Dallas-based Big In Japan, the firm behind the ShopSavvy bar code reader software, said today that it has released standalone software for the iPhone, which allows users to read QR codes. According to Big In Japan, the release came on request of ShopSavvy users interested in only reading QR codes, and not UPC/EAN codes. The software is available for free....Continue →

Round Rock-based Dell said this morning that it has withdrawn its efforts to acquire data storage firm 3PAR, after Hewlett Packard increased its offer for 3PAR to $33 per share. According to Dell, it will not increase its most recent proposal. Dell said it is entitled to receive $72M in a break-up fee. The withdrawal comes after a bidding war between Dell and HP for 3PAR, which drove Dell's initial price for 3PAR from $18.00 per share on August 16th to $33.00 per share today....Continue →

San Antonio-based GlobalSCAPE, a developer of file transfer software, said Wednesday that it has added a new distributor. The firm said it has linked with Lifeboat Distribution, to expand its reseller network in North America and Latin America. Lifeboat says it provides virtualization, security, application and network infrastructure, business continuity/disaster recovery, database infrastructure, and other software tools.
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San Antonio-based nonprofit research and development organization Southwest Research Institute reported Wednesday that it has been selected to receive a $1.2M contract, from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The firm said the award will go towards developing Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to receive an award of $1.2 million to develop advanced anode materials for lithium-ion batteries. SwRI said the battery technology is part of a research program sponsored by the U.S....Continue →

Austin-based Crossroads Systems, a developer of Fibre Channel bridges, routers, and other related products, has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against seven storage firms. Crossroads filed suit in the Texas Western District Court on Wednesday, saying that 3PAR, American Megatrends, Rorke Data, D-Link Systems, Chelsio Communications, DataCore Software Corporation, and iStor Networks all infringe on its router and data storage patents....Continue →

Round Rock-based Dell said Wednesday that it has expanded a relationship it has with security software maker Trend Micro, and will start offering a new security service targetd at small and medium businesses. According to Dell, it will bring Trend Micro's Worry-Free Business Security Services to its customers, and has worked with Trend Micro to develop a customized user interface for the service. Other business terms of the deal were not disclosed. Continue →

Venture capital firm Austin Ventures has saw an exit in its portfolio today in WAY Systems, a Boston-based developer of mobile, point-of-sale (POS) software for merchants, as VeriFone said today that it has acquired WAY. However, it looks to be a loss for Austin Ventures, as VeriFone said it was only paying $6M dollars upfront plus an additional $3M in earn-out payments for the assets of WAY Systems....Continue →

Austin-based Uplogix, a developer of remote management products for administering computer networks, has raised $5.0M in a funding, according to a regulatory filing by the firm. According to the filing, the firm has raised $5.0M, out of an ongoing $5.2M funding round. Source of the funding was not disclosed, and the firm has not yet announced the funding. $1.0M of that funding was received back in November of last year....Continue →

Houston-based INX, a provider of IP communications and data center services, said today that it has completed a data center virtualization upgrade for Associa. The firm said the project was worth $375,000 in combined product and professional services revenue. INX said the project provided more cloud compute capacity, using VMware and Cisco Systems data center virtualization technology, and increased its capacity by nearly 45 percent. Continue →

Dallas-based RadioTime, a developer of software applications for finding Internet radio stations, said this morning that it has acquired the TuneIn internet radio iPhone app, and hired the developer behind the software. According to RadioTime, it has hired Ben Alexander, the developer of TuneIn, to oversee development of the firm's iPhone and future iPad applications. Financial terms of the acquisition wer enot disclosed. TuneIn is a $1....Continue →

Rockwall, Texas-based Armadillo Aerospace, a developer of experimental space vehicles, is the recipient of part of $475,000 being awarded to two firms by NASA to test their vehicles in near-space. According to NASA, it is awarding both Armadillo Aerospace and California-based Masten Space Systems with funding, to allow the two companies to perform test flights of their experimental vehicles near the edge of space....Continue →