Silicon Valley Wide-Eyed Over a Bride

Sometimes good fortune arrives in fairytale-like flurries.

23andMe

Anne Wojcicki quietly wed Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google.

Consider Anne Wojcicki, the 33-year-old former health care investment analyst who this month married a handsome young computer scientist, who just happens to be one of America’s richest men.

As if the swirl of excitement around the Silicon Valley pairing of Ms. Wojcicki and Sergey Brin, a co-founder of Google, were not enough, Ms. Wojcicki has captured still more attention with a biotech company she recently co-founded, 23andMe. And her husband’s company is an investor.

Google disclosed last week in a regulatory filing that it has invested $3.9 million in 23andMe, a start-up that, according to its Web site, is developing ways “to help you make sense of your own genetic information.” The company’s name refers to the number of paired chromosomes in human DNA.

In an interview, Google’s chief executive, Eric E. Schmidt, declined to comment about 23andMe’s business or its future products, but he said that in the course of evaluating the potential investment, the company had instituted an array of checks and balances to ensure objectivity, including the recusal of Mr. Brin from any discussions.

“That was all done by the book beyond belief,” Mr. Schmidt said.

Google has invested in a handful of other start-ups, including FON and Meraki, both Wi-Fi start-ups, and Current, a company that delivers high-speed Internet access using existing power outlets.

Jon Murchinson, a Google spokesman, said that aside from 23andMe, none of the investments involved companies owned by a close relative of a senior Google executive.

Mr. Schmidt said that the Google investment in 23andMe would eventually benefit Google and its users.

Ms. Wojcicki (pronounced Wo-JIT-skee), and her 23andMe co-founder, Linda Avey, 47, declined to be interviewed at this stage in the company’s development.

23andMe, with headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., is based on the concept of individualized genetic mapping. “What used to cost billions now costs only $1,000,” Martin Varsavsky, an entrepreneur who has invested in the company, wrote recently in his blog. “So for the price of a laptop you can now learn the most intimate details of your genetic self.”

Mr. Varsavsky wrote that as medicine advanced, those who have had their genes mapped could be notified of developments concerning their own genes, including news of relevant drug discoveries.

Then there is the networking aspect.

“And what about relatives?” Mr. Varsavsky wrote. “If people are joining so many social sites to find out what they have in common, why not find out who the person who is closest to you in the genetic sense is?”

Even without a bit of mapping, Ms. Wojcicki’s own distinguished genetic heritage is evident. She comes from a family of intellectual high achievers. Her father, Stanley, is the chairman of the physics department at Stanford University; her mother, Esther, is a journalism teacher at Palo Alto High School. Ms. Wojcicki, the youngest of three daughters, attended Yale University, graduating in 1996 with a degree in biology.

The couple met after Ms. Wojcicki’s older sister, Susan, now a Google vice president, sublet the garage of her house in Menlo Park to Mr. Brin and his partner, Larry Page, 34, for their search-engine start-up.

Google has declined to disclose any details of the wedding, but according to various news reports, the location was such a closely guarded secret that wedding guests boarded the jet owned by Mr. Brin and Mr. Page unaware of their exact destination until they arrived on a private island in the Bahamas.

Guests who attended said the bride wore a white swimsuit, the groom a black one. Some guests took a boat while others — including the bride and groom — swam to a nearby sandbar, where the couple exchanged vows.

Ms. Wojcicki is known for her high energy and approachable, easygoing, personal style. People who knew her in high school in Palo Alto said that she was studious but far from isolated. While at Yale, her mother said, Ms. Wojcicki was a competitive ice skater and played on the varsity ice hockey team. She also had a job as an activities coordinator in her dormitory.

Esther Wojcicki, who has worked at Google as an educational consultant, described her daughter as “an idea factory.” In the past, she said, her daughter has had various health care related business ideas, and 23andMe is the first to come to fruition. Ms. Avey, her partner, has been involved with several start-ups in the past.

Ms. Wojcicki said that she was surprised when her daughter told her of the unusual wedding she had planned.

“She said, ‘Mom, I’m going to swim to my wedding,’ ” said Ms. Wojcicki. “And she pulled it off.”

Spurning some of the usual trappings of great wealth, Mr. Brin, who is worth some $14 billion, and Ms. Wojcicki live in a quiet residential neighborhood in Palo Alto.

In addition to Google, a handful of venture firms have invested in 23andMe as well. The total investment is estimated at around $10 million, part of which is being used to repay a $2.6 million personal loan from Mr. Brin.

“This is a completely new thing, and that’s exactly why we invested,” said Patrick Chung, a partner with New Enterprise Associates, a venture capital firm in Menlo Park, Calif. “Everyone can relate to this. Everyone has a genetic blueprint.”

Mr. Chung said that he was particularly impressed by Ms. Wojcicki’s ability to discuss the scientific aspects of her new company without losing her audience. “She’s really, really smart and still completely accessible,” he said. “And that is a gift.”

Google's Latest Purchase Could Mean More Cool Free Software

Google just bought GreenBorder, maker of Windows security software GreenBorder Pro. GreenBorder Pro is designed to protect against malware invasions and Internet attacks; the software is no longer available for download as the company transitions, and as every employee presumably bounces off walls and jumps for joy.

The company's site says it is still supporting existing customers. I wrote about GreenBorder Pro last year, along with other software that takes a similar approach to security. Instead of attempting to identify and block particular attacks or pieces of malware like traditional antivirus apps, GreenBorder Pro changes the operating environment with virtualization and modified user permissions such that attacks can't worm their way into your system or access your documents. It runs Firefox and Internet Explorer in this kind of protected environment, and can do the same for downloaded and e-mailed documents.

I think this secure-the-environment idea is a smart approach, and evidently Google agrees. Many other similarly themed security products have popped up over the past year (we're working on an upcoming review of one of them, WindowZones). My only beef with GreenBorder was that it charged a recurring yearly fee of $30 a year, like antivirus software, instead of a one-time, up-front price like most programs.

But the company didn't have the excuse of using the recurring fee to run research labs and supply signatures. The yearly fee just covered software updates. So the big question now is, will GreenBorder become another free Google download? Google isn't yet talking, but my own guess, based on pure personal speculation, is that Google will roll it into the Google Pack alongside the current Norton Security Scan and Spyware Doctor Starter Edition options.

In which case I'd expect you could also download a re-branded version on its own, like you can with Picasa. I don't think GreenBorder will become part of Google Apps, since Apps is a collection of hosted services that doesn't require a software download. But hey, I could be wrong. Or Google could even roll it into Google Desktop.

However the company handles it, if it offers GreenBorder free to consumers, I'll cheer the move. Though not nearly as enthusiastically as the GreenBorder employees are no doubt cheering right now.

Sony & HD Radio Bandwagons >>>> DUH

Sony on Tuesday unveiled two new HD radio receivers, a tabletop unit and an in-car device. While Sony is certainly not the first manufacturer to offer HD radios, the backing of such a large corporation could mean good things for the format. HD radio boasts better signal quality in both the AM and FM bands, as well as the ability to broadcast multiple signals over the same frequency.

Microsoft to Sell Touch-Screen Computer Built Into Coffee Table .............

May 30 (Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp. will sell a coffee- table-shaped touch-controlled computer that can give product information to shoppers, provide directions to hotel guests, or display menus for restaurant diners.

Microsoft will manufacture the horizontal-screened machines itself, rather than using personal-computer makers. Buyers of the device include T-Mobile USA Inc., Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. and Harrah's Entertainment Inc., said Microsoft General Manager Pete Thompson. The computer, called Microsoft Surface, will go on sale for $5,000 to $10,000 in November.

Microsoft, the world's largest software maker, is developing new forms of computers that are easier and more natural to control. The company expects such devices to become part of a multibillion-dollar industry sometime after 2010. Microsoft will probably release a consumer version of the Surface computer in three to five years, Thompson said.

The 30-inch display allows several people to use the table at once, for instance, to move and resize photos with their hands. Microsoft plans to tweak the design to accommodate each customer. The device can be made taller for in-store displays meant to be operated by standing customers.

T-Mobile USA, the fourth-largest U.S. mobile-phone company, plans to use Surface to let store visitors get information on new phones and load content such as ring tones and games. In a sample program built by Microsoft, placing a mobile phone on the touch screen brought up details about the phone and allowed a user to page through service plans. Ring tones could be selected and delivered to the phone.

A similar demonstration for Harrah's, which operates casinos such as Caesars Palace and the Paris, let users place their Harrah's reward card on the screen and make purchases with the points on the card. Users could navigate a map of Harrah's Las Vegas properties and book restaurant reservations and show tickets.

Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer will unveil the product today at the Wall Street Journal's D conference in Carlsbad, California.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dina Bass in Seattle at

Samsung First to 16-Gb Flash

Samsung Electronics said Sunday that it is the first to manufacture 16 gigabit (Gb) NAND flash chips, which will allow for memory cards up to 16 gigabytes (GBs), the highest capacity available. The chips are fabricated using a 51-nanometer manufacturing process.

"In rolling out the densest NAND flash in the world," said Samsung Semiconductor's Jim Elliott in a statement, "we are throwing open the gates to a much wider playing field for flash-driven consumer electronics." He added that Samsung's process technology was "a 'half generation' ahead of the industry."

The Seoul, South Korea-based company said that 51-nm NAND chips can be produced 60 percent more efficiently than those using the 60-nm process. Last summer, Samsung announced 60-nm, 8-Gb NAND flash.

16-GB Memory Cards

Samsung said that with its multilevel cell (MLC) structure, the new design can increase the storage capacity of flash to capacities up to 16 GBs in a single memory card. The chip will be targeted toward memory-intensive portable devices, such as music phones.

"No one will ever underestimate the appetite for storage" on mobile devices, noted Avi Greengart, an analyst with industry research firm Current Analysis. He said that with the iPhone coming out with 4-GB or 8-GB capacities, and with Sony Ericsson's Walkman Phone W950 having 4 GB, four to eight gigs will be the "new normal" for enthusiasts. Both devices use flash memory.

He also noted that memory needs for portable devices are growing not only because of digital music and video players, but also because of GPS devices. Users might want to store maps and points of interest locally on a GPS device, he said.

Read-Write Speeds

In addition to highlighting the storage-capacity increases, Samsung touted the chip's read-write speeds as well. The company said that, because of the new process technology, read-write speeds can be accelerated by approximately 80 percent over current flash speeds.

The company noted that the 51-nm, 16-Gb chip can process data in 4-KB pages, as opposed to the 2-KB pages that 60-nm flash memory can handle. The new chips use the same four-bit error-correcting code (ECC) as 60-nm NAND so that the same system interfaces can be used with only minor upgrades to firmware. The company said that if another ECC had been required, new "costly controllers" would have been required as well.

So portable devices such as multimedia phones can support the new capability of handling 4-KB pages, Samsung will offer "an optimized suite of flash software and firmware-incorporated storage devices." The company said that memory cards and MP3 controllers that support 4-KB pages are already available.

Samsung also noted that with this kind of support for the new chips, it expects the worldwide market to grow rapidly. The company is projecting aggregate global sales of $21 billion through 2010.

PlayStation 4 plans

Kutaragi says that previously he has been unable to talk about "the next step" because the PS3 still hadn't launched worldwide. "We've introduced PS3 in Europe, so now I can openly talk about [future plans]", he says.

"As a matter of course, I have the vision of PlayStation 4, 5 and 6, which will merge into the network."

According to the EE Times Kutaragi is also busy drafting up plans for ways to cut the manufacturing costs of the PS3, with design models planned for 2 years time.