Silicon Valley Wire

Santa Clara-Based Rio Design Automation Raises $5.25 Million

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Rio Design Automation, a Santa Clara-based start-
up making electronic design automation software tools, said on Monday
that it has raised a total of $5.25 million in two rounds of financing from
Cadence Design Systems, Magma Design Automation and several angel
investors. The company said that it plans to launch its core software in
January, allowing chip designers to make optimal tradeoffs between the
chip layout, wires within the package and printed circuit board
connections. Rio was founded in 2003.
http://www.rio-da.com/

San Francisco-Based Digg Raises $2.8 Million in First Round

San Francisco -- Digg, a San Francisco-based web community that allows
the mass Internet audience to prioritize news and content, said on
Monday that it has raised $2.8 million in its first round of funding, led by
Greylock Partners. Omidyar Network and several angel investors also
participated in the round, which the company plans to use to expand its
headquarters, hire more developers and upgrade the infrastructure
supporting its web site. Digg has developed a web community that allows
users to submit Internet content -- such as news, blogs and commercial
offerings -- for review. The content then moves up in the site's hierarchy
according to its popularity with site visitors. Digg said that it currently
has 80,000 registered users and more than 500,000 unique daily visitors.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/051031/315095.html?.v=1

Worldwide Semiconductor Sales Rise 6% in September

San Jose, Calif. -- Worldwide sales of semiconductors increased to $19.6
billion in September, an increase of 5.2% over the prior month and nearly
6% over the same time a year ago,, according to new figures released by
the San Jose-based Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA). The
strong month helped the chip industry fionish a strong third quarter, in
which sales increased more than 6% from a year ago. "Global
semiconductor sales were very strong in September despite earlier
concerns that rising energy prices and declining consumer confidence
would impact sales of electronic products," said George Scalise, president
of the SIA.
http://www.sia-online.org/pre_release.cfm?ID=381

Cropsolution Raises $5 Million in Second Round of Venture Capital

Mountain View, Calif. -- Cropsolution, a North Carolina-based developer
of agrochemicals for protecting crops, with laboratory facilities in
Mountain View, said on Monday that it has raised $5 million in its second
round of venture capital. The Aurora Funds and ATP Capital co-led the
round.  Founded in 2001, Cropsolution develops chemicals designed to
protect crops from diseases, insect pests and weeds. The company has 19
employees.
http://cropsolution.com/news/news_press-release-05.html

AOL Co-Founder Steve Case Resigns From Time Warner Board

Washington, DC -- Looking to devote more time to his Washington, DC-
based investment firm, Steve Case, the co-founder of America Online, on
Monday resigned from board of AOL parent Time Warner. Case, who left
Time Warner in 2003 following its merger with AOL, launched his firm,
called Revolution, in April, and currently serves as its chairman and
CEO. The firm, which had $500 million in capital at the time of its
launch, has so far focused on health and resort businesses, but could be
preparing to expand its horizons. "Leaving Time Warner's board will give
me a greater opportunity to grow Revolution, including avoiding any
potential conflicts of interest as Revolution moves into new areas," said
Case in a statement. Case will continue to be one of Time Warner's
largest individual shareholders. He said that he continues to have a
"special pride and passion" for AOL, adding that he's "pleased" to see the
Internet unit drawing so much interest from potential suitors such as
Microsoft and Google.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/051031/cgm032.html?.v=29
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/051031/315528.html?.v=1

Report: Online Holiday Sales in U.S. Expected to Rise 25%

Cambridge, Mass. -- U.S. online retail sales this holiday season are
expected to hit $18 billion, a 25% increase over last year, according to a
new report from Forrester Research. The growth projection comes despite
weak consumer confidence indicators. "Even if economic worries
dampen consumer spending, simple math accounts for a likely healthy
increase in online sales: 2.5 million new households are expected to begin
shopping online in 2005," Forrester said. The firm said that a growing
number of retailers will use the lure of free shipping to entice consumers
to spend more. Last year, a quarter of online holiday shoppers surveyed
said that they purchased more online to avoid shipping charges, according
to Forrester.
http://www.forrester.com/ER/Press/Release/0,1769,1042,00.html

Hurricanes Drive Unprecedented Web Traffic to Relief Sites

Reston, Va. -- The number of visitors to web sites offering relief and
assistance to victims of recent hurricanes reached unprecedented levels in
September, according to new figures from comScore Media Metrix. The
American Red Cross's site, RedCross.org, saw 9.6 million visitors during
the month -- more than five times the amount of traffic it saw in August,
making it the Internet's highest-gaining property.  The second-highest was
FEMA.gov, the web home of the Federal Emergency Management
Agency. FEMA had 4.9 million visitors in September, a 369% increase
from August. Beyond major government and relief organization sites,
many Americans visited smaller, "grassroots" sites to aid in hurricane
relief.  The highest-gaining category in terms of growth was Religion,
which climbed 10% to reach 14.9 million unique visitors in September.
http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=634

Micronas to Buy Santa Clara-Based WISchip for $80 Million

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Switzerland-based Micronas Semiconductor said on
Friday that it has agreed to acquire WISchip International, a Santa Clara-based
developer of video streaming and compression technologies, for
approximately $80 million. Wolfgang Kalsbach, the CEO of Micronas, said
that WISchip's portfolio of products and intellectual property makes it the
"perfect complement" to his company's high-definition display products.
WISchip, which has an research and development facility in Shanghai, has
raised nearly $50 million in venture capital funding to date. 
http://makeashorterlink.com/?U1A83201C

Sunnyvale-Based CloudShield Technologies Raises $10 Million

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- CloudShield Technologies, a Sunnyvale-based developer
of inspection platforms for large network operators, said on Friday that it has
raised $10 million in a new round of venture capital funding. Participants
included previous investors TPG Ventures, ComVentures, Foundation Capital
and Paladin Capital. The news comes just two weeks after CloudShield named
Matt Jones, the former CEO of Allocity, as its president and CEO.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/051028/285103.html?.v=1

San Jose-Based Xilinx Opens Research Center in Ireland

San Jose, Calif. -- Xilinx, a San Jose-based maker of semiconductor chips,
said on Friday that it has opened a new $9.1 million research center in Dublin,
Ireland -- its first expansion of research facilities outside the U.S. Xilinx
already has invested more than $150 million in its European headquarters in
Dublin, which contains research and development, operations and engineering
facilities. The company's latest expansion will focus on networking and
emerging network architectures.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?C4092501C

Register.com Shareholders Approve Sale to Vector Capital

San Francisco -- Shareholders of New York-based Register.com, a provider of
domain name registration services, on Friday approved the company's $200
million sale to Vector Capital, a San Francisco-based private equity firm.
Register.com said that it expects to complete the merger in early November.
The deal, first announced in August, will take the company, which currently
lists its shares on the Nasdaq, into the private sector. Launched in 1994,
Register.com currently has more than 2.9 million domain names under
management.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/051028/285475.html?.v=1

House Approves 2008 Digital TV Transition; $990 Million Subsidy

Washington, DC - The House Energy and Commerce Committee has
approved a bill that sets Dec. 31, 2008 as the date for the U.S. digital TV
transition, when broadcasters will give up their analog spectrum and begin
broadcasting digital TV signals. The House bill includes $500 million for
emergency communications services for local first responders. It also provides
a $990 million subsidy to help consumers who can't afford the costly digital
TV sets necessary to receive digital signals purchase a converter that will
allow their analog sets to receive digital TV. Several House Democrats
criticized the subsidy as too small. The Senate's digital TV bill, passed last
week, includes a $3 billion subsidy, and also sets the transition date a bit later,
on April 7, 2009. Differences between the House and Senate Committee bills
will need to be worked out between lawmakers from both chambers before a
full vote in Congress can take place.
http://energycommerce.house.gov/108/News/10262005_1698.htm
http://tinyurl.com/b6zyd

Menlo Park-Based ForteBio Raises $17.3 Million in Second Round

Menlo Park, Calif. -- ForteBio, a Menlo Park-based life sciences
company developing tools for the detection and analysis of biomolecules,
said that it has raised $17.3 million in its second round of funding, led by
The Vertical Group, a New Jersey-based venture capital firm focused on
medical technology and biotechnology. Previous investors Agilent
Ventures, Alloy Ventures, Latterell Venture Partners and Versant
Ventures also participated. ForteBio said that it is preparing to launch its
first product platform later this quarter.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/051026/sfw047.html?.v=35

Mountain View-Based VeriSign Acquires Retail Solutions for $24 Million

Mountain View, Calif. -- VeriSign, the Mountain View-based provider of
infrastructure for Internet and telecommunications networks. said that it
has acquired Retail Solutions Inc. (RSI), a Rhode Island-based provider
of point-of-sale data for the retail industry, for $24 million in cash.
Privately held and founded in 1996, RSI has about 50 employees. The
company's data management tools are designed to maximize profitability
and efficiency for retailers and consumer goods companies. Its customers
include Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Sara Lee, CVS and
Walgreens.
http://www.retailsolutions.com/content260.html

Former HP Head Carly Fiorina Joins Board of Cybertrust

Herndon, Va. -- Cybertrust, a large information security firm based in
Virginia, said on Thursday that it has added former Hewlett-Packard head
Carly Fiorina, long considered one of the most prominent women in
business, to its board of directors. Fiorina served as the president and
CEO of Palo Alto-based HP from 1999 until this past February, when she
resigned amid tensions with the company's board stemming from HP's
$19 billion acquisition of Compaq Computer in 2002. She reportedly was
on the short list of candidates to head the World Bank -- a job that
ultimately went to Paul Wolfowitz. Adding a figure of her stature is a
coup for Cybertrust, which hopes to take advantage of Fiorina's
experience and extensive industry contacts. Despite her business career
on the West Coast, Fiorina has strong ties to the DC area, having obtained
her master’s degree in business administration from the Robert H. Smith
School of Business at the University of Maryland at College Park. She
also owns a home in the area.
http://www.cybertrust.com/pr_events/2005/20051027.shtml

Time Warner's Board Mulls Potential AOL Deal with Microsoft, Google

Mountain View, Calif. -- Time Warner's board of directors was expected to
meet on Thursday to discuss the future of its America Online division, which
has been pursued by several major suitors over the past several weeks.
According to published reports, both Microsoft and Mountain View-based
Google have expressed interest in at least partnering with AOL, and possibly
purchasing a minority stake in the Internet company. Although other companies,
such as Sunnyvale-based Yahoo, have shown interest in a similar deal, only
Microsoft and Google remain in "serious discussions," the Times reported. A
final decision by Time Warner's board is not expected for several weeks.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/e8692f4a-463f-11da-8880-00000e2511c8.html

Microsoft Joins Sunnyvale-Based Yahoo in Digital Library Project

Sunnyvale, Calif. - Microsoft said that its MSN Search arm will join the
Open Content Alliance (OCA), a non-profit effort to create a massive
digital archive of the world's books. With the launch of MSN Book
Search, Microsoft joins Yahoo in supporting the OCA, whose digital
library project has partnered with the Internet Archive to scan public
domain works, as well as those from authors and publishers who have
consented. A similar program from Mountain View-based Google, which
has drawn copyright infringement lawsuits from both authors and
publishers, takes brief snippets of works from all books without first
seeking permission. Microsoft will pay to digitize 150,000 titles, while
Yahoo has said it will pay for digitization of 18,000 works,
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/051026/sfw037.html?.v=32   
http://tinyurl.com/andlu   

Justice Dept. Approves Verizon's Acquisition of MCI

New York -- The Justice Department has approved Verizon's pending
$8.6 billion acquisition of MCI, after the companies agreed to lease
telecommunications lines in about 350 buildings on the East Coast. If
approved by the Federal Communications Commission, a moved
expected to occur on Friday, the deal will create a telecommunication
giant offering services ranging from local calling and long-distance to
Internet access and wireless. Verizon said that the deal is on track to close
by late this year or early 2006.Regulators on Thursday also cleared the
$16 billion sale of AT&T to SBC Communications.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/051027/nyth169.html?.v=19

MasterCard: Automatic Payments Surpass Checks as Bill-Paying Method

Purchase, N.Y. -- Credit card giant MasterCard said on Thursday that
automatic payments have for the first time surpassed check writing as the
dominant method for paying recurring bills, according to the results of a
new consumer research study. The study showed that 67% of U.S.
households now pay some recurring bills automatically, compared with
64% writing checks. Nearly four in 10 households link payments
automatically to a credit card and three in 10 charge them automatically
to a debit card.
http://www.mastercardinternational.com/cgi-bin/newsroom.cgi?id=1118

White House Requests The Onion Stop Using Presidential Seal on Site

Washington, DC - The associate counsel to President Bush has written to the
satirical news publisher, The Onion, requesting the removal of the presidential
seal from its web site, The New York Times reported. Grant Dixton, associate
counsel to the president, wrote to The Onion on Sept. 28, stipulating that the
seal "is not to be used in connection with commercial ventures or products in
any way that suggests presidential support or endorsement." The Onion, which
publishes a parody of President Bush's weekly radio address on its web site,
responded through attorney Rochelle H. Klaskin, saying "It is inconceivable that
anyone would think that, by using the seal, The Onion intends to 'convey...
sponsorship or approval' by the president." When asked how the White House
became aware of the seal's use, White House spokesman Trent Duffy told The
Times, "Despite the seriousness of the Bush White House, more than one Bush
staffer reads The Onion and enjoys it thoroughly."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/24/business/24onion.html 
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/40121 

Report: Broadband Users to Buy $4.5 Billion in Digital Music in 2010

Boston - Broadband households in Europe and North America will spend
over a billion dollars on a la carte digital songs and digital music
subscription services this year, with sales expected to reach $4.5 billion
by 2010, according to a report from Boston-based market research firm
Strategy Analytics. In 2010, digital music will represent 16% of total
music sales, up from less than 2% in 2004. While Cupertino-based Apple
currently dominates the market with its a la carte song download service,
iTunes, Strategy Analytics predicts that by 2010 over 60% of online
music revenues will be derived from subscription-based services with a
fixed monthly fee.
http://tinyurl.com/7m3qn   

Menlo Park-Based Peerflix Raises New Round of Funding

Menlo Park, Calif. -- Peerflix, a Menlo Park-based peer-to-peer service
that allows members to legally trade DVDs, said that it has raised a new
round of venture capital funding led by Battery Ventures. The round,
reported by VentureWire to be worth $8 million, also included
investments from 3i and BV Capital. The company said that it will use
the proceeds to develop new product offerings and grow its infrastructure.
Peerflix announced general availability of its DVD trading service in
September, following a year-long beta test. The service currently offers
more than 100,000 DVDs.
http://www.peerflix.com/Default.aspx?tabid=139

Mountain View-Based Trusted Data Raises $6 Million in First Round

Mountain View, Calif. -- Trusted Data, a Mountain View-based
developer of storage products for the non-technical computer user, said
that it has raised $6 million in its first round of venture capital financing,
from Greylock Partners and RRE Ventures. The company said that it
plans to use the funds to advance its product development efforts. Trusted
Data caters to small businesses and the networked home users looking for
storage technologies less complex than most of those currently being
marketed. Company founder Geoff Barrall also previously founded
companies such as BlueArc, and currently serves as an executive
consultant for Brocade Communications Systems.
http://www.trusteddata.com/releases.htm

Santa Clara-Based Extreme Networks to Buy Back $50 Million in Stock

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Shares of Extreme Networks rose 3% in after-hours
trading after the Santa Clara-based developer of network architecture
announced plans to buy back as much as $50 million of its stock  The
company said that it expects to repurchase the stock over the next year,
primarily in the open market. Gordon Stitt, Extreme's president and CEO,
said that his company's "improved profitability and solid cash balances"
have allowed it to undertake such a program. The company currently has
$450 million of cash, cash equivalents and investments on hand, and has
123.2 million shares outstanding.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/051026/sfw123.html?.v=3

Santa Clara-Based LiveDeal.com Lands $4.85 Million in Second Round

Santa Clara, Calif. -- LiveDeal.com, a Santa Clara-based provider of free
local online classifieds, said that it has secured $4.85 million in its second
round of funding, led by Canadian media company Torstar. Draper
Richards and individual investors from eBay, Hewlett-Packard and the
real estate industry also participated. The company said that it plans to
use the funds to expand its local online classifieds platform, both
domestically and internationally. Separately, LiveDeal.com also
announced the formation of a new joint venture with Torstar to launch a
free online classifieds site in Canada later this year. The company called
the deal the first step in its international expansion strategy.
http://info.livedeal.com/aboutLD/press_10_25_05_funding.html

Cupertino-Based Apple Launches iTunes Store in Australia

Cupertino, Calif. - Cupertino-based Apple has launched its iTunes Music
Store in Australia, offering a catalog of 1 million songs, although notably
absent were tracks from major record label Sony BMG. "We are working
with Sony, and we know their artists would like to be a part of the launch
and we hope they will join us," Apple iTunes vice president Eddy Cue
told ZDNet Australia. The store is selling songs for about $1.27 and
videos for about $2.56. The iTunes store's major competition in Australia
will be the BigPond Music service offered by Aussie telco Telstra, which
supports downloads to Windows-compatible devices, but not to the iPod.
http://tinyurl.com/dxsl3

Report: Global Video Game Market to Hit Record $58.4 Billion in 2007

London - The release of next-generation video game consoles over the next
several months will spur the global games market to a record high of $58.4 billion
in 2007, according to a report from U.K.-based market research firm Informa. The
games industry will generate $35.3 billion in 2005, a 5.3% increase over 2004, the
firm predicted, with the console games industry representing half of games
revenue worldwide. Console hardware sales are expected to grow from $3.9
billion in 2005 to $5.8 billion in 2010, while games for the consoles will generate
$13 billion this year and $17.2 billion in 2010. "We still anticipate the PS3 to take
the largest share in the next wave of consoles, but it will not have such an easy
time of it this time around," said Informa's Zenobia Talati, the co-author of the
report. "The Xbox 360 will benefit from first-mover advantage and Nintendo has
already revealed some interesting ideas for its Revolution concept.".
http://tinyurl.com/76tsr

WSJ: Google Confirms Testing New Online Listing Service

Mountain View, Calif. -- Fueling speculation that it plans to go head to
head with online auction giant eBay, Mountain View-based Google on
Tuesday confirmed that it is testing a new service that will allow users to
list their items for sale online, The Wall Street Journal's online edition
reported. In a statement, the company described the service, to be known
as Google Base, as "an early-stage test of a product that enables content
owners to easily send their content to Google," but declined to go into
further detail. Screenshots of the service, however, appeared on several
blogs, including one shot of a form for listing information such as the
price of the item, as well as a place to insert photos. Google earlier this
year said that it plans to launch an online payments service, as well.
http://online.wsj.com/home/us

Fremont-Based W5 Networks Raises $10 Million in First Round

Fremont, Calif. -- W5 Networks, a Fremont-based developer of wireless
software for the retail industry, said that it has raised $10 million in its initial
round of venture capital, co-led by Thomas Weisel Venture Partners and U.S.
Venture Partners. The company said that it will use the proceeds to fund the
development of its initial product, an electronic shelf label system The
company's technology is based on Chuck Neugebauer's research into radio
architectures specifically designed for retail applications. Neugebauer, the
company's CTO, teamed up with retail technology industry veteran Richard
White, its CEO, to form W5 earlier this year. 
http://www.w5networks.com/press/10.24.05a.php

Sunnyvale-Based Juniper Networks Acquires Acorn Packet Solutions

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Looking to expand its offerings to the federal government,
Juniper Networks, the Sunnyvale-based networking giant, said on Tuesday that
it has acquired Maryland-based Acorn Packet Solutions, a developer of network
technologies aimed at the federal market, in a cash deal worth up to $8.7
million. Acorn makes products that helps organizations transition to converged
IP networks that support such services as data, voice and video, while protecting
their investments in legacy technologies. Juniper said that the deal will help it to
better support government clients in "re-architecting" their networks. Acorn
recorded less than $1 million in revenue last fiscal year.
http://www.juniper.net/company/presscenter/pr/2005/pr-051025.html

Novato-Based Siterra Raises Funding Round, Names New CEO

Novato, Calif. --  Siterra, a Novato-based maker of project, document and
property management software, said on Tuesday that it has raised an
undisclosed amount in its third round of venture capital, led by Centennial
Ventures. Previous investors Catamount Ventures and Raycliff Capital, as well
as new investor The Hillman Company, also participated. The company also on
Tuesday named software industry veteran Bernard Fried as its new CEO. Fried,
most recently the CEO of  Citadon, replaces company co-founder Paul Remer,
who remain on the company's board.
http://www.siterra.com/about/news_051025_SiterraCEO-Financing.php

Survey: VC Investing on Pace to Challenge for Four-Year High

Washington, DC -- Venture capitalists invested $5.3 billion in 714 companies
during the third quarter, according to a newly released survey by
PricewaterhouseCoopers, Thomson Venture Economics and the National
Venture Capital Association. The organizations said that investment totals for
the year to date are on pace to meet or exceed 2002's $21.7 billion, which is the
highest level in the past three years. Though the quarterly dollar figure was
lower than the previous quarter, which venture capitalists invested $6.1 billion,
it surpassed figures from both the first quarter of 2005 ($5.0 billion) and the
same quarter a year ago ($4.6 billion). "While fluctuating somewhat quarter to
quarter, investment activity has in fact been pretty stable for the past eight
quarters," said Mary Macdonald, a vice president at Thomson Financial.
"However, with fundraising on the rise again, we might reasonably expect to see
firms deploy a bit more quickly in the months ahead." Investments in wireless
telecommunications companies reached a four-year high during the quarter.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/051025/nytu017.html?.v=29

Report: Portable Music, Games Markets to Each Eclipse $2 Billion by '09

Boston - The markets for portable, handheld video games and portable music
services will both eclipse $2 billion by 2009, according to a new report from
market research firm Yankee Group. The firm projects that half of all portable
music players will be mobile phone hybrids by 2009, while cell phones that play
games are expected to garner a near equal share of portable game revenue with
handheld game devices, such as the Sony PSP and Nintendo DS. "This
convergence of wireless handsets and [consumer electronics] devices will force
wireless handset manufacturers to both compete and partner with consumer
electronics manufacturers," the firm said in its report.
http://tinyurl.com/auw8h

Bay Area Fundraising Hits Highest Level in Five Quarters

San Francisco -- Bay Area companies raised 187 rounds of funding last quarter
for a total of $2.03 billion, the area's highest fundraising totals in five quarters,
according to new figures released on Monday by Dow Jones VentureOne and
Ernst & Young. Although information technology companies raised slightly less
than a quarter ago, large increases in the healthcare and products and services
sectors more than made up the difference. Some of the largest rounds in the area
went to San Francisco-based FiberTower ($150 million), Palo Alto-based
Affymax ($60 million) and Alameda-based Cerexa ($50 million). Nationally,
venture capital investing increased in the quarter compared with the same period
last year, the first year-over-year rise in 2005. In all, 555 deals were completed,
raising $5.49 billion, increases of 7% and 9%, respectively.
http://www.ventureone.com
http://www.ey.com

Sunnyvale-Based Aruba Networks Raises $25 Million in Fourth Round

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Aruba Networks, a Sunnyvale-based maker of wireless
networking products and software, said on Monday that it has raised $25 million
in its fourth round of funding, led by Artis Capital Management. Previous
investors Matrix Partners, Sequoia Capital, Trinity Ventures and WK Technology
Fund also participated I the round, which increased the company's total backing to
$84 million. Aruba said that it will use the funds to support its expanding
operations, including increased sales and marketing efforts worldwide.The
company said that it recently surpassed the 1,000 customer mark.
http://www.arubanetworks.com/news/release/2005/10/24/c

Intel to Invest $650 Million to Expand New Mexico Facilities

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Intel, the Santa Clara-based chip-making giant, said on
Monday that it will invest $650 million in its existing manufacturing facility to
increase the size of its 300mm wafer fabrication facilities in New Mexico. The
company said that construction and new tool installations are scheduled to
continue through 2006, with production operations set to begin in early 2007.
More than 300 new manufacturing jobs are expected to be created as a result of
the project. Intel said that the move is part of its goal to increase manufacturing on
300mm wafers that use 90nm, 65nm and future process technologies.
http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/20051024corp.htm

Santa Clara-Based Passave Sets Terms for $91.9 Million IPO

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Passave, a Santa Clara-based developer of system-on-a-chip
components used in networking equipment, has set the terms for its upcoming
initial public offering (IPO). The company said that it plans to sell 4.7 million
shares for $15-$17 each, raising as much as $91.9 million. Passave, which has
126 employees, has applied to list its stock on the Nasdaq National Market under
the symbol "PSVE."
http://tinyurl.com/9y3um

Santa Clara-Based Affymetrix Completes Acquisition of ParAllele

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Completing a deal first announced in June, Affymetrix, a
Santa Clara-based developer of microarray technology for molecular biology
research, said on Monday that it has acquired ParAllele BioScience, a South San
Francisco-based provider of genetic discovery tools and services, for $120.8
million in stock and cash. The acquisition was approved by ParAllele's
stockholders on October 20. Stephen Fodor, the chairman and CEO of
Affymetrix, said that the deal "will significantly accelerate" his company's
delivery of new products to the marketplace. The combined company, in fact, is 
already offering new genotyping products based on ParAllele's technology. When
used with Affymetrix's technology, ParAllele's assay allows researchers to
thoroughly examine the entire genome.
http://tinyurl.com/89jaj

Yahoo to Hike Price of Digital Music Service to $12 a Month

Sunnyvale, Calif. - Sunnyvale-based Yahoo said in an email to subscribers of its
Music Unlimited service that it plans to raise the cost of the service, which
debuted at an industry-low of $6.99, to $11.99 a month at the end of October. The
price hike affects those subscribers interested in transferring songs to portable
devices, while those content to listen on their computers will continue to pay the
lower rate. The service, which costs $2 a month less when users signs up for a full
year, is still priced below similar offerings from competitors RealNetworks and
Napster, which charge $14.99 a month for unlimited downloads to portable
devices.
http://music.yahoo.com/unlimited

Senate Committee Approves 2009 Digital TV Transition

Washington, DC - The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee has approved a bill that
sets April 7, 2009 as the date that broadcasters will switch off their analog signals
and begin broadcasting digital television signals to U.S. viewers. The timetable
was passed over objections from Senators including John McCain (R-Ariz.), who
wanted the switchover to happen as early as late 2006. The bill as passed also
schedules an auction for the analog spectrum that broadcasters will be giving up,
which is expected to bring in about $10 billion. Some $3 billion of that money
will be used to fund a converter box subsidy program, to help those who can't
afford the costly new digital sets to buy a device that will allow their analog sets
to receive digital signals.
http://commerce.senate.gov/newsroom/printable.cfm?id=247497

Copyright Office to Launch Online Pre-Registration Service on Nov. 15

Washington, DC - The U.S. Copyright Office said that it will begin allowing
content creators to "pre-register" their works -- register for copyright protection
before the work is actually completed -- through an online service beginning on
Nov. 15. The entertainment industry had lobbied for such a service, claiming that
it needs protection against Internet piracy for works like music albums and motion
pictures, which are often leaked while still in the production process. To be
eligible, the creator of the unfinished work "must certify that the work is being
prepared for commercial distribution and that he or she has a reasonable
expectation that the work will be commercially distributed to the public."
http://www.copyright.gov/prereg/rulemaking.html 

Google Shares Surge 12% as Profits Increase Seven-Fold

Mountain View, Calif. -- Shares of Mountain View-based Google gained more
than 12% on Friday to close at a new 52-week high of $339.90 after the search
engine giant said that its quarterly profit increased more than seven-fold to
$381.2 million as its revenue doubled to $1.05 billion. Google's market value
briefly surpassed $100 billion for the first time when its stock price increased to
a high of $346.43 before retreating slightly. The company benefited greatly
from a continuing surge in online advertising. "Although this is typically a
slower season for Internet properties, we had another exceptional quarter," said
Eric Schmidt, Google's CEO. "We are very pleased with how well this is
working at scale."
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/051020/205822.html?.v=1

Sunnyvale-Based SanDisk to Acquire Matrix Semiconductor for $250 Million

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- SanDisk, the Sunnyvale-based maker of flash storage cards,
said that it has signed a deal to acquire Santa Clara-based Matrix
Semiconductor, a developer of 3-D integrated circuits, for about $250 million.
The deal consists of $12 million in cash, and the remainder in SanDisk stock.
Matrix's 3-D memory is used for storage applications that do not require
multiple rewrites and where low cost is the paramount consideration, such as
video games, music and other content, or for archiving. The deal is expected to
close by the end of the year.
http://www.sandisk.com/pressrelease/20051020b.htm

Netflix Reports Lower Profits, Shelves Planned Download Service

Los Gatos, Calif. - Despite large jumps in revenue and subscribers during the
most recent quarter, Netflix, the Los Gatos-based online DVD rental service,
said that its profits fell 68% to $6.9 million, due largely to increased expenses.
The company's emphasis on attracting new subscribers through multi-tiered
subscription offerings helped it add 396,000 subscribers in the quarter to end
with a total of 3.59 million. While Netflix is hoping to count 5.65 million
subscribers by the end of 2006, its main competitor, Blockbuster, recently said
that it would fail to reach its goal of reaching 2 million subscribers by April
2006. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings also announced that licensing difficulties
with movie studios have forced the company to indefinitely postpone a test of
its planned online movie download service. Hastings told analysts that the
service "will be ready to launch when the content climate begins to thaw,"
Reuters reported.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/051019/sfw026.html?.v=27 
http://tinyurl.com/8pv6r

Sony Expecting to Sell Up to 3 Million PSPs During Holidays

Foster City, Calif. -- Sony hopes to sell between 2.5 million and 3 million
PlayStation Portable (PSP) handheld game devices in North America during the
upcoming holiday shopping season, Kaz Hirai, the president and CEO of Foster
City-based  Sony Computer Entertainment America told Reuters. The company
has sold some 2.3 million PSPs in North America since the device went on sale
in late March. Hirai also said that Sony expects to sell between 2.5-3 million
PlayStation 2 consoles before the end of the year. The PS2 will compete this
holiday season with the release of Microsoft's next-generation Xbox 360. Sony
plans to release the PlayStation 3 in the spring of 2006.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051020/tc_nm/media_sony_holiday_dc
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/051020/sfth029.html?.v=27

Sen. McCain to Press for Earlier Digital TV Transition

Washington, DC - Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said that he will pressure fellow
lawmakers to speed up the U.S. transition to digital TV broadcasting, lobbying
for an analog shut-off date by the end of 2006 or early 2007, Reuters reported.
The Commerce Committee, which has proposed an April 2009 timetable, is
scheduled to vote on a date for the transition on Thursday. Lawmakers are eager
to free up analog spectrum for emergency communication services, as well as to
reap billions for the government from the auction of spectrum to wireless
companies. "Can we really afford to wait until 2009 before we go ahead and
transfer this spectrum?" McCain asked a New America Foundation forum. "I
believe the transition can be made by [early 2007]." The main roadblock to the
transition is that current law states that 85% of consumers in a given market
must have access to the expensive televisions necessary to receive digital
signals before broadcasters can shut off their analog signals.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051018/tc_nm/congress_digitaltv_dc 

Forrester Predicts Sony's Blu-ray Will Win DVD Format War

Cambridge, Mass. - Market research firm Forrester Research said that Sony's
Blu-ray disc format will win the looming next-generation DVD format war with
Toshiba, which has developed the rival HD DVD format. "After a long and
tedious run up to the launch, it is now clear to Forrester that the Sony-led Blu-
ray format will win," Forrester analyst Ted Schadler said in a report. Both
groups are competing for control of high-definition DVD formats to be
launched in next spring. Backers of Sony's Blu-ray include Panasonic, Philips,
Samsung, Sharp, Pioneer, LG, Dell, HP and Apple, in addition to several movie
studios. Sanyo, NEC and HBO, among others, have thrown their support behind
the HD DVD format. "Unless the HD-DVD group abandons the field, it will be
another two years before consumers are confident enough of the winner to think
about buying a new format DVD player," said Schadler.
http://www.forrester.com/Research/Document/Excerpt/0,7211,38085,00.html

Survey: Large U.S. Telecom, Tech Companies Facing Average of 42 Suits

New York -- Large U.S. telecommunications and technology companies
currently face an average of 42 lawsuits, with nearly a third of those companies
spending more than 2% of their gross revenue on legal expenses, according to a
new survey of 354 corporate counsels by law firm Fulbright & Jaworski. The
survey found that tech and communications companies have by far the largest
number of in-house attorneys managing litigation -- an average of nine per
company. The overall average for all companies participating in the survey was
3.7. The most likely legal disputes to be faced by these companies involve labor
and employment, though the number of personal injury suits also has increased
dramatically over a year ago. All told, nearly 90% of U.S. corporations are
engaged in some type of litigation. The median-sized company in the survey
had annual gross revenues of $484 million.
http://www.fulbright.com/

S.F.-Based Crosslink Capital Closes New $250 Million Tech Fund

San Francisco -- Crosslink Capital, a San Francisco-based venture capital
firm, said that it has closed a new $250 million fund focused on
technology. The firm said that Crosslink Ventures V exceeded its original
target of $200 million, increasing its capital under management to well
over $1 billion. Like its previous funds, Crosslink said that a large
number of its investments will go to companies in their early stages of
development. Crosslink has invested in more than 90 companies since
1999, including Equinix, Force10 Networks and Magma Design
Automation.
http://www.crosslinkcapital.com/news/newsccv.htm

San Mateo-Based NetSuite Ranks No. 2 in New Deloitte Fast 500

San Mateo, Calif. -- NetSuite, a San Mateo-based developer of business
management applications, is the highest-ranked local company on the
newly released Deloitte Technology Fast 500, which annually recognizes
the 500 fastest-growing technology companies in the U.S. and Canada
based on their five-year revenue growth. The company ranked No. 2
overall -- trailing only San Diego-based NuVasive -- with revenue growth
of 43,327% during the period. In all, more than 50 Bay Area companies
made the list, led by San Mateo-based NexTag (No. 12), Mountain View-
based Google (No. 14), Pleasanton-based Zantaz (No. 28), Emeryville-
based EVault (No. 33), Santa Clara-based Magma Design Automation
(No. 36), San Jose-based 2Wire (No. 51), Emeryville-based ZipRealty
(No. 59), Alameda-based Avigen (No. 66), Sunnyvale-based Kyphon
(No. 75), Mountain View-based NetLogic Microsystems (No. 89), San
Francisco-based Taleo (No. 93) and Santa Clara-based Align Technology
(No. 94).
http://tinyurl.com/t3cm