A new technology trade group has been established in Orange County to raise awareness of local companies, boost networking, advocate public policy, and develop educational initiatives and market reports.
The OC Technology Alliance, launched last month, aims to fill a void left by TechAmerica, a Washington, D.C.-based trade group that severed ties with regional chapters in June in an effort to focus solely on national policy initiatives.
“Orange County has been a strong technology base for a long time,” interim Chairman Peter Craig said. “We’re here to serve the needs of the technology community.”
Craig, who serves as chairman of Irvine-based systems security provider Valicore Technologies Inc., had chaired the local chapter of TechAmerica since 2009 and served on its national board.
TechAmerica had about 50 local company members, which are being courted to join OC Tech Alliance.
Membership costs are based on the annual revenue of the applicant.
The group already has enlisted some industry veterans and well-established companies.
Irvine-based software maker Kofax PLC Chief Executive Reynolds Bish is chairman.
Other directors include Joey Benadretti, cofounder of the U.S. operation of Syspro USA, a business software maker in Costa Mesa; Oli Thordarson, chief executive of Irvine-based IT consultant Alvaka Networks; and Feyzi Fatehi, chief executive of Aliso Viejo-based software service provider Corent Technology Inc.
Cofounder Bob Brunson, a longtime marketing executive, serves as executive director. Costa Mesa-based networking equipment maker Emulex Corp., Syspro and Kofax are founding members.
The alliance plans to keep many of the initiatives launched under the TechAmerica banner. Those include industry and executive roundtables, development seminars and workshops, and the Orange County High-Tech Innovation Awards, which recognizes outstanding students, teachers and schools in local science, technology, engineering and math education.
Conversion Efficiency
Seal Beach-based solar panel maker Amonix Inc. said it has broken its previously held record of converting sunlight into energy.
Its solar systems had an outdoor efficiency rating of 33.5%, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory confirmed. That bested Amonix’s previous record of 30.3%, which has been considered a benchmark in the solar industry.
The solar industry has seen fewer government subsidies and has struggled for profitability in a tough economic climate.
The Business Journal reported in July that Amonix closed its North Las Vegas manufacturing plant about a year after launching the facility.
Amonix cited “intense competition, the challenging solar-energy equipment pricing environment and lower-than-anticipated demand for concentrated photovoltaic solar energy” in Nevada and other southwestern states in its restructuring plan.
The $18 million, 214,000-square-foot facility was built last year with $12 million in private capital. The company received a $15.6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy in 2007.
It raised $100 million last year in its latest round of fundraising. That followed a $129.4 million round in 2010, led by Menlo Park-based Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
Earlier investments included a $25 million initial round of funding from New York-based Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and MissionPoint Capital Partners in Norwalk, Conn. Its 2011 revenue was an estimated $80 million.
Android 4.1 for Less
Newport Beach-based Idolian Mobile Inc.—which made a splash in technology trade pubs and consumer electronics websites this summer with its low-priced tablet—has garnered another thrifty designation.
The company’s 7-inch IdolPad Plus tablet is slated to become one of the first tablets running the new Android operating system that sells for less than $100.
IdolPad can be upgraded to the newest Android 4.1 version by the end of the month, the company said.
The device is ranked among the top-selling on Amazon.com and also is available on sears.com, buy.com and through the company’s website.
Idolian, which was established in 2010, joins a crowded field of tablet makers, primarily based in Asia, targeting the lower-end of a growing tablet market.
That market is expected to see sales double in 2012 to almost 119 million units, according to Stamford, Conn.-based market tracker Gartner Inc.
Irvine-based Vizio Inc. introduced its first 8-inch Vizio tablet last year that sells for about $300.
Toshiba America Information Systems Inc. in Irvine helped its Tokyo-based parent Toshiba Corp. introduce its Excite 7.7-inch and 10-inch tablets in a back-to-school marketing initiative earlier this year.
TAIS is the U.S. marketing and sales arm of Toshiba America Business Solutions Inc., which has annual sales of about $1 billion and employs 300 people in Orange County and 3,000 companywide.
