10 posts and columns on Santa Barbara

FindTheBest’s Kevin O’Connor Talks About Comparison Engine, Now Running Hot on $6M in Funding (Video)

in Commerce on July 28, 2011 at 9:15 am PT

How do you FindTheBest? Well, starting out with $6 million in venture funding won’t hurt.

Sonos' John MacFarlane Talks About New Android Music Controller Rolling Out Today and More!

in News on April 19, 2011 at 6:00 am PT

Yesterday afternoon, BoomTown pumped Sonos CEO John MacFarlane full of fancy tea and queried him about today’s rollout of its new Android controller for the innovative wireless music players. As has been previously reported, Santa Barbara, Calif. consumer electronics company will finally be launching an app for the Google mobile operating system, as well as releasing some multitasking and AirPlay updates to boost its software for Apple’s iPhone and iPad.

Apple App Happy Sonos Also Goes Android

in News on February 10, 2011 at 6:00 am PT

Sonos–the maker of innovative wireless music systems that has been boosted by its Apple iPhone and iPad Controller app–is set to roll out one for Google’s Android mobile operating system. The Sonos Controller for Android will officially introduce the app at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next week, although the Santa Barbara, Calif., company is announcing it today.

SFund Invests in a Not-Particularly Social Site, FindTheBest.com

in Social on December 1, 2010 at 9:11 am PT

Kleiner Perkins last night closed one of its first publicly disclosed funding rounds coming from its new sFund, an initiative designed to bring the august firm into the realm of the social Web. The company at the receiving end of the dollars is FindTheBest.com, a vertical database creator.

Sonos Marches Its Wireless Music System Into China

in News on November 2, 2010 at 6:00 am PT

Sonos, maker of the well-known wireless multi-room music system for the home, announced at a press conference in Beijing, China, today that it will soon be selling its products in the important Asian market. The move by the Santa Barbara, Calif., consumer electronics company is a big expansion, putting its players in the hands of a growing base of more affluent Chinese customers by later this month.

Index Invests $25 Million in Sonos (Plus a Video Interview With VC Mike Volpi)

in News on March 12, 2010 at 9:00 am PT

Earlier this week, BoomTown had lunch with Michelangelo “Mike” Volpi, the high-profile tech exec who turned into a VC recently at Index Ventures. We also did a video interview about his new life as a an investor, based in London, although Volpi did manage to leave out the big news. That would be a just-inked $25 million investment by Index in wireless home music system maker Sonos, as well as a new board seat there for Volpi.

Off to D7: The More Things Change, the More They, Well, Are A-Changin'

in News on May 21, 2009 at 12:01 am PT

BoomTown will be driving the minivan–packed with my assistant Ed, my mom, two mannequins (don’t ask), a coffee machine and lots of coffee and some very nice outfits–down to the seventh D: All Things Digital conference today, so don’t expect much in the way of posts from me. Thus, I hope Twitter doesn’t sell to [fill in the blank], Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer don’t agree to agree (until they are on the D stage next week) and Facebook’s valuation doesn’t ricochet up and down the blog-hyped scale once again. But the rest of the well-oiled All Things Digital machine will be in full force covering tech and media news, even as we gear up for the big event next week, which will feature pretty much all the major players in the digital space.
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Off to D7: The More Things Change, the More They, Well, Are A-Changin’

in D7 on May 21, 2009 at 12:01 am PT

BoomTown will be driving the minivan–packed with my assistant Ed, my mom, two mannequins (don’t ask), a coffee machine and lots of coffee and some very nice outfits–down to the seventh D: All Things Digital conference today, so don’t expect much in the way of posts from me. Thus, I hope Twitter doesn’t sell to [fill in the blank], Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer don’t agree to agree (until they are on the D stage next week) and Facebook’s valuation doesn’t ricochet up and down the blog-hyped scale once again. But the rest of the well-oiled All Things Digital machine will be in full force covering tech and media news, even as we gear up for the big event next week, which will feature pretty much all the major players in the digital space.
the-joadsjpg

Got a "Verifiable Paper Trail" for Those Phantom Voters?

in News on September 12, 2008 at 4:40 pm PT

If one set out to design electronic voting machines that undermine voter confidence and threaten the integrity and accuracy of the whole election process, it would be hard to outdo those of Premier Election Solutions, formerly Diebold Election Systems. But Sequoia Voting Systems is trying–really trying.

Got a “Verifiable Paper Trail” for Those Phantom Voters?

in News on September 12, 2008 at 4:40 pm PT

If one set out to design electronic voting machines that undermine voter confidence and threaten the integrity and accuracy of the whole election process, it would be hard to outdo those of Premier Election Solutions, formerly Diebold Election Systems. But Sequoia Voting Systems is trying–really trying.