Silicon Valley Wire

Saratoga-Based Ekahau Raises $16 Million in New Financing

Saratoga, Calif. -- Ekahau, a Saratoga-based developer of Wi-Fi location systems, said on Tuesday that it has secured $16 million in new financing, including $12 million in it second round of equity funding. Founding investor Nexit Ventures, as well as several new international investors participated. The company also said that it has landed $4 million in the form of venture loans and government funding. Ekahau said that it will use the new capital to continue its aggressive growth and international expansion. The company said that part of that plan will be to build out its sales and marketing, engineering and support organization.
http://www.ekahau.com/?id=20060

S.F.-Based GoFish Goes Public Through Reverse Merger, Raises $12 Million

San Francisco -- GoFish, a San Francisco-based online video site, said on Tuesday that it has gone public through a reverse merger, and has raised $12 million in a private placement. Through the deal, GoFish Technologies merged with GoFish Corp., a public company that has previously been known as Unibio. The company's stock will now be listed on the Over-The-Counter Bulletin Board. GoFish said that it plans to use the funds, from a group of institutional and private investors, to strengthen its corporate infrastructure and product offerings. Founded in 2004 by current CEO Michael Downing, GoFish.com is currently visited by more than 2.5 million unique users a month.
http://www.gofish.com
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/061031/20061031005601.html?.v=1

San Francisco-Based Wired Digital Acquires Boston-Based Reddit.com

San Francisco -- Wired Digital, the San Francisco-based online home of Wired magazine and Wired News, said on Tuesday that it has acquired Boston-based Reddit.com, a social aggregation news site that allows users to select and rank web content. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Reddit will relocate to San Francisco, with founders Steve Huffman, Alexis Ohanian, Aaron Swartz and Chris Slowe becoming employees of Wired Digital. Wired's parent company, Condé Nast, has already used Reddit's technology to launch a beta site, Lipstick.com, for the social filtering of celebrity news.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/061031/20061031005974.html?.v=1
http://www.wired.com/

Santa Clara-Based SideStep Acquires San Mateo-Based TravelPost.com

Santa Clara, Calif. -- SideStep, a Santa Clara-based online travel search company, said on Tuesday that it has acquired San Mateo-based TravelPost.com, an independently owned site for hotel reviews and ratings. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. SideStep said that the deal will couple its online travel information with TravelPost.com's lodging content, which includes nearly 500,000 reviews, photos and blogs. TravelPost.com allows site users to search reviews by age, gender, purpose of stay and travel budget. The reviews are integrated with a travel blogging community, in which travelers write about their experiences, post photos from their trips, and keep track of where they've traveled on an interactive world map.
http://www.sidestep.com/html/press_center/press_releases/2006/pr_103106.html

MySpace Licenses Gracenote Technology to Block Copyrighted Music

Emeryville, Calif. -- Fox's MySpace said that it has licensed audio fingerprinting technology from Emeryville-based Gracenote designed to block unauthorized copyrighted music from being posted to the online social network. The technology can identify copyrighted works in Gracenote's database and prevent the music from being uploaded. MySpace said that users who repeatedly attempt to upload unauthorized music will have their accounts permanently deleted. "This is another important step we're taking to ensure artists control the content they create," said Chris DeWolfe, the CEO of MySpace. Gracenote's database is also used by many music applications to identify CDs and track listings when users insert a CD into their computers.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/061030/20061030005454.html?.v=1
http://www.gracenote.com

San Mateo-Based YouTube Removes Copyrighted Clips from Comedy Central

San Mateo, Calif. -- YouTube, the San Mateo-based video-sharing site that Google is paying $1.65 billion to acquire, late last week began removing copyrighted clips from Viacom's Comedy Central, The New York Times reported. The move comes after the site also removed some 30,000 clips at the behest of a Japanese copyrights society, and signed new deals signed with major record labels Sony BMG, Universal and Warner that compensate them for the right to post their copyrighted materials. Clips from Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," "South Park" and "The Colbert Report" were among those removed from YouTube. It it is unclear whether they included submissions from a contest launched by "The Colbert Report," where users were actually asked to submit videos through YouTube that contained elements of the show.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/30/technology/30youtube.html
http://www.youtube.com

S.F.-Based GarageBand.com Launches Contest to Air Unsigned Artists on Radio

San Francisco -- GarageBand.com, a San Francisco-based online community for aspiring artists and fans of independent music, has announced the launch of a talent contest that will give unsigned artists radio airplay on FM stations. Sponsored by Cingular Wireless, the GarageBand Faceoff will air clips of the most popular entries on a four-minute weekday afternoon radio show heard on stations including San Francisco's KITS, New York's WFNY, Philadelphia's WYSP and Detroit's WKRK. Listeners will be able to vote for the better of two bands through text messaging and the Internet, with the winner to return the next day to face another challenger. A recording contract with Capitol Records will be awarded to the grand prize winner on Dec. 18.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/061030/20061030005445.html?.v=1
http://www.garageband.com/faceoff

San Mateo-Based TalkPlus Lands $5.5 Million in First Round of Funding

San Mateo, Calif. -- TalkPlus, a provider of advanced voice services over mobile networks, said on Monday that it has raised $5.5 million in its first round of venture capital from Menlo Ventures. For the past two years, TalkPlus has been developing technology that will allow carriers to offer subscribers an array of new calling services without the need for infrastructure updates. The company plans to launch its services nationwide in early 2007.
http://www.talkplus.com/press103006.html

Mountain View-Based Narus Lands $30 Million in New Financing

Mountain View, Calif. -- Narus, a Mountain View-based maker of software for service providers, said on Monday that it has raised $30 million in new financing, including $20 million in equity funding and $10 million in a revolving credit line. The round was led by American Capital Strategies, and included participated from previous investors including Mayfield Fund, Pacven Walden Ventures, JP Morgan Partners and NeoCarta Ventures. The company said that it will use the new capital primarily to develop new software, as well as to expand its worldwide channel program. Narus makes software used to manage, secure and deliver services over IP, such as Voice-over-Internet Protocol and IPTV. Customers include AT&T, Saudi Telecom, U.S. Cellular and T-Mobile.
http://www.narus.com/press/2006/1030Funding.html

Fortune: Sunnyvale-Based Yahoo in Talks to Buy AOL

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Hoping to jumpstart talks that initially died about a year ago, Sunnyvale-based Yahoo may be again considering a bid for AOL, according to a report from Fortune. The magazine's web site said that multiple sources have confirmed the company's talks with AOL parent Time Warner, though a source close to Yahoo denied them. Fortune said that the move would help Yahoo Chairman and CEO Terry Semel regain some of the spotlight from Mountain View-based rival Google, which in May finalized a $1 billion investment in AOL as part of an even large advertising and search deal. Yahoo, which reportedly has about $3 billion in cash and equivalents available, has been rumored to be on the verge of a $1 billion acquisition of social networking site Facebook.
http://money.cnn.com/2006/10/28/magazines/fortune/yahoo.fortune/index.htm?eref=money_latest

Mountain View-Based Rhythm NewMedia Lands $18 Million in Funding

Mountain View, Calif. -- Rhythm NewMedia, a Mountain View-based developer of mobile advertising technology, said on Monday that it has raised $18 million in its second round of funding, led by Carlyle Venture Partners. All of the company's previous institutional investors, including Rembrandt Venture Partners. Lightspeed and Morgenthaler, also participated. Rhythm's technology is designed to support advertising on mobile video, mobile search and mobile messaging. The company received its initial seed funding in July 2005.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/061030/20061030005335.html?.v=1
http://www.rhythmnewmedia.com

TA Associates Acquires European Travel Website eDreams for $194 Million

Menlo Park, Calif. -- TA Associates, a Boston-based private equity firm with West Coast offices in Menlo Park, said that it has acquired eDreams, a Spain-based provider of online travel services, for about $194 million. eDreams' management participated in the deal, a leveraged buyout in which the company was acquired from Doll Capital Management, Apax Partners, Atlas Ventures and 3i Group. "Currently, 15% of travel bookings are made online in the Southern European market. This figure is expected to reach more than 30% by 2009," TA said in a press release announcing the acquisition.
http://www.ta.com/news/news_detail.asp?id=133

Survey: Tech-Savvy Consumers Hesitant to Buy New DVD Players

San Francisco -- The overwhelming majority (81%) of tech enthusiasts remain skeptical about which next-generation DVD technology will be the market standard, according to a new survey by San Francisco-based CNET and the Consumer Electronics Association. The study comes as manufacturers prepare to release several players that run on varying formats. Other factors that respondents said will initially keep them from buying the new players include the price of the machines (74%) and concerns about their compatibility with current DVD players (54%).  "The studios, manufacturers, retailers and media companies have their own theories on how this will play out in the market," said Claudia Haase, senior research manager at CNET. “But, at the end of the day, the only thing that matters is the consumer."
http://www.cnet.com/
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/061030/20061030005043.html?.v=1

Bay Area Computer Stocks Slips Following Goldman Sachs Report

Shares of most Bay Area chipmakers, including Intel and AMD, fell on Friday after Goldman Sachs said that signs point to a slowdown of the computer market. The investment firm said that shipments of circuit boards for PCs will be weaker than expected this year.  "Demand is falling off a cliff," Goldman analyst Henry King said in a research report. The news sent shares of Santa Clara-based Intel and Sunnyvale-based AMD down 3% each. Shares of Cupertino-based Apple also fell 2%.
http://yahoo.reuters.com/news/articlehybrid.aspx?storyID=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20061027:MTFH56300_2006-10-27_19-54-11_N27205303&type=comktNews&rpc=44
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=afHIdsHsXAHc

Fremont-Based Ciphergen Gets OK to Sell Business to Bio-Rad

Fremont, Calif. -- Ciphergen Biosystems, a Fremont-based developer of medical diagnostic tests, said on Friday that it has received shareholder approval to sell its proteomics instrument business to Hercules-based Bio-Rad Laboratories for $20 million in cash. In addition, Bio-Rad will make a $3 million equity investment in Ciphergen. The deal is expected to close by Nov. 1. "With the approval of the sale of the instrument business, Ciphergen completes its transition into a specialty diagnostics company," said Gail Page, the president and CEO of Ciphergen.
http://ir.ciphergen.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=121814&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=922653&highlight=

Judge in Napster Copyright Case Says Hummer Winblad Destroyed Emails

San Francisco -- A federal judge has ruled that San Francisco-based venture capital firm Hummer Winblad exhibited "gross negligence" when it directed employees to destroy emails related to its dealings with Napster in 2000, the Los Angeles Times reported. U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel will tell jurors that the emails would have hurt the company's defense, if the copyright case brought by record labels and music publishers against Hummer Winblad and Bertelsmann -- two early Napster investors -- ever goes to trial. "As we have all been required to surrender our Napster emails, this should reinforce compliance with our long-standing policies," Ann Winblad wrote to employees, according to court documents. "We do not retain e-mails, it is your responsibility to delete your handled e-mails immediately."
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-napster26oct26,1,4850927.story
http://www.humwin.com

San Francisco-Based Zoon Systems Raises $35 Million in Fourth Round

San Francisco -- Zoom Systems, a maker of automated robotic stores, said that it has raised $35 million in its fourth round of funding from Goldman, Sachs & Co., Sierra Ventures and Motorola Ventures. NeoCarta Ventures, which led the company's second round, also contributed. The company's robotic stores are located in high traffic areas, and allow shoppers to select products through a touch screen graphic interface. They can pay for items with a  credit or debit card and receive them from a robotic arm. All of Zoom's stores are networked and centrally monitored. Over the next two years, Zoom said that it plans to implement several thousand of the units at airports, hotels, malls and retail stores.
http://www.zoomsystems.com/pages/5press.html

San Jose-Based Cisco to Acquire Orative for $31 Million

San Jose, Calif. -- Cisco, the San Jose-based network equipment giant, said on Thursday that it will acquire San Jose-based Orative for $31 million in cash. Orative makes an application that will allow Cisco to extend its Unified Communications portfolio -- which allows businesses to integrate their communications systems with their IT infrastructure -- to mobile devices such as cell phones and smartphones. Orative was founded in 2002 and has 33 employees. Once the deal closes, the company will be integrated into Cisco's Voice Technology Group.
http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2006/corp_102506.html

Menlo Park-Based Classified Search Engine Edgeio Raises $5 Million

Menlo Park, Calif. -- Edgeio, a Menlo Park-based developer of a classified advertising search engine, said that it has raised $5 million in its first round of venture capital financing. Intel Capital led the round, with Transcosmos Investments and Business Development Inc. also participating. Launched in March, Edgeio has developed a network of over 3,000 publishers, who upload their listings to the company's Edgedirect service, which now adds 700,000 new ads each day to the more than 100 million available on the site. The company also announced that it has launched a Chinese version of its service, and filed for patents covering its "distributed marketplaces architecture" and some features of its web site.
http://blog.edgeio.com/?p=40

Move by Redwood Shores-Based Oracle Sparks Sell Off of Red Hat Stock

Raleigh, N.C. -- Shares of open source software firm Red Hat fell 23.9% on Thursday after Redwood Shores-based Oracle said that it will begin aggressively competing against the company by selling service agreements for Red Hat products. Speaking on Wednesday in San Francisco at the annual OracleWorld trade show, Larry Ellison, the CEO of Oracle, took aim at Red Hat, saying that his firm will offer support for Red Hat Linux for half as much as Red Hat's current price. "We believe that better support and lower support prices will speed the adoption of Linux, and we are working closely with our partners to make that happen," he said.
http://www.oracle.com/technologies/linux/index.html?pageregion=ocom_hp_a_main_1_Linux_102506

Hacker "DVD Jon" Claims Crack of Apple iTunes Security Code

Redwood Shores, Calif. -- A hacker who was nicknamed "DVD Jon" for his cracking of the encryption on DVDs as a teenager, has now claimed to have cracked Cupertino-based Apple's copy-protection technology that prevents iPods from playing songs purchased from stores other than iTunes, according to published reports. Norway native Jon Lech Johansen, 22, said that his Redwood Shores-based firm DoubleTwist Ventures, will license the code that cracks Apple's FairPlay security to third parties. "What he did was basically reverse-engineer FairPlay," DoubleTwist managing director Monique Farantzos told Reuters. "This allows other companies to offer content for the iPod." Apple, which has in the past updated iTunes to block other applications that enabled unauthorized sharing over a wireless network, for instance, declined to comment for Reuters. "There's a certain amount of trouble that Apple can give us, but not enough to stop this," Farantzos told the Associated Press. Currently, Apple's iTunes accounts for 88% of all legal song downloads, while the iPod represents over 60% of the music player market.
http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?view=CN&storyID=2006-10-25T014739Z_01_N24223322_RTRIDST_0_TECH-APPLE-ITUNES.XML&rpc=66&type=qcna
http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/ptech/10/24/ipod.code.ap/index.html 
http://www.doubletwistventures.com

S.F.-Based Shockwave.com Announces Flash Lite Mobile Games

San Francisco -- Shockwave.com, a San Francisco-based site that features Flash-based online games, has announced a new series of mobile games built using Flash Lite, a mobile media platform developed by Adobe. Access to the 30 Shockwave Minis games will be available exclusively to Verizon Wireless customers for $3.49 a month. Several of the new titles are based on Viacom franchises, like Nickelodeon's "SpongeBob SquarePants" and MTV's "Pimp My Ride." Shockwave.com also said that it has partnered with Japanese developer Cell to create games for Shockwave Minis.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/061025/nyw012.html?.v=79
http://www.adobe.com/products/flashlite

Report: News Corp. Among Suitors for San Francisco-Based Digg

San Francisco -- Digg, a San Francisco-based site that posts news stories whose prominence is determined by votes from a community of users, has recently been in acquisition talks with companies including Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, according to TechCrunch.com. Citing "multiple sources close to the negotiations," the site reported that Digg has been unable to secure the $150 million-plus price it was seeking, and will likely look to a second round of venture capital financing in lieu of a buyout. News Corp.'s Fox Interactive Media unit has made a string of acquisitions since its formation in 2005, including the MySpace online social network, video games site IGN.com and movie reviews site RottenTomatoes.com.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/10/24/digg-does-the-acquisition-dance-with-news-corp/
http://www.digg.com

Sunnyvale-Based AMD Completes $5.4 Billion Acquisition of ATI

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), the Sunnyvale-based chipmaker, said on Wednesday that it has completed its $5.4 billion acquisition of Canadian graphics chipmaker ATI Technologies. Under the terms of the deal, first announced in July, AMD paid $4.3 billion in cash and 58 million shares of its stock. The acquisition creates a company with 15,000 employees, combining AMD's strength in microprocessors with ATI's strengths in graphics, chipsets and consumer electronics. AMD said that it plans to deliver a range of integrated platforms in 2007 to serve key markets, including commercial clients in mobile computing and gaming and media computing.
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Corporate/VirtualPressRoom/0,,51_104_543~113741,00.html

Redwood City-Based MonoSphere Raises $11 Million in Second Round

Redwood City, Calif. --  MonoSphere, a Redwood City-based developer of storage capacity planning software, said that it has raised $11 million in its second round of funding, led by Intel Capital. Previous investors ComVentures and Lightspeed Venture Partners also participated in the round, which the company has used to open a new office in New York. MonoSphere's software is used by large companies to automate their storage capacity planning processes, reducing the costs associated with storage infrastructure.
http://www.monosphere.com/
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/061025/20061025005232.html?.v=1

VirtenSys Raises $12 Million in First Round of Funding

Palo Alto, Calif. -- VirtenSys, a U.K.-based developer of virtualization silicon products with  marketing, business development and sales offices in Palo Alto, said on Wednesday that it has raised $12 million in its first round of funding. Scottish Equity Partners (SEP), Celtic House Venture Partners (CHVP) and GIMV each made equal investments in the round. The company said that it will use the new capital to add employees, complete its product development and generate initial revenues. The company was founded in December.
http://www.virtensys.com/news/funding.asp

San Jose-Based PDF Solutions to Acquire France's Si Automatio

San Jose, Calif. -- PDF Solutions, a San Jose-based developer of process-design integration technologies, said on Wednesday that it has signed a deal to acquire Si Automatio (SIA), a French provider of fault detection and classification software and services, for about $35.7 million in cash and stock. Under terms of the agreement, PDF Solutions will pay $26.6 million in cash and approximately 715,000 shares of stock. PDF said that the acquisition will give it an installed base that includes a majority of the top 20 semiconductor manufacturers around the world. The deal is expected to close within a few days.
http://www.pdf.com/news_display.phtml?news_ID=263

Santa Clara-Based Ciranova Raises $4 Million in Third Round

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Ciranova, a Santa Clara-based electronic design automation firm developing layout generation technology for integrated circuit design, said that it has raised $4 million in its third round of venture capital financing. The round was led by AsiaTech Management, with previous investors Alloy Ventures and U.S. Venture Partners also participating. The company now has raised a total of $14.75 million since it was founded in 2002. Ciranova said that it will use the proceeds to further develop and bring to market its products for custom chip design. The company is planning to launch several new and enhanced products later this year.
http://www.ciranova.com
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/061024/20061024006030.html?.v=1

Redwood City-Based EA Opens New Development Studio in Chicago

Redwood City, Calif. -- Electronic Arts, the Redwood City-based developer and publisher of video games, said on Wednesday that it has opened a new development studio in Chicago. The company said that the studio's development team, best known for its EA Sports Fight Night franchise, is currently working on three games for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles, including a hip-hop lifestyle game and a new intellectual property in the fighting genre. EA Chicago is one of the company's fastest growing studios, with 150 employees currently on staff. EA said that it is planning to increase the number of developers by 100 next year. EA has other studios in Vancouver, British Columbia; Montreal, Canada; Orlando, Redwood City and Los Angeles.
http://info.ea.com/ 
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/061025/20061025005249.html?.v=1

San Francisco-Based OB10 Lands $13.6 Million in New Funding

San Francisco -- OB10, a San Francisco-based developer of an electronic invoicing network, said on Tuesday that it has landed $13.6 million in new funding, including a $9.3 million investment from FF&P Private Equity. Several employees of the company, including Chairman David Newlands, also participated. The company said that it will use the new capital to expand its business in Europe, the U.S. and Asia. OB10 operates a business-to-business electronic invoicing network. Customers include Hewlett-Packard, General Motors, Sara Lee, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson and Kellogg's.
http://www.ob10.com
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/061024/20061024005439.html?.v=1

Mountain View-Based Skyrider Raises $12 Million in Third Round

Mountain View, Calif. -- Skyrider, a Mountain View-based developer of a new peer-to-peer networking platform, said on Tuesday that it has raised $12 million in its third round of funding, led by ComVentures. Previous investors Sequoia Capital and Charles River Venture Partners also participated the round, which increased the company's total backing to $20 million. Skyrider's platform allows businesses to promote the commercialization of P2P networks through advertising supported content distribution, and targeted marketing.
http://www.skyrider.com/about/pressOct24_2006.php

Palo Alto-Based Box.net Raises $1.5 Million in First Round of Funding

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Box.net, a Palo Alto-based provider of web-based file storage and sharing services, said that it has raised $1.5 million in its first round of funding from Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ). The company also said that it has now registered more than 500,000 users in its first seven months. Aaron Levie, the CEO of Box.net, said that the new capital will allow his company to expand its service and enter new markets. In addition to providing simple online storage, Box.net's platform allows users to upload, access, share and collaborate on their files within third-party applications and devices.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/061023/20061023006139.html?.v=1
http://www.box.net/

San Jose-Based Cisco Names Rebecca Jacoby as New CIO

San Jose, Calif. -- Cisco Systems, the San Jose-based network equipment giant, said on Tuesday that it has promoted Rebecca Jacoby to senior vice president and CIO. Jacoby was previously the company's vice president of customer service and operational systems. During her 11 year tenure with the company, she has held a variety of leadership positions, and was a charter member of Cisco's Business Process Operations Committee (BPOC), where she played a vital role in re-engineering several Cisco processes.
http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2006/corp_102406.html

Yahoo Seeks User-Generated Videos for Online Talent Show

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Hoping to generate traffic to its own video-sharing destination in the wake of rival Google's acquisition of YouTube, Yahoo on Monday announced the launch of an eight-week, $50,000 online video contest that will seek "the hottest original talent on the Internet." The Yahoo Talent Show, produced in collaboration with Embassy Row, is seeking users' original video clips, which may be submitted through the Nov. 27 contest deadline. Voting by users will take place from Nov. 13 through Dec. 4. The site will also feature a daily show hosted by TV personality Mayleen Ramey that will highlight a selection of the most interesting new submissions.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/061023/20061023005534.html?.v=1
http://talentshow.yahoo.com

Belgian Copyrights Society to Target Yahoo After MSN, Google

Mountain View, Calif. -- The Belgian copyrights organization that sued Mountain View-based Google to have references to Belgian newspapers removed from the search engine and Google News now is also in talks with Microsoft's MSN, and plans to target Sunnyvale-based Yahoo as well, the U.K.'s Register reported. "The law is the law," said Margaret Boribon, secretary general for Copiepresse. "We are producing protected works and the law in Europe says clearly that to re-use that content you have to ask for permission. We want every search engine, aggregator or re-user of our content to respect it and to ask for agreement and to pay a fair price." Copiepresse's ongoing case against Google will return to court next month.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/10/20/copiepresse_targets_yahoo
http://www.presscopyrights.be

Report: Mobile Internet More Popular with Europeans Than Americans

Reston, Va. -- Europeans are more likely than Americans to use their mobile phones to access the Internet, according to a new report from comScore. The firm said that  29% of European Internet users -- led by those in Germany and Italy -- regularly log on via their phones, compared with 19% of U.S. users. And while the mobile sites of major portals like Google, Yahoo and MSN capture about three-quarters of the U.S. market, in Europe these sites run neck-and-neck with sites set up by mobile carriers like Vodafone, O2 and T-Mobile
http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=1041

Bay Area Remains Dominant VC Market During Third Quarter

San Francisco -- The San Francisco Bay area remained the dominant market for venture capital investing during the third quarter, according to new figures released by San Francisco-based Dow Jones VentureOne and Ernst & Young. The area saw 207 VC deals worth a total of $2.45 billion during the period, a decline in the number of deals from a year ago but an 8% increase in capital. The local scene mimicked a national trend, which saw venture capital investing outpace the previous year's activity for the third straight quarter. All told, there were 611 deals worth $6.36 billion, increases of 2% and 5% over the same period a year ago. "This is the first time since 2001 that we have seen three consecutive quarters in which investments exceeded $6 billion, " said Joseph Muscat, the Americas director of the Ernst & Young Venture Capital Advisory Group. "Factors contributing to this trend include an improved liquidity environment based on the robust merger and acquisition market and the positive reaction of the capital markets to recent technology IPOs." Some of the largest local VC rounds went to Sunnyvale-based Cortina Systems ($132 million), San Francisco-based ProtoStar ($90 million) and Emeryville-based MobiTV ($70 million).
http://www.ventureone.com/
http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/061023/0175199.html

San Jose-Based Veraz Networks Files for $115 Million IPO

San Jose, Calif. -- Veraz Networks, a San Jose-based provider of Voice-over-IP equipment to telecom service providers, on Monday filed to raise up to $115 million in an initial public offering (IPO). The company, which plans to list its stock on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol, "VRAZ," hasn't yet disclosed other details of the offering, such as the expected price range of number of shares. A selling shareholder is expected to offer a portion of the shares. Credit Suisse Securities and Lehman Brothers will serve as joint book-running managers.
http://ipoportal.edgar-online.com/ipo/displayFundamentals.asp?cikid=724110&fnid=51991&IPO=1&coname=VERAZ+NETWORKS%2C+INC%2E
http://www.veraznetworks.com/item.asp?id=1562

San Jose-Based DeviceDM Raises $10 Million in First Round of Funding

San Jose, Calif. -- DeviceDM, a San Jose-based developer of virtualization technology that was founded in August, said that it has raised more than $10 million in its first round of funding. Investors included Storm Ventures, DFJ DragonFund China, Tim Draper, AsusTek Computer, iD Innovation and Harbinger Ventures, as well as angel investors affiliated with PC manufacturers such as Lenovo, Foxconn, Quanta and Compal. The company, currently in stealth mode, said that it is aiming to make PCs simpler to use through virtualization technologies. Among its five co-founders are Mark Lee (CEO), Thomas Deng (CTO) and Robert Ha (vice president of finance and corporate development, who together also founded OSA Technologies.
http://www.devicevm.com/home.html

San Francisco-Based Neocase Software Raises $6.5 Million in Third Round

San Francisco -- Neocase Software, a San Francisco-based developer of customer service software, said on Monday that it has raised $6.5 million in its third round of funding, led by Iris Capital. Caisse des Depots et Consignations (CDC) and Supporter Group also participated. The company said that it will use the new capital to support its global expansion, as well as to help it meet growing U.S. market demand. Neocase's software allows customer service agents to access expertise anywhere in a company or to collaborate with external partners to resolve cases. 
http://www.neocasesoftware.com/pr0015.html

Sony Names PlayStation 3 Launch Titles, Details Online Game Service

Foster City, Calif. -- Sony Computer Entertainment America, the Foster City-based arm of electronics giant Sony, has announced its roster of more than 20 launch titles for the PlayStation 3, which goes on sale in North America on Nov. 17. The company also detailed the online and network services that it will offer for the next-generation game console. Sony-developed PlayStation 3 titles available at launch will include "Resistance: Fall of Man," "NBA 07" and "Genji: Days of the Blade," while third-party titles will include "Marvel: Ultimate Alliance" (Activision), "Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion" (Bethesda Softworks), "Madden NFL 07" (Electronic Arts) and "Sonic the Hedgehog" (Sega). SCEA also announced that basic features of its online network for the PlayStation 3 will be offered for free. A navigation system called XMB (Xross Media Bar) will allow gamers to play multiplayer games across the network; communicate with other players via chat, voice or video; browse the web and shop online; store and view pictures and video; download and listen to music; and purchase game content.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/061019/sfth082.html?.v=53
http://us.playstation.com

YouTube Removes 30,000 Videos at Request of Japan Copyright Society

San Mateo, Calif. -- YouTube, the San Mateo-based video sharing site recently acquired by Google, has deleted close to 30,000 videos after a Japanese copyright society said that they had been posted without permission, the Associated Press reported. Among the items removed were clips from TV shows, music videos and movies from 23 Japanese companies. The Japan Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers said that it may ask YouTube to introduce a filter to prevent future uploading of copyrighted clips. The company already employs an audio fingerprinting technology that identifies low-quality versions of licensed clips. YouTube recently signed licensing deals with a number of major record labels for the rights to post their music and videos. The service was acquired earlier this month by Google for $1.65 billion. About 8.5 million of YouTube's 72.1 million visitors in August were from Japan.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/15808034.htm http://www.youtube.com 

Study: Internet Research Influences Most Consumer Electronics Purchases

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- About 77% of consumer electronics purchases are influenced by Internet research, according to a new study commissioned by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and Sunnyvale-based Yahoo. The study, conducted by Hall and Partners, explored the ways that consumers buy cell phones, computers, digital cameras, digital music players and televisions, and found that online research time directly correlated to product price. As the price of a product increased, so did the amount of time a consumer spent researching that product. The least amount of time spent researching was on cell phones at nine hours and the most was 15 hours on televisions. For those who purchased, the average amount of time spent researching online was 12 hours. About three-quarter of consumers said that comparing prices of the same product at different stores is easy to do online and two-thirds said that they preferred shopping online because of the wider variety of products.
http://www.ce.org/Press/CurrentNews/press_release_detail.asp?id=11166

Shares of Google Soar Following 70% Jump in Quarterly Profits

Mountain View, Calif. -- Shares of Mountain View-based Internet search giant Google rose nearly 8% on Friday after the company posted a 70% jump in quarterly profits. The company late Thursday reported net income of $733.4 million, with revenue almost doubling to $2.69 billion. The results were at the top end of Wall Street expectations. "Google right now seems to be running on all cylinders. They're executing phenomenally well," Jay Wong, a portfolio manager at Payden & Rygel Investment Management, told Reuters. The strong results reflect that Internet users have increasingly clicked on advertisements provided through Google's AdWorks network. The company has been able to squeeze more money out of each search query, helping to drive profit and establish dominance over Yahoo and Microsoft's MSN. CEO Eric Schmidt is now seeking to translate that success into online video, purchasing YouTube this week for $1.65 billion. Google's third quarter results were in sharp contrast to rival Yahoo, which earlier this week reported a 38% decline in profits.
http://investor.google.com/releases/2006Q3.html
http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=marketsNews&storyID=2006-10-19T212225Z_01_N19453511_RTRIDST_0_TECH-GOOGLE-EARNS-UPDATE-2.XML

Hercules Technology Growth Capital Raises $32.5 Million in Offering

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Hercules Technology Growth Capital, a Palo Alto-based specialty finance company, said on Friday that it has raised $32.5 million through a public offering. The firm, which provides debt and equity growth capital to technology and life science companies, sold 2.5 million shares in the offering, and will use the proceeds to reduce its credit borrowings and originate investments, as well as for general corporate purposes. Hercules also has office in the Boston; Boulder, Col.; and Chicago areas.
http://www.herculestech.com/hercules_news.asp?NewsType=1

San Mateo-Based Serena Software Completes Purchase of Pacific Edge

San Mateo, Calif. -- Serena Software, a San Mateo-based maker of software designed to help companies capitalize on change, said on Friday that it has completed its acquisition of Bellevue, Wash.-based Pacific Edge Software, a developer of project and portfolio management software. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Serena said that the acquisition will allow it to extend its offerings that allow customers to control the time, cost and resource impacts of continuous business and information technology change.
http://www.serenainternational.com/News/PR/sPR_10202006.asp

Kudelski Group Buys Control of S.F.-Based OpenTV for $132.3 Million

San Francisco -- OpenTV, a San Francisco-based developer of interactive TV software and services, said that Switzerland-based Kudelski Group, a developer of digital TV content protection technologies, has acquired voting control of the company from John Malone's Liberty Media in a stock deal valued at $132.3 million. As part of the deal, Liberty will pay OpenTV up to $19.7 million. Kudelski Group's companies include digital TV security software developer Nagravision, as well as Abilis, Quative, SmarDTV and SkiData. The company had previously worked with OpenTV to develop various digital TV services. OpenTV's software is used to power over 73 million digital TV set-top boxes deployed in 96 countries. Upon closing of the transaction, Kudelski will appoint Alan Guggenheim, currently the CEO of NagraStar -- a joint venture between Kudelski and EchoStar Communications -- as the CEO of OpenTV. The company will continue to operate independently and maintain its listing on the Nasdaq.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/061019/sfth045.html?.v=75
http://www.opentv.com

Logitech Acquires Mountain View-Based Slim Devices for $20 Million

Fremont, Calif. - Logitech, the Swiss manufacturer of computer peripherals with U.S. headquarters in Fremont, said that it has acquired Slim Devices, a Mountain View-based maker of Internet radios and home networking technology, for $20 million in cash. Founded in 2001, Slim Devices has developed products including the Squeezebox, a standalone radio that streams Internet radio stations over a broadband connection, and the Transporter, a home audio networking device. Logitech manufactures webcams, mice, keyboards, gaming controllers and audio peripherals like PC and MP3 player speakers and audio home networking devices.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/061018/20061018006053.html?.v=1
http://www.logitech.com
http://www.slimdevices.com

Twelve Inducted into Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame

San Francisco -- A dozen new members were inducted into the Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame during an event in San Francisco this week. Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of CEA, which created the Hall of Fame in 2000, lauded the new members for their efforts to improve the lifestyles of consumers. "These 12 individuals have contributed enormously to the growth of the consumer electronics industry. They are truly deserving of this honor," he said. New members include: Jack Doyle, the founding president of Pioneer America; Robert Galvin, the chairman of Motorola; George Heilmeier, leader of the team that created the first commercial liquid crystal display (LCD); Nick Holonyak, inventor of the light-emitting diode (LED); Howard Ladd, leader of Concord Electronics, Sanyo and Fisher; A.J. Richard, a top electronics and appliance retailer; John Roach, who built Tandy and Radio Shack into a retailing giant; Donald Bitzer, Robert Willson and Gene Slottow, who together invented the plasma display for television; and Andrew Grove and Gordon Moore, who, along with past CE Hall of Fame inductee Robert Noyce, founded Intel.
http://www.ce.org/Press/CurrentNews/press_release_detail.asp?id=11165