Silicon Valley Wire

Redwood Shores-Based Oracle to Acquire G-Log

Redwood Shores, Calif. -- Oracle, the Redwood Shores-based business
software giant, said that it has agreed to acquire Pennsylvania-based G-
Log, a privately held maker of logistics and transportation management
software. Financial terms of the deal, which is expected to close by the
end of the year, were not disclosed. Rick Jewell, Oracle's senior vice
president of applications development, said that the acquisition will allow
his company to offer a supply chain and logistics management product
that will allow clients to better manage their global supply chains. G-
Log's logistics and transportation software is used by clients such as Big
Lots, DuPont, Family Dollar Stores and Halliburton.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050920/sftu070.html?.v=24

U.S. Tech Sector Adds 190,000 Jobs in 18-Month Span

Washington, DC -- The U.S. tech sector added nearly 190,000 jobs, a
3.4% increase between January 2004 and June 2005, according to a new
study released by AeA, the nation's largest high-tech trade association.
There are now 5.72 million tech workers in the U.S., with the sector
generating a net increase in jobs over the past six, 12, and 18 month time
spans, AeA said. "The data confirm our suspicion that the high-tech
industry has recovered from the bursting of the tech bubble of 2000-
2001," said William Archey AeA’s president and CEO. "While industry
growth is by no means explosive, the rise  in high-tech jobs has been
steady, and we find it encouraging that even tech  manufacturing
experienced a small increase." At the individual sector level, technology
manufacturers added 21,800 net jobs in the U.S. during the period for a
total of 1.36 million, and tech services providers added 167,000 net jobs
for a total of 4.36 million.
http://www.aeanet.org/publications/idjj_midyear2005_overview.asp

Battery Life Tops Wish List for Future Converged Device

New York -- Over 75% of mobile phone and PDA users in the U.S. rate
"two-days of battery life during active use" as the most important feature
of an ideal converged device of the future, according to a new study by
market research firm TNS.  Only respondents from Sweden and The
Netherlands -- in the 15-country survey -- rated battery life more
important. The study looked at consumer views on a "converged device,"
which would replace multiple devices and incorporate a mobile phone
and high-speed Internet. U.S. respondents said that their next most
important feature would be a high resolution camera and video camera
(50%), followed by the availability of full versions of Microsoft Office
(42%) and at least 20 Gigabytes of memory (41%).
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050921/215063.html?.v=1

Battery Life Tops Wish List for Future Converged Device

New York -- Over 75% of mobile phone and PDA users in the U.S. rate
"two-days of battery life during active use" as the most important feature
of an ideal converged device of the future, according to a new study by
market research firm TNS.  Only respondents from Sweden and The
Netherlands -- in the 15-country survey -- rated battery life more
important. The study looked at consumer views on a "converged device,"
which would replace multiple devices and incorporate a mobile phone
and high-speed Internet. U.S. respondents said that their next most
important feature would be a high resolution camera and video camera
(50%), followed by the availability of full versions of Microsoft Office
(42%) and at least 20 Gigabytes of memory (41%).
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050921/215063.html?.v=1

Sunnyvale-Based Tropos Networks Lands Investment from SVC

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Tropos Networks, a Sunnyvale-based supplier of
equipment used to build metro-scale Wi-Fi mesh networks, said on
Tuesday that it has landed an undisclosed investment from Siemens
Venture Capital (SVC), the VC division of engineering and technology
giant Siemens. Siemens's Christoph Caselitz said that the company sees
mesh technology as the "next logical step in development for Wi-Fi radio
networks." Tropos has been a favorite of venture capitalists this year. In
the past six months alone, the company has received about $15 million in
funding, not including the latest investment.
http://www.tropos.com/company/2005_09_20.html

Menlo Park-Based Peerflix Launches Online DVD Trading Service

Menlo Park, Calif. -- After a year-long beta test, Menlo Park-based
Peerflix said that it has launched its online DVD trading service, which
allows members to trade DVDs through the mail. The company charges
$0.99 a trade, and enables users to print out their own DVD mailers. They
can then track their lent DVD titles through the U.S. Postal Service. The
site assigned an internal "currency" value to each DVD title, ensuring an
"even trade" among members. Peerflix members currently offer a
combined library of more than 65,000 DVD titles, with members
registered in all 50 states and most Canadian provinces.
http://tinyurl.com/du7em

ComScore: Country Flocks to New Orleans Media Sites

Reston, Va. -- Americans seeking online news and information about
Hurricane Katrina went straight to the source, dramatically increasing
visitation to New Orleans' local media outlets in August, according to a
new report from comScore Media Metrix. NOLA.com, the web site of the
New Orleans Times-Picayune newspaper, saw its traffic increase by
277% from July to 1.7 million visitors, with 61% of the site's visitors
residing in parts of the country safely located outside the storm's path.
Meanwhile, New Orleans' CBS affiliate WWL-TV saw traffic to its site,
WWLTV.com, increase by 258% to 878,000. "Sites with specific local
content rarely see this kind of growth, but the Internet allowed the entire
nation to access information straight from the epicenter of the disaster,"
said Peter Daboll, the president and CEO of comScore Media Metrix. 
http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=626

S.F.-Based Paul Capital Partners Closes $620 Million Fund-of-Funds

San Francisco -- Paul Capital Partners, a San Francisco-based investment
firm, said on Tuesday that it has closed a new $620 million venture
capital fund-of-funds. The firm said fundraising for Top Tier III exceeded
its initial target of $500 million. The fund will make both primary and
secondary investments in venture capital funds -- mainly those focused on
growth industries such as healthcare and technology. Founded in 1991,
Paul Capital Partners manages more than $4.5 billion.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050919/nym249.html?.v=9

Google May Be Set to Launch Wireless Internet Service

Mountain View, Calif. -- Google, the Mountain View-based search
engine giant, is apparently preparing to launch a new wireless Internet
service. The company makes vague references to a service, called Google
WiFi on several areas of its web site, though offers few details. The
company is now offering a beta download of its "Google Secure Access"
software, which it says is allows users to "establish a more secure
connection while using Google WiFi." Industry buzz about such a move
has circulated for several weeks, since Business 2.0 magazine wrote that
Google's jump into the service provider arena "could become a reality."
The news sent Google shares up about 1.4% in Tuesday's trading.
http://wifi.google.com/faq.html

Fremont-Based Everdream Secures $20 Million in Sixth Round

Fremont, Calif. -- Everdream, a Fremont-based provider of hosted
desktop management services, said on Tuesday that it has raised $20
million in its sixth round of venture capital financing, co-led by Rho
Ventures and Canaan Partners. Previous investors Draper Fisher
Jurvetson, Portage Ventures and New World Ventures also participated.
Everdream said that it will use the funding to spearhead the expansion of
its sales, marketing and engineering organizations. The company said that
its services help businesses to more efficiently manage, secure and
support their PC infrastructure.
http://www.everdream.com/company/pr/default.asp?prid=104

Sunnyvale-Based Mirapoint Raises $10.3 Million in Funding

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Mirapoint, a Sunnyvale-based maker of appliances
used in secure message networks, said on Tuesday that it has landed
$10.3 million in its second round of funding, d by Worldview Technology
Partners. Other investors included Franklin Templeton and Goldman
Sachs. The company, which in 2004 recorded 40% year-over-year
revenue growth, said that it will use a portion of the proceeds to expand
its channel and partner programs. Mirapoint's email security appliances
are designed to catch up to 98% of spam and viruses sent through
corporate networks.
http://www.mirapoint.com/news/09202005b_news

San Francisco-Based Freeborders Lands $20 Million in Funding

San Francisco -- Freeborders, a San Francisco-based provider of Chinese
technology outsourcing services to North American and European
companies, said on Monday that it has raised $20 million in a new round
of funding from new investor FTVentures and previous investors Internet
Capital Group and TAL Investments. The company said that it will use
the capital to expand its technology center in Shenzhen, China as well as
its North American and European client delivery team. Freeborders
provides companies with technology and outsourcing from China in the
areas of financial services, technology and retail and consumer goods.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050919/195375.html?.v=1

Mountain View-Based Ruckus Wireless Raises $9 Million

Mountain View, Calif. -- Ruckus Wireless, a maker of multimedia
wireless systems formerly known as Video54, said on Monday that it has
secured $9 million in its second round of venture capital funding. Sutter
Hill Ventures and Investor Growth Capital, the venture capital arm of
Investor AB of Sweden, led the round, which increases the company's
total funding to more than $14 million since its formation in June 2004.
Other investors included Sequoia Capital and WK Technology Fund. The
company said that it will use the proceeds to bolster product development
and scale sales and marketing activities. Ruckus's wireless multimedia
system is designed to deliver voice, video and data communications over
standard Wi-Fi technology in the home. 
http://ruckuswireless.com/press/releases/20050919b.php

Survey: More Internet Phone Customers Disconnecting Landlines

San Francisco -- Internet-based telephone services are slowly replacing
traditional landline phone services, according to a new study by San
Francisco-based Telephia. Of households already subscribing to Internet
telephony services, 53% of those considered "high-tech" -- subscribing to
at least three emerging services such as satellite radio, video-on-demand
and broadband -- have now disconnected their landline phones. Those
surveyed identified savings on phone calls as the main factor in making
the switch. “Cost savings and seamless integration of different
communication services provide a compelling one-two punch for Internet
telephony,” said Kanishka Agarwal, the vice president of new products at
Telephia. Of the households surveyed who haven't yet disconnected their
landlines, most cited their availability during a power outage as the main
reason. More than a third also cited the importance of keeping their
current phone numbers.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050919/195613.html?.v=1

Report: Information Industry Expects to Grow to $358 Billion by '08

Burlingame, Calif. -- Buoyed by the success of companies such as
Sunnyvale-based Yahoo and Mountain View-based Google, the
information industry is expected to reach $358 billion in annual revenue
by 2008, according to a new report from Burlingame-based Outsell. Other
companies leading the way will include Baidu, Interactive Data Corp.,
Greenfield Online and HealthStream, the firm said. Outsell expects the
top performance in the industry to come in the search, aggregation and
distribution segment, which is expected to grow its revenue 17% over the
next three years. Of the eight segments covered, the most sluggish growth
(3%) is forecast for the Yellow Pages segment.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050919/195951.html?.v=1

Growing Ad Revenue a Key in Potential Microsoft Deal for AOL

New York -- Looking to take aim at Bay Area online ad giants Yahoo and
Google, Time Warner is in preliminary discussions to sell a "substantial"
stake of America Online to Microsoft, The Wall Street Journal confirmed
on Friday. People familiar with the matter told the Journal that early talks
have focused on whether AOL would switch from Google's search engine
to Microsoft's -- AOL and Google reportedly split $380 million in
advertising revenue last year -- and also have included discussions about
combining the ad sales teams of AOL and Microsoft's MSN. Both AOL
and Microsoft last year generated well less than half the ad revenue of
Mountain View-based Google and Sunnyvale-based Yahoo. Sources told
the Journal that investment bankers have not yet been engaged.
http://online.wsj.com/home/us

ScanSoft Completes $221 Million Acquisition of Nuance Communications

Menlo Park, Calif.. -- ScanSoft, a Massachusetts-based provider of
speech and imaging technology, said on Friday that it has completed its
$221 million acquisition of Nuance Communications, a Menlo Park-
based provider of voice automation technology. ScanSoft said that the
combined organization will have the technical resources and intellectual
property required to develop new speech technology products. In
connection with the deal, ScanSoft also has raised $60 million in a private
placement of stock with the private equity firm Warburg Pincus.
http://www.scansoft.com/news/pressreleases/20050915_closemerger.asp

Menlo Park-Based Geron Prices $54 Million Offering

Menlo Park, Calif. -- Geron, a Menlo Park-based biopharmaceutical firm,
said on Friday that it expects to make $54 million from its current public
offering. The company is selling 6 million of its shares for $9 each in an
offering expected to close on September 21. Geron said that it plans to
use the proceeds from the offering -- in an addition to $18 million that it
will make in a separate stock transaction with Merck -- for research and
development, including clinical trials.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050916/165209.html?.v=1

San Jose-Based IDT to Close $1.7 Billion ICS Acquisition

San Jose, Calif. -- Integrated Device Technology (IDT), a San Jose-based
maker of communications chips, said on Friday that it expected to close
its $1.7 billion acquisition of Pennsylvania-based Integrated Circuit
Systems (ICS) by the end of the day. ICS , which has a key facility in San
Jose, makes silicon timing devices for communications, networking,
computing and digital multimedia applications. Greg Lang, the president
and CEO of IDT, said that the combined company expects to reap the
benefits of "significant operating and manufacturing cost synergies." The
companies announced their cash and stock deal in June.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050916/165543.html?.v=1

RIAA Sends Cease-and-Desist Letters to 7 File-Sharing Firms

Washington, DC -- In the wake of a landmark Supreme Court ruling that
found peer-to-peer software providers ultimately culpable for the
copyright infringement committed by their users, the Recording Industry
Association of America (RIAA) has sent cease-and-desist letters to seven
file-sharing software firms, demanding that they stop "enabling and
inducing" copyright infringement, The Wall Street Journal reported. The
RIAA would not identify which companies received the letters, although
The Journal reported that BearShare, WinMX and LimeWire were among
the recipients. The Supreme Court ruling directly affected defendants
Grokster and StreamCast Networks (Morpheus). Other big-name file-
sharing firms include Kazaa, eDonkey and BitTorrent. "We demand that
you immediately cease-and-desist from enabling and inducing the
infringement of RIAA member sound recordings," reads a copy of the
RIAA letter obtained by CNET News.com.. "If you wish to discuss pre-
litigation resolution of these claims against you, please contact us
immediately,"
http://tinyurl.com/95qzc

Intel to Invest $345 Million to Upgrade Manufacturing Sites

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Intel, the Santa Clara-based chip-making giant, on
Thursday announced plans to invest $345 million in two of the company's
existing manufacturing sites in Colorado and Massachusetts. The
investments will be used to increase the capacity of the wafer fabrications
facilities in Hudson, Mass. and Colorado Springs, Colo. Both fabs are
200mm facilities that produce primarily chipsets communications and
flash memory components for a variety of Intel platforms. "These
investments will increase the capacity of our 200mm manufacturing
network to support our platform initiatives and will give us additional
supply flexibility across a range of products," said Bob Baker, the senior
vice president and general manager of Intel's Technology and
Manufacturing Group. In Colorado Springs, the company will invest $190
million as part of an upgrade to a second clean room. In Hudson, Intel's
$155 million investment will be used to increase overall capacity by
adding new manufacturing equipment and reconfiguring portions of the
factory.
http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/20050915corp.htm

Mountain View-Based Adaptive Planning Raises $5 Million

Mountain View, Calif. -- Adaptive Planning, a Mountain View-based
provider of budgeting, forecasting and reporting applications, said on
Thursday that it has secured $5 million in its second round of venture
capital funding. The round wasled by Monitor Venture Partners, and also
included first round leader ONSET Ventures. The company also
announced Ken Ross, the former president and CEO of Pillar
Corporation, has been named executive chairman of its board of directors.
In addition, the company has formed an advisory board that includes John
Dillon, the former CEO of Hyperion Solutions, and Leslie Murdock, who
was the founder and president of Horn Murdock Cole, Silicon Valley.
http://www.adaptiveplanning.com/company_press_091505.shtml

S.F.-Based Taleo Sets Terms for $123.3 Million IPO

San Francisco -- Taleo, a San Francisco-based maker of software
designed to help organizations recruit, assess and manage their
workforces, has set the terms of its upcoming initial public offering
(IPO), agreeing to sell 6.7 million shares for $14-$16 each. The offering
could bring in as much as $123.3 million, including over-allotments. The
company said that it plans to use $21 million of the proceeds to repay its
term loan with Goldman Sachs, and the rest for general corporate
purposes, including the potential acquisitions of complimentary
businesses.
http://tinyurl.com/cooy9

Report: Time Warner in Talks to Sell AOL Stake to Microsoft

New York -- In a deal that could potentially change the landscape for
Internet service providers in the U.S., the New York Post reported on
Thursday that software giant Microsoft is in "advanced" talks to acquire a
stake in America Online from parent Time Warner, then combine it with
its own MSN Internet offering. Citing two sources, the Post reported that
Microsoft would pay an undetermined sum, leaving it and Time Warner
as equal partners in the venture. A different source, however, told Reuters
that he Post's report is "way overblown," adding that the two companies
are discussing possible cooperation between their Internet search and
advertising networks. The Post's sources said thar deal potentially could
be completed within the next several weeks. Time Warner has reportedly
also had similar discussions with both Yahoo and Google, though
Microsoft remains its preferred partner. Hurt by an exodus of dial-up
subscribers fleeing to broadband providers, AOL has seen its customer
base dwindle from 26 million to less than 22 million since 2003. Time
Warner merged with AOL in 2000.  In recent weeks, billionaire financier
Carl Icahn has been in discussions with Time Warner regarding ways that
the media company can increase shareholder value. Specific plans for
AOL, however, had not been made public.
http://www.nypost.com/business/28069.htm

Verizon Partners with Gamespot for Games-On-Demand Service

San Francisco -- Verizon Communications said that it has partnered with
Gamespot, a property of San Francisco-based CNET Networks, and
Maryland-based Exent Technologies to to launch a new games-on-
demand service. The service, which uses content from Gamespot's site,
offers its subscribers three tiers of full-version games ranging from $7.95-
$14.95 per month. Free games and content will also be offered through
existing agreements with Real Arcade and WildTangent. The Verizon
Game Network will offer both a basic and a family-friendly subscription
plan for $7.95 per month. An unlimited game plan costing $14.95 per
month will offer over 200 streaming, full-version PC games.
http://www.exent.com/news/pr/20050913.asp 
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050913/nytu126.html?.v=21

Associated Press to Launch Youth-Targeted Multimedia News Service

New York -- The Associated Press plans next week to launch "asap," a
multimedia news service targeted at an 18 to 34-year-old audience that
will combine audio, video, blogs and wireless text, The New York Times
reported. So far, over 100 newspapers have signed up for the service, with
some integrating free asap content onto their sites and others also adding
content to their print editions. A staff of 20 AP journalists will generate
original material for the service, which will also include personal essays
and other content from the wire service's staff around the world. "Some of
what resonates the most with this audience is not necessarily traditional
journalism," Ted Anthony, the editor of asap, told The Times,
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/14/business/media/14wires.html 
http://www.ap.org/asap/index.html

MCI Completes Acquisition of S.F.-Based Totality Corp.

San Francisco -- MCI, the Virginia-based telecommunications giant being
acquired by Verizon Communications, said that it has completed its
acquisition of San Francisco-based Totality Corp., a provider of remote
managed services for businesses. Financial terms were not disclosed.
MCI called the deal, first announced in early August, a "significant step"
toward expanding its managed services capabilities, which allow clients
to remotely monitor and manage applications whether they are hosted at
MCI's colocation centers or at customer locations, Totality's clients
include American Airlines, Best Buy,. Sony Music and The Sharper
Image.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050913/dctu054.html?.v=22

Valuations of Venture-Backed Companies Hit Highest Point Since '01

San Francisco -- Fueled by continuing investor interest in late-stage
technology companies, valuations of U.S. venture-backed companies hit
their highest point in four years in the second quarter. Overall, the median
premoney valuation rose to $15.6 million in the quarter, an increase of
$2.1 million over the same period a year ago and a slight increase over
last quarter, according to San Francisco-based VentureOne. It marks the
highest median premoney valuation since the second quarter of 2001.
"The rise in valuations seems to be related to the increase in liquidity
activity, particularly the fact that venture-backed companies are being
acquired at higher prices," said John Gabbert, the vice president of
worldwide research at VentureOne. "The median amount paid for an
acquired company in the second quarter was $70 million, more than $30
million higher than the median amount paid a year earlier. These higher
acquisition prices result in driving up the value of recent company
financings."
http://www.ventureone.com/

Sunnyvale-Based Yahoo Releases New Beta Version of Yahoo Mail

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Sunnyvale-based Yahoo said on Wednesday that it
has launched a beta test of its new version of Yahoo Mail, which is
designed to be faster than the old version and includes such functions as
drag-and-drop email organization and message preview. Yahoo said that
the incorporation of technology obtained through last year's acquisition of
Oddpos gives the browser-based interface its most significant changes
since its launch in 1997. The beta became available on Wednesday to a
limited group of Yahoo Mail users in the U.S., and will be broadened to
include additional users worldwide in the coming months. ."We're
looking forward to receiving feedback on the beta as we continue the
development process," said Ethan Diamond, the director of product
development for Yahoo Mail.
http://whatsnew.mail.yahoo.com

Alviso-Based TiVo to Offer Subscribers Previews of Fall Shows

Alviso, Calif. -- TiVo, the Alviso-based provider of digital video
recorders and subscription services, said that it plans to deliver previews
of upcoming TV series from every major television network -- ABC,
CBS, FOX, NBC, UPN and The WB -- through to subscribers' digital
video recorders beginning this week. The previews will also enable
subscribers to schedule recordings of any new programs they find
interesting. TiVo recently announced a rebate offer that drops the cost of
its digital video recorder to an all-time low of $49.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050913/sftu071.html?.v=25

America Online Unveils Several New Podcasting Offerings

Dulles, Va. -- Attempting to position itself at the forefront of a growing
technology trend, America Online on Wednesday announced several new
offerings related to podcasting, which allows users to download audio
over the Internet and listen to through portable players. The company has
launched its "Podcasting 101" guide to podcasting, which lets visitors
either download or subscribe to an assortment of popular podcasts. In
addition, AOL Radio has launched a new station featuring a non-stop
stream of podcasts, both from AOL and partners such as CNN, BBVC
and Gamespot.com, and the company's Winamp 5.1 media player now
includes a new podcast directory, which allows users to download and
subscribe to hundreds of podcasts. AOL also said that it plans to add
enhanced podcast search abilities to its AOL Search tool this fall, through
the integration of TVEyes' Podscope search engine.
http://music.aol.com/radioguide/podcasting

Oak Hill Capital Raises $2.5 Billion for Private Equity Fund

Menlo Park, Calif. -- Oak Hill Capital Management, an investment firm
with dual headquarters in Menlo Park and New York, has raised $2.5
billion for its second private equity fund, Bloomberg News reported on
Wednesday. Oak Hill, which was founded by Dallas billionaire Robert
Bass, plans to invest the fund in technology, media, healthcare and
financial services, among other industries. Investors in the new fund
reportedly include the California Public Employees' Retirement System,
Nike founder Phil Knight, Bill Gates' Cascade Investments, Stanford
University and the government of Singapore.
http://OakHillFund.notlong.com

Milpitas-Based Aperto Systems Raises $17 Million in Fifth Round

Milpitas, Calif. -- Aperto Networks, a Milpitas-based developer of
WiMAX wireless broadband systems, said on Wednesday that it has
raised $17 million in the first tranche of its fifth round of financing. The
funding was led by Canaan Partners, and included participation from
previous investors JK&B Capital, Alliance Ventures, Innovacom, Tyco
Ventures, Labrador Ventures and Satwik Ventures. The company now
has raised a total of $94 million. Aperto's base stations and subscriber units enable both licensed and unlicensed frequency broadband wireless
access for business-grade users and consumers.
http://www.apertonet.com/en/news/PR/09.14.05.shtml 

Hayward-Based Glimmerglass Lands $1 Million Investment from NTT

Hayward, Calif. -- Glimmerglass, a Hayward-based maker of intelligent
optical switches, said on Tuesday that NTT Leasing, the venture capital
arm of Japanese telecommunications giant NTT, has invested $1 million
in the company. Glimmerglass  said that the investment is related to
NTT's strategy to develop a new network capable of providing broadband
services to its more than 60 million customers. NTT sees optical fiber
access as a critical component for building a network with the necessary
quality and security controls. Glimmerglass makes optical switches that
allow customers to remotely monitor and manage fiber optic connections
in a range of applications.
http://www.glimmerglass.com/pr/Glimmerglass_NTT_Invests.htm

Argon ST to Acquire Mountain View-Based Radix Technologies

Mountain View, Calif. -- Just a day after announcing plans for a public
offering that could net the company around $100 million, Virginia-based
Argon ST, a maker of systems and sensors for the military, said on
Tuesday that it will acquire Mountain View-based Radix Technologies, a
maker of signal processing systems and equipment used mainly for
military and intelligence applications.. Financial terms of the deal were
not disclosed. Robert Shanafelt, the president and CEO of Radix, said that
his company's signal processing technology for reconnaissance and
navigation will complement Argon ST's advanced signal intercept and
processing systems to create new business opportunities for both
organizations.  Radix will continue to operate from its Mountain View
headquarters.
http://tinyurl.com/clh6e 

Santa Clara-Based WebEx Completes Acquisition of Intranets.com

Santa Clara, Calif. -- WebEx Communications, a Santa Clara-based
provider of web meeting applications, said on Tuesday that it has
completed its $45 million acquisition of Intranets.com, a Massachusetts-
based provider of corporate intranets. The company said that
Intranets.com will operate as its subsidiary. Intranets.com has about
300,000 paying subscribers and 10,000 corporate sites, and last year was
named to the Inc. 500 list of the fastest growing private companies. The
deal was first announced in early August.
http://www.webex.com/pr/pr357.html   

Sunnyvale-Based Yahoo to Assign Online War Correspondent

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Sunnyvale-based Yahoo has announced the launch of
a new online news service that will cover wars around the world. "Kevin
Sites in the Hot Zone" will feature 42-year-old journalist Kevin Sites,
who gained notoriety last year for his video footage of a marine shooting
and killing an apparently unarmed Iraqi prisoner inside a mosque. Yahoo
will send Sites on a year-long assignment, beginning Sept. 26, to shoot
video and report on various armed conflicts around the world. The site
will feature articles, packaged broadcast-style video segments, broader
feature stories, unedited video footage, photos and live video and audio
feeds. "It's an incredible opportunity to help develop the next step in the
evolution of journalism, and to tell a different set of stories more
completely," said Sites.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050912/125579.html?.v=1 

UC Berkeley Launches Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology

Berkeley, Calif. -- The University of California, Berkeley's College of
Engineering on Tuesday launched its Center for Entrepreneurship and
Technology (CET), a new academic venture designed to educate future
engineers and scientists in the ways of entrepreneurship. As part of the
program, several Bay Area investment firms and business executives
have joined the program as advisors, sponsors and instructors, providing 
a network that will help with the creation of start-up ventures, the transfer
of technology to corporate partners and product commercialization. CET
board members include venture capitalists from Mayfield and Silver Lake
Partners, as well as Michael Marks, the CEO of Flextronics, and Tom
Byers, academic director of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program.
Several other venture capital firms are sponsoring the program. "We've
been very pleased with support from the high-tech community. CEOs
have spoken to packed audiences, clearly demonstrating demand for the
new CET approach," said Jon Burgstone, the founding CET faculty chair
and adjunct professor of engineering.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050913/135399.html?.v=1

Menlo Park-Based Formative Ventures Closes $77.5 Million Tech Fund

Menlo Park, Calif. -- Formative Ventures, a Menlo Park-based early-
stage venture capital firm, said on Monday that it has closed its first
institutional fund at $77.5 million, with Harvard Management Company,
which manages the university's endowment, serving as the lead investor.
In all, 13 institutional investors contributed to the nee fund, known as the
Formative Ventures Emerging Technology Fund. The new fund will
invest in early-stage technology companies in areas such as
communications, wireless and Internet solutions. The firm typically will
invest $5-$7 million in a company's first round of funding, with the bulk
of its investments taking place in California. 
http://www.formativeventures.com/news/index.html

San Jose-Based eBay to Pay as Much as $4.1 Billion for Skype

San Jose, Calif. -- EBay, the San Jose-based online auction giant, said on
Monday that it will acquire Skype Technologies, a Luxembourg-based
Internet telephony firm, for as much as $4.1 billion. Under the terms of
the day, eBay will pay $1.3 billion in cash and $1.3 billion in stock for
the company, as well as up to $1.5 billion more, if the company meets
certain performance requirements. The acquisition will allow eBay to add
Skype's service -- which allows people to make phone calls through their
computer -- to its mega-popular online auction service, making it easier
for buyers and sellers to communicate. EBay also said that the deal will
allow it to open several new lines of business, giving it more revenue
opportunities. Skype has more than 54 million members, including about
2 million who pay to use its premium services, making it the largest
Internet-telephony company in the world. By comparison, the second-
largest Internet-telephony firm, Vonage, currently has about 700,000
customers.
http://investor.ebay.com/event.cfm

Redwood Shores-Based Oracle to Buy Seibel Systems for $5.85 Billion

Redwood Shores, Calif. -- In a bid to further challenge market leader
SAP, Redwood Shores-based Oracle, the business software giant, said on
Monday that it will acquire San Mateo-based Siebel Systems, a maker of
customer relationship management software, for $5.85 billion. It's just the
latest in a string of acquisitions for Oracle, which already has closed
seven acquisitions this year. Siebel currently has 4,000 corporate clients
and 3.4 million users, significantly strengthening Oracle's position in
applications. Greg Maffei, Oracle's CFO, said that the deal will
immediately help his company's earnings, and long term will help it to
reach its goal of 20% annual earnings growth.
http://www.oracle.com/corporate/press/2005_sep/monrls.html

S.F.-Based Zinio Merges with Blue Dolphin, Lands $7 Million

San Francisco -- Zinio Systems, a San Francisco-based provider of digital
publishing and marketing services, said on Monday that it it has merged
with Massachusetts-based Blue Dolphin Group (BDG), an online
magazine retailer. As part of the deal, Zinio has raised $7 million in new
funding from North Bridge Venture Partners and Commonwealth Capital.
The combined company will offer more than 1,300 magazine titles,
including many available in both print and digital formats. Zinio said that
the deal will allow it to allow it to offer a new audience of print readers to
sample tal versions of magazines before subscribing. In addition,
subscribers will be able to receive their first issue digitally, eliminating
the normal six- to eight-week waiting period for print editions. Zinio said
that Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., the publisher of such well-known
magazines as Car and Driver, Road & Track, Woman's Day and ELLE, is
currently in the process of rolling out all of its titles in digital format in
partnership with Zinio.
http://img.zinio.com/corporate/pr43.html

Los Gatos-Based Netflix Raises Subscriber Expectations

Los Gatos, Calif. -- Netflix, the Los Gatos-based online DVD rental
services, said that it expects to count 5 million subscribers by the end of
2006, a year earlier than previously anticipated. The company also
expects to reach 20 million subscribers in the next five to seven years.
Netflix's third and fourth quarter income estimates were in line with Wall
Street projections. The company, which pioneered the idea of renting
DVDs online and distributing them through the mail, competes mainly
with Blockbuster. It now has more than 3 million subscribers and a
catalog of more than 50,000 DVD titles. Under the company's most
popular program, for $17.99 a month, subscribers rent as many as three
DVDs at a time and keep them as long as they want.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050908/sfth156.html?.v=2

HALO Technology to Acquire Five Software Companies

San Francisco -- HALO Technology, a Connecticut-based holding
company for business software companies, said on Monday that it will
acquire five software companies -- including two from San Francisco --
from Beverly Hills-based Platinum Equity. The companies include
Tesseract, a San Francisco-based provider of human resources
management software; David Corp., a San Francisco-based provider of
risk management information systems; Process Software, a
Massachusetts-based developer of Internet messaging and anti-spam
software; ProfitKey International, a New Hampshire-based developer of
software for manufacturers; and Foresight Software, an Atlanta-based
provider of customer relationship. Financial terms of the acquisitions
were not disclosed
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050912/125710.html?.v=1

EA's Madden '06 Game Is Country's Top Seller in August

Redwood City, Calif. -- "Madden NFL 06," the recently released pro
football game from Redwood City-based Electronic Arts, sold 2.2 million
units during August -- nearly 2 million more than Nintendo's
"Nintendogs" (210,000 units) -- to claim the top spot in August U.S.
video game sales, according to market research firm NPD Group. EA also
secured the third spot on the sales chart with "NCAA Football 2006"
(180,000 units), followed by Take-Two Interactive's "Charlie and the
Chocolate Factory" and Novalogic's "Delta Force: Black Hawk Down."
In all, U.S. game sales remained flat during the month.
http://www.npd.com/press.main.html

Report: Storage Software Market Continues Sharp Growth

Framingham, Mass. -- The worldwide data storage software market
continued a strong growth trend in the second quarter, increasing nearly
12% over the same period a year ago, according to a new report from
technology market research firm IDC. It marked the seventh consecutive
quarter that the market saw double-digit growth over the previous year.
Rhoda Phillips, the research manager for IDC Storage Software, said that
the trend is "driven by customer awareness and concerns about expanding
capacity and data protection." EMC led the market with 30.6% revenue
share, while Veritas maintained its No. 2 position (19.8%). IBM came in
at No. 3, but showed 18% growth over a year ago.
http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS00230105

Japan's Access to Buy Sunnyvale-Based PalmSource for $324 Million

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Japan's Access Co., a large maker of mobile content
delivery and Internet access software, said on Friday that it will acquire
Sunnyvale-based PalmSource, maker of the Palm operating system used
in mobile phones and devices, for $324.3 million in cash. Access said that
the deal will give it operating system platform expertise and Linux
development resources for mobile devices in the U.S., France and China.
"We believe the customer and technology synergies of the combined
companies will open up new market opportunities for both companies
worldwide," said Patrick McVeigh, the interim CEO of PalmSource. The
deal has been approved by both companies' boards, and is expected to
close by the end of the year.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050909/sff039.html?.v=18

Report: Palo Alto-Based HP to Cut 6,000 Jobs in Europe

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Hewlett-Packard, the Palo Alto-based technology
giant, plans to cut about 6,000 jobs in Europe starting next week, Reuters
reported on Friday. A union official told the news service that the
majority of cuts will occur in France, Germany and Great Britain. HP,
which employs about 151,000 workers around the world, declined to
comment. The cuts would be the most for HP since shortly after its
acquisition of Compaq Computer in 2002. In July, new CEO Mark Hurd
unveiled plans to cut 10% of the company's workforce in a move to slash
costs.
http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/050909/hp_europe.html?.v=4

News Corp Acquires San Francisco-Based IGN for $650 Million

San Francisco -- Adding to a recent string of online acquisitions, Aussie
media tycoon Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. said that its Fox Interactive
Media unit has acquired IGN Entertainment, a San Francisco-based video
game news and information network, for $650 million in cash. IGN
claims 28 million users for its network of video game and other
entertainment-related sites, which includes IGN.com, Rotten Tomatoes,
AskMen.com, GameSpy and FilePlanet. The newly formed Fox
Interactive Media also recently acquired social networking site
MySpace.com parent Intermix for $580 million, and online sports news
provider Scout Media for an undisclosed sum; News Corp. has also been
rumored to be in talks to acquire Internet video search index Blinkx.
News Corp. said the IGN buy will increase its U.S. web traffic to 70
million unique monthly users, making it the fifth most-trafficked presence
on the web, and fourth-largest in terms of monthly page impressions.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050908/85339.html?.v=1 

San Jose-Based JDS Uniphase to Acquire Agility Communications

San Jose, Calif. -- JDS Uniphase, the San Jose-based maker o
communications test and measurement products for telecommunications
providers, said that it has reached a deal to acquire Santa Barbara-based
Agility Communications, a maker of tunable laser components for optical
networks. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. JDS said that
the deal bolsters its offerings in the fast-growing market for tunable lasers
and transponders. Privately held Agility, which has about 90 employees,
is already selling tunable transmitter and transponder products to such
companies as Siemens, Marconi, Mahi Networks and Tropic Networks.
The deal is expected to close by year's end.
http://tinyurl.com/79e8x