High Technology News and Information for the Pacific Northwest Region
|
High Technology News and Information for the Pacific Northwest Region |
|
 Thursday, July 3, 2008 Wishpot Debuts Baby Service for Expecting Parents Seattle-based Wishpot Inc., operator of an online social shopping community, revealed Wednesday that it has added a new section to its Web site geared specifically for parents who are expecting. Wishpot said the new feature, called Wishpot Baby, offers parents the ability to shop for baby products anywhere—online or on foot—while consulting savvy "Mom Experts" who have gone through the child-rearing process and can recommend the best and most cost effective items. (More info...) posted on Thursday, July 3, 2008(Full story) Microsoft Bundles Office, Support Services In Subscription Offering Microsoft said yesterday that it has rolled out a new combined offering that combines its Office software and its OneCare support program, under the name Microsoft Equipt. According to Microsoft, the new software offers both its suite of productivity software, along with anti-malware and support tools via a yearly subscription. The new package will initially be available through electronics retailer Circuit City, and will be priced at $69.99 for a one-year subscription for up to three computers. (More info...) posted on Thursday, July 3, 2008(Full story) Digimarc Gets Canadian Win Beaverton, Oregon-based Digimarc said Wednesday that its products have been selected by a firm in Canada. According to Digimarc, Manitoba Public Insurance has selected the firm's Facial Recognition Solution (FRS) to screen applicants for driver licenses. Financial impact of the deal were not disclosed. Digimarc's product will be used by investigators to compare photos taken for Manitoba driver licenses against its database of photos, to detect potential fraud. (More info...) posted on Thursday, July 3, 2008(Full story)
Wednesday, July 2, 2008 Extensis Partners With Equilibrium Portland, Oregon-based Extensis said this week that it has partnered with Equilibrium, a provider of media production and delivery products for managing graphics, audio, and video files. According to the two companies, Extensis will OEM's Equilibriums' MediaRich Graphics Engine as part of an upcoming release of the firm's Extensis Portfolio Server product. Extensis is a unit of Celartem, Inc., which is also an investor in Equilibrium. Financial details of the OEM arrangement were not disclosed. (More info...) posted on Wednesday, July 2, 2008(Full story) Getty Images Acquisition Completes Seattle-based Getty Images said Wednesday that the acquisition of the firm by private equity firm Hellman & Friedman has completed. Getty Images had entered into the M&A deal with Hellman & Friedman in February, in a deal worth approximately $2.4 billion. Hellman & Friedman is paying $34.00 in cash for each share of Getty Images common stock; the deal takes Getty Images private, and it will no longer trade on the New York Stock Exchange. posted on Wednesday, July 2, 2008(Full story) Interview with Max Ciccotosto, Wishpot Seattle-based Wishpot Inc. (www.wishpot.com) operates a free social shopping Web service that helps consumers create, share and compare shopping lists. As users navigate the Internet, they can utilize Wishpot’s browser plug-in to bookmark and organize the merchandise they find most appealing, thereby creating virtual wishlists that they can keep to themselves or discuss with others. (More info...) posted on Wednesday, July 2, 2008(Full story) Celartem Opens Seattle-Based Sales, Ops Center Celartem Technology Inc., a publisher of rich-media content applications, announced Tuesday that it has established a Document Express with DjVu sales and operations center in Seattle. Pronounced déjà vu, DjVu is an alternative computer file format similar to Adobe's PDF. Celartem said the new DjVu headquarters signifies the completion of LizardTech's DjVu management transfer to Celartem. Dr. (More info...) posted on Wednesday, July 2, 2008(Full story)
Tuesday, July 1, 2008 Noetix Launches Search Software Redmond-based Noetix, which develops business intelligence software, has added a new product which it says will allow users to search data from Oracle E-Business Suite and PeopleSoft Enterprise applications. The firm said its new product, Noetix Search, is a web-based search application which allows customers to search for information and reports generated by Noetix, using search keywords. No details on pricing of the new software were released. posted on Tuesday, July 1, 2008(Full story) WebTrends Signs Ducati Portland-based web analytics provider WebTrends has signed on Italian motorcycle manufacturer Ducati, the firm said Tuesday, saying that Ducati will use the firm analytics platform for its online web site. Financial impact of the deal was not disclosed. WebTrends said that Ducati will use its products to better understand and enhance visitor engagement and maximize online sales. posted on Tuesday, July 1, 2008(Full story) Movaya Partners With Mobile Games Firm IG Fun Seattle-based Moyava has inked an agreement with IG Fun, a developer of mobile games, the company announced today. Movaya said that it is in a partnership to distribute IG Fun's mobile games via its PlugNPlay system, which is used by firms to sell and distribute their mobile content. IG Fun develops titles that include Battle Chess, Bruce Lee Iron Fist, and Tradewinds 2. IG Fun is a unit of Indiagames Ltd, an mobile and online games company based in India. (More info...) posted on Tuesday, July 1, 2008(Full story) Expedia's TripAdvisor Buys Travel Sites TripAdvisor, the online travel information site owned by Bellevue, Wash.-based Expedia, said this morning that it has acquired two online travel sites, VirtualTourist.com and OneTime.com. Financial terms of the acquisitions were not disclosed. Both VirtualTourist.com and OneTime.com provide travel information, with VirtualTourist.com offering user-generated travel content, and OneTime.com offering travel booking comparisons. Both of the firms were based in Manhattan Beach, California. posted on Tuesday, July 1, 2008(Full story) Mentor Graphics Hires Investment Bank Mentor Graphics Corp., a provider of electronic hardware and software design solutions, announced Monday that it has hired an investment bank to help it consider an unsolicited purchase offer from semiconductor design software firm Cadence Design Systems Inc. Specifically, Mentor Graphics said its board of directors has retained Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch as financial advisors and Latham & Watkins LLP as legal advisor. The Wilsonville, Ore. (More info...) posted on Tuesday, July 1, 2008(Full story) Micro Power Adds Healthcare Customer Beaverton, Oregon-based Micro Power has signed on a new healthcare customer, the firm said last week. The firm, which develops portable power systems, said that Vocollect Healthcare Systems has selected the firm to manufacture a new, custom Li-ion battery pack for its products. Financial impact of the win was not disclosed. Vocollect's product is a portable system used by nurses to report on their daily activities and to hear resident care needs. posted on Tuesday, July 1, 2008(Full story)
Monday, June 30, 2008 Impinj Sells Non-Volatile Memory IP Seattle-based Impinj, a provider of RFID hardware, has sold off its non-volatile memory intellectual property business, in a deal worth $5.2M. California-based Virage Logic said it has acquired both Impinj's intellectual property, as well as approximately 30 former Impinj employees who were involved in the company's logic BVM IP business. Impinj said it would move forward as a pure-play RFID provider, and will use Virage Logic for its NVM IP technology in its products. (More info...) posted on Monday, June 30, 2008(Full story) Avocent Cuts Redmond Staff Avocent Corporation, a manufacturer of hardware for managing IT environments, said Monday that the firm has "optimized" its operations and is cutting a number of staff, including functions in its Redmond, Washington offices. According to Avocent, it is cutting approximately 110 employees companywide as part of a workforce reduction and consolidation. The firm said it will move certain functions from Redmond to Huntsville, Alabama. (More info...) posted on Monday, June 30, 2008(Full story) Visible Technologies Adds Former Microsoft Exec To Advisory Board Seattle-based Visible Technologies, a venture backed provider of social media monitoring tools for brands, has added Rowland Hanson to the company's advisory board, the firm said Monday. Rowland Hanson is CEO of The HMC Company and Chairman of CRH & Associates, and formerly was VP of Corporate Communications for Microsoft Corporation. According to Visible Techonlogies, Hanson headed up Microsoft's branding, including including the naming and launch of products such as Microsoft Windows. (More info...) posted on Monday, June 30, 2008(Full story) Expedia Corporate Travel Changes Name to Egencia Online travel booking agency Expedia Inc. reported Monday that its Expedia Corporate Travel business has changed its name and brand to "Egencia, an Expedia, Inc. Company." Expedia said the new brand signifies its commitment to the corporate travel space. The Bellevue, Wash.-based company said Egencia will continue to offer the services it did under the Expedia Corporate Travel label. (More info...) posted on Monday, June 30, 2008(Full story) Attachmate Shops WinINSTALL Line to Scalable Seattle-based Attachmate has sold its WinINSTALL desktop management product line to Scalable Software Ltd., a publisher of IT asset lifecycle management applications headquartered near Houston, Scalable announced Monday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Scalable said more than 10,000 companies across the globe use the WinINSTALL software, which helps organizations deploy, update and manage software and security for desktops, servers and notebook computers. (More info...) posted on Monday, June 30, 2008(Full story) Digimarc OKs $310M Cash Offer for ID Business A week after revealing that it was considering an unsolicited, $300 million offer for its ID business, Digimarc Corp. announced Monday that it has accepted a better offer from Digimarc's original suitor, L-1 Identity Solutions Inc. Earlier this year, Digimarc agreed to sell its ID Systems business to L-1 for some $263 million in stock and cash. However, Digimarc reported on June 22 that it had received a $300 million cash offer from French firm Safran. (More info...) posted on Monday, June 30, 2008(Full story) RealNetworks Debuts MP3 Store Seattle-based RealNetworks Inc., operator of the Rhapsody digital music service, revealed today that it has launched an online music store that will compete head-to-head against iTunes and other popular digital music retailers. RealNetworks said the Rhapsody-branded servic, will offer most of its songs for 99 cents and most of its albums for $9.99. (More info...) posted on Monday, June 30, 2008(Full story) Whrrl Expands Phone Support, Adds Features Seattle-based Pelago, which runs the mobile social networking service Whrrl, announced Monday that it has added new support for a number of new phones. According to the firm, it now supports the BlackBerry World 8830, multiple Motorla RAZR models, and the Sunsung M610. Whrrl is an online social networking service for mobile phone users. Among other new features of the service, the firm said that it has added improve mapping capabilities for plotting friends on an interactive map. (More info...) posted on Monday, June 30, 2008(Full story)
Friday, June 27, 2008 Loctronix Raising $3.5M, Emerges From Stealth Woodinville, Washington-based Loctronix said earlier this week that the firm is in the midst of completing a $3.5M Series B funding round, and has emerged from stealth mode. The firm said that it is developing "universal location sensing" technology for mobile applications. Details of the funding were not released, and the firm did not say how much of the $3.5M had already been committed, or by whom. (More info...) posted on Friday, June 27, 2008 (More)(Full story)
Thursday, June 26, 2008 Celebrate Express Acquired by Liberty Media Kirkland, Washingto-based Celebrate Express, an online retailer of party supplies and costumes, has been acquired in a $31M cash deal by Liberty Media. Liberty and Celebrate Express said Thursday afternoon that the deal, which has been approved by both boards of directors, will make Celebrate Express part of Liberty Interactive Group. posted on Thursday, June 26, 2008(Full story) Triquint Boosts Exec Team Hillsboro, Oregon-based TriQuint Semiconductor, a manufacturer of RF semiconductors, said Thursday that the firm has hired on Steven R. Grant as the firm's VP of Worldwide Operations. According to TriQuint, Grant joins the firm from Intel Corporation, where he was Vice President of Intel's Technology and Manufacturing Group in Oregon. TriQuint develops gallium arsenide (GaAs) an dother technology for RF communications ICs; the firm also provides GaAs foundry services to other firms. (More info...) posted on Thursday, June 26, 2008(Full story) Estately Expands To San Diego Seattle-based real estate web site Estately said today that it has expanded the firm's real estate search site to the San Diego, California Metropolitan Area. According to Estately, the addition adds more than 19,000 homes and condos to its database. Estately's web site is used to find real estate, and helps users connect with local real estate agents. posted on Thursday, June 26, 2008(Full story) |
|