MVTech MVTech (August 27, 2004)

By Kristine D. Dworkin

An Olympic achievement

Those eye-popping graphics that have caught your attention and fed your need for game history and other fascinating tidbits during the 2004 Olympic Games coverage are actually Mountain View-grown.

For the fifth consecutive Olympic Games broadcast, NBC has relied on SGI visualization systems, including Silicon Graphics Tezro to create the interstitial content, including show openers and closers, intros/outros and a variety of graphics, including 3-D models for technical animations. These graphics are often used to explain Olympic events and detail the equipment used by the athletes.

For more information on SGI's Olympics presence, visit www.sgi.com.

Was fraud patent copied?

CyberSource Corporation is suing Retail Decisions over the technology used in Retail's eBitGuard product. The suit alleges that eBitGuard, a card fraud screening service, uses technology covered by a CyberSource patent for detecting fraud in a credit card transaction over the Internet.

The application for the patent was filed in July 1997 and was issued to CyberSource in February 2000. Both companies develop and market electronic payment and risk management technology for merchants who take credit card payments over the Internet. Litigation is pending; Retail Decisions is investigating the charge internally and Cybersource is staying mum until the legal outcome.

For more information on the situation, visit www.cybersource.com.

New guy on the block

Sonics, a company that provides SOC (system-on-chip) architectures and SMART Interconnect IP products has welcomed an industry veteran into its inner sanctum. Philip J. Casini brings 22 years of marketing and business development at companies like Intel, Cirrus Logic and Camlan Corporation to his new role of Vice President of Sonics Marketing and Business Development activities.

Sonics hints at big growth plans including expanded market leadership in digital multimedia and wireless services with Casini in the lead.

For more information on Casini, visit www.sonicsinc.com.

A wireless connection

Alvarion and interWAVE signed a new agreement that could result in a power union both companies hope will have a huge impact on wireless broadband access. Both companies' boards of directors have given their blessing for interWAVE to be acquired by Alvarion for $5.75 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $56 million.

The only holdup now is a nod of approval from stockholders. The acquisition is expected to be complete by the end of the third quarter of this year.

For more information, visit www.iwv.com.

"MVTech" is a roundup of news from Mountain View's high-tech industry. Please send news items, comments and suggestions to Kristine D. Dworkin at mvvoicetech@yahoo.com.

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