GameSpy Hires Lady ‘Quake’ Ace; Ethentica Gets $5 Million
WWW.COM, the Irvine company that made news with its unusual Internet address and an agreement that made it one of the first online broadcasters of licensed music, is hoping to recast itself as a business-to-business operation with a new name, OnAir Streaming Networks Inc.
The company started as a site for music lovers to hear their favorite tunes, but now is focusing on hosting services for other Web sites that want to broadcast music. Company officials say more than 70,000 Web sites,including About.com Inc. and Lucky-BrandJeans.com,already use the service.
Despite attention the company has received in the past year, investors’ moods have shifted markedly away from online services geared toward consumers. Add to that dozens of other sites broadcasting popular music in what is still a tiny market.
The company plans to hand off its WWW.COM site to another firm, and officials say they’re negotiating with several potential partners.
Girl Power
There goes another stereotype.
There might be a grain of truth in the image of pimply adolescent boys spending their weekends playing shoot-’em-up games in their basement. But GameSpy Industries Inc. is trying its best to add a woman’s touch to the diversion.
The Irvine maker of game-matching software and a network of gaming news sites has signed a one-year sponsorship deal with Kornelia Takacs, a 23-year-old from Budapest, Hungary, considered to be the world’s best female player of “Quake.” That’s quite a feat considering the explosive, bloody computer game is most often associated with testosterone imbalances.
Takacs, a seven-year U.S. resident, will represent GameSpy at trade shows and other events, a role she has played at several events already this year, where she takes on guys who line up to challenge her to a virtual death match. Few score any kills, let alone wins.
GameSpy officials aren’t saying how much the deal is worth, but a few more sponsorships like this just might refute the old argument that videogames are a waste of time.
Lake Forest Firm Gets $5M Investment
Ethentica Inc., a Lake Forest company that makes network security systems, has received a $5 million investment from incuVest LLC, a New York venture capital firm.
Three-year-old Ethentica makes systems that verify the identity of people logging onto computer networks and helps ensure private, tamper-proof connections.
The investment, which comes as a purchase of the privately held firm’s preferred stock, will help Ethentica market its products and develop new ones. Ethentica is part of technology incubator Safeguard Scientifics Inc. originally known as Who?Vision Systems Inc.
Magazines Buying It
Online retailer buy.com is in the doghouse as far as Wall Street is concerned, but two national magazines are heaping accolades on the company.
Forbes named buy.com one of “The Best of the Web” in the its Sept. 11 issue, which praised the Aliso Viejo company’s Web site designs, navigation, content, speed and personalization features.
In addition, Computer Shopper magazine gave buy.com its “best site” award, lauding its “mind-blowing selection,” and “fast and efficient shopping,” among other traits.
The site has received similar commendations before, but it doesn’t seem to have helped the company’s stock much. Shares continued to trade close to their 52-week low, hovering just below 3 last week.
ESynch’s Victory
For Tustin software maker eSynch Corp., the show will go on after all.
The International Olympic Committee is backing off its earlier ban on Internet broadcasts of the summer games,sort of. While the organization still won’t allow live broadcasts over the Internet,because they would bypass local broadcasters who have paid millions to air the events,NBCOlympics.com can show repeats.
That’s good news for eSynch, which is providing the official media player software for the NBC site, ChoiceCaster. The software boasts the ability to play all three popular media formats, including RealAudio, Windows Media and Apple Computer Inc.’s Quicktime. For more: www.nbcolympics.com.
Bits:
PrintNation.com, Irvine, has signed a deal to provide supply procurement services to Sir Speedy Inc., a Mission Viejo based printing center franchise … Rancho Santa Margarita memory seller Viking Components Inc. has created an online training center for resellers and distributors. Viking partners can get more information at (800) 338-2361. … Philips Semiconductors, a $5 billion division of Royal Philips Electronics NV, has selected Orange-based Viacore to manage electronic data exchanges with partners using the RosettaNet standard. Viacore’s offerings as a so-called process service provider will include managing Phillips’ new product announcements, pricing actions, inventory status and more. … Wonderware Corp., Irvine, has released Terminal Services for InTouch 7.1, software that allows computers and other devices connected to a corporate network running the application to immediately access information about what’s happening on the company’s manufacturing floor. For more: www.wonderware.com.
Ken Spencer Brown can be reached at kbrown@ocbj.com or (949) 833-8373, ext. 239.
