5 O’Clock Roundup: VC dry spell, Sun layoffs, another doomed e-reader
VC spending increases, but mostly on existing companies – Here’s a different way to look at the survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association that VentureBeat writer Anthony Ha reported on earlier: Brand-new startups will find it harder than ever trying to raise capital…. Continue Reading
Oracle gets green light to acquire Sun for $7.4B
Sun Microsystems just announced that its shareholders have approved its landmark sale to Oracle for $7.4 billion at a rate of $9.50 a share. But the software titans aren’t done yet — the deal still has to survive antitrust inspection by the U.S. Department of… Continue Reading
Sun Microsystems’ code-named Rock chip crumbles due to delays
As Oracle closes in on its acquisition of Sun Microsystems, Sun has voluntarily decided to lose some weight by canceling its Rock server chip project.
After five years in development, Sun’s commitment to the Rock chip has crumbled, even though the chip was key to Sun’s… Continue Reading
Vyatta lands $10.3M for open-source networking
Vyatta, maker of open-source network software, has raised nearly all of its planned $10.3 million round of equity. It adds this amount to the $11 million in second-round funding it brought in two years ago from ArrowPath Venture Capital, Comcast Intractive Capital, Fuse Capital and… Continue Reading
Roundup: Microsoft’s team-up with Verizon, Wolfram/Alpha’s demo, and more
Here’s the latest action:
Are Microsoft and Verizon teaming up on an iPhone rival? — That partnership may be the real source of rumors about negotiations between Verizon and Apple, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Stephen Wolfram demos Wolfram/Alpha search engine — Larry Dignan of ZDNet says the… Continue Reading
Oracle to buy Sun Microsystems for $7.4B — finally, this makes sense
Updated
Oracle Corporation, the large software database company, said Monday it will acquire the server company Sun Microsystems for $9.50 a share, or about $7.4 billion. It brings together two iconic Silicon Valley powerhouse tech companies that have long shared a spiritual alliance, initially to resist… Continue Reading
Roundup: Apple patents surface, Second Life grows, Rosetta Stone IPO takes off
Here’s the latest action:
New Apple patent filings raise eyebrows — The next versions of the iPhone could make use of a motion-aware user interface, based on some recent patent filings. MacRumors has more.
Nokia’s net income takes a dive — Phone maker’s net income falls 90 percent in… Continue Reading
IBM walks from Sun deal, but it could come back
IBM has withdrawn its $7 billion acquisition offer to buy Sun Microsystems, shelving at least for the moment a merger that would have created a dominant global market leader in computer servers.
The collapse of talks hammered Sun’s stock price. It dropped 23 percent to around… Continue Reading
Roundup: Solyndra scores major green, Windows braces for worm, car takes to the skies and more
Department of Energy shines on Solyndra — The solar company landed a $535 million loan to continue developing its technology. The New York Times has more.
A wormy April Fool’s Day — The Conficker computer worm is set to be unleashed on April 1, exploiting Windows weaknesses to… Continue Reading
IBM rumored to be in negotiations to buy Sun Microsystems for $6.5 billion
IBM is in negotiations to buy Sun Microsystems for $6.5 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported today.
If the deal happens, it would be one of the biggest consolidations in the computer industry since Hewlett-Packard merged with Compaq in 2001.
IBM would eliminate a major competitor if… Continue Reading
Sun looking to claim space in the cloud
Sun Microsystems jumped on the cloud computing bandwagon today with the announcement of its own platform for applications that run in the Internet cloud. The company is launching its effort with two products — Sun Cloud Services and Sun Cloud Compute Service.
With Amazon already an… Continue Reading
Data management software maker Q-layer sells out to Sun
Q-layer, a young provider of software to manage virtual data centers, has sold out to Sun Microsystems, collecting a healthy return for its investors Wellington Partners, Partech International and Big Bang Ventures. Last year was the first its products were on the market, and they… Continue Reading
Sun Microsystems to cut 5,000 to 6,000 jobs
Sun Microsystems said today it’s going to cut 5,000 to 6,000 jobs to align its costs to deal with the weak global economy. It’s another sign of how weak the economy has become, and how Sun is still struggling to find its footing after years… Continue Reading
Sun co-founder departs to challenge Cisco
Pounded by the stock markets after a poor showing in its recent earnings report, Sun Microsystems now has another thing to worry about: Co-founder Andy Bechtolsheim, who most recently served as chief architect for its systems group, is leaving [update: A Sun spokesperson notes than… Continue Reading
Sun Microsystems pre-announces earnings drop and write-down
After teetering along a recovery path for years, Sun Microsystems is slipping into the mire of a weakening business market.
The company said in a pre-announcement today it would swing to a large quarterly loss. The company expects to lose 25 cents to 35 cents a… Continue Reading
Roundup: Amazon vs eBay, YouTube search ads, and more
Here’s the latest action:
Amazon is like Apple, eBay is like Microsoft — Or at least that’s the tech-industry analogy that comes to mind when reading this piece about the increasingly competitive battle between the two e-commerce giants.
“Black” silicon is a better light receiver — A silicon variation… Continue Reading
Austin game event: Sun Microsystems tailors its services for online games
Sun Microsystems is at the Austin Game Developers Conference this week, pitching developers on its latest R&D effort, Project Darkstar – an open-source server platform for massively multiplayer online games, social networks and virtual worlds.
This isn’t the first time a company has created a platform… Continue Reading
Data warehouser Infobright takes $10M
It’s no simple task to store terabytes of information. In addition to just keeping the data safe, companies often require analytics and upkeep for their stored info. Infobright, one of the companies that provides such services, has just raised another $10 million in funding.
Infobright currently… Continue Reading
Roundup: MyHeritage raises funding, news feed psychology, Bell drops “basic research,” and more
Here’s the latest action:
Genealogy site MyHeritage raises $15 million — The Israel-based company has grown from 17 million to 25 million registered users over the past year. Investors include Index Ventures and Accel.
High-imaging satellite GeoEye-1 launches — It claims to take the highest-resolution images of any commercially-available… Continue Reading
Roundup: Apple backdating probe dropped, AMD takes big write-off, Webroot founder missing
updated
Apple criminal backdating probes dropped: It’s a happy day for Apple, and not just because of the iPhone 3G launch. The criminal backdating probe of Steve Jobs and other Apple executives has been dropped, according to the San Jose Mercury News. Attorneys involved in defending… Continue Reading