Pocket PC maker OQO shopping for buyers
OQO, a maker of pocket-sized personal computers with capabilities similar to laptops, is looking to be bought after running short on cash. Already in talks with a few potential matches — none of which it would disclose — the San Francisco company says its acquisition should remedy its financial woes and sharpen its competitiveness.
Facing a tight capital market, OQO has postponed the release of its OQO model 2+, a pocket PC that uses Intel’s Atom… Continue Reading
DigitalBridge lands $16.5M for rural wireless growth
Wireless broadband provider DigitalBridge Communications snagged $16.5 million in a third round of funding, including $8.5 million in debt. The money will be used to scale the business, which focuses on expanding wireless broadband services to rural areas.
The three-year-old company has established service in 15 markets in Idaho, Indiana, Montana, South Dakota, Wyoming and Virginia. It also launched a commercial WiMAX network in Jackson, Wyo. in June, and introduced voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) services… Continue Reading
Digital Signal is watching you? Startup promises exciting and creepy advance in video surveillance
A venture-backed startup called the Digital Signal Corporation is developing technology that could take video surveillance to a whole new level. Instead of just showing you a video image, Digital Signal’s laser radar system provides a range of biometric data, so security groups or others using the system can quickly tell when someone appears to be particularly nervous or tense, and therefore catch potential terrorists, shoplifters, card counters and others in the act.
There’s not much… Continue Reading
Luminus Devices raises $72M for LED manufacturing
In a sign of the maturation of the LED market, Luminus Devices has taken a meaty $72 million round to manufacture lights for a number of new consumer and commercial markets.
Luminus has made LEDs –which some say will be soon dominate lighting — for the display market, including televisions and monitors. However, the company will now begin making its “PlhatLight” LED for general-purpose lighting and several specialized applications like medical lighting.
One reason the financing is… Continue Reading
DigitalBridge Communications raises $20M for rural broadband
Whether WiMAX will ever appear from major providers like Sprint is uncertain, but DigitalBridge thinks it can effectively sell the service by offering it to small rural communities.
The company plans on serving markets with fewer than 150,000 residents, of which there are quite a few, in the vast middle spaces between the United State’s two coasts.
The $20 million funding was led by Paladin Capital Group. Previous investors CNF Investments, Novak Biddle Venture Partners and Redshift… Continue Reading
Adapx provides an old-fashioned (but high-tech) pen for field work
updated
Digital pen maker Adapx of Seattle, Wash., says it is changing the way data is captured in the field – by giving you a new-fangled pen.
Nothing works in the field like good, old-fashioned pen and paper. You can chew on the end of the pen, you can use the paper for other things when you’re caught short in the field, and you can replace it all cheaply.
Try those shenanigans with a laptop or tablet PC.
So… Continue Reading
HelioVolt grabs $77M more for solar tech — despite hiccups in CIGS
updated
Solar cell manufacturer HelioVolt Corp. has raised $77 million in a second round of financing, despite the setbacks seen at a number of other companies using the same “CIGS” technology.
Tech Confidential reports the news here.
Update: This morning, VentureWire (subscription only) has followed and notes the round’s investors: Abu Dhabi’s government-affiliated Masdar Clean Tech Fund and U.S.-based Paladin Capital Group led the round for the Austin, Tex. company. Also participating were Solucar Energias, the solar subsidiary… Continue Reading