Silicon Valley Wire

Santa Clara-Based PlaySpan Raises $16.8 Million in Second Round

Santa Clara, Calif. -- PlaySpan, a Santa Clara-based developer of in-game search, commerce and micropayment technologies, said on Tuesday that it has raised $16.8 million in its second round of funding from Easton Capital Group, Menlo Ventures, Novel TMT Ventures, STIC and other undisclosed investors. The company, which last summer acquired alternative payment firm PayByCash, now has raised $24 million since its inception. PlaySpan said that it will use the proceeds to expand into Europe and Asia, as well as to grow its global publisher and user-base. "Online games publishers and social media application developers are looking for new sources of revenue beyond traditional advertising and subscriptions. We are enabling a new business model in the form of micro-transactions for users that prefer the pay-as-you-go model," said Karl Mehta, the founder and CEO of PlaySpan.
http://www.playspan.com
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20081125005273/en

Palo Alto-Based FanSnap Lands $5.5 Million in New Funding

Palo Alto, Calif. -- FanSnap, the Palo Alto-based developer of a search engine for live event tickets, has raised $5.5 million in its second round of funding, led by General Catalyst Partners. The company said that it will use the proceeds to complete the build-out of its search engine and team, as it continues to add new ticketing providers. FanSnap, which was founded last year, previously had raised $5 million in a separate round, as well. Its service, currently is in beta testing, displays search results from 56 ticketing providers. "Our ultimate goal is to work with every ticketing provider in the U.S." said CEO Mike Janes, who previously served as the CMO of StubHub.
http://www.fansnap.com/
http://www.fansnap.com/press-releases/2008-nov-24/fansnap-secures-funding

Battery Ventures Leads $100M Funding Round for Pocket Communications

Menlo Park, Calif. -- Battery Ventures, a technology-focused venture capital with dual headquarters in Menlo Park and Massachusetts, said on Tuesday that it has led a new $100 million funding round in Texas-based Pocket Communications, a Texas-based provider of flat rate, unlimited use wireless voice and data services. Pocket, which currently operates in Texas, plans to will use the financing to establish and launch Pocket Northeast, which will provide wireless services in several Northeast U.S. markets. Other investors included CEO Paul Posner and Charles River Ventures.
http://www.battery.com/news/081125.html
http://www.pocket.com

Belmont-Based Sezmi Updates Funding Figures; Now Has Raised $33M

Belmont, Calif. -- Sezmi, the Belmont-based developer of a hybrid television platform that the company calls an alterative to satellite and cable, on Tuesday updated a recent company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by saing that it now has raised $33 million in a new round of funding. The company said that it had raised $27.7 million in a filing earlier this month. Advanced Equities was a new investor in the latest round, which also included participation from previous investors Morgenthaler Ventures, Omni Capital Group, TD Fund and Legend Ventures. "This round of funding enables us to put the final touches on product development and testing, and bring the Sezmi service to market," said Buno Pati, the company's co-founder and CEO. Sezmi's "personal" TV platform combines traditional TV content, movies and Internet video in a set-top-box format. The product is expected to be commercially available early next year.
http://www.sezmi.com/
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20081125006087/en

YouTube Moving to Widescreen 16:9 Video Format

San Bruno, Calif. -- YouTube, the San Bruno-based online video site owned by Google, announced on Tuesday that it will expand the size of the videos displayed on its site into a 16:9 widescreen format. "This new, wider player is in a widescreen aspect ratio, which we hope will provide you with a cleaner, more powerful viewing experience," the company said in a blog posting. The company said that it made the change largely as a result of user feedback.  
http://www.youtube.com/blog?entry=0i22UDAOfj8 

Belmont-Based Sezmi Raises $27.7 Million, Cuts 20 Jobs

Belmont, Calif. -- Sezmi, the Belmont-based developer of a hybrid television platform that the company calls an alterative to satellite and cable, has raised $27.7 million of a planned $51.5 million third round of funding, and also cut about 20 employees, or one-fifth of its staff, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Investors included Morgenthaler Ventures, OmniCapital Group and Advanced Equities Funds. A company spokesman told The Wall Street Journal that the job cuts were "a result of the tumultuous economic environment." The company -- formerly known as Building B -- said that it plans to officially launch with broadband service providers and national retailers in early 2009. Its service combines digital over-the-air local broadcasts, broadband video and channels beamed to a set-top by local TV stations over unused portions of the broadcast spectrum. Sezmi also raised $17.5 million in August 2007 from Morgenthaler Ventures, OmniCapital, Index Ventures and private investors.
http://www.sezmi.com/
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1372029/999999999708045249/9999999997-08-045249-index.htm
http://blogs.wsj.com/biztech/2008/11/24/burn-rate-sezmi-gets-funding-cuts-staff/

Report: Facebook Tried to Buy Twitter for $500M in Stock

 Palo Alto, Calif. -- Palo Alto-based Facebook recently ended serious negotiations to acquire the San Francisco-based Twitter microblogging service for $500 million in stock, All Things D reported. The deal apparently collapsed over the price, as well as a desire by Twitter's management and investors to further build its business and revenue. "It's more about timing," one person familiar with Twitter's motivations told All Things D. "There is a strong feeling that there is still an opportunity -- even with the economic downturn -- to blow this thing out." Launched in 2006, Twitter counts six million registered users, up 600% over the past year. The company has raised $20 million to date, and was recently valued at $98 million.
http://www.twitter.com 
http://www.facebook.com 
http://kara.allthingsd.com/20081124/when-twitter-met-facebook-the-acquisition-deal-that-fail-whaled/

Yahoo Sells Euro Shopping Site Kelkoo to Private Equity Firm

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Yahoo has sold, Kelkoo, the Sunnyvale-based company's comparison shopping site for the European market, to U.K. private equity firm Jamplant, TechCrunch reported. Citing unnamed sources, the web site reported that Yahoo received than $126 million for the company, which it acquired in 2004 for $576 million. Kelkoo was created in 2000 through the merger of Zoomit, Dondecomprar and Shopgenie. It now operates in 10 European countries and is the third-largest e-commerce site in Europe, behind Amazon and eBay.
http://www.kelkoo.com
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/11/21/yahoo-finally-sells-kelkoo-and-brings-cash-in/

NFL to Test Digital 3D Broadcast of Oakland Raiders Game

Oakland -- The National Football League (NFL) announced on Monday that it will provide the first live, digital 3D broadcast of a pro football game on Dec. 4 to audiences at theaters in three cities. The game between the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders will be shot and transmitted by 3ality Digital, and produced and screened by RealD in theaters in Boston, Hollywood and New York. "Just as high-definition broadcasts have enhanced the home viewing experience in recent years, digital 3D broadcasts will set a new broadcast standard in the months and years to come," the league and its partners said in a statement.
http://www.3alitydigital.com 
http://www.reald.com
http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/11-24-2008/0004931511&EDATE=

Mountain View-Based Goodmail Raises $20 Million in New Funding

Mountain View, Calif. -- Goodmail Systems, a Mountain View-based developer of technology designed to let consumers more easily identify authentic email messages from legitimate commercial and nonprofit senders, said on Friday that it has raised $20 million in a new round of funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners. DCM, Emergence Capital Partners and Softbank Capital also participated in the round. Goodmail's core CertifiedEmail service, known for its blue-ribbon envelope icon, is designed to alert recipients that emails are legitimate and safe to open. The service in September certified more than 3 billion messages, a 30-fold increase from the prior year. Goodmail said that it will use the new funding to enhance the service so that non-spam messages with multimedia and active content can also be delivered and opened with complete security.
http://www.goodmailsystems.com
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20081121005383/en

IBM Team to Develop Computers that Simulate Human Brain

San Jose, Calif. -- Computer giant IBM said that its San Jose-based research arm will team with five universities to create computing systems capable of simulating and emulating the human brain. The IBM team -- which includes researchers from Stanford University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Cornell University, Columbia University Medical Center and the University of California-Merced -- has been awarded $4.9 million in funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for the first phase of the project, known as Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics (SyNAPSE). The goal is to create computers that can integrate information from a variety of sources, deal with ambiguity, learn over time and carry out pattern recognition to solve difficult problems. "We believe that our cognitive computing initiative will help shape the future of computing in a significant way, bringing to bear new technologies that we haven’t even begun to imagine," said Josephine Cheng, the vice president of IBM's Almaden Research Center in San Jose. IBM said that its long-term goal is to build low-power, compact computers that approach mammalian-scale intelligence.
http://www.ibm.com/research
http://ibmresearchnews.blogspot.com
http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/26123.wss 

Sunnyvale-Based Aprius Raises $20 Million in Second Round

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Aprius, a Sunnyvale-based start-up focused on high-speed computer interconnects, said that it has raised $20 million in its second round of funding, led by new investor Menlo Ventures. Previous investors also participated in the round, which the company will use to ramp the development of its family of interconnect appliances targeted at data centers and high-performance computing applications. "Our goal is to enable data managers to pool and share server resources across many servers and racks of servers," said Varun Nagaraj, the CEO of Aprius. The company, founded in 2006 by three former Intel employees, landed $11 million in its first round in May 2007.
http://www.aprius.com
http://www.aprius.com/newsroom/press/menlo_ventures_20080904.php

S.F.-Based Real Girls Media Lands Funding from Meredith Corp.

San Francisco -- Real Girls Media (RGM), a San Francisco-based online publisher of content targeting young women, said that it has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Iowa-based Meredith Corp., as part of a larger deal between the two companies. Under the agreement, RGM also will combine its inventory and sales forces with those of Meredith, whose network of sites now will count 15 million monthly visitors. Meredith combines national brands like Better Homes and Gardens, Ladies' Home Journal and American Baby with local television brands in fast-growing markets. Founded in 2006, Real Girls Media has developed a network of sites including DivineCaroline.com and other branded sites focused on women.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/081119/aqw536.html?.v=27 
http://www.meredith.com 
http://www.realgirlsmedia.com 

Mountain View-Based Google to Shutter "Lively" Virtual World

Mountain View, Calif. -- Mountain View-based Google has decided to shutter its Lively online virtual world at the end of this year, saying that it wants to ensure that "we prioritize our resources and focus more on our core search, ads and apps business." Lively was launched as a Google Labs project in July because the company said it "wanted users to be able to interact with their friends and express themselves online in new ways." The company is suggesting that users take videos and screenshots of their virtual creations within Lively before they become inaccessible at the end of December.
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/lively-no-more.html 
http://www.lively.com  

Apple Adds Studio-Backed Copy-Protection to MacBook Laptops

Cupertino, Calif. -- In a move causing anger among some customers, Cupertino-based Apple has added studio-backed copy-protection technology to its line of MacBook laptops, preventing movies purchased from its iTunes Store from playing on non-approved external monitors, according to published reports. The HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection) technology is intended to prevent users from transferring media content between devices that do not have locks in place to protect against unauthorized copying. The move means that MacBook owners wanting to watch movies purchased from iTunes by plugging a cable from their laptops into their TVs may be out of luck.
http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2008/11/17/apple-brings-hdcp-to-a-new-aluminum-macbook-near-you
http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/11/apple-adds-copy.html 
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=8472731

Santa Clara-Based Intevac to Cut 15% of Workforce

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Looking to reduce its expenses by $10-$12 million a year, Santa Clara-based Intevac, which makes imaging products and equipment for the hard disk drive and semiconductor industries, said on Thursday that it will cut 15% of its staff -- approximately 66 employees -- by year's end. "Our reduction in workforce today is very difficult, but necessary, considering the global business environment," said Kevin Fairbairn, the company's president and CEO. The company said that the move will help it to reduce its breakeven level, while still bringing new products to market in 2009. http://www.intevac.com http://www.intevac.com/company/news/112008

Report: Spurned Yahoo Continuing Talks to Buy AOL

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- With its hopes for a takeover by Microsoft all but evaporated, Sunnyvale-based Yahoo continues to talk with media giant Time Warner about acquiring at least a portion of AOL, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. Citing two people familiar with the situation, the news service reported that executives from both sides continue to negotiate over terms of the potential deal, in which Yahoo would take over AOL's advertising business in exchange for a stake in the combined company. One analyst told Bloomberg that the companies would need to cut as many as 3,000 employees for the deal to pay off. On Wednesday, just a day after Jerry Yang announced his plans to resign as Yahoo's CEO,  Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said that his company still is no longer interested in acquiring Yahoo, but remains open to a search partnership. Yang's downfall as CEO came in large part to his rejection of Microsoft's $33-a-sahre takeover offer last spring. Since then, the company's shares have lost more than two-thirds of their value.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aHiIiNff84mE&refer=news

San Mateo-Based Quantance Raises $12 Million in Second Round

San Mateo, Calif. -- Quantance, a San Mateo-based semiconductor startup, said that it has raised $12 million in its second round of funding, allowing it to commercialize its technology for 3G wireless devices. New investor TD Fund led the round, which also included participation from new investor DOCOMO Capital and previous investors Granite Ventures and InterWest Partners. Quantance's technology is designed to let users send data from wireless phones or data cards up to three times faster than current speeds, and supports coverage in areas where service hasn't been available in the past. "The real power of our technology lies in the fact that it improves the overall user experience by offering more bits of throughput, more bars of coverage, and more battery life for today’s wireless devices," said Vikas Vinayak, the of Quantance.
http://www.quantance.com
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/081119/aqw008.html?.v=75

Novato-Based Sonic Solutions Acquires CinemaNow

Novato, Calif. -- Sonic Solutions, the Novato-based developer of digital media software such as Roxio and AuthorScript, said that it has acquired CinemaNow, an online video-on-demand service offering over 6,000 movie, TV show and music video titles. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Founded in 1999, Marina del Rey-based CinemaNow has received more than $40 million in funding from backers including film studio Lionsgate, EchoStar, Transcosmos, Cisco and Menlo Ventures. The company provides its video-on-demand service to partners such as Dell, HP, Samsung, TiVo, DivX and Archos. The companies had recently collaborated on a system that would combine CinemaNow's service with Sonic's Qflix DVD drives.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/081119/aqw571.html?.v=1 
http://www.sonic.com 
http://www.cinemanow.com

San Jose-Based Finjan Raises $22 Million in New Funding Round

San Jose, Calif. -- Finjan, a San Jose-based maker of web security appliances that combine productivity, liability and bandwidth control tools, said on Wednesday that it has raised $22 million in a new round of funding led by HarbourVest Partners. Benchmark Capital, Israel Seed Partners, Benhamou Global Ventures and Cisco also participated in the round, which the company will use to expand its sales and marketing infrastructure and accelerate its growth in the secure web gateway market. "We are excited to close this investment round now, especially considering the current economic downturn," said John Vigouroux, the company's president and CEO. Finjan's technology is designed to inspect inbound and outbound communications to prevent malicious code from infiltrating networks , as well as prevent leakage of confidential data.
http://www.finjan.com
http://www.finjan.com/Pressrelease.aspx?id=2096&PressLan=1819&lan=3

Petaluma-Based Raydiance Secures $20 Million in Funding

Petaluma, Calif. -- Raydiance, a Petaluma-based developer of technology that harnesses the power of ultrafast lasers, said on Wednesday that it has raised $20 million in its fourth round of funding, led by Greenstreet Partners. Previous investor Draper Fisher Jurvetson also participated in the round, which will allow the company to scale its infrastructure, further develop its technology and address larger commercial markets. Raydiance, led by former AOL CEO Barry Schuler, previously has raised more than $25 million in venture capital and $10 million in government funded research and development contracts, which enabled the launch of its first commercial product in 2007. It plans to raise another $5 million from an additional investor, as well. The company's technology platform -- which integrates photonics, computing and fiber optics -- has been used by clients to develop applications in ophthalmology, dermatology, gene transfection, surgery and homeland security and defense.
http://www.Raydiance-Inc.com
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/081119/20081118006774.html?.v=1

Microsoft: Still Not Interested in Yahoo, but Open to Search Deal

Bellevue, Wash. -- Just a day after Jerry Yang announced his plans to resign as the CEO of Sunnyvale-based Yahoo, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said on Wednesday that his company still is no longer interested in acquiring Yahoo, but remains open to a search partnership, the Associated Press reported. "Let me be clear," Ballmer said at Microsoft's annual shareholder meeting, "We are done with all acquisition discussions with Yahoo." Ballmer added that, while Microsoft is "very open" to a search deal with Yahoo, the companies are not currently in talks on such an arrangement. Yang's downfall as CEO came in large part to his rejection of Microsoft's $33-a-sahre takeover offer last spring. Yahoo's shares fell 21% on Wednesday to close at $9.14.
http://news.wired.com/dynamic/stories/M/MICROSOFT_YAHOO?SITE=WIRE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2008-11-19-11-58-48

San Bruno-Based Apptera Lands $10.5 Million in Funding

San Bruno, Calif. -- Apptera, the San Bruno-based developer of a voice and visual mobile ad network, said on Wednesday that it has raised $10.5 million in a new round of funding, co-led by previous investors Lightspeed Venture Partners, Alloy Ventures and Walden International. The company said that it will use the proceeds to fuel the growth of its flagship MobileAd Xchange network, which currently serves millions of ads a month through partnerships with publishers such as AT&T and AOL. Apptera also has named former Yahoo sales executive David Karnstedt to its board of directors.
http://www.apptera.com
http://www.apptera.com/apptera-secures-additional-10.5m-funding-appoints-former-yahoo-senior-vice-president-of-sales-to-boa.html

Yahoo, Telemundo Agree to Terminate Joint Venture

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Yahoo and NBC Universal's Spanish-language network, Telemundo, have agreed to terminate their joint venture web site by year's end, Mediaweek reported. "After three successful years building Telemundo's digital identity with Yahoo and evangelizing digital media, we are ready for the next step," Peter Blacker, an executive vice president at Telemundo, told Mediaweek. Sunnyvale-based Yahoo, whose co-branded site had been known as Yahoo Telemundo, plans to rebrand its U.S. Hispanic and Latin-American site as Yahoo en Espanol. Telemundo, meanwhile, has partnered with Microsoft to help power its new standalone site.
http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3i39f08ab5c0c81e8dbfdc4484e919d9eb http://telemundo.yahoo.com 

DivX Sues Yahoo for Breach of Advertising Contract

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- DivX, a San Diego-based developer of video compression technology, has filed suit against Sunnyvale-based Yahoo alleging breach of an ad deal between the companies, Reuters reported. DivX said that Yahoo now wants to end a two-year deal struck in September 2007, despite the fact that the company has fulfilled its obligations under the agreement. DivX added that Yahoo's termination of the deal will hurt its bottom line for fiscal 2008 and 2009. "Yahoo is disappointed with DivX's decision to pursue legal action rather than renegotiate this agreement," a Yahoo company spokesman told Reuters. "We intend to vigorously defend ourselves in court, but will reserve further comment until we've had an opportunity to review the suit."
http://tech.yahoo.com/news/nm/20081118/tc_nm/us_divx_1 
http://www.divx.com 

Forecast: Semiconductor Sales to Decline for First Time Since '01

San Jose, Calif. -- Global sales of semiconductors are expected to decline next year for the first time since 2001, according to a new forecast from the San Jose-based Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA). The organization is projecting that 2009 sales will decline by 5.6% to $246.7 billion before resuming growth in 2010. "The current global economic turmoil is clearly having a significant impact on semiconductor sales," said George Scalise, president of the SIA. "The fortunes of the semiconductor industry are increasingly tied to consumer spending on electronic products. Consumer purchases now drive well over half of worldwide semiconductor sales."
http://www.sia-online.org/cs/papers_publications/press_release_detail?pressrelease.id=1516

Mountain View-Based Google to Host 10 Million LIFE Magazine Photos

Mountain View, Calif. -- Media giant Time Warner said that it has partnered with Mountain View-based Google to develop a hosted image service that will provide access to the photo archive of LIFE magazine, which includes more than 10 million images. The companies said that the images -- 97% of which never have been seen by the public -- will be scanned and available on Google Image Search free for personal and research purposes. Time will retain copyright and ownership rights to all of the photos.
http://images.google.com/hosted/life
http://news.prnewswire.com/ViewContent.aspx?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/11-18-2008/0004928150&EDATE=

Milpitas-Based KLA-Tencor to Cut 15% of Workforce

Milpitas, Calif. -- Responding to poor market conditions, KLA-Tencor, a Milpitas-based supplier of inspection and metrology systems to the semiconductor industry, on Tuesday announced plans to cut 15% of its global workforce -- around 900 employees -- by the end of June. The layoffs are just one part of a larger plan the company is employing to reduce its quarterly operating expense run rate to $165-170 million by the end of fiscal 2009. "Our employees are the heart of our organization, so it is with considerable reluctance that we are proceeding with this necessary reduction," said Rick Wallace, the company's CEO. "We will continue to monitor the demand environment and make the necessary adjustments to weather this downturn."
http://www.kla-tencor.com/
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/081118/20081118006593.html?.v=1

Milpitas-Based JDS Uniphase Acquires Circadiant

Milpitas, Calif. -- JDS Uniphase (JDSU), a Milpitas-based provider of communications test and measurement equipment, said on Tuesday that it has acquired Circadiant, a Pennsylvania-based maker of optical test equipment. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. JDSU said that the acquisition expands its product portfolio for the lab and production test market. Founded by John French and William Thompson, Circadiant has developed a platform designed to help optical component manufacturers and optical network administrators perform physical layer testing.
http://www.circadiant.com/  
http://www.jdsu.com 
http://www.jdsu.com/news/news-releases/2008/111808.html 

Santa Clara-Based McAfee Completes $418M Deal for Secure Computing

Santa Clara, Calif. -- McAfee, the Santa Clara-based provider of network security software and services, said on Tuesday that it has completed its $418 million acquisition of San Jose-based web and email security firm Secure Computing. Under the deal, first announced in September, McAfee paid $5.75 a share in cash. Dan Ryan, the president and CEO of Secure Computing, will lead McAfee's Network Security product business unit. Secure Computing has more than 22,000 customers in 106 countries.
http://www.mcafee.com/us/about/corporate/mcafee_secure_computing.html  http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/081118/20081118006560.html?.v=1

Newark-Based Revance Therapeutics Lands $8M in Financing

Newark, Calif. -- Revance Therapeutics, a Newark-based specialty biopharmaceutical firm focused on aesthetic medicine, said on Tuesday that it has raised $8 million in venture debt from Leader Ventures and Horizon Technology Finance. The company said that it will use the financing to advance the clinical development of its lead product, a topical form botulinum toxin currently in Phase 2 trials."This financing will enable us to achieve additional clinical milestones we set for 2009," said Dan Browne, the president and CEO of Revance.
http://www.revance.com
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20081118005413/en

Jerry Yang to Resign as CEO of Sunnyvale-Based Yahoo

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Following months of ridicule from angry investors, Jerry Yang late Monday announced plans to resign as the CEO of Sunnyvale-based Yahoo. Yang, a co-founder of the company, will return to his previous role of "chief Yahoo," the company said. Chairman Roy Bostock will lead a search for his replacement, which the company said will include both internal and external candidates. "Jerry and the board have had an ongoing dialogue about succession timing, and we all agree that now is the right time to make the transition to a new CEO who can take the company to the next level," said Bostock. "I will continue to focus on global strategy and to do everything I can to help Yahoo! realize its full potential," said Yang, who assumed the role of CEO from Terry Semel in June 2007. Yang has been under intense scrutiny since rejecting Microsoft's $33-a-share takeover offer in May. Since then, the company's stock has plummeted, opening on Tuesday at less than one-third of that price.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/081117/20081117007049.html?.v=1

Management-led Group Buys Sunnyvale-Based Core Systems

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Implant Sciences, a Massachusetts-based supplier of systems and sensors to the homeland security sector, said that it has sold its Sunnyvale-based Core Systems unit to a management-led group for $3 million. Core was founded in 1990 to supply ion implant technology, products and services to the semiconductor manufacturing industry.  The company has foundry locations on both coasts. Phillip Thomas, the CEO of Implant Sciences, called the sale part of the company's plan to withdraw from "non-strategic" businesses.
http://www.coresystems.com/
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/081114/20081114005771.html?.v=1

Obama to Post Videos of Weekly Addresses on YouTube

San Bruno, Calif. -- In a presidential first, President-elect Barack Obama has announced plans to syndicate his weekly address to the country on Google's YouTube video site, Wired reported. "President-elect Obama will continue to record and make available the Democratic radio addresses on video when he is in the White House," according to a statement by Obama's transition team. "No President-elect or President has ever turned the radio address into a multi-media opportunity before." Obama, who used online videos extensively during his campaign, released his first web video address on Saturday.
http://change.gov/newsroom/entry/your_weekly_address_from_the_president_elect/ http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/11/obama-turns-to.html 

Santa Clara-Based Atypon Acquires eMeta from Macrovision

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Atypon Systems, a Santa Clara-based provider of software and hosting services to electronic publishers, said on Monday that it has acquired the eMeta business from Santa Clara-based Macrovision Solutions. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. eMeta provides access control, subscription management and commerce software/ "This acquisition expands the range of services we can offer to our existing market while at the same time allowing us to sell our technology services to a wider range of publishers," said Georgios Papadopoulos, the CEO of Atypon, which now has more than 100 employees in four offices.
http://www.atypon.com
http://www.atypon.com/news/article.php?id=1123

Redwood City-Based cFares Raises $3.1M; Hires CEO

Redwood City, Calif. -- cFares, a Redwood City-based online travel search engine, said on Friday that it has raised $3.1 million in new funding, and hired former Leapfrog head Tom Kalinske as its new CEO. Claremont Creek Ventures and Garage Technology Ventures co-led the funding, which follows the company's first round in July 2007. It now has raised $7.6 million since its inception in 2005. Kalinske had served as the CEO of Leapfrog, the maker of educational technology products for children, since 1997. Prior to that, he served as the CEO of Knowledge Universe, Sega Video Games, Matchbox and Mattel. cFares searches the Internet and connects leisure and small business travelers directly to airline and online travel agency sites, helping them find the cheapest deals. Other tools on the site are designed to help filter and sort results.
http://www.cfares.com
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/081113/aqth047.html?.v=76

Santa Clara-Based Sun Microsystems to Cut Up to 6,000 Jobs

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Attempting to cope with the global economic downturn, Santa Clara-based Sun Microsystems said on Friday that it will cut 5,000-6,000 jobs, or 15%-18% of its workforce. The company said that the move will reduce its annual costs by as much as $800 million. "Today, we have taken decisive actions to align Sun's business with global economic realities," said Jonathan Schwartz, the company's CEO. As part of its reorganization, Sun also said that it is splitting its Software business into two new groups -- an Application Platform Software division and a Cloud Computing & Developer Platforms division. The company also plans to merge other software groups into its Systems Platforms division.
http://sun.com
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/081114/20081114005375.html?.v=1

YouTube to Sell "Sponsored Video" Ads Against Search Results

San Bruno, Calif. -- Attempting to further harness the traffic to a site that boasts the third-largest number of search queries behind Google and Yahoo, San Bruno-based online video site YouTube has announced plans to begin selling ads on its own search results pages. People who post videos to the site may now bid on keywords that will be associated with links to their videos. When site users search for those keywords, the linked videos will land among the results. Placements will be priced on a cost-per-click basis. The YouTube Sponsored Videos section is being billed as a solution for "a start-up band trying to break out with a new single, a film studio seeking to promote an exciting movie trailer, or even a first-time uploader trying to quickly build a following on the site." Mountain View-based Google paid $1.65 billion to acquire YouTube two years ago, and has since been experimenting with various strategies to generate ad revenue from the popular video site.
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/promote-your-video-with-youtube.html 

San Jose-Based eBay Bans Sale of Obama Inauguration Tickets

San Jose, Calif. -- Though more than 1 million people are expected in Washington, DC for January's historic inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama, they won't be able to purchase highly coveted tickets to the event on eBay. Following meetings with the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, San Jose-based eBay has decided to ban the sale of all inaugural tickets from its web sites, with also includes StubHub, the Associated Press reported. A limited number of free tickets to the event will be distributed by congressional offices, which have been inundated by requests in recent days. Committee head Sen. Dianne Feinstein, however, hopes the move will help cut down on scalping and ticket fraud. Prior to the decision, tickets for the Jan. 20 event with prices as high as $40,000 each.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hkAYUzV5KL-uBJXTU9urVVL1asegD94E89804

Morgenthaler Ventures Raises New $400 Million Fund

Menlo Park, Calif. -- Morgenthaler Ventures, the Menlo Park-based venture capital firm focused on life sciences and information technology, said that it has closed a new fund worth more than $400 million. The firm said that its ninth fund, known as Morgenthaler Venture Partners IX, will be its first to focus solely on venture capital investments.  Morgenthaler, which now has $2.6 billion under management, said that it plans to continue its focus on early-stage investing, where it has made more than two-thirds of its investments since 2001. Companies in its current portfolio include NexTag, imeem, OncoMed Pharmaceuticals, Satiety and Cortina Systems.
http://www.morgenthaler.com/ventures 
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/081112/clw061.html?.v=101

Santa Clara-Based Intel Lowers Q4 Forecast on Weak Demand

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Plagued by "significantly weaker-than-expected demand" for its computer chips, Santa Clara-based Intel said late Wednesday that its fourth-quarter revenue should come in well below its previous guidance. The company now expects revenue to be roughly $9 billion, lower than its previous expectation of between $10.1-$10.9 billion. Gross margin, as well, is expected to come in at around 55%, down from previous estimates of 59%. Intel is scheduled to deliver its fourth quarter results on Jan. 15.
http://www.intc.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=347468

San Francisco-Based KPG Ventures Closes Second Fund

San Francisco -- KPG Ventures, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm specializing in seed-stage consumer Internet companies, said that it has launched its second fund, known as KPG II. The firm launched its initial fund in September 2006, and has since invested in companies in such fields as Internet video advertising, real time group interaction for entertainment, media consumption and social media. The firm said that it focuses its efforts on a small handful of companies in order to fully utilize its general partners, Vince Vannelli and Dave Hills.
http://www.kpgventures.com
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/081112/20081112005208.html?.v=1

Fremont-Based ARYx Therapeutics Raises $21.6M in Private Placement

Fremont, Calif. -- ARYx Therapeutics, a Fremont-based biopharmaceutical firm, said on Thursday that it has raised $21.6 million in a private placement, led by new investor New Enterprise Associates (NEA). Previous investors MPM Capital and OrbiMed Advisors also participated in the deal, which includes the sale of more than $9.6 million shares. ARYx focuses on developing products designed to eliminate known safety issues associated with well-established, commercially successful drugs. The firm currently has four products in clinical trials.
http://www.aryx.com
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/081112/20081112005533.html?.v=1

Tech Museum Names Winners of 2008 Tech Awards

San Jose, Calif. -- The Tech Museum of Innovation on Wednesday night presented five individuals with its annual Tech Awards, which honor those using technology "to improve our world." The five winners, who each received $50,000 cash prizes, hail from the U.S., Namibia, the U.K. and India, each developing or adapting technology in creative ways to solve global problems. Applied Materials served as lead sponsor of the event. A complete rundown of the winners and their accomplishments is available at the link below.
http://www.techawards.org/laureates/

San Mateo-Based IntelePeer Raises $18 Million in Third Round

San Mateo, Calif. -- IntelePeer, a San Mateo-based developer of web-based software that allows users to deliver voice and multimedia capabilities without incurring up-front costs, said on Wednesday that it has raised $18 million in its third round of funding, led by new investor VantagePoint Venture Partners. The company said that it will use the proceeds to expand its global presence and further develop its technology. IntelePeer's AppworX open communications platform and voice peering grid network is designed to give application developers the ability to create interactive voice, video, SMS, data and other rich media services. The company, also backed by Kennet Venture Partners, NorthCap Partners and EDF Ventures, operates its own carrier-grade network, carrying more than 6 billion minutes.
http://www.intelepeer.com
http://www.intelepeer.com/news/newsandarticles_article.php?DID=44

San Francisco-Based Planet Metrics Raises $2.3 Million in First Round

San Francisco -- Planet Metrics, a San Francisco-based developer of software designed to help clients reduce their carbon emissions, said that it has officially launched operations and raised $2.3 million in its first round of funding from angel investors and Draper Fisher Jurvetson. Founded in early 2007 by Andy Leventhal and Aaron Dallek, the company offers carbon modeling and visualization software. The tools allow customers identify hot spots of carbon intensity in packaging, supply chain, transportation, logistics and disposal. Planet Metrics also just won a deal to measure and analyze the amount of carbon and other greenhouse gases emitted at January's International CES consumer electronics show.
http://www.planetmetrics.com
http://www.planetmetrics.com/press_release_2.php

Santa Clara-Based Affymetrix to Acquire Fremont's Panomics

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Affymetrix, a Santa Clara-based developer of microarray technology used to analyze complex genetic information, said that it will pay $73 million in cash to acquire Fremont-based Panomics, a maker of assay products for a variety of genetic, protein and cellular analysis applications. Affymetrix said that the deal, expected to close by the end of this year, will strengthen its position in the high-growth validation and routine-testing market segments. "As one company, we will be able to serve a much larger customer base around the world with a broader product portfolio," said Kevin King, the president of Affymetrix.
http://www.panomics.com
http://www.affymetrix.com
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20081111005912/en

Judge Orders Apple Hire to Cease Work Over Competition Clause

Cupertino, Calif. -- A federal judge has ordered Apple's new head of engineering for its iPhone and iPod teams, Mark Papermaster, to cease working for the Cupertino-based company while the court examines whether his employment at Apple violates a competition clause in the contract with former employer IBM, Reuters reported. "We will comply with the court's order but are confident that Mark Papermaster will be able to ultimately join Apple when the dust settles," an Apple spokesperson told Reuters. Papermaster's attorneys argued before Federal District Court Judge Kenneth Karas that IBM's enforcement of the non-compete clause "would be incredibly damaging to [Papermaster's] career." Papermaster previously had worked at IBM for 25 years. His attorneys said that he would not be able to return to the company, given the litigation.
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN0743124420081108

Microsoft's Ballmer: No Longer Interested in Acquiring Yahoo

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Despite continuing interest from Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said that his company no longer is considering an acquisition of the Sunnyvale-based Internet company, but suggested that a search partnership still may be possible, the Associated Press reported. "We made an offer, we made another offer, and it was clear that Yahoo didn't want to sell the business to us and we moved on," Ballmer told attendees at a business lunch in Australia on Friday, according to the AP. "We are not interested in going back and re-looking at an acquisition. I don't know why they would be either, frankly. They turned us down at $33 a share." Yang last week said publicly that Microsoft should make another bid for the company, after Google dropped its efforts to partner with Yahoo for an online ad deal in the face of government opposition. Ballmer said he believes "there are still some opportunities for some kind of partnership around search," but that an "acquisition is a thing of the past."
http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20081107/ap_on_hi_te/as_australia_microsoft_yahoo_4

Report: Photo, Video Hosting Site Imageshack Raises $15 Million

Los Gatos, Calif. -- Imageshack, a Los Gatos-based provider of image and video hosting services for consumers, has raised $15 million in new financing from Sequoia Capital, VentureBeat reported, citing "a reliable source." Founded in 2003, Imageshack derives revenue from advertising and subscription services. The company's web site attracted 32.7 million unique visitors in September, according to comScore.
http://imageshack.us
http://venturebeat.com/2008/11/07/media-hosting-site-imageshack-has-raises-15m-from-sequoia/