Silicon Valley Wire

Los Altos-Based FreeHand Systems Closes Second Round of Funding

Los Altos, Calif. -- FreeHand Systems, a Los Altos-based maker of a computer tablet for displaying and publishing digitally delivered sheet music, said on Friday that it has raised an undisclosed amount in its second round of funding from Vision Opportunity Master Fund. "With this additional capital, the company can continue the marketing and sales support required while FreeHand works toward its future goals and mainstream roll-out," said Kim Lorz, the company's CEO. FreeHand also operates a digital sheet music web site, offering more than 90,000 titles to download to its tablet.
http://www.freehandsystems.com/news/vision_2nd.html

San Francisco-Based Flixster Reportedly Raises Funds

San Francisco -- Flixster, a San Francisco-based online social network for movie fans, has raised around $2 million in a new round of venture capital financing from LightSpeed Ventures, TechCrunch reported. The site, which lets members rate and discuss movies, counted over 1 million unique users and 31 million page views in December. TechCrunch reported that there was heavy competition in the round, from firms including Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins, and added that there were rumors Hollywood studios also sought to invest in or possibly acquire the company. 
http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/01/31/flixster-closes-very-competitive-financing-round/
http://www.flixster.com

South Asian Pop Culture Multimedia Site Desi Hits Raises $1 Million

San Francisco -- Desi Hits, a San Francisco-based multimedia entertainment portal focused on South Asian pop culture, announced that it has raised $1 million in its first round of venture capital financing, led by Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Trident Capital. Desi Hits currently draws an average of 180,000 page views monthly, derived from 65 countries, for its mix of celebrity interviews, music videos, podcasts, blogs and other content. The funds will be used to accelerate the company's branding initiatives, enhance service offerings and add additional staff. The term "Desi" refers to people or products with origins in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/1/prweb501351.htm
http://www.desihits.com   

Palo Alto-Based HP to Remove Stock from Nasdaq, Remain on NYSE

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Hewlett-Packard, the Palo Alto-based technology giant, said on Friday that it will remove its stock from the Nasdaq Global Select Market, but continue to trade on the New York Stock Exchange. The company said that the move will reduce the costs of exchange listing fees and administrative burdens associated with a dual listing. HP said that it doesn't believe that withdrawing its listing will have any impact on the liquidity of its stock.
http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2007/070202b.html

Global Semiconductor Sales Hit Record $247.7 Billion in 2006

San Jose, Calif. -- Global sales of semiconductors reached a record $247.7 billion in 2006, an increase of 8.9% from the prior year, according to new statistics released on Friday by the San Jose-based Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA). Sales growth was largely driven by popular consumer products such as cell phones, MP3 players and HDTV sets. The SIA also said that favorable economic conditions in the major world markets contributed to the growth. "With generally healthy economic conditions in all of the world’s major semiconductor markets, we believe our forecast of 10% growth to $273.8 billion in worldwide sales in 2007 is aligned," said George Scalise, president of the SIA.
http://www.sia-online.org/pre_release.cfm?ID=426

Campbell-Based Brilliant Telecommunications Raises $7.1 Million in First Round

Campbell, Calif. -- Brilliant Telecommunications, a Campbell-based developer of network time protocol servers, said on Thursday that that it has secured $7.1 million in its first round of funding, led by ONSET Ventures. Other investors included Asset Management, Draper Associates, Draper Richards and Intellect Capital Ventures. Brilliant, which had initially closed the round in June, said that it will use the new financing to accelerate product development, streamline its operations and fund commercial deployments. Brilliant has developed a hardware-based technology that timestamps archived data, helping companies better comply with regulations such as Sarbanes Oxley.
http://www.brillianttelecom.com/pres3.html
http://www.powerhomebiz.com/News/022007/brilliant-telecommunications.htm

Santa Clara-Based Intevac Acquires Wyoming-Based DeltaNu

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Intevac, a Santa Clara-based supplier of magnetic media sputtering equipment for the hard disk drive industry, said on Thursday that it has acquired Wyoming-based DeltaNu, a maker of miniaturized, handheld Raman spectroscopy instruments. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. DeltaNu's instruments are used to identify chemicals in various laboratory and field applications, such as medical diagnostics, scientific research, forensics and industrial materials control Intevac said that it plans to create new products by combining DeltaNu's spectrometer designs with its own capabilities in near-infrared sensors. DeltaNu will be operated as a subsidiary of Intevac.
http://www.intevac.com/company/news/020107

Yahoo to Launch 100 Branded Entertainment Web Sites in 2007

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Yahoo has announced plans to launch 100 new web sites this year that will showcase various entertainment brands, primarily focused on video games, TV shows and movies. The company introduced its "Brand Universe" initiative to reporters this week at its Sunnyvale headquarters. Initial sites will focus on the Nintendo Wii; game titles "The Sims" and "Halo"; TV shows "Lost" and "The Office"; and the "Harry Potter" and "Transformers" franchises, with the rest to be announced by the end of February and launched by year's end, the Associated Press reported. Features on the company's Nintendo Wii site will include news and reviews, photos from Flickr, message boards and a buyer's guide.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070131/techbit_yahoo_branding.html?.v=2
http://wii.yahoo.com

Survey: Most U.S. Households Still Unaware of Pending Digital TV Transition

Washington, DC -- The majority of U.S. households that receive only over-the-air TV signals (61%) are still unaware that these analog transmissions will be shut off in February 2009, according to a survey conducted by research firm ICR Media for the Association of Public Television Stations (APTS). The survey found that only 20% of U.S. analog TV households were somewhat or very aware of the upcoming transition to digital TV signals, while another 10% had limited awareness. Furthermore, 53% had no idea when the analog shut-off date is scheduled to occur. The APTS plans to lobby Congress for more funding to better inform consumers about the switch.
http://www.apts.org/news/DTVSURVEY.cfm

Bay Area Companies Post Low-Budget Super Bowl Ads on YouTube

Mountain View, Calif. -- Hoping to capitalize on the fervor surrounding Super Bowl XLI but unwilling and unable to shell out millions of dollars for network TV commercials, several Bay Area tech companies have decided to shoot their own low-budget ads and post them on YouTube, the video sharing site owned by Mountain View-based Google. The companies, working loosely as a group, include Mountain View-based meebo, San Francisco-based Meez, Mountain View-based Plaxo, San Mateo-based RockYou.com and San Francisco-based Technorati, as well as Florida-based Multiply. With marketing budgets a fraction of their bubble-era predecessors, the companies used handheld video cameras to shoot the ads, then posted them on the web for free. For most, the issue came down to spending a reported $2.6 million for one 30 second Super Bowl ad, or paying salaries, rent and utilities. "All told, I think we spent less than thirty bucks on our ad," said Jia Shen, the founder and CEO, RockYou.com. The ads can be viewed at the link below.
http://www.youtube.com/user/SuperDotComAdsXLI

Mountain View-Based Google Nearly Triples Quarterly Profit

Mountain View, Calif. -- In what has become a quarterly ritual, Mountain View-based Google on Wednesday again surpassed analyst expectations by posting a fourth quarter profit that nearly tripled its figure from a year ago. Buoyed by improved market share in its web search and online advertising programs, the company said that it recorded net income of $1.03 billion, up from $372.2 million during the same period in 2005. Its earnings per share of $3.18 easily beat consensus Wall Street estimates of $2.92, according to a survey conducted by Thomson Financial. Google has now topped analysts' expectations in nine of its 10 quarters as a public company.  Google also said that its revenue was $3.2 billion, up 67%.
http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/pressrel/revenues_q406.html

San Jose-Based Tessera Technologies to Acquire Eyesquad

San Jose, Calif. -- Tessera Technologies, a San Jose-based developer of miniaturization technologies for the electronics industry, said on Wednesday that it will pay $18 million in cash to acquire Eyesquad, an Israeli developer of digital auto-focus and optical zoom technologies for camera phones and other electronic products that integrate cameras. Bruce McWilliams, Tessera's chairman and CEO, said that the acquisition will allow his company to continue expanding through investments in the "rapidly growing" consumer optics market. The company said that it is planning to license its auto-focus and optical zoom technology "broadly," deriving revenue from licensing fees, royalties and product development services.
http://www.tessera.com/
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/070131/20070131005415.html?.v=1

Michael Dell Takes Over as CEO of Dell; Kevin Rollins Resigns

Round Rock, Texas -- Computer giant Dell, a major rival of Palo Alto-based Hewlett-Packard, said on Wednesday that founder Michael Dell will assume the role of CEO, replacing Kevin Rollins,. who has resigned. Dell also will retain his duties as chairman of the board. "There is no better person in the world to run Dell at this time than the man who created" the company, said Samuel Nunn, the presiding director of Dell's board. Dell founded the company in 1984 and previously served as its CEO until 2004. The move comes as Dell said that its fourth quarter financial results will fall below Wall Street estimates for both revenue and earnings per share.
http://www.dell.com
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/070131/20070131006178.html?.v=1

San Francisco-Based Vizu Raises $2.9 Million in New Funding

San Francisco -- Vizu, a San Francisco-based developer of online polling and market research services, said on Wednesday that it has secured $2.9 million in a new round of funding, led by Draper Fisher Jurvetson's $1.5 million investment. The company said that it will use the capital to further develop and market its core Vizu Answers service, which allows companies to conduct do-it-yourself opninion polling and market research. Vizu was launched in 2005, backed by WR Hambrecht, Amicus and angel investors.
http://answers.vizu.com/press-release/20070131.htm

Bill Would Help Social Networks Block Sex Offender Emails, IM Names

Washington, DC -- New legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives could make it harder for sex offenders to stalk their pray over the Internet. The bill, sponsored by North Dakota Democrat Earl Pomeroy, would allow social networking sites to ban the email addresses and IM screen names of registered sex offenders, CNET News.com reported. The Keeping the Internet Devoid of Sexual Predators (KIDS) Act would require convicted sex offenders to provide the government with their email addresses and screen names, in addition to their home addresses, license plate numbers, DNA samples and fingerprints. News.com said that a similar bill has been drafted in the Senate by aides to Senators Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.).
http://news.com.com/Proposal+requires+sex+offenders+to+list+e-mail%2C+IM/2100-1028_3-6154493.html
http://www.pomeroy.house.gov   

Global Imaging Acquires Livermore-Based Astro Business Technologies

Livermore, Calif. -- Continuing its long run of acquisitions, Global Imaging Systems, a Florida-based retailer of office technology products, said that it has bought Astro Business Technologies, a Livermore-based supplier of Konica Minolta, Muratec and Panasonic office technology products. Astro has annual revenue of about $11 million. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Global Imaging currently has operations in 32 states and the District of Columbia
http://www.global-imaging.com/PressRoom/PressRoomDisplay.asp?p1=1640&p2=Y&E=N

Survey: One-Third of Frequent YouTube Users Watching Less TV

Mountain View, Calif. -- A third of frequent visitors to the YouTube video-sharing site say they watch less TV as a result of their online video habit, according to a recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive. Forty-two percent of U.S. online adults say that they have watched a video on YouTube, with 14% saying that they visit the site frequently. Of these, about a third say that they are watching less TV as a result of the time they spend on the site. "[YouTube] has really emerged as a major force in, and problem for, the traditional entertainment industry," said Aongus Burke, Harris' senior research manager. "Not only is YouTube using a lot of their own content to steal the eyeballs they want the most, the site has provided a launching pad to wholly new forms of user-generated video entertainment that are gaining popularity quickly."
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070129/nym197.html?.v=64
http://www.harrisinteractive.com

Report: Super Bowl Advertisers Can Expect Surge in Web Traffic

New York -- With the Super Bowl set for Sunday, advertisers can expect huge bumps in their online traffic, according to a report from Nielsen//NetRatings. The firm said that Super Bowl advertisers last year saw a 55% increase in their web traffic on the day after the game. Fidelity Investments was the fastest growing web site, with traffic increasing 203%, with Overstock.com and Expedia following closely behind. Notable Super Bowl advertisers from the tech sector this year will include GPS device maker Garmin, Hewlett-Packard, Sprint, SalesGenie and Go Daddy.
http://www.superbowl-ads.com/2007/index.html
http://www.nielsen.com/media/pr_070131.html

Campbell-Based Anchor Bay Technologies Lands $10 Million in Funding

Campbell, Calif. -- Anchor Bay Technologies, a Campbell-based developer of digital semiconductor and system-level technologies used in digital TVs and high-definition video products, said that it has raised $10 million in a new round of funding, led by new investor Atlantic Quantum. Previous investors Storm Ventures and Venrock Associates also participated. "This new financing allows us to meet our working capital needs as we expand our business," said Craig Soderquist, the CEO at Anchor Bay. Anchor Bay Technologies was started by the former founding team of home theater technology firm DVDO Inc. In 2003, Anchor Bay reacquired the DVDO brand and product line from Silicon Image, and more recently has scored design wins from companies such as Denon and Marantz.
http://www.anchorbaytech.com

San Jose-Based Cypress to Sell Silicon Valley Technology Center

San Jose, Calif. -- Cypress Semiconductor, a San Jose-based maker of semiconductor products, said on Tuesday that it will sell its Silicon Valley Technology Center (SVTC) business to private equity firms Oak Hill Capital Partners and Tallwood Venture Capital for approximately $53 million in cash. The deal is expected to close by early March. As part of the sale, Cypress said that it will transfer all of the business's equipment, process technologies and personnel to the buyer. SVTC allows clients to more cost-effectively develop their silicon-based technologies by giving them access to its fab environment and semiconductor toolset. Cypress began selling access to its San Jose R&D foundry in 2000 and formally introduced it as SVTC in 2004. T.J. Rodgers, the president and CEO of Cypress, said that the company's recent shift in focus to a new mix of programmable products made the business expendable. Cypress will remain a customer of SVTC. .
http://www.cypress.com/portal/server.pt?space=CommunityPage&control=SetCommunity&CommunityID=208&PageID=218&DirectoryID=816853

Redwood City-Based Obopay Acquires Seattle-Based BillMonk

Redwood City, Calif. -- Obopay, a Redwood City-based provider of mobile payment services, said on Tuesday that it has acquired Seattle-based BillMonk, a developer of "social money" services designed to help friends, roommates, family members and co-workers more easily share expenses. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. In connection with the acquisition, BillMonk said that it is introducing a new payment method that allows users to settle up instantly using Obopay's mobile payments service. The companies said that they plan to unveil new features to both services in the months ahead.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070130/sftu129.html?.v=60
https://www.obopay.com/consumer/Corporate.do?target=PressReleasePage

Mountain View-Based Zing Systems Raises $13 Million in New Funding Round

Mountain View, Calif. -- Zing Systems, a Mountain View-based developer of portable digital audio and entertainment technology, said on Tuesday that it has raised $13 million in a new round of funding led by IDG Ventures Boston. Redpoint Ventures, which led the company's previous financing rounds, and Camp Ventures also participated. Zing is working in partnership with companies such as Sirius Satellite Radio and SanDisk to create a new line of portable entertainment players that will be able to wirelessly download content without the need for a PC. The first products based on the company's technology engine, a line of wearable satellite radio players, debuted last fall.
http://www.zing.net/press_013007.html

Report: U.S. Venture Capital Fundraising Slows in Fourth Quarter

San Francisco -- During the fourth quarter, U.S. venture capital firms raised their lowest amount of VC since the first quarter of 2005, according to new figures from Dow Jones VentureOne. Twenty-one funds raised $4.01 billion during the quarter, a decline of 51% in capital from the same period in 2005. Despite the slowdown, the firms raised virtually the same amount in 2006 as they did the prior year, only in about 30% fewer funds. For the past two years, in fact, VentureOne said that the median fund size has topped $200 million, the highest medians on record. "It remains to be seen whether the slowdown in 4Q will prove to be a sign of a curtailment of that trend, or just a short-term pause for venture capital funds," said Stephen Harmston, the director of global research for VentureOne. "What is true is that venture capital funds in 2005 and 2006 have kept a very close pace with the amount of investment that is occurring."
http://www.ventureone.com/

Cupertino-Based Symantec to Pay $830 Million for Utah-Based Altiris

Cupertino, Calif. -- Symantec, the Cupertino-based maker of Internet security software, said on Monday that it has agreed to pay $830 million in cash to acquire Altiris, a Utah-based maker of IT management software for businesses. Symantec said that the deal, expected to close by mid-year, will make it better able to help clients manage and enforce security policies at network endpoints,  as well as protect against threats and repair and service assets. Altiris' software is aimed at reducing the cost and complexity of tracking and maintaining an organization's corporate IT assets, including desktops, laptops, servers and handheld devices.
http://www.symantec.com/about/news/release/article.jsp?prid=20070129_02

MDS to Acquire Sunnyvale-Based Molecular Devices for $615 Million

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- MDS, a Toronto-based life sciences firm, said on Monday that it will acquire Sunnyvale-based Molecular Devices Corp., a maker of measurement tools for high content screening, cellular analysis and biochemical testing, for $615 million in cash. MDS said that it will launch a $35.50 a share cash tender offer for Molecular's stock. The deal has been approved by the boards of both companies. Molecular Devices has an installed base of 100,000 instruments, and markets its products globally through its sales and marketing offices in the U.S., England, Germany, South Korea, China, Japan, Australia and Brazil. The company supplies systems, reagents and software to researchers to accelerate the pace of drug discovery and development. As a result of the acquisition, MDS said that it will create a new business unit that will combine the Molecular Devices and MDS Sciex businesses. The combined organization will have more than 1,100 employees with over 250 scientists and engineers.
http://newsreleases.mdsinc.com/ireye/ir_site.zhtml?ticker=MDS.TO&script=410&layout=6&item

Santa Clara-Based Silver Peak Systems Raises $17 Million in Third Round

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Silver Peak Systems, a Santa Clara-based maker of wide area network (WAN) acceleration appliances, said on Monday that it has landed $17 million in its third round of funding, led by Artis Capital Management. Previous investors Benchmark Capital, Duff Ackerman and Goodrich, Greylock Partners and Pinnacle Ventures also participated in the round, which raised the company's total funding to $42 million. Silver Peak, which said that its products can improve disaster recovery in data centers and reduce "server sprawl" in branch and remote offices, said that it will use a portion of the new capital to grow its sales and support infrastructure.
http://www.silver-peak.com/News/01242007_Series_C_funding.htm id=955000

Santa Clara-Based Athena Design Systems Raises $4 Million in Second Round

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Athena Design Systems, a Santa Clara-based electronic design automation (EDA) start-up, said on Monday that it has secured an additional $4 million in its second round of funding. New investors PhillipCapital and NTT Finance joined previous investors Woodside Fund, Asset Management Co. and Draper Richards in the round, which increased the company's total backing to $8.2 million since its founding in 2004. Athena said that it will use the new capital to roll out its first products, which are based on optimization technology for designing complex chips.
http://www.athenadesign.com/
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/070129/20070129005113.html?.v=1

San Francisco-Based Pay By Touch Names E-Loan Veteran as CMO

San Francisco -- Pay By Touch, a San Francisco-based developer of biometric authentication and payment technologies, on Monday named Catherine Muriel as its CMO. Muriel has more than 15 years of experience in consumer marketing, most recently as the CMO of online consumer lender E-Loan. Earlier in her career, she was the CMO of Upromise, and served in executive roles at AXA Financial, Prudential Financial and Citigroup's credit card division.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070129/sfm116.html?.v=54
http://www.paybytouch.com

Survey: Google is Top Global Brand, Besting Apple, YouTube, Wikipedia

Mountain View, Calif. -- For the second straight year, Google has been named the brand with the most global impact, according to a new survey by BrandChannel, Google beat out Apple, YouTube, Wikipedia and Starbucks. The survey asked 3,625 branding professionals and students the question, "Which brand had the most impact our lives in 2006?" In a separate survey of the top brands in the U.S. and Canada, Apple took the top spot, followed by YouTube, Google, Starbucks and Wikipedia.
http://www.brandchannel.com/start1.asp?fa_id=352