Silicon Valley Wire

S.F.-Based Granicus Acquires Daystar Computer Systems

San Francisco -- Granicus, the San Francisco-based developer of a cloud platform focused on government transparency and citizen participation, said on Thursday it has acquired Chicago-based Daystar Computer Systems, a developer of agenda management products and services for government clients. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Granicus said the acquisition expand its product portfolio with new legislative tools for the government policy-making arena. The company said it plans to add Daystar's core product, called Legistar, to its own cloud platform as part of the Legislative Management Suite.
http://www.granicus.com
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/5/prweb8412488.htm

San Jose-Based Tessera Names Robert Young as New President and CEO

San Jose, Calif. -- Tessera Technologies, a San Jose-based developer of miniaturization technologies and products for electronic devices, said on Wednesday that Henry Nothhaft has resigned as its president and CEO. The company has named board member Robert Young as his replacement. Nothhaft, who plans to focus on entrepreneurial policy issues in Washington, DC, will remain chairman through May 20, when he will be succeeded by current board member Robert Boehlke. He will retain a non-executive advisory role. Young has served as a member of Tessera's board since its inception in 1991. He previously held various executive positions during a 17-year career at IBM, and served as the head of technology banking at Dillon, Read & Co.
http://www.tessera.com
http://www.tessera.com/abouttessera/pressroom/pages/newsreleases.aspx?releaseId=576446

Palo Alto-Based Yatown Launches Social Network for Neighbors

Palo Alto, Calif. -- Former Googlers Christopher Nguyen and Kevin Lim said on Wednesday they have launched Yatown, a Palo Alto-based local social network designed to connect neighbors. The company is being backed by investments from several former and current executives of companies such as Yahoo, Salesforce.com and TiE Angels, among others. "Yatown was born out of our own frustration in connecting to our neighborhoods online," said Nguyen, who serves as CEO. "People have been trying to solve this problem through services like Ning and other build-your-own-social-network sites, or Facebook groups. These approaches don't work for three reasons: they're too much work to set up, too difficult for neighbors to find, and people do not associate existing sites with their geographic neighborhood." Neighbors are automatically grouped into neighborhoods without any special set up required.
http://yatown.com 
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/former-googlers-launch-yatown-a-new-local-social-network-for-neighbors-121645913.html

San Francisco-Based Funzio Raises $20 Million in First Round

San Francisco -- Funzio, a San Francisco-based developer of social and mobile games,  said on Tuesday it has raised $20 million in its first round of funding, led by IDG Ventures in the U.S. and IDG Capital Partners in China. Playdom co-founder and Funzio Chairman Rick Thompson also participated in the investment round. The company said it will use the funds to triple the size of its team, as well as scale its business to develop and launch titles more quickly. Funzio launched its first game, "Crime City," on Facebook in September, and the title now counts 750,000 daily active users and 7 million monthly players. Ken Chiu, the company's co-founder and CEO, previously was the co-founder and CEO of social gaming firm Storm8 and a general manager at Zynga, where he headed up the company's XWars Studio.
http://www.funzio.com 
http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/social-gaming-startup-funzio-lands-20-million-series-a-funding-led-idg-ventures-idg-1512297.htm

Mountain View-Based Google Debuts Cloud Music Locker Service

Mountain View, Calif. -- Google on Wednesday introduced a test of its long-awaited cloud-based music service, Music Beta by Google, opting to launch without licensing deals with the major record labels. The service lets users -- who may request an invitation at the top link below -- upload their personal music libraries, then access them from Android-based devices. "We've been in negotiations with the industry for a different set of features, with mixed results," Google executive Zahavah Levine told Billboard. "[But] a couple of major labels were less focused on innovation and more on demanding unreasonable and unsustainable business terms." Music Beta by Google is currently only available in the U.S., and will remain free for a limited time, the company said.
http://music.google.com/about 
http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/digital-and-mobile/google-music-launched-today-without-licenses-1005175782.story

Menlo Park-Based IVP Leads $20 Million Round for Clearspring

Menlo Park, Calif. -- Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), the Menlo Park-based venture capital firm focused on later-stage technology and media companies, said on Tuesday it has led a new $20 million round of funding for Clearspring Technologies, the Virginia-based widget developer behind the AddThis online content sharing platform. Clearspring, whose previous backers have included New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Novak Biddle Venture Partners, former AOL vice chair Ted Leonsis, AOL co-founder Steve Case, Capital One co-founder Nigel Morris and Silicon Valley angel Ron Conway, said it will use its fourth round to bolster publisher products and advertising offerings, as well as fuel acquisitions. The round was the first for Clearspring since 2008, when it also acquired the AddThis platform. AddThis, signified by a white plus sign in an orange box, now appears on more than 9 million websites, allowing users to share content through over 300 social networks. "In the last year, we've started to leverage that reach via our Audience Platform," said Leonsis, who serves as chairman. "But we've just started to scratch the surface.  With this investment, we'll see just how far we can go." Clearspring said it is on track to triple its revenue and double its staff this year.
http://www.ivp.com
http://www.clearspring.com/
http://www.clearspring.com/about/press/clearspring-closes-20m-led-by-ivp-to-continue-growth-around-big-social-data

San Francisco-Based HotelTonight Lands $3.25 Million in First Round

San Francisco -- HotelTonight, the San Francisco-based developer of a service for booking last-minute hotel rooms through mobile devices, said on Tuesday it has landed $3.25 million in its first round of funding, led by Battery Ventures. Accel Partners, First Round Capital and travel industry veterans Rich Barton, Erik Blachford, Brad Gerstner and Hugh Crean also participated. HotelTonight said its namesake app has been downloaded more than 300,000 times from the iTunes App Store since debuting in January. The company's service is currently available in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston and Washington, DC.
http://www.hoteltonight.com
http://www.battery.com/
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110510005978/en/HotelTonight-Secures-3.25-Million-Series-Funding-Battery

Redwood City-Based Sequent Software Lands First Round of Funding

Redwood City, Calif. -- Sequent Software, a Redwood City-based developer of near field communication software and systems, said on Tuesday it has raised an undisclosed amount in its first round of funding, co-led by Opus Capital and SK Telecom Ventures. Sequent's technology is designed to let consumers use their mobile phones to make payments and perform other functions. "Sequent's solution is innovative and unique in that we do not require significant changes to the existing, highly secure and complex payments infrastructure," said CEO Drew Weinstein. "We are the only company whose sole focus is being a neutral, pervasive administrator of individuals' personal identification and credentials between the payments world, retailers, smartphone providers and mobile network operators."
http://www.sequentsw.com
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/startup-sequent-software-secures-vc-funding-to-make-nfc-mobile-payments-easy-121555958.html

YouTube Founders Acquire San Francisco-Based Tap11

San Mateo, Calif. -- YouTube co-founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen said they have acquired San Francisco-based Tap11, developer of a real-time business intelligence platform. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The deal follows the pair's acquisition of social bookmarking service Delicious. Both  companies will become part of their new San Mateo-based venture, known as AVOS. Over 500 brands, media companies and agencies use Tap11's platform, which integrates social publishing and analytics. "Our vision is to create the world's best platform for users to save, share and discover new content," said Hurley. "With the acquisition of Tap11, we will be able to provide consumer and enterprise users with powerful tools to publish and analyze their links' impact in real-time."
http://www.tap11.com 
http://www.avos.com 
http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/youtube-founders-acquire-tap11-1511684.htm

LinkedIn Expands IPO Plans, Valuation to Eclipse $3 Billion

Mountain View, Calif. -- Looking to take full advantage of the booming social networking space, Mountain View-based LinkedIn, operator of the popular online professional network, on Monday greatly increased the expected size of its upcoming initial public offering (IPO), a move that could push the company's value to more than $3 billion. The company now says it plans to raise up to $315.6 million -- up from the $175 million it announced in January -- by selling 7.84 million shares at $32-$35 each. Even at the low end of the price range, the IPO, which is expected to price next week, would push the company's valuation to above the $3 billion mark. LinkedIn, which has more than 100 million registered members, recently reported first-quarter revenue of $93.9 million, up from $44.7 million a year ago, with net income rising 14% to $2.1 million.
http://www.linkedin.com  
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1271024/000119312511131453/ds1a.htm

Sunnyvale-Based U-Systems Lands $6.5 Million in New Funding

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- U-Systems, a Sunnyvale-based developer of automated breast ultrasound technology, said on Monday it has landed $6.5 million in a new round of funding from previous backers iD SoftCapital Group, Lumira Capital, PIIH, Radius Ventures and Sycamore Ventures. The company said the additional capital will allow it to complete its pre-market approval submitted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as well complete a clinical study and continue product development. "Ultrasound is a proven tool for the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. However, it has not typically been used during the screening process," said Ron Ho, the president and CEO of U-Systems. "We have dedicated significant time and resources to establishing a solid scientific basis for the use of automated breast ultrasound as a cancer screening tool for women with dense breast tissue."
http://www.u-systems.com
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110509005089/en/U-Systems-Raises-6.5M-Additional-Funding

San Francisco-Based musiXmatch Raises $3.7 Million in First Round

San Francisco -- musiXmatch, the San Francisco-based developer of a licensed database of song lyrics used by app developers, music services and device manufacturers, said on Monday it has raised $3.7 million in its first round of funding from Francesco Micheli Associati. The company said it will use the proceeds to expand its lyrics offerings. musiXmatch said it currently features 5.3 million lyrics through partnerships with BMG, Kobalt, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony ATV Music, Harry Fox Agency, among others. "Our goal is to make musiXmatch the largest provider of lyrics and music metadata for both mobile and connected devices," said Max Ciociola, the company's founder and CEO. "We plan to use this funding to expand our product reach in the U.S. and Asia."
http://www.musixmatch.com 
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110509006306/en/musiXmatch-Announces-3.7-Million-Dollars-Series-Funding

DOT Awards $300 Million for California High-Speed Rail Service

Washington, DC -- Taking a major step toward improving business travel between the Bay Area and Southern California, the Transportation Department on Monday committed $300 million to improving the state's high-speed rail service. The funding will extend a current 110-mile segment along the Central Valley Corridor an additional 20 miles, advancing a project that will ultimately provide 220 mph high-speed rail service from Los Angeles to San Francisco, with a connection to San Jose to the west and Merced to the north. The funds became available last year when Florida cancelled plans for its own high-speed service. All told, Amtrak and 15 states will receive about $2 billion in grants.
http://www.dot.gov/affairs/2011/dot5711.html

Apple Overtakes Google as World's Most Valuable Brand

Rising the phenomenal success of products such as its iPhone and iPad, Apple has surpassed Google as the world's most valuable brand, according to BrandZ's newly released Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands report. The rankings, which rate the values of customer-facing brands -- not companies -- take into consideration data obtained through more than 2 million consumer interviews, as well as publicly available financial information. Google had topped the poll for each of the past four years. Apple's brand value grew 84% from a year ago to $153.3 billion surpassing Google, which fell 2% to $111.5 billion. IBM, McDonald's and Microsoft round out the top five. Facebook (No. 35) posted the fastest rise of any brand in the poll, with a 246% surge in value. The complete list, compiled by brand research firm Millward Brown, is available at the link below.
http://c3232792.r92.cf0.rackcdn.com/WPP_BrandZ_2011.pdf (PDF)

San Francisco-Based JiWire Raises $20 Million in Third Round

San Francisco - JiWire, the San Francisco-based provider of a location-based mobile ad platform, said on Friday it has raised $20 million in its third round of funding, led by Palo Alto-basedTrident Capital. Previous backers Comcast Interactive Capital, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Panorama Capital and Norwest Venture Partners also participated in the round, which the company will use to bolster technology development, acquisitions and international expansion. JiWire provides a mobile ad service that covers 40 public Wi-Fi networks, 30,000 venues and 60 airports, and says its network reaches 40 million consumers monthly. The news comes five months after the company acquired Mountain View-based NearbyNow, a developer of mobile location technology focused on retail and mobile merchandising.
http://www.jiwire.com
http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/jiwire-raises-20-million-for-location-based-advertising-1511187.htm 

Report: Skype in Joint Venture Talks With Facebook, Google

Palo Alto, Calif. -- After postponing its planned initial public offering (IPO), Internet telephone service Skype is now in talks with both Facebook and Google about a potential joint venture, Reuters reported, citing two sources with direct knowledge of the discussions. One source told the news service that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg also has taken part in "internal discussions" about buying Skype outright. A deal between with either firm could be valued at $3-$4 billion, a source told Reuters. The talks reportedly are in early stages, and Skype could still opt for an IPO in the second half of the year.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/04/us-skype-ipo-strategic-idUSTRE7437UG20110504

Palo Alto-Based GigOptix Receives Conditional OK to List on NYSE Amex

Palo Alto, Calif. -- GigOptix, a Palo Alto-based maker of electronic and electro-optic components used in high-speed optical networks, said on Friday it has received conditional approval to list its stock on the NYSE Amex stock exchange. Final approval will be based on a number of conditions, including the closing of the company's merger with Endwave. Shares will continue to trade on the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board under the symbol "GGOX" until the final conditions -- including a market capitalization of $50 million, a minimum price of $2.00 a share and a public float of $15 million -- have been met. GigOptix will switch to the symbol "GIG" on the NYSE Amex. "We view this listing as being beneficial to both our existing stockholders as well as Endwave's holders in that it will increase GigOptix's visibility, liquidity and suitability for a broader group of investors," said Avi Katz, the company's chairman and CEO.
http://www.gigoptix.com 
http://ir.gigoptix.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=225697&p=RssLanding&cat=news&id=1560766  

Warner Brothers to Acquire San Francisco-Based Flixster

San Francisco -- Warner Brothers Home Entertainment Group said it will acquire Flixster, the San Francisco-based developer of a movie-focused social media site. Though financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, people familiar with the matter estimated the cost at under $100 million, according to The Wall Street Journal. Warner Bros. said it plans to use the company's technology to power several new digital initiatives, including its recently announced consumer application, "Digital Everywhere," which is designed to help users organize and access their digital library from any device. Founded in 2006, Flixster offers a mix of user-generated and professional movie reviews, as well as news, showtimes and other features. Last year, the company acquired movie review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes.
http://www.flixster.com
http://www2.warnerbros.com/web/corpcomm/portal/press_release.jsp?id=FlixsterPurchase05.04.11  

S.F.-Based PowerReviews Lands $10M for Customer Review Tools

San Francisco -- PowerReviews, a San Francisco-based provider of customer reviews technology to retail websites, said on Thursday it has raised $10 million in a new round of funding led by Four Rivers Group. Woodside Fund, Menlo Ventures and Tenaya Capital also participated in the round, which increased the company's total backing to $37 million. Founded in 2007, PowerReviews provides a platform that retailers and brands including ESPN and Staples use to aggregate and analyze consumers' reviews of their products and services. The company's Buzzillions.com also features more than 15 million aggregated consumer-penned product reviews. The company said it will use the funds to bolster its product development and sales efforts.
http://www.powerreviews.com
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110505005456/en/PowerReviews-Raises-Ten-Million-Demonstrates-Continued-Leadership

Mountain View-Based Firespotter Labs Launches with $3M in Funding

Mountain View, Calif. -- Firespotter Labs, a Mountain View-based business accelerator founded by former GrandCentral CEO Craig Walker, on Thursday announced its official launch after raising $3 million in its first round of funding from Google Ventures. The firm said it plans to "accelerate the delivery of multiple products and use the core technologies and business insights gleaned from one product to build the next." Walker founded and was CEO of GrandCentral Communications, acquired by Google in July 2007 (now Google Voice), and also was CEO of Dialpad Communications, which was acquired by Yahoo in 2005 (now Yahoo Voice). "Firespotter isn't an incubator," wrote Walker in the company's blog. "We aren't looking for ideas or teams to back. We will instead be building products that we want to use ourselves and quickly get them out into the world." Other members of the team include former Google Voice engineers Brian Peterson and John Rector, and designer Alex Cornell.
http://www.firespotter.com
http://www.firespotter.com/blog
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/firespotter-labs-launches-with-funding-from-google-ventures-121321179.html

30 Bay Area Companies Crack 2011 Fortune 500

Thirty Bay Area companies have made the newly released Fortune 500 list of the nation's largest companies, including 10 that cracked the top 100. For the second straight year, retail giant Wal-Mart topped the list with 2010 sales of $421.8 billion, followed by a trio of oil companies in Exxon Mobile ($354.7 billion), San Ramon-based Chevron ($196.3 billion) and ConocoPhillips ($185.0 billion). Among the locally based tech giants are Palo Alto-based HP (No. 11), Cupertino-based Apple (No. 35), Santa Clara-based Intel (No. 56), San Jose-based Cisco (No. 62), Mountain View-based Google (No. 92) and Redwood City-based Oracle (No. 96). All told, members of the Fortune 500 generated nearly $10.8 trillion in revenue last year, with profits soaring 81%. The list is available at the links below.
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2011/full_list/ (Full List)
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2011/states/CA.html (California)

California Again Ranks Last in "Best & Worst States for Business" List

For the seventh straight year, California ranks dead last in Chief Executive magazine's survey of the "Best & Worst States for Business," an annual poll of 550 CEOs asked to consider factors ranging from taxation and regulation to workforce quality and living environment. "California, once a business friendly state, continues to conduct a war on its own economy," the publication wrote. "Sacramento seems to take perverse delight in job-killing legislation." Texas topped the list for the seventh straight year, followed by North Carolina, Florida, Tennessee and Georgia. The complete list is available at the link below. 
http://chiefexecutive.net/best-worst-states-for-business

Applied Materials to Acquire Varian Semiconductor for $4.9 Billion

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Applied Materials, the Santa Clara-based developer of equipment, services and software used to make semiconductors, said on Wednesday it will pay $4.9 billion in cash to acquire Massachusetts-based Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, a major supplier of ion implantation equipment used by chip makers. Under the deal, Applied Materials will pay $63 a share, with Varian operating as a unit of its Silicon Systems Group. Applied said the acquisition will bolster its product portfolio for transistor formation, enabling the manufacture of higher performance chips particularly for mobile applications with faster speeds and longer battery life. The company said Varian's technology also has strong potential to extend into adjacent markets, including solar, display and light emitting diodes. "The pace of product innovation is accelerating, requiring devices that are more mobile, more connected and more personalized," said Mike Splinter, the chairman and CEO of Applied Materials. "Combined, Applied and Varian will be better positioned to help our customers solve these complex challenges."
http://www.appliedmaterials.com
http://www.vsea.com
http://www.appliedmaterials.com/news/articles/applied-materials-acquire-varian-semiconductor-equipment-associates

S.F.-Based Disqus Lands $10 Million for Blog Comments Platform

San Francisco -- Disqus, the San Francisco-based developer of a cloud-based blog commenting platform, said on Wednesday it has raised $10 million in a new round of funding from North Bridge Venture Partners and Union Square Ventures. "With this latest financing, we will be expanding the team, our products, and on building our long-term business," the company wrote in its blog. Founded in 2007, Disqus currently has 16 employees. The company said its platform is now utilized by 750,000 websites, which collectively count nearly 500 million unique monthly visitors. Over the past year, Disqus saw its traffic, user base and communities all grew at least 500%.
http://disqus.com
http://blog.disqus.com/post/5192492910/the-numbers-of-disqus 

Datran Media Acquires San Francisco-Based Social News Site Allvoices

San Francisco -- Datran Media, a New York-based digital marketing firm, said on Wednesday it has acquired San Francisco-based Allvoices, a social news sites that claims more than 460,000 contributors and approximately 10 million unique visitors per month. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Founded in 2008, Allvoices has raised $9 million in funding from backers including VantagePoint Capital Partners. The company's technology aggregates crowd-reported news events, which it organizes by location, time and category to bring together relevant news stories, blogs, images and videos. The Allvoices media business publishes over 2,000 reports a day through citizen journalists and partners such as Reuters, Agence France Presse and cartoon and photo syndication networks. Datran said it plans to extend Allvoices' crowd-sourced platform beyond news into other areas, and license the technology to third parties. Amra Tareen, the founder and CEO of Allvoices, will become the senior vice president of strategy for Datran. Aki Hashmi, Allvoices' senior vice president and general manager, and David Warthen, its vice president of engineering and CTO, will continue to lead the Allvoices team.
http://www.datranmedia.com 
http://www.allvoices.com
http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/datran-media-acquires-allvoices-one-most-trafficked-social-news-sites-world-1510056.htm

AOL Posts First Jump in Display Ad Revenue Since 2007

New York -- Despite a sharp drop in first-quarter profits, shares of AOL rose as much as 10% early Wednesday after the company, which has major operations in Silicon Valley, posted larger-than-expected revenue. Hurt by restructuring charges, AOL reported net income of $4.7 million for the period, down from $34.7 million a year ago. Revenue also fell 17% to $551.4 million, though display ad sales notably grew by 4%, including 11% in the U.S. market. "Today represents an important milestone in the turnaround of AOL as global display revenue grew for the first time since the fourth quarter of 2007," said Tim Armstrong, the CEO of AOL. The rise in display ad revenue was helped by the company's recent acquisitions of the Huffington Post and technology blog TechCrunch.
http://ir.aol.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=147895&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1559164&highlight=

Report: Facebook Served Nearly 1 in 3 of All Display Ads in Q1

Reston, Va. -- Palo Alto-based Facebook accounted for nearly one in three online display ads in the U.S. during the first quarter, according to a new report from market research firm comScore. The total U.S. display ad market delivered 1.1 trillion ads during the period, including 346 billion on Facebook. That nearly doubles the number of display ads on Facebook in the first quarter of 2010. Yahoo-owned sites delivered 112 billion impressions, or 10.1% of the total, followed by Microsoft sites with 54 billion impressions (4.8%) and AOL with 33 billion impressions (3%)."The U.S. online display advertising market maintained its strong momentum from last year with a terrific first quarter," said comScore's Jeff Hackett. "We are now seeing more than one trillion display ads delivered every single quarter and nearly 300 individual advertisers spending at least $1 million a quarter on display, numbers which underscore just how large and vibrant the online medium has become."
http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2011/5/U.S._Online_Display_Advertising_Market_Delivers_1.1_Trillion_Impressions_in_Q1_2011

Redwood City-Based EA Acquires Mobile Game Studio Firement

Redwood City, Calif. -- Electronic Arts (EA), the Redwood City-based developer and publisher of video games, said on Tuesday it will acquire Australian mobile game studio Firemint. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Firemint has developed titles including "Flight Control" and "Real Racing" for the iPhone and iPad. The deal, expected to close within four weeks, follows EA's recent acquisition of Mobile Post Production (MPP), a firm that develops cross-platform titles and ports games for smartphones. "The added technical expertise of MPP, combined with the creative talent of Firemint and our EAi studio teams, fuels EA's leadership in delivering top selling, high quality games across mobile phones and smartphones, tablets and future digital interactive entertainment platforms," said Barry Cottle, the executive vice president and general manager of EA Interactive.
http://www.firemint.com  
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110503006929/en  

Limelight Networks Acquires S.F.-Based Clickability for $10 Million

San Francisco -- Limelight Networks, an Arizona-based provider of content delivery network services, said it has acquired San Francisco-based Clickability, a developer of web content management tools, for $10 million. Founded in 1999, Clickability had raised over $11 million in venture capital financing from backers including Shasta Ventures, Convergence Partners and SaaS Capital. The company's tools help marketer and publisher clients, including PR Newswire and the Minneapolis Star Tribune, manage and publish content, track visitor experiences and implement branding, social media and campaigns on their websites. Limelight said it expects Clickability to contribute $4.5-$5 million in revenue to its bottom line during the second half of 2011.
http://www.limelightnetworks.com 
http://www.clickability.com 
http://investors.limelightnetworks.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=573751

Sunnyvale-Based Yahoo Hires Former Managing Editor of AOL-Huff Post

Sunnyvale, Calif. -- Jai Singh, the executive in charge of day-to-day news management and editorial operations at AOL's Huffington Post Media Group, has jumped to Sunnyvale-based rival Yahoo, where he will serve as editor-in-chief of the Yahoo Media Network, the company announced. "Jai is one of the most advanced and respected editorial thinkers in digital media today, and a great addition to our editorial bench strength," said Mickie Rosen, the senior vice president of Yahoo Media Network. Singh most recently held the title of managing editor at AOL-Huff Post, with responsibilities spanning across both Huffington Post editorial and AOL, including AOL content sites. Singh spent two years with The Huffington Post after previously serving at the editor-in-chief and senior vice president at CNET.com, where in 1996 he helped create CNET News.com.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Yahoo-Sets-Records-With-The-bw-2910409830.html?x=0&.v=1

Santa Clara-Based Peel Raises $16.7 Million in Second Round

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Peel, the Santa Clara-based developer of a personal television recommendation system, said on Monday it has raised $16.7 million in its second round of funding, led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. First round-leader Redpoint Ventures also participated, as did several of the company's original seed investors. The company said it will use the proceeds to move forward with additional retail opportunities for its Peel device, as well as to expand its app to additional mobile platforms and content sources. Founded in 2009, Peel has developed universal remote control system -- which sells for around $100 -- designed to operate devices such as a TV, cable box, Blu-ray player, AV receiver, Apple TV and Roku. Together with a free iPhone, iPad or iPod touch app, the system allows users to touch a show on their wireless device and instantly begin watching it. The app also recommends TV programming to users, based on their personal preferences.
http://www.peel.com
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/peel-secures-167-million-in-series-b-financing-121099769.html

People Flock to Twitter, Facebook Following News of Bin Laden's Death

As news broke Sunday night that U.S. forces had killed Osama Bin Laden, Americans turned in droves to social media sites like Twitter and Facebook to learn the latest developments. In fact, according to Business Insider, Twitter was the first news source -- including cable news -- to report Bin Laden's death when Keith Urbahn, former chief of staff to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, at 10:25 p.m. ET tweeted, "So I'm told by a reputable person they have killed Osama Bin Laden. Hot damn." That was about 20 minutes before the major TV networks confirmed the news, and more than an hour before Obama officially announced it to the nation. The hours following saw people flock to Facebook to discuss the historic night. As of late afternoon Monday, a page entitled, "Osama Bin Laden is DEAD" had garnered more than 380,000 "likes." And Keynote Systems, a San Mateo-based firm that measures the performance of web sites, said that, in the moments following Sunday's news, "the leading connected and mobile news sites began to experience performance slowdowns and streaming sites too groaned under the traffic load."
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Osama-Bin-Laden-is-DEAD/134112283298465
http://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-just-had-its-cnn-moment-2011-5?utm_source=Triggermail&utm_medium=email&utm_term=SAI%20Select&utm_campaign=SAI_Select_050211

Alviso-Based TiVo to Get $500M in DVR Patent Settlement with DISH

Alviso, Calif. -- TiVo, the Alviso-based developer of digital video recorders and programming services, said on Monday it has settled its long-running patent infringement dispute against EchoStar and DISH Network, with the satellite TV providers agreeing to pay TiVo $500 million. Under the terms of the deal, DISH and EchoStar will pay TiVo $300 million up front, with $200 million to be distributed in six equal annual installments between 2012-2017. As part of the settlement, the companies have also cross-licensed their respective digital video recorder patents. "The compensation from this settlement, including the resulting reduction in legal expenditures, puts TiVo in an enviable financial and strategic position," said Tom Rogers, the president and CEO of TiVo. The company first sued EchoStar for patent infringement over its "Time Warp" digital video recorder patent in 2004. That court case, and subsequent filings with the U.S. Patent Office, were eventually tilted in TiVo's favor in a ruling last month at the U.S. Court of Appeals, which left EchoStar and DISH with a last resort option of filing an appeal with the Supreme Court.
http://www.tivo.com
http://pr.tivo.com/easyir/customrel.do?easyirid=CA934452BA6418EF&version=live&prid=750426&releasejsp=custom_150

Local.com Acquires Mountain View-Based Product Search Firm Krillion

Mountain View, Calif. -- Local.com, an Irvine-based online local media firm, said on Monday it has acquired Mountain View-based Krillion.com, a provider of location-based product search services, for $3.5 million. Founded in 2006, Krillion had raised over $9 million in venture capital from backers including Hummer Winblad Venture Partners and Leapfrog Ventures. The company aggregates consumer product information to create an index of over 70,000 products from more than 50,000 U.S. retail locations. "Local product search is a natural fit for our business model and our key 'soccer mom' demographic," said Raj Mohan, senior vice president at Local.com. "Krillion provides us with highly valuable local shopping content that we intend to deploy across our business in order to differentiate our various products to our end users, customers and business partners."
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http://corp.krillion.com/pressReleases/20110502_local.html