Roundup: Elevation Partners cuts back, Cisco invests $1B in Russia, and more

Here’s the latest action:

Elevation Partners retrenches — The private equity firm co-founded by Bono is cutting a significant amount of its administrative staff, raising doubts over how much longer it might last. Palm’s sale to HP could give the firm a boost, but it’s unclear whether it will be enough.

eBay snaps up RedLaser — Redlaser, the mobile application that allows users to scan barcodes and check prices for competing deals, has been purchased by online auction giant eBay. The deal has made the app, which used to cause $1.99 in app stores, free for the public.

Scientific Conservation lands $9M — Based in Berkeley, Calif., the maker of software used to improve building energy efficiency brought in $9 million in new capital from the Westly Group and Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

The next cleantech IPO: eSolar? — A week after Solyndra dropped its plans to go public, Next Up! Research has released a report predicting that thermal solar plant developer eSolar might be the next green sector company to file for an IPO. Earth2Tech has the details.

Google Docs sets unrealistic expectations — According to Jim Whitehurst, CEO of Red Hat, the Google Docs application has raised user expectations to unmanageable heights, making it hard for smaller, non-open source IT entrants to compete.

Cisco Systems invests $1B to jumpstart Russian innovation — Russian president Dmitry Medvedev made the rounds in Silicon Valley today, visiting all the big companies, including Twitter and Apple. Concurrent with his visit, Cisco announced that it is launching a $1 billion initiative to drive more technological innovation in Russia.

Hulu talking to CBS — The popular online video site co-founded by NBC is reportedly negotiating with CBS, Viacom and Time Warner to add their programming to its repertoire, particularly the paid subscription segment of the site.

Apple probably suing HTC — Once again it appears that Apple is suing HTC for infringing on four patents that have been included in previous suits, plus two new ones related to display configuration. TechCrunch has more.