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GA Gets More Mileage Out Of Predator

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. has outfitted one of its Predator drones with a heavy-fuel engine. In other words, it has turned out an unmanned aircraft capable of flying on diesel fuel or jet fuel.

The company-funded experiment was to please the U.S. Army, which is pursuing an ideal of using a “single fuel in the battlefield.” An aircraft that needs special fuel makes logistics all the more complicated.

The modified Predator is called the Warrior, and it uses a Thielert Centurion engine that was designed for general aviation, or private aircraft.

Aeronautical Systems said it started work on the prototype in July, and that the prototype was flying within three months.

The U.S. armed forces use the Predator for reconnaissance and to deliver missiles.

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Quarterly Earnings Announced:

The following local tech companies recently released earnings announcements:

– Captiva Software Corp. reported net income of $574,000 on revenue of $15 million in its third quarter, which ended Sept. 30. This compares with net income of $706,000 on revenue of $14.5 million in the year-ago quarter. Captiva technology collects data off paper forms, and electronic forms, for use in large, enterprise computer systems.

Captiva trades on the Nasdaq as CPTV. Its share price closed Oct. 25 at $10.03.

Captiva also announced it had a $2 million software order from “a Fortune 100 global retailer,” taking pains, in a two-page press release, not to mention the name of its client once.

“It’s the lawyers,” said a Captiva spokesman, saying the company preferred no one publish the name, and that the release of that name to the San Diego Business Journal would break fair disclosure rules. I can appreciate secrecy in certain matters , world security comes to mind , but in telling us which big chain store uses Captiva software? That’s nothing but silly.

But that’s just my personal opinion. And by the way, the spokesman said the press release pointed out the desirability of Captiva’s newest products, since the big retailer bought “one of everything.”

Back to the earnings:

– Cohu, Inc., which makes industrial equipment for the semiconductor industry, reported net income of $5.2 million on sales of $54.9 million in the quarter ended Sept. 30. In the same quarter last year, Cohu reported a net loss of $615,000 on sales of $34.5 million.

The company reports it has reduced manufacturing capacity “to align with near-term demand.”

Cohu trades on the Nasdaq as COHU. It closed at $15.17 on Oct. 25.

– Iomega Corp., a maker of computer storage products, reported a net loss of $15.9 million on sales of $77.3 million in the quarter ended Sept. 26. One year ago, the company reported a quarterly net loss of $13.1 million on sales of $91 million.

Iomega reported a $12.6 million profit margin on its Zip drive product line during the most recent quarter, but a $5.6 million loss on its 35 gigabyte REV drive product line and a $7 million loss on “new technologies.” Part of that $7 million figure is $4.6 million in impairment and other charges associated with the end of its DCT program. The company introduced its matchbook-sized, 1.5 gigabyte DCT disk in January.

Shares of Iomega closed at $4.48 on Oct. 25. The company trades on the New York Stock Exchange as IOM.

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A New Owner :

Excape Partners, a private investment firm from Foothill Ranch, has acquired Lender Support Systems Inc. of San Diego. The local company makes software for the mortgage industry. Terms were not disclosed. Cary Burch, lead principal of Excape, will replace Peter Sydoriak as the software company’s chief executive.

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And A New Name:

TDS, a New Jersey-based defense IT company with 69 employees in San Diego, is one of three affiliated companies that will now be known collectively as Centurum, Inc. Techplan, an affiliated company with a San Diego presence, has also gone under the Centurum umbrella. Centurum’s headquarters is in Arlington, Va.

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A Wireless Firm To Watch:

IDC, the Framingham, Mass.-based technology market research firm, has named San Diego-based SMS.ac, Inc. as one of the “10 Emerging Wireless Players to Watch” in 2005. SMS.ac lets users exchange short messages on wireless phones and related devices, regardless of network, and regardless of whether they use the MMS or SMS format. The company claims tens of millions of registered users in 170 countries. IDC was previously known as International Data Corp.

Send high-tech news to Brad Graves via fax at (858) 571-3628 or e-mail at bgraves@sdbj.com. Call him at (858) 277-6359, Ext. 3115.

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