Local Firm Now World's Largest Smart Card Maker.

SOUTHERN California is home to so many flashy Internet companies that it's easy to forget the real breadth of the area's tech-related businesses. A prime example is Oberthur Card Systems in Los Angeles, which became one of world's largest smart-card manufacturers last month when its $318 million acquisition of competitor De La Rue Card Systems was finalized.

Smart cards always seem to conjure up futuristic images. Users can load a cash value onto these plastic cards, which have embedded microprocessor chips. Theoretically, a person could hop into a cab and have the driver swipe the card for fare and even a tip. At home, the card could be slipped into a computer keyboard to instantly buy the latest bestseller from Amazon.com without worrying that a credit card number will be misappropriated during the transaction.

Indeed, smart cards - more specifically, smart-card chips -- are cropping up in more unexpected places. Some types of digital cell phones are equipped with them, as are pretty much all cable boxes that keep track of pay-per-view purchases. Oberthur manufactures cards and chips for all these applications.

"Smart cards are only in limited use in the U.S. right now compared to Europe, but we believe it's going to take off soon because of the Internet," said Francine Dubois, an Oberthur director. "Microsoft (this month) unveiled Windows for smart cards; and American Express has launched their 'Blue Card' (a smart card). As the Internet continues to evolve, the need to prove your identity online and make secure transactions is going to steadily grow."

Americans have been slower than the rest of the world to embrace smart-card technology. Oberthur currently exports the vast majority of the smart cards it produces in Los Angeles to Europe and Mexico, and the company's real bread and butter is producing magnetic stripe cards. But Oberthur executives expect their export-import ratio to shift as smart-card trends change in the United States. Analysts say the future success of Oberthur and similar companies will be in manufacturing smart-card chips rather than in virtual cash cards.

"The real future is in smart chips embedded in devices, like in the GSM phones or similar to Mobil's 'Speed-Pass' that lets you wave your card in front of an icon and be charged later," said Matthew Nordan, an analyst with Cambridge, Mass-based Forrester Research.

Online tunes

With Internet radio stations slowly becoming a more widespread phenomenon, two local companies have debuted new services that put a spin on the online radio game. For wannabe DJs, Beverly Hills-based Scour.net has created a new division called MyCaster.com. By downloading the proprietary software, users can create and broadcast their own musical lineup over the site, and even broadcast their own DJ-witticisms.

Surprisingly, a wide variety of amateur stations have appeared already on the site, ranging from Gen-Y staples of Top 40 and rap to Chopin and Miles Davis.

For finicky music listeners who don't want to broadcast their personal favorites, Santa Monica-based Launch Media has released a beta version of its proprietary desktop music player, called Launchcast. The free downloadable application lets users create and listen to their own song play list. The final version of the application is scheduled to be available early next year.

News and notes

NBC has acquired a minority stake in Santa Monica-based Hollywood Stock Exchange, which runs a virtual, fantasy stock market on which players can buy and sell "stock" in celebrities, movies and entertainment events. In return, HSX will get advertising slots on NBC stations, and be promoted on NBC Web properties, including NBC.com, MSNBC.com and Snap.com...

HomeGrocer.com, the Kirkland, Wash.-based online purveyor of groceries, has announced that it will expand its services to Los Angeles. The company is currently building a warehouse in Azusa to serve the market...

Culver City-based StockJungle.com has officially launched its mutual funds, for which all holdings and transactions will be fully disclosed dally in an attempt to break down the wall between investors and fund managers. The new funds include a no-fee S&P 500 one and a 'Community Intelligence' fund for which investors help determine the stock portfolio...

pasadena-based search-engine company GoTo.com has announced its acquisition of San Mateo-based Cadabra Inc. in a cash-and-stock deal worth $250 million. Cadabra's product, an e-commerce technology that conducts online searches, and price and feature comparisons, will be integrated into GoTo.com's site.

Contributing columnist Sara Fisher can be reached via e-mail at [e-mail].