing to Pay More for Mobile Music Downloads

Port Washington, N.Y. -- A large percentage of consumers are willing to
pay the higher price to download songs to mobile phones rather than
purchase them from online stores, according to a new survey by market
research firm NPD Group. The firm said that 56% of teen respondents
and 20% of respondents overall are interested in purchasing an MP3-
capable phone. In addition, more than half said that they'd like to be able
to add songs from a PC to a music phone, while 37% said they would
rather pay to download songs directly to their phones. "Mobile music is
poised to be the breakout content category of 2006," said Clint Wheelock,
NPD's vice president of wireless research. "With a major emphasis and
heavy promotion by wireless carriers, device manufacturers and the
music industry itself, you can bet that consumers will be hearing a lot
about new music services."
http://tinyurl.com/9qysm 

Chip Equipment Makers Post $1.02 Billion in July Orders

San Jose, Calif. -- North American manufacturers of semiconductor
equipment posted $1.02 billion in orders in July, down 2% from June
levels and 36% below levels of a year ago, according to new figures
released by San Jose industry trade group SEMI. The industry saw a
book-to-bill ration of 0.93, meaning that $93 worth of orders were
received for every $100 of product billed for the month. "The current data
suggests that semiconductor manufacturers continue to remain somewhat
cautious about increased capital spending as we enter the second half of
the year," said Stanley Myers, the president and CEO of SEMI.
http://tinyurl.com/72oer

San Jose-Based JDS Uniphase to Sell Microlaser Product Line

San Jose, Calif. -- Shares of JDS Uniphase gained nearly 3% on Friday
after the San Jose-based maker of broadband test and measurement
equipment said that it will sell its passive Q-switched microlaser product
line and Grenoble, France facility to France-based Teem Photonics.
Financial terms of the deal, which is expected to close during the current
quarter, were not disclosed. JDS said that current customers will be better
served by a local owner capable of providing the group more market
focus, greater management attention and improved targeting of
investments. Phillip Meredith, the vice president of JDS Uniphase's
Commercial Laser Business Unit, said that the deal will allow his
company to focus management attention, sales resources and research and
development on its solid state laser portfolio.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050819/sff006.html?.v=21

EA's Madden NFL '06 Sells 1.7 Million Copies in First Week

Redwood City, Calif. -- Electronic Arts, the Redwood City-based
developer and publisher of video games, said its newly released Madden
NFL '06 title sold more than 1.7 million copies in its first week, making it
the biggest week one launch of a Madden game in the franchise's 16-year
history. The franchise has sold more than 45 million copies, making it the
most popular  football video game of all time. Developed in Orlando, Fla.
by EA Tiburon, the game is now available on the PlayStation 2, Xbox,
Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance, mobile and PC,
with a PlayStation Portable version coming in September.
http://info.ea.com/

Sunnyvale-Based Yahoo Officially Launches Music Service

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Sunnyvale-based Yahoo has officially launched its
music subscription service, Yahoo Music Unlimited, in the U.S. The
company slightly altered the subscription price for the service, which
allows unlimited downloads from its million-song library. During beta
testing, the service had cost $4.99 a month, but now costs $6.99 a month
(or $4.99 a month if purchased as an annual subscription). The service's
launch will be promoted through a multi-faceted ad campaign featuring
detailed depictions of well-known musicians including Green Day, Missy
Elliot, Big & Rich and Ciara, which will kick-off during the MTV Video
Music Awards on Aug. 28.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050818/185227.html?.v=1

Report: Google Remains Top U.S. Search Engine in July

Mountain View, Calif. -- Mountain View-based Google maintained its
lead in the U.S. search market in July, conducting  36.5% of all Internet
searches, according t6o new statistics from Reston-based comScore
Media Metrix. The company beat out Sunnyvale-based Yahoo (30.5%),
MSN (15.5%) and America Online (9.9%). ComScore said that the total
volume of online searches conducted in the U.S. reached more than 4.8
billion, up 22% from a year ago, with Google, Yahoo, MSN, Time AOL,
Ask Jeeves and InfoSpace accounting for 99.4% of all searches.
http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=622

Report: 27% of Compatible Cell Phone Owners Are Playing Games

Port Washington, N.Y. -- The number of U.S. wireless subscribers with
compatible handsets who play games on their cell phones is currently
about 27%, up from 20% last year, according to a survey of 8,500
subscribers conducted by market research firm NPD Group. Only one-
third of these mobile gamers actually purchased game downloads, while
the rest played free games or titles that came pre-loaded on their phones.
The most common motivation cited among respondents for playing
mobile games was "to kill time or alleviate boredom," with the average
gaming session lasting 11 minutes. The survey found more kids between
the ages of 13-17 (60%) said they played mobile games than did adults
(23%), while mobile gamers were twice as likely to be African-American,
Hispanic or Asian.
http://tinyurl.com/8fsda

Mountain View-Based Google to Raises $4 Billion in Offering

Mountain View, Calif. -- Google, the Mountain View-based search engine
giant, on Thursday registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission
to sell 14.2 million of its shares in a public offering valued at around $4
billion. Google, which will have 191.1 million shares outstanding following
the offering, send that it plans to use the funds for general corporate purposes,
including possible acquisitions of "complementary businesses, technologies or
other assets." Shares of the company have nearly tripled in value since it went
public a little more than a year ago.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050818/185244.html?.v=1

Sunnyvale-Based Interwoven Acquires Scrittura for $16.3 Million

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Interwoven, a Sunnyvale-based maker of content
management software for businesses, said that it has acquired Scrittura, a
developer of document automation technology and services for financial
services institutions, for $16.3 million. The deal could be worth up to $2
million more if the Scrittura business reaches certain revenue and operating by
the end of the year. Interwoven said that the deal will bolster its offering for
OTC derivatives trading. Interwoven's customers include British Telecom,
Ford, General Motors and Motorola.
http://www.interwoven.com/news/press/2005/081705otc.html

San Jose-Based Secure Computing to Acquire CyberGuard for $295 Million

San Jose, Calif. -- Secure Computing Corp., a San Jose-based developer of
network security technologies, said on Thursday that it has signed a deal to
acquire Florida-based CyberGuard, a provider of security software for large
companies, for about $295 million in cash and stock. Under the deal, Secure
Computing will issue a half share of its stock and $2.73 in cash for each share
of CyberGuard. "The acquisition of CyberGuard will bring together two
companies with highly complementary strengths and market synergies," said
John McNulty, the chairman, president and CEO of Secure Computing. In a
related move, private equity firm Warburg Pincus will invest $70 million in
Secure Computing in the form of convertible preferred stock with warrants.
That deal is expected to close concurrently with the acquisition. The combined
company will have 680 employees, more than 17,000 customers and 1,000
resellers in over 90 countries.
http://tinyurl.com/dcgan

Court Asks Google, Geico to Settle Search Ad Trademark Dispute

Mountain View, Calif. -- A federal court has asked Mountain View-based
Google to settle a dispute with car insurance firm Geico over whether it
violates Geico's trademarks by selling search ad listings for the company's
rivals that are triggered when users search for the terms "Geico," CNET
News.com reported. While the court ruled that Google did not violate Geico's
trademarks with the search terms, it said that the use of the words "Geico" and
"Geico Direct" in the actual text of the competitors' ads on Google search
pages may be in violation. However, Marquette University Law School
assistant professor Eric Goldman told News.com that Google may also claim
that the ad copy is the responsibility of the advertisers who placed the ads, or
invoke a special exemption from trademark infringements enjoyed by printers
and publishers,
http://tinyurl.com/atsep

Appeals Court Backs TiVo in Patent Dispute with Pause Technology

Alviso, Calif. -- TiVo, the Alviso-based provider of digital video recorders
and related services, said that it has won a patent dispute with Pause
Technology, which sued TiVo in 2001 for allegedly infringing its patent on
technology used to rewind, fast-forward and pause television programs. The
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed an earlier court ruling,
which found that TiVo did not infringe Pause's patent. "We are pleased with
the Federal Circuit's decision and the resolution that it brings to this matter,"
said TiVo vice president and general counsel, Matthew Zinn. TiVo said that it
will additionally seek an order from the District Court requiring Pause to pay
all of TiVo's litigation costs.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050817/sfw040.html?.v=22

S.F.-Based Salon.com Looks to Sell Community Site The Well

San Francisco -- Salon.com, a San Francisco-based online media company, is
looking to sell The Well, the long-standing online community and email
service provider that has owned since 1999, the company said in an SEC
filing. "We're diluting both our management and our resources by focusing on
two brands," Salon CEO Elizabeth Hambrecht told News.com. "Finding
another owner for The Well that will give it the resources it requires and
deserves is the way we'd like to approach this. We're not looking for the first
buyer out there -- we're looking for a good match." Salon said that paid
subscribers to the ad-free, premium version of its news site have actually
dropped, from 20,900 a year ago to 15,300 in June. Subscription revenue from
its recent quarter was about $500,000, while the company's overall revenue
for the quarter fell from $1.7 million last year to $1.6 million.
http://biz.yahoo.com/e/050815/saln.ob10-q.html

USA Today to Publish Consumer Technology Magazine

McLean, Va. -- USA Today, the national daily newspaper published by
Gannett, said on Thursday that it will publish an 80-page consumer
technology magazine to ring in the holiday shopping season. The annual
publication, to be called USA Today Now Personal Technology, will go on
sale the week of Oct. 17, highlighting consumer electronics products and
trends. Content will be produced by USA Today staff, as well as from
technology web site CNET.com. Gannett said that it will print a minimum of
300,000 copies , with a cover price of $4.95.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050818/dcth017.html?.v=23

Cupertino-Based Transera Lands $10 Million in Second Round

Cupertino, Calif. -- Transera Communications, a Cupertino-based maker
of collaborative call management software, said on Wednesday that it has
secured $10 million in its second round of funding, led by Storm
Ventures. Apax Partners and Accel Partners, which together co-led the
company's first round of funding in April 2004, also participated in the
round. Transera also named Rahoul Seth as its senior vice president and
CFO. Seth has previously held CFO positions at Right Hemisphere,
Telera, Sentient Networks and Abekas. Transera's software allows multi-
national corporations and global outsourcers to collaborate in providing
customer care across organizational, geographical and technological
boundaries.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050817/175220.html?.v=1

San Francisco-Based PodShow Raises $8.85 Million

San Francisco -- PodShow, a San Francisco-based start-up providing
directories, community, technology and content programming for the
budding podcasting market, said that it has raised $8.85 million in its first
round of venture capital financing. Investors in the round included
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Sequoia Capital and Sherpalo
Ventures. Co-founded by former MTV personality and podcasting
developer Adam Curry, PodShow offers podcasting software called
CastBlaster, and hosts a network of podcast programs that are distributed
through Apple's iTunes and Sirius Satellite Radio. The company plans to
use the funds to launch additional features, programs and technologies in
the near future.
http://www.podshow.com/news/index.php

EMC to Acquire San Jose-Based Storage Tech Firm Rainfinity

San Jose, Calif.. -- Data storage technology giant EMC announced on
Wednesday that it will acquire Rainfinity, a San Jose-based provider of
virtualization technology for networked attached storage and file system
environments. Massachusetts-based EMC said that it will pay "less than
$100 million" to acquire Rainfinity, which is a privately held firm,
founded in 1998. The company's technology provides full read and write
access to Windows, Linux and Unix-based files during system
migrations.
http://www.rainfinity.com/news/release_emc.html

Santa Clara-Based Intel Acquires XML Firm Sarvega

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Intel, the Santa Clara-based chip-making giant, said
on Wednesday that it has acquired Illinois-based Sarvega, a developer of
XML software technology, for an undisclosed sum. Sarvega's networking
products are designed to optimize XML performance and web services on
corporate networks. Intel said that the current Sarvega product line will
continue to be available and be fully supported. Sarvega employees will
join Intel's Software and Solutions Group.
http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/20050817corp.htm

Amazon.com Launches Online Map Service with Street-Level Images

Palo Alto, Calif. -- A9.com, the Palo Alto-based search engine
development unit of online retail giant Amazon.com, said that it has
launched a new interactive map service that includes street-level
photographs of local businesses and other locations. The Block View
feature includes 35 million images from 22 U.S. cities, shot by businesses
using trucks equipped with digital cameras, GPS receivers and special
software. The feature also includes images from more than a dozen
additional major U.S. metro areas. Amazon's online map service will
compete with increasingly competitive rival offerings from Google,
Yahoo and Microsoft's MSN.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050816/165193.html?.v=1

Former AOL Engineer Sentenced for Selling Email Addresses

Dulles, Va. -- A former software engineer for America Online on
Wednesday was sentenced to 15 months in prison for stealing 92 million
AOL screen names and e-mail addresses, and selling them to email
spammers, the Associated Press reported. Jason Smathers, 25, of Harpers
Ferry, W.Va. received a slightly reduced sentence after cooperating with
the government.  Smathers was fired by AOL last June after reportedly
using a coworker's access code to steal the addresses, which prosecutors
said were then used by spammers to send out as many as 7 billion
unsolicited e-mails. Although AOL claimed that his actions cost the
company at least $400,000, the judge is recommending that Smathers be
forced to pay $84,000 in restitution, triple his annual salary.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/050817/aol_spamming.html?.v=4

Space Shuttle, Armstrong Help NASA, Nike Sites Soar in July

Reston, Va. -- Events such as the Discovery Space Shuttle launch and
Lance Armstrong's record-setting ride to a seventh Tour de France victory
drew Internet users to related web sites in droves last month, according to
new statistics by comScore Media Metrix. NASA.gov shared the title as
the Internet's highest-gaining property in July, as traffic increased 60%. 
More than 4 million people visited the site, which featured special
"Return To Flight" content with video, images and reports spanning
topics such as crew biographies, shuttle design and assembl, and the
entire flight process including the July 26 launch of Discovery.  Shoe and
apparel company Nike, a long-time sponsor of Armstrong, also saw a
26% jump in its site traffic to 3.5 million unique visitors. A large
percentage flocked to a page titled "Wear Yellow" that featured video
clips telling Armstrong's story of overcoming cancer to dominate the
cycling world. 
http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=615

Study: No Strong Link Between Violent Video Games and Aggression

Champaign, Ill. -- The first long-term study of the effects of playing
violent online video games has found that "robust exposure" did not cause
any substantial real-world aggression. Conducted by researchers at the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the study monitored 215
participants, some of whom played 56 hours of the massively multiplayer
roleplaying game "Asheron's Call 2" over the course of a month. The
results found no statistical difference between players and a non-playing
control group in terms of increased argumentative behaviors, and "no
strong effects associated with aggression cased by this violent game."
Dmitri Williams, the study's lead author, conceded that other games
featuring violence in outer space or urban environments may yield
different outcomes. "I'm not saying some games don't lead to aggression,
but I am saying the data are not there yet," said Williams. "Until we have
more long-term studies, I don't think we should make strong predictions
about long-term effects, especially given this finding."
http://www.news.uiuc.edu/news/05/0809videogames.html

Citrix Acquires San Jose-Based NetScaler for $300 Million

San Jose, Calif. -- Citrix Systems, a Florida-based provider of business
application networks, said on Tuesday that it has acquired NetScaler, a
San Jose-based developer of application networking technology, for $300
million in cash and stock. NetScaler's products are designed to accelerate
the performance of web browser-based applications and e-commerce and
consumer web sites. The company has about 200 employees, including
research and development teams in Silicon Valley and India. NetScaler
will continue to operate from its San Jose headquarters as the Application
Networking Group of Citrix.
http://www.citrix.com/English/NE/news/news.asp?newsID=21726

Sunnyvale-Based NetDevices Raises $25 Million in Second Round

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- NetDevices, a Sunnyvale-based maker of products
designed to increase the manageability of remote branch office networks,
said on Tuesday that it has raised $25 million in its second round of
funding. New investor Castile Ventures led the round; with previous
investors ComVentures, Columbia Capital, Artiman Ventures and
JumpStartUp also participating. The company has now raised a total of
$40 million. NetDevices said that the round will fuel the aggressive
expansion of its sales and marketing activities.
http://www.netd.com/news/pr050816

General Dynamics Acquires Cupertino-Based Tadpole Computer

Cupertino, Calif. -- General Dynamics, the Falls Church-based defense
technology giant,  said on Tuesday that it has acquired Tadpole
Computer, a Cupertino-based maker of mobile, battlefield-tested
computing platforms. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Tadpole, which has approximately 60 employees, will become part of
General Dynamics' C4 Systems unit. Mark Fried, the president of C4
Systems, said that the addition of Tadpole will compliment the company's
existing rugged computing platform offerings.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050816/dctu046.html?.v=21

Cupertino-Based Symantec to Acquire Sygate Technologies

Cupertino, Calif. -- Symantec, the Cupertino-based e-mail security giant,
said on Tuesday that it has signed a deal to acquire Sygate Technologies,
a Fremont-based maker of compliance software, for an undisclosed sum.
Symantec said that the deal will allow it to create a product that addresses
the security, compliance and remediation requirements of large
companies. Sygate's "endpoint compliance" software  help companies
enforce security by guaranteeing that all devices connected to a network -
- desktops, laptops, servers and mobile devices -- are running the
appropriate security software, are configured properly and possess up-to-
date patches. .
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050816/165961.html?.v=1

Alviso-Based TiVo to Test New Video Download Service

Alviso, Calif. -- TiVo, the Alviso-based provider of digital video
recorders and subscription services, has teamed with the Independent
Film Channel (IFC) to launch a trial of a new video download service,
through which movies and other video will be transmitted over a
broadband connection directly onto TiVo owners' hard drives. IFC will
offer episodes of three series -- "Hopeless Pictures," "Greg the Bunny"
and "The Festival" -- in advance of their network TV premieres. In
addition to the episodes themselves, the TiVo downloads will include
outtakes and other unaired footage. TiVo said that Limelight Networks
will provide content delivery network services for the trial, which it plans
to expand to a series of broadband features beginning in the fall.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050815/nym084.html?.v=18

Intl. Game Developers Association Creates Sex Special Interest Group

San Francisco -- The International Game Developers Association
(IGDA), a San Francisco-based industry organization, said that it has
formed a Sex Special Interest Group to address the challenges and
possibilities for adult content within video games. "Our main objective is
to encourage responsible development," said Brenda Brathwaite, founder
of the group and lead designer on "Playboy: The Mansion." The group's
formation comes in the wake of a controversy spawned by the revelation
of a sexually explicit mini-game in Rockstar Games' "Grand Theft Auto:
San Andreas" that resulted in a ratings change and the game's removal
from store shelves.
http://www.igda.org/sex

Survey: Drug Offers, Financing Ads and Pornography Top Spam List

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Prescription drug offers, financing ads and
pornography represent are the top three types of spam received by
corporate users and consumers, according to a new survey by Sunnyvale-
based Mirapoint. While corporate users tagged prescription drug ads as
the most common type of spam, consumers said that financing offers
were the most likely to clog their inboxes. Those two spam types
switched places for the number two spot with consumers and corporate
users, and both groups agreed that porn was the third most common type
of spam.  The survey of 800 end-users was conducted in March and April.
http://www.mirapoint.com/company/news_events/press/20050816.shtml

Palo Alto-Based Agilent to Sell Semiconductor Unit for $2.66 Billion

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Shares of Agilent Technologies rose nearly 15% on
Monday after the Palo Alto-based company announced plans to sell its
Semiconductor Products segment to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
(KKR) and Silver Lake Partners for $2.66 billion. The deal will create the
largest privately-held independent semiconductor company in the world,
and will reposition Agilent as a "pure-play" measurement company. The
business supplies semiconductor components, modules and subsystems
for consumer and commercial electronics applications, and has about
6,600 employees worldwide. Agilent also announced plans to sell its
stake in Lumileds to Royal Philips Electronics for $950 million and spin
off its SOC and Memory Test businesses "as soon as practical in 2006."
Agilent said that it expects to reduce its infrastructure-related jobs by
about 1,300 as a result of the moves, which will save it about $450
million a year. The news sent shares of Agilent up nearly 15% in
extremely heavy trading.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050815/155393.html?.v=1