Warner Music Group filed a financial report last week and it stated that they wrote-off $33 million in equity and debt from Imeem and Lala.  Imeem is a music social network and Lala is a streaming website.  Below is an excerpt from the report:

During the quarter ended March 31, 2009, the Company determined that its cost-method investments in digital venture capital companies were impaired largely due to the current economic environment and changing business conditions from the time of the initial investment. In accordance with FAS 157, the Company used Level 3 inputs to determine the fair value of these investments, which include management’s estimates of assumptions that market participants would use in pricing these assets. As a result, the Company recorded charges of $29 million, including $16 million to write-off its investment in imeem, inc. (“imeem”) and $11 million to write-down its investment in lala media, inc (“lala”) to its estimated fair value.

Imeem recently raised additional funding and is putting together an iPhone application.  Imeem’s valuation was north of $200 million at one point but has fallen since.  Warner invested $20 million in Lala and $15 million in Imeem.

[via VentureBeat]

SVTC Technologies is a San Jose, California based chip design company.  SVTC designs chips that are implemented into analog components and micro-machine devices.  SVTC spun out of Cypress Semiconductor.

Investors in SVTC include Tallwood Venture Capital and Oak Hill Capital.  Tallwood and Oakhill bought SVTC two years ago for $53 million.  SVTC then bought SEMATECH and merged the companies into SEMATECH’s Advanced Technology Development Facility (ATDF).  This gave SVTC the ability to double capacity.

SVTC plans to take on bigger chip companies that use a lot of capital to conduct fabrication processes.  SVTC’s factories have the ability to handle a variety of chip materials and designs.  About 300 people work for SVTC

[via VentureBeat]

GFI’s LANguard is a vulnerability management tool. The software is able to scan through your networks and find any potential vulnerabilities. It is available as freeware for up to 5 IP addresses. LANguard has over 20,000 customers that use it for patch management, network auditing, and correct any other security vulnerabilities.

LANguard’s vulnerability management tool has the ability to check databases based on the OVAL and SANS Top 20 to provide over 15,000 vulnerability assessments. The current version has the ability to detect the Conficker worm.

After LANguard does a network scan, it is able to deploy patches on all of the machines that are on the network using Microsoft operating systems. The software also has the ability to download Microsoft security updates and has the ability to automatically deploy missing patches and service packs throughout the network.

LANguard’s is able to audit your network by giving baseline comparisons when given information regarding the memory, processors, display adapters, motherboard details, storage devices, etc. being used. LANguard will inform you when there are unauthorized software installations and provide alerts.

Some of LANguard’s customers include Youthline, Compania De Seguros La Chilena Consolidada, TD Stock Technology Resources LLC, Speedibake, Hewlett Packard, Longview Wellness CEnter, U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, Collette Vacations, and AirNet Wireless Inc.

The full version of the software is about $32 per IP address. There is live sales chat and live support chat available on their website, GFI.com. Nmap users have ranked LANguard as the #1 Windows commercial security scanner for the last two years.

*Sponsored Post

Carbonite.com is an online backup and remote file access software that installs a small application on your computer that searches your computer for recently updated files to have protected. The service is only $54.95 per year and is completely automatic. Every year, about 43% of those that use computers lose e-mails, documents, photos, and other files that they wish they hadn’t lost. Above is a video of Jimmy Kimmel endorsing the service.

The service is intended to be an unlimited online backup space for a flat, low price made for consumers and small businesses. Carbonite backs up over 100 million files every day in their storage servers in Boston and in Beijing. Over 25 billion files have been stored and customers have been able to retrieve 2 billion of their files back. Carbonite is used by people across 120 countries. The service is available for both Mac and PC users.

Recently Carbonite and Acer Inc. announced a partnership. On select PCs, Carbonite will come installed as a free trial. This will be on several Acer Travelmate and Aspire branded computers.

On Carbonite’s fan page on Facebook you will notice that some users left positive feedback. “I signed up for for a safe and secure back up of my computer files. Now I don’t have to worry those important files. Try it…you’ll like it!” stated Kathy LaPose on the fan page. Carbonite also has a Twitter page to track updates about their company and handle customer service.

*Sponsored Post

LastMinuteTravel.com is an online website that provides last minute prices for different travel services. There are about 15,000 undercover hotels across 1,500 cities that shows you a price of different star hotel and once you book it, then LastMinuteTravel.com tells you the name of the hotel itself. By keeping them name private until after the booking, LastMinuteTravel is able to deeply discount the prices.

LastMinuteTravel.com sells deals on flights, cruises, cars, and other packages. They even have a coupons page where there are deals such as $4 off the San Diego Zoo tickets, 20% of city tours offered by On Location Tours, $4 off Madame Tussauds wax museum in Las Vegas, and $2 savings at the AT&T Park Behind-the-Scenes Tour.

Another nice feature that Last Minute Travel offers is the “Last Minute Deals In Advance” listed on the homepage. There is a list of prices and destinations that are offered for right away. For example, there is a 7 night eastern Mediterranean from Venice offered from a starting price at $549.

To further promote their brand, LastMinuteTravel.com has launched a new viral video campaign called Janice & Kevin’s World for $1 Adventures. Some of the skits include Americans in Paris, Monks, Support, Anniversary, Cafe.

Other companies that are partners with LastMinuteTravel.com include LastMinuteCruises.com, LMTClub.com, and TravelHoldings.com. LastMinuteTravel.com is based in Orlando, Florida and started in 1997. Uri Argov is the Last Minute Travel Co-Founder and CEO. Oren Hadar is the Travel Global Systems CEO.

*Sponsored Post

Lenovo in-house analyst Matt Kohut has recently interviewed with TECH.BLORGE about the future of netbooks.  He believes that touchscreens will help drive the popularity of Windows 7.  Windows 7 and Vista have strong support for touchscreens.  The more that computers become touchscreen, the less Linux will be distributed.  Kohut also predicts that netbook screens will get bigger and will more 3G support.

In regards to the low cost of netbooks Kohut stated:
“What has really helped is that Intel and all the other vendors are getting better at getting the whole system integrated on the chip. With the newest generation of processors, for example, you have your chip, your processor, plus your Northbridge, your Southbridge, and memory controller which is separate, now they are integrating them into the processor.”

[via TECH.BLORGE]

SAP has acquired carbon emissions firm Clear Standards.  Clear Standards is a two year old software company based in Sterling, Virginia.

Clear Standards develops web applications that helps companies develop strategies for cabon emission management, thus resulting in environmental impact reduction.  For example, Clear Standard’s software has a way to track the inventory of a company’s emissions and set regulation monitors.  This enables companies to reduce energy and waste.

The software is especially useful for regulated companies around Europe and companies who have voluntary sustainability programs.  Clear Standards will be rolled into SAP’s Environment, Safety Management, and Health applications.

“It is essential that organizations gain actionable insight into their carbon emissions, water consumption, energy use and other environmental factors so they can lower their environmental impact,” stated SAP co-CEO Leo Apotheker. “Having this ability also correlates to an organization’s efficiency and competitiveness.”

Clear Standards has also developed a free iPhone application called Carbon Tracker.

[via CNET]

This viral video has been making rounds on the Internet. It has about 1.5 million views on YouTube and features Nathan “Flutebox” Lee and Beardyman at the Google Offices in London. Lee calls himself “Flutebox” because he can beatbox and play the flute at the same time. After seeing videos like this I can see how Google is consistently ranked in Fortune’s top 10 best places to work for.