Taking The Pulse Of The Texas Technology Industry
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Taking The Pulse Of The Texas Technology Industry |
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 Thursday, September 2, 2010 Zilliant Wins United Rentals Austin-based Zilliant, a developer of software used for optimizing product pricing, reported this week that it has signd United Rentals as a customer. United Rentals is a nationwide provider of equipment rentals. Financial terms of the win were not disclosed. Zilliant said United Rentals is using its Zilliant Margin Maximizer and Margin Insight solutions across its over 550 branch rental locations in the US and Canada, and is also piloting its Margin Manager software. (More info...) posted on Thursday, September 2, 2010(Full story) Big In Japan Releases ShopSavvy QR Code Reader 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. (More info...) posted on Thursday, September 2, 2010(Full story) Dell Withdraws From 3PAR Battle Round Rock-based Dell said this morning that it has withdrawn its efforts to acquire data storage firm 3PAR, after Hewlett Packard increased its offer for 3PAR to $33 per share.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. (More info...) posted on Thursday, September 2, 2010(Full story)
Wednesday, September 1, 2010 GlobalSCAPE Adds New Distributor 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. posted on Wednesday, September 1, 2010(Full story) Southwest Research Institute Gets $1.2M For Battery Research 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. (More info...) posted on Wednesday, September 1, 2010(Full story) Crossroads Sues Storage Firms 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. (More info...) posted on Wednesday, September 1, 2010(Full story) Dell Expands Security Tools With Trend Micro Deal 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. posted on Wednesday, September 1, 2010(Full story) Austin Ventures Gets Loss In WAY Systems 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. (More info...) posted on Wednesday, September 1, 2010(Full story) Uplogix Ups Funding By $5.0M 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. (More info...) posted on Wednesday, September 1, 2010 (More)(Full story) INX Upgrades Data Center For Customer 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. posted on Wednesday, September 1, 2010(Full story) RadioTime Buys iPhone App Developer 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. (More info...) posted on Wednesday, September 1, 2010(Full story) Tuesday, August 31, 2010 Armadillo Aerospace Lands NASA Award 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. (More info...) posted on Tuesday, August 31, 2010(Full story) MapMyFitness Gets $5.0M, Moves HQ To Austin MapMyFitness, a developer of online and mobile fitness websites and applications, said today that it has raised $5.0M from Austin Ventures, and moved its headquarters to Austin. The firm operates MapMyRUN.com, MapMyRIDE.com, MapMyWALK.com, MapMyHIKE.com, MapMyFITNESS.com, MapMyMOUNTAIN.com, and MapMyTRI.com, sites which allow users to upload their GPS data and other information on their exercise and fitness activity. The firm was based in Denver, where it continues to have operations. (More info...) posted on Tuesday, August 31, 2010 (More)(Full story) Austin Ventures Invests $5M In Life Insurance Distribution Firm Austin Ventures said this morning that it has formed a new, life insurance distribution company with Bob Carter, the co-founder of National Financial Partners. As part of the new firm, Austin Venture said it has invested $5M in the new company, and has committed another $45M in funding to support the firm in the future. Carter was the co-founder of National Financial partners, and also co-founded PartnersFinancial. (More info...) posted on Tuesday, August 31, 2010(Full story) The Planet Swizzles Referrals, Commissions Structure Houston-based The Planet, which provides web hosting services, said today that it has changed its commission structure for its referral partners. According to The Planet, it believes the changes will gives its referral partners more chances to earn money. Among the changes, the firm said it will provide commissions on month-to-month agreements and six-month contracts, rather than just longer, 12-month and longer contracts. (More info...) posted on Tuesday, August 31, 2010(Full story) Invodo Lands Children's Retailer Austin-based Invodo, a developer of e-commerce videos for retailers, said todayt hat it has landed The Land of Nod, owned by Crate & Barrel. According to Invodo, it will create, implement, and deliver online product videos for The Land of Nod retail site. The Land of Nod is focused on furniture and accessories for kids' rooms. Financial impact of the win was not disclosed. (More info...) posted on Tuesday, August 31, 2010(Full story) Monday, August 30, 2010 ZS Pharma Lands $2M Fort Worth-based ZS Pharma, a firm which is developing treatments for patients with liver or kidney disease, has raised $2M in funding from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund, according to the ETF Monday. ZS Pharma, which was originally based in Indiana, relocated to Fort Worth a little over a year ago to join the TECH Fort Worth not-for-profit business incubator. (More info...) posted on Monday, August 30, 2010 (More)(Full story) Freescale Links With Chinese Firm On Automotive Lab Austin-based Freescale Semiconductor said over the weekend that it has linked up with Chinese firm Foton Motor, to create an Automotive Joint Lab, focused on automotive electronics. According to Freescale, the join lab will co-develop silicon, software, and systems for use in next generation Foton vehicles. Freescale said the lab's effort will include developments in electric vehicle/hybrid electric vehicle (EV/HEV) technology and relevant electronic control technology. (More info...) posted on Monday, August 30, 2010(Full story) FSV Payment System Names CEO Houston-based FSV Payment Systems, a provider of prepaid debit processing services, reported late last week that it has named Richard (Rick) Savard as its CEO. Savard replaces Jonthan Palmer, who the firm says remains on the board and will consult with the firm on strategic issues. Savard was already on FSV's board of directors, and previously was CEO of Austin's NetSpend Corporation. Savard also has held positions at Macy's. posted on Monday, August 30, 2010(Full story)
Friday, August 27, 2010 LifeSize Wins Virgin Mobile India Austin-based LifeSize reported earlier this week that Virgin Mobile India, the youth-focused mobile phone service which is jointly owned by Virgin Group and Tata Teleservices, is using the firm's HD video conferencing solutions. LifeSize says that Virgin Mobile India is using the firm's equipment to reduce travel, and so far has reduced travel by 20 percent by using its products. (More info...) posted on Friday, August 27, 2010(Full story) HP Counters Dell With $2.0 Billion For 3PAR Just hours after Dell reported that it had matched HP's offer for 3PAR, at $27.00 per share, HP has turned around and increased its offer for 3PAR to $30.00 per share in cash, or $2.0 billion. The intense bidding war between HP and Dell started Monday, when HP put in a belated bid for 3PAR, after Dell and 3PAR had already agreed on an acquisition deal. posted on Friday, August 27, 2010(Full story) Silicon Laboratories Gets Patent Settlement Austin-based Silicon Laboratories reported Thursday afternoon that it has settled a patent infringement lawsuit against Quintic Corporation, a semiconductor developer, and its Chinese affiliate. According to Silicon Labs, the companies have agreed to a patent licensing and royalty arrangement, which will give Quintic a limited license to its portfolio of FM radio patents. Financial details of the patent settlement and license were not announced. posted on Friday, August 27, 2010(Full story) GameStop Gets Competition From Best Buy Grapevine-based videogame retailer GameStop has some new competition today, after retailer Best Buy announced that it is getting into used videogames yesterday. Best Buy said that it is launching a used games program, including a trade in program, at close to 600 Best Buy stores this week. According to Best Buy, it will give customers the ability to sell their pre-owned videogames at the store. (More info...) posted on Friday, August 27, 2010(Full story) Dell Increases Bid For 3PAR To $1.8 Billion The rapid-fire bidding war for data storage firm 3PAR continues this morning, as Round Rock-based Dell said that 3PAR has accepted a new, $27.00 per share bid to acquire the company. Dell said this morning it increased its offer to $27.00 per share in cash, and that 3PAR had accepted its increased offer as part of a provision that allows Dell to match competing bids for the firm. (More info...) posted on Friday, August 27, 2010(Full story) RigNet Expands In North Dakota Houston-based RigNet, a provider of remote communication services to the oil and gas industry, said this week that it has opened up a new service center in Dickinson, North Dakota. The firm said the new center will serve customers in the Bakken Shale region, which includes parts of North Dakota and Montana. RigNet provides satellite communications connectivity to oil and gas operations in the region, including voice, fax, broadband Internet, and enterprise connections. posted on Friday, August 27, 2010(Full story) |
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