Fountain Valley-based D-Link Systems Inc. has its first product approved for Apple Inc.’s developing HomeKit platform, which offers a selection of services for connected-home devices.
Its Wi-Fi camera will be added this year to the growing list of HomeKit products. The device, which can be voice controlled and accessed through the Home app in iOS 10, is billed to provide users more options to control and monitor their homes with faster results.
“D-Link is focused on constantly evolving our platform to offer products that not only work within our ecosystem [but also] seamlessly integrate with other home automation technologies, making it easier for our customers to create their ideal smart home,” D-Link President William Brown told the Business Journal. “HomeKit support is just another step in that evolution, with more to come as the industry continues to expand.”
The North American unit is part of Taiwan-based D-Link Corp., which generates about $1 billion in annual sales.
Irvine-based Insteon was among the first companies hand-picked by Apple about a year ago for the initial lineup of the much-anticipated HomeKit.
Broadcom Corp. in Irvine, which was acquired for $37 billion in February by Avago Technologies Inc. and renamed Broadcom Ltd., was the first chipmaker to meet HomeKit’s technical specifications for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Smart applications.
Cupertino-based Apple is the most highly valued company in the U.S., with a recent market cap of nearly $521 billion.
New Sports Fantasy?
Chatter is picking up in fantasy sports circles that the hot segment’s two giants—FanDuel Inc. in New York and Boston-based DraftKings Inc.—could tie the knot.
The combined company would control more than 95% of the market share in the emerging sector, which provides sports fans an outlet to build a team using a salary cap, and compete against other players online or through an app for real money, sometimes with millions of dollars on the line.
Aliso Viejo-based startup FantasyAces LLC, which has carved out a nice niche with live fantasy championship events staged at Angel Stadium, sports bars and hotels throughout the region, said it would welcome a consolidation of its bigger competitors.
“One competitor is better than two for our company,” co-founder Trent Frisina told the Business Journal.
FantasyAces, along with DraftKings and FanDuel, have been working with state lawmakers to enact standards and rules that will keep fantasy sports operating in California, rather than leaving their fate with the courts to decide on the contests.
FantasyAces, which is publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the holding company Fantasy Aces Daily Fantasy Sports Corp., hasn’t drawn the same ire in other states as DraftKings and FanDuel.
The company, launched in 2013, has more than 24,000 members who pay as little as a dollar a day to participate in some fantasy leagues in baseball, basketball and football, or sometimes more than $100 for tournaments.
Daily fantasy sports, considered a game of skill, is legal in 45 states due to its exemption from the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.
California has the most daily fantasy sports players in the country, according to Anaheim Hills-based market researcher Eilers & Krejcik Gaming LLC.
Players enjoy the variety of several daily fantasy website operators, including Yahoo, that offer several types of formats, payouts and lineup templates.
Potential Firm Sale
Could Irvine-based Lantronix Inc. be the next publicly traded tech company in OC up for sale?
The company has appointed Martin Hale, founder and chief executive of New York-based private equity firm Hale Capital, to a newly created board seat.
Hale has 19 years of experience in venture capital and private equity. His firm isn’t listed among Lantronix’ largest institutional or mutual fund holders, according to regulatory filings.
Lantronix, which has implemented restructuring and management changes since 2012, makes electronic devices and software that allow secure online communication with medical equipment, security devices, smartphones, motor vehicles, meters, thermostats, retail terminals and ATMs.
The company has annual sales of about $42 million and a recent market value of about $17 million.
