Rick Shindell of SBIR Gateway has reported that, in a 417 to 2 vote, the House passed a bill on September 23, 2009 that will extend the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR), Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR), Commercialization Pilot Program

El Segundo-based ScanDigital, the photo scanning and video transfer service headed by Anderson Schoenrock, has partnered with document scanning service Pixily, the firms said today. According to the firms, they will cross promote their services. Financial details of the cross

San Juan Capistrano-based OptionEase, the software-as-a-service startup developing a service for managing stock options, said this week that it has seen "record sales" for the firm's quarter ending September 30th. No financial details were released by the firm. The company

The last chapter for Internet homepage Geocities has been written, with Yahoo telling its last remaining users of the service that it will shut down on October 26th. According to Yahoo, as of October 26th, GeoCities sites will no longer

Los Angeles-based LEHR, a startup manufacturer of propane-based gardening tools, is one of the companies being highlighted by Popular Mechanics today with their "10 Most Brilliant Products of 2009". LEHR's Propane Trimmer uses natural gas canisters, instead of gasoline, to

Carlsbad-based ViaSat, a supplier of networking equipment for the satellite communications market, said Thursday that the firm has received a $46M contract award from Star Satellite Communications Company. Star is a subsidiary of Al Yah Satellite Communications Company PrJSC (Yahsat).

Irvine-based Custom Silicon Solutions, a provider of ASIC development services, reported this week that it has been selected for a new military ASIC development program. The firm said it would provide design and production of a mixed-signal ASIC for Thales-Raytheon

Thousand Oaks-based wireless network equipment provider Xirrus appears to be on a roll in signing up education customers, saying Wednesday that it has signed up Wasatch High School, located in Utah, as its latest customer. The firm did not disclose

We're featuring advice, opinions, and other useful information from our community of readers on our Insights and Opinions section. For today's Insights and Opinions piece, Scott Edward Walker, a corporate attorney, gives his opinion on the five basic mistakes he

Irvine-based Local.com, which operates a network of local business search sites, disclosed this morning that it has gained a U.S. patent. The firm said that it was awarded patent 7,596,218 by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on September 29th,

San Diego-based Internet radio service Slacker has integrated its service with micro-blogging service Twitter, the firm said this morning. According to Slacker, it has added the ability for users with Twitter accounts to automatically tweet their favorite music they are

Santa Barbara-based RightSignature, an online, software-as-a-service for collecting electronic signatures, took "Best of Show" at VentureNet Wednesday, after a day of presentations by thirteen Southern California startups. VentureNet, which is put on by the Technology Council of Southern California, included

San Diego-based Covario, a provider of paid search and search engine optimization software, reported this week that its analysis has found that major U.S. advertisers have upped their spending on paid search by almost 8 percent in Q3. The firm--which

San Diego-based Suddenly Darling announced today that it has launched a new site focused on online fashion for teen girls and young women. The firm--started by 17-year old Katelyn Rose--features fashion, style, and hair tips, as well as celebrity content

San Diego-based Gen-Probe said Tuesday that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Prodesse, a provider of molecular testing for influenza and other infection diseases. The deal is worth $60M in cash, with provision to increase the price to

For this morning's interview, we sat down and talked with Nick Desai, CEO of Global Fitness Media, which runs FitOrbit (www.fitorbit.com), an online site looking to help users put together a fitness and connect with fitness trainers. The firm is

Qualcomm's FLO TV subsidiary said late Tuesday evening that it has entered into the handheld TV market, with the launch of a new device which lets viewers watch programming anywhere they are. According to FLO TV, its new FLO TV

San Diego-based Cyntellect, a developer of scientific equipment for the life science and stem cell research market, reported today that it has opened up a new European headquarters in the U.K. The firm said the firm now has a team

Los Angeles-based The Rubicon Project, which operates a service to optimize the selection of ads on web sites, said today that it has debuted a new technology platform is it calling REVV for Publishers. The new software expands Rubicon's product

Carlsbad-based Breach Security, a developer of IT security tools, announced this morning that it has raised $5M in additional funding, from existing investor Sid R. Bass Associates. The firm said the expansion financing would go towards product development and further