Monthly Archives: June 2008

Digby Launches Mobile Platform

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Austin-based Digby announced their mobile commerce platform today. Previously the company had announced the Digby Marketplace which allowed people to shop using their BlackBerry at retailers like Best Buy, FTD, Godiva, Barnes & Noble, and OfficeMax. Today the company announced “Powered by Digby” which allows retailers to have their own mobile commerce websites. Godiva Mobile launched on the platform on April 30th, and 1-800-FLOWERS mobile commerce site will launch later this summer. Right now Godiva Mobile supports the Blackberry, but future support for iPhone and Android is planned.

We think mobile is one of the fastest growing technology market segments right now. It’s exciting to see companies like Digby become a vital part of the ecosystem of mobile companies in Austin.  The company released their news today, the same day as Steve Jobs keynote address at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference announced the new 3G iPhone. Perhaps the PR strategy here was to get swept up in the mobile hype of the day, but the news was released after 5pm for some strange reason.

There is not a lot of detail on the Powered by Digby section of their website to tell us exactly what it is, but here are some educated guesses. Digby has a set of tools to make it easier to create downloadable mobile apps for Blackberry, iPhone, and Android that are specifically tuned for retailers and the mobile shopping experience. Every retaiiler is going to have different ways of storing their product data, unique branding, and varying ways of navigating their products. So there must be a pretty substantial customization project for each customer. We’re a bunch of iPhone folks, so we haven’t had a chance to test out any of the applications. But you can download Godiva’s mobile app at www.godiva.com/mobile if you have a Blackberry.

It’s a pretty wide open market right now for mobile tools, and the mobile commerce market is in its infancy. With competitive price points for the new iPhone 3G, a pretty cool demo of Android, and the new Blackberry Curve being released, the mobile market is poised to take off.

PR Opportunity for Startups

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Innotech LogoInnotech Austin is coming up in October, and one of the most exciting aspects was the Innotech Beta Summit, which we covered last year. Those in attendance got to see some really great stuff from Phurnace, BoxCloud, and SpiceWorks. If you’ve got something to show at the Innotech Beta Summit, download the application and submit it. It’s great PR you and your company. We will definitely be there!

NetQoS Acquires Helium Systems

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NetQoS, an Austin-based provider of network and application performance management products, has acquired Helium Systems, a privately held financial trade monitoring software company based in Valencia, Calif.

NetQoS acquired substantially all assets of Helium Systems for cash, including its customer base and TradePVR monitoring technology, which has been renamed NetQoS Trade Monitor. The acquisition makes NetQoS the first vendor to offer a passive Financial Information eXchange (FIX) monitoring product with a comprehensive network and application performance management suite.

“NetQoS continues to grow through a combination of in-house innovation as well as strategic acquisitions to help customers understand how applications are performing across their global networks,” said Joel Trammell, NetQoS CEO. “The addition of NetQoS Trade Monitor via the Helium Systems acquisition increases the value we bring to the financial services industry by providing the data needed to solve electronic trading issues across low latency architectures before they impact the business.” Helium Systems’ founder, president, and chief architect, Alex Malone, is now a part of the NetQoS engineering organization focused on future development of the NetQoS Trade Monitor product.

“As electronic trading volumes continue to rise and short-term advantages such as DMA and proximity are neutralized, the key technological differentiator going forward will be comprehensive performance management. And nobody understands that better than NetQoS,” said Malone. “With a keen focus on performance management along with outstanding sales and support and a large base of financial services customers, NetQoS will build on the vision of Helium Systems by innovating around the Trade Monitor product.”

Austin Tech Happy Hour June 12th

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Austin Tech Happy Hour LogoTech Happy Hour

Mark your calendars for next Thursday June 12th for the next Austin Tech Happy Hour. It will be at the Hi-Lo on 6th and Lavaca from 5:30 – 8pm. Come network, mingle, meet some new people, and discuss the technology environment in Austin. Or just have a maragarita and chat. Here are some topics to get you started.

Politics

Cid Galindo will be stopping by the happy hour to talk with people about his runoff for City Council Place 4. We believe Cid to be the candidate that will best represent the interests of the tech community in Austin. He’ll be happy to tell you about his plans for smart growth, just don’t forget to vote on Satuday June 14th.

iPhone

Apple is hosting their annual Worldwide Developers Conference next week. There are sure to be some announcements. Maybe a next generation iPhone? Steve always seems to have a surprise announcement up his sleeve. Come gossip about it, or just bring your new 3G iPhone.

Mirage Networks Receives Frost & Sullivan’s 2008 Best Entrepreneurial Company Award

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Mirage Networks, an Austin-based developer of Network Access Control (NAC) technology, has been named the winner of the 2008 Frost & Sullivan Best Entrepreneurial Company Award.   The award is presented annually to the company with fewer than 300 employees showing the highest achievement in innovative product development, strategic business development and focused market strategy.

“NAC technology is increasing in popularity with customers, and Mirage Networks is quickly gaining market share within this booming market,” said Chris Rodriguez, research analyst for Frost & Sullivan. “Mirage Networks delivers on what customers are demanding: a complete, end-to-end, agentless, solution that is easy to deploy and maintain.”

According to Frost & Sullivan, analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research in order to identify award recipients. The Best Entrepreneurial Company Award signifies Mirage’s identification of a unique and revolutionary product solution with significant market potential.  Additionally, the award certifies that the company’s marketing strategy is sound and poised for success.

“We are deeply honored to be selected for this prestigious award,” said Greg Stock, President and CEO of Mirage Networks. “Unsolicited recognition like this from such a highly respected growth partnership company further validates not only the Mirage technology, but also our overall strength and leadership in the security space.”

Check back with Austin Startup next week, for a Q&A Wednesday interview with Greg about this up and coming company!

Legal Advice for Startups

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We frequently get questions about how to find good legal advice for startups. Last week we wrote about the debate between hiring the tried and true, large, and well known law firm vs. the scrappy attorney at a smaller firm. We found a great article by Jason Mendelson titled Why Startup Lawyers Frustrate Me. It’s a good read.  Jason also co-wrote this great term sheet series that is publised on Brad Feld’s blog. There are postings over a span of years covering everything from drag along agreements to liquidation preferences. It’s a great resource for startups.

Active Power Sells Eight Powerhouse Units to China Utility

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Active Power LogoActive Power today announced an order from a China utility, one of the largest subsidiaries of the China National Power Grid, for eight PowerHouse containerized continuous power systems. This announcement marks the second multi-system PowerHouse sale in as many weeks for Active Power.

“The utility provides power to a region that hosts several important events annually where downtime is just not an option,” said Jim Murphy, vice president of Sales EMEA for Active Power. “With our PowerHouse continuous power system, the utility can deploy multiple systems depending on demand needed for a particular event and then once the event is complete, redeploy the systems to another site within hours.”

Each PowerHouse system will contain Active Power’s flywheel based CleanSource® UPS 250i system; generator set; GenSTART, which provides redundant starting power for the generator; switchgear; and the automatic transfer switch. The first two systems will be shipped in third quarter 2008 with the remaining six PowerHouse systems to be delivered during fourth quarter 2008. The systems will be deployed to eight major cities throughout the customer’s province and will be used for mobile backup power in emergency situations.

Alereon Announces New Reference Designs

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Alereon announced a full range of high performance worldwide reference designs for Wireless USB applications. Included are the Worldwide PCIe Half-MiniCard and Worldwide PCIe ExpressCard/34 reference designs for host laptops; and the Worldwide Wireless USB Graphics Adapter reference design for device solutions. Leveraging on Alereon’s first generation products, which were certified by the USB-IF, the new reference designs are compliant with both the WiMedia and Certified Wireless USB specifications along with the Windows Premium Logo Program utilizing the Windows Host Controller Interface (WHCI). The PCIe Half-MiniCard and ExpressCard/34 designs feature the Alereon AL5350/AL5100 Wireless USB chipset with PCIe interface, making them the only true worldwide host reference designs. Operating in WiMedia band groups 1, 3, 4 and 6, Alereon’s AL5000 Family of products provide both OEMs and ODMs with a single solution that can meet the regulatory requirements in any country via software configuration.

“In today’s environment, offering reference designs is a requirement for silicon vendors who wish to assist OEMs in getting products to market quickly,” said Fiona Thomson, research director, IMS Research. “Alereon is the only supplier of an end-to-end solution that can provide greater than 200 Mbps of throughput and is compatible with the worldwide regulatory environment, allowing OEMs to introduce products that finally meet the promise of Wireless USB.”

ON Networks Makes "Top 100" List

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ON Networks LogoON Networks today announced that it was named one of the OnHollywood 100 Top Private Companies by AlwaysOn. The OnHollywood 100 is a power list of the top private emerging technology companies in digital entertainment and media. ON Networks was handpicked by the AlwaysOn editorial team based on a set of five criteria – innovation, market potential, customer adoption, media buzz and investor value creation.

“We’re honored to be recognized as one of the top companies in the emerging new media and entertainment space,” said Kip McClanahan, co-founder and CEO of ON Networks. “As the barriers to where and when we watch video and TV shows collapse, we’re ensuring viewers are always entertained.”

ON Networks along with the rest of the award winners will be honored at the OnHollywood & BRiM event on June 10-11, 2008 at the Sofitel Hotel in West Hollywood, California. OnHollywood brings together executives from both the entertainment and the technology industries to identify and debate emerging trends and to foster relationships and partnerships. The first annual Broadband Rights Marketplace (BRiM) will launch an online network that supports new creative projects and offers a digital-rights exchange and auction.

“This year’s OnHollywood 100 represents the brightest of the innovators in the new media space. We are enthusiastic about gathering the leaders in a collaborative environment that fuses these two industries together, culminating in the richest, most progressive conversations on Hollywood’s digital movement,” said Tony Perkins, founder and CEO of AlwaysOn.