Citrix adds IT search to its roster with Paglo acquisition

Citrix Online, the division of Citrix Systems that provides remote, web-based services, just announced the acquisition of Paglo, a search tool for IT managers.

Menlo Park, Calif.-based Paglo describes itself as “Google for IT.” Its tools allow IT staff to search a company network for all connected devices, check the status of those devices, monitor server health, install software patches, and more.

The acquisition allows Citrix to add IT management to its roster of services, … Continue Reading

Judobaby plans to muscle its way onto the Nintendo Wii

Here’s something you never see anymore in the game industry: a new startup making console games.

But that’s what Judobaby plans to do as it announces today it will make family games for the Nintendo Wii. The company is led by Dan Mueller, a 15-year game industry veteran who once worked at Sony’s U.S. game division (yes, he’s a traitor).

Mueller started toying with the idea back in 2007. He tooled around with as many … Continue Reading

Quantenna raises $15M to make Wi-Fi faster and more reliable

Giant chip makers like Broadcom, Atheros and Marvell dominate the market for Wi-Fi chips — the chips that allow us to wirelessly connect to the internet at almost every cafe. So it would seem that Wi-Fi startups are doomed from the start.

But Quantenna Communications begs to differ. Today, the Fremont, Calif.-based startup is announcing that it raised $15 million in a fourth round of financing for its Wi-Fi wireless radio chip sets. These chips … Continue Reading

Strategic Design Network acquires social game payment company Payout Hub

Strategic Design Network, a social game maker, has acquired social game payment services company Payout Hub for an undisclosed price.

Austin, Texas-based Strategic Design Network makes social games. Seth Goldberg, president of SDN, says the move will diversify his company’s revenue streams as the company prepares to launch its own games this year.

Payout Hub provides the infrastructure to pay cash prizes in skill-based online games. It was founded in mid-2009 by New York entrepreneurs … Continue Reading

Korean firm launches En Masse Entertainment to make Western online games

Korea video game firm Bluehole Studio is making a move into the U.S. and European markets as it announces today it has created En Masse Entertainment, a new online gaming company in the U.S.

Seattle-based En Masse Entertainment will create massively multiplayer online games that compete with high-quality MMOs such as World of Warcraft. The division was established in 2009 and has been operating in stealth mode for a while.

The company has game veterans … Continue Reading

JiWire: McDonald's Wi-Fi rollout will boost free hotspots by 15%

The latest quarterly report from Wi-Fi hotspot advertising network JiWire claims that the McDonald’s plan to offer free Wi-Fi in many of its restaurants this year will increase the number of available free hotspots in America by a head-turning 15 percent.

The count is expected to tip the scales away from paid hotspots, too, by making an estimated 52 percent of hotspots free ones. JiWire says the total number of public hotspots grew by 21.9 … Continue Reading

Pano Logic grabs $20M for its "zero client" desktop machines

Pano Logic, which makes a desktop PC replacement that I wrote about last year, has announced a $20 million round of funding led by the Mayfield Fund. The Menlo Park-based firm, founded in 2007, previously raised $18 million in two rounds led by Goldman Sachs and Foundation Capital.

Pano claims to have tripled sales in 2009, although the company won’t specify from what to what. Having worked on the predecessors to Pano Logic’s devices in … Continue Reading

Web-IM service imo.im adds lightning fast chat history searching

If you’ve ever had to crawl through your instant messaging chat archives just to prove a point to a friend, you would probably appreciate imo.im’s new chat history search feature. Now users of the web-based IM aggregator will be able to save and search their chat histories for any of its supported chat services. And most importantly, the searching is very fast — it allows you to view search results letter by letter as you … Continue Reading

Crisp Thinking's NetModerator blocks pervs in real time

Online predators represent a real threat in online games. That’s why Sony Online Entertainment has integrated online threat protection software in its huge online game, Free Realms.

The NetModerator software was created by Crisp Thinking to block online pervs — predators, cyber bullies, and annoying users — in real time. The product also provides automated analysis of online communications which are really veiled overtures between would-be wrong doers who are trying to hide their language. … Continue Reading

Lenovo: Businesses don't want tablet devices like the iPad

Lenovo recently released its latest tablet PC — the Thinkpad X201 — and with it came strong words against the iPad and the recent wave of similar “slate” tablet devices. As reported by CNET, Lenovo said that it’s not developing a slate device because it’s customers simply don’t want it.

Keyboards have long been a selling point for Lenovo’s computers (something it inherited from when IBM was still making Thinkpads).  According to the company,  it … Continue Reading

Robo.to launches video-status update app on Android

Particle, the company that claims to “make massively small products that shorten the distance between the internet and awesome,” is launching its Robo.to Android application today. It can be downloaded here: http://robo.to/welcome/android. Robo.to lets users share 4-second video status updates — without sound but with captions — from their mobile phone, and also syncs their Robo.to profile with mobile address book contacts.

Robo.to launched in May 2009 as a web application with social network integration, … Continue Reading

SugarSync beefs up service: More storage, email-based doc syncs

Syncing documents among multiple computers and smartphones is a pain in the kisser. SugarSync, which offers subscription sync services for as low as $4.99 a month, has added a clever feature based on everyone’s favorite ad hoc backup mechanism: You can now email it in. Send an attachment to your SugarSync account from your computer or smartphone. SugarSync will automatically sync it to your other devices.

The company has also bulked up its maximum storage … Continue Reading

ErGo Media Capital to pour money into media, game and entertainment startups

ErGo Media Capital is launching today to invest venture capital and private equity into entertainment and media companies.

The New York-based company is headed by Matt Littin, who was co-founder of Cinetic Media. The company plans to invest as much as $15 million per deal, but it did not say how much money it has raised altogether. The fund is backed by ErGo Ventures, a private investment firm with holdings in aerospace, food and wine, … Continue Reading

Visage Mobile dials up $4.5M to expand into workforce management software

Visage Mobile, a former mobile virtual network operator that has rebranded as a maker of workforce management software for enterprises, has brought in $4.5 million. Based in San Francisco, the company is backed by Qualcomm Ventures, ATA Ventures, Emergence Capital Partners, Vesbridge Partners and Worldview Technology Partners.… Continue Reading

Adura lights up with new $12M for energy-efficient lighting

Adura Technologies, developer of wireless lighting systems that also manage energy use with an eye toward conservation, has brought in $12 million in a new round of funding. Based in San Francisco, California, the company is backed by Claremont Creek Ventures, VantagePoint Venture Partners and NGEN Partners.… Continue Reading

Roundup: Yahoo tweets, Apple taps Avon head for board co-lead, bikinis return to AppStore

Yahoo expands relationship with Twitter — Yahoo plans to integrate Twitter broadly through its various web sites. In December, Yahoo integrated Facebook into its site. [graphic: AllThingsD]

Apple appoints Avon CEO as co-lead for its board — After facing criticism that its board has been too insular, Apple has added Andrea Jung of Avon as a new co-lead board member. She quietly took the position in December, and has been on the board for two … Continue Reading

Virident takes in $3.4M to make computers more energy efficient

Virident Systems, developer of technology to cut down on the energy used by computers, has brought in $3.4 million of an anticipated $13 million round of equity, according to a filing with the SEC. Based in Milpitas, Calif., the company is backed by Artiman Ventures, Spansion, the Parekh Family Trust and the Ganapathy-Kumar Revocable Living Trust. Erasmic Venture Fund has also contributed in the past.… Continue Reading

First Microsoft, Intel, and now Google: EU opens antitrust investigation

It was only a matter of time before the European Union got around to an antitrust investigation of Google. Published reports say that the trade regulator has written to Google, asking a series of questions about its search functions and the way that it sells advertising.

The queries come after complaints from United Kingdom search site Foundem, a price comparison site; Ciao, an online shopping site owned by Microsoft; and ejustice.fr, a French site that … Continue Reading