The holidays have ended, and we have some catching up to do. Get ready for 2011 with our wrap-up of San Diego’s recent tech news.
—Qualcomm said it was coming: The San Diego wireless giant agreed to sell the wireless spectrum that runs its Flo TV mobile television service to AT&T for more than $1.9 billion, after spending $683 million to acquire rights in the 700-megahertz band over several years in the mid-2000s. Qualcomm Chairman and CEO Paul Jacobs said last summer that its Flo TV network could be used to “data cast” magazines, video, and other content to mobile devices in a much more cost-effective manner—and AT&T said that’s how it plans to use it. CNET put together a good rundown of what the deal means for AT&T, which you can find here.
—Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, the twins who settled their lawsuit against Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg for $65 million, told the New York Times that they intend to appeal their own settlement for a chance at a bigger windfall. The Winklevoss brothers, who are now living in San Diego while they train for the U.S. Olympic rowing team, told the Times they will pursue their case on Jan. 11 before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco. The Winklevoss twins allege that Zuckerberg stole their idea in creating Facebook, which calls their contentions “absurd” and the claims “frivolous.”
—A report from the San Diego Foundation determined that clean technology companies in San Diego County have attracted $445 million in venture capital over the past five years. Based on existing trends, the report predicts that clean energy and cleantech industries will become major job creators here for years to come. The report also says local cleantech companies already have the potential to draw $200 million to $1 billion in further investments, and that would create between 5,400 and 27,000 jobs.
—JMI Equity, based in San Diego and Baltimore, raised $875 million for its seventh fund, which San Diego managing member Paul Barber attributed to
