VentureBeat

Roundup in Silicon Valley

Alien’s chief executive shuffle after failed IPO bid — Looks like Dr. Stav Prodromou has taken the fall for the failed IPO bid of his company, Alien Technology of Morgan Hill. The company, which makes radio frequency ID (RFID) technology, attempted to go public even though it hasn’t produced any revenue yet, but was forced to pull the filing. Podromou will become “Executive Advisor, Business Development and Government Affairs,” while the new acting CEO is Robert Eulau, until now the company’s chief financial officer.

Messaging company Visto may have raised $50 million more — The company hasn’t announced the funding yet, but we’ve got word that Visto has raised another round. If true, this is significant because Visto has now raised almost $300 million to produce a mobile messaging program. Chief executive Brian Bogosian has used the company’s VC treasure chest to sue rivals in court, but we’re beginning to wonder what Visto has to show for it. We’ve contacted the company twice over the past week, and are still awaiting an answer, because Bogosian has been on the road. We’re hearing Oak is the latest venture firm to bet on Visto, and have contacted Oak for a confirmation too. A lot has been poured into this company, when you consider that players like OZ seem to be getting traction with much less money.

Tivo shares move higher on rumored talks with Amazon — Amazon, which recently launched a digital video downloading service called Unbox to compete with Apple’s iTunes, is reportedly talking with TiVo about a deal that “could be a key step toward bridging the gap between the home computer and the television set,” the New York Post reported. Apple’s debut in movie sales saw 125,000 Disney movies bought in less than a week, which becomes pretty powerful when you consider Apple’s pending iTV, a wireless set-top box which will stream movies from your computer to your TV.