VentureBeat

Nexterra raises C$3.8M for biomass gasification

Nexterra, a Vancouver, B.C.-based developer of low cost gasification systems, has wrapped up a C$3.8 million ($3.6 million) fourth round of funding, courtesy of Calgary, Alberta-based investor ARC Financial Corp. This raises ARC’s total investment in Nexterra to well over $19 million.

The company’s gasification technology takes wood chips and other biomass waste products and converts them into clean-burning syngas (short for “synthetic gas”), which can be used to produce electricity and useable heat. The syngas… Continue Reading

Xunlight raises another $11M for thin-film solar modules

Xunlight is on a roll: Only a few weeks after disclosing that it had raised $4.97 million from Ohio’s Third Frontier Projects, the Toledo-based developer of flexible, low cost thin-film silicon modules has secured another $11 million in third round funding from a group of institutional investors, led by Rabo Ventures. Returning investors included Trident Capital and Emerald Technology Ventures.

The company plans on using the funds to expand its manufacturing operations; it currently operates a… Continue Reading

Zapproved’s web app makes decisions easier

A startup called Zapproved recently launched the public “beta” test of a new web application that should cut a lot of the confusion and ambiguity out of the decision-making process.

Okay, so you still have to deal with passionate disagreements and little things like that. But Portland, Oregon-based Zapproved handles the infrastructure, so you don’t have to worry about the little headaches — like wondering, “Hey, has everyone responded yet?” or “Okay, after reading all of… Continue Reading

Life360 wins the Android challenge, has big aspirations but has yet to see an Android phone

With the first mobile devices running Google’s Android coming shortly, the development community at large seems apprehensive about the platform. After all, why develop for something that may or may not work when there is already a hot, new mobile platform out there, Apple’s iPhone, that has proven to be extremely successful? Well, the team behind the life update and emergency messaging application Life360 took the opposite approach.

“It was clear Android was going to be… Continue Reading

Video: Upcoming version 1.1 of Last.fm’s iPhone app?

Last.fm, one of the truly great online music sites, has an iPhone app, but I find it somewhat lacking. It seems to have most of the features it needs, but for whatever reason the app just doesn’t flow well. Loading time seems to be a constant issue and site navigation is clumsy.

That looks to change with new version of the application, as you can see in the video below leaked out by Digg founder Kevin… Continue Reading

Tap Tap Revenge gets new music (and ads) to rock the holiday weekend

Tap Tap Revenge held the mantle as the most downloaded application on Apple’s App Store for a while. It’s a solid Guitar Hero-like music game that utilizes the iPhone and iPod Touch’s touch screen with the right price: Free. A new update out today could push it back to the top.

Version 1.2 contains the option to download a brand new song by the popular artist Everlast. The song, available for free, shows how artists can… Continue Reading

Contest winner could help Presdo win at the scheduling game

I have to admit, I’ve been a little skeptical about scheduling startup Presdo — I previously gave it the benefit of the doubt because founder Eric Ly (who cofounded professional networking site LinkedIn) is obviously a smart guy. Yes, Presdo makes it really easy to set up meetings, but so do competing companies like TimeBridge. Now, however, I’ve seen the winners of Presdo’s developer contest, and I’m sold.

Basically, Ly had a very smart idea for… Continue Reading

ReputationDefender raises $2.6M to protect your good name

ReputationDefender, a company that helps people manage their reputations and privacy online, has raised around $2.6 million in a first round of institutional funding.

There are a number of businesses providing identity theft protection, such as Lifelock, TrustedID and Debix, but ReputationDefender is a bit different — it doesn’t focus on protecting your finances, and instead gives you control over the information about you that’s available online. Its earliest and best-known product, MyReputation, provides a monthly… Continue Reading

Sky rockets in flight. Google Maps delight

One the most important parts of online mapping tools is the satellite imagery that is used. Right now, the images used by Google, Microsoft and Yahoo in rival products are all roughly the same. But Google just bought an exclusive ticket to hitch a ride with a new satellite going up that could make its offering a lot better.

Google has signed a deal with satellite imagery company GeoEye for exclusive use of the images produced… Continue Reading

Urology device startup Percutaneous Systems raises $6.3M

Percutaneous Systems has raised $6.3 million of a planned $7 million fourth round, according to VentureWire citing a regulatory filing. The funding comes from existing investors Compass Group, Montreux Equity Partners and Shea Ventures, as well as undisclosed new investors.

The Palo Alto, Calif. startup develops urology products and previously raised $12.25 rounds of funding.

Did AT&T have Apple kill NetShare to start its own tethering plan?

An application called NetShare was the talk of the App Store back in July. The app, made by Nullriver, allowed users to connect their computers to their iPhone 3G to use the device’s unlimited data plan to surf the web. Unfortunately, this process, known as “tethering,” was apparently not approved by AT&T. Thus, NetShare was pulled from the App Store.

Today however, there may be hope of using the iPhone for tethering purposes once again. Apple… Continue Reading

Storage chip company Aristos Logic sells for $41M

Data storage company Adaptec has agreed to acquire Aristos Logic Corp for $41 million in cash, less than half the $91 million that Aristos has raised in venture backing since 2000, according to VentureWire.

The Foothill Ranch, Calif, company provides RAID (redundant array of independent disks) storage processing technology to optimize communication between servers and hard disks. its backers include Panorama Capital, Quicksilver Ventures, TPG Ventures (now TPG Growth) and Woodside Fund. It has been more… Continue Reading

Microsoft fails to buy Yahoo, so it buys…some European comparison shopping sites?

If there is one thing Microsoft has plenty of it’s money. It proved that again tonight by agreeing to buy Greenfield Online, the parent company of Ciao, which runs various price-comparison and shopping search sites in Europe.

The $486 million dollar deal is odd for a few reasons. First, Microsoft is buying Greenfield, but selling the part of the company that it’s best known for: online market research and surveys, according to paidContent. The software giant… Continue Reading

Nintendo revises its financial forecasts upward yet again

Okay, this console war is getting really boring. Nintendo is thrashing everyone else. Today, the Japanese company revised upward its financial forecasts for the six months ending Sept. 30, 2008. It also upped its forecasts for game hardware and software during the period, as well as for its full fiscal year that ends March 31, 2009.

Compared with original full year forecasts issued on April 24, 2008, the company now sees increases in sales by 11… Continue Reading

Roundup: Facebook movie casting, Yahoo shuts down Mash, and more

The Facebook Movie has a very unofficial casting call — Yesterday, top Hollywood screenwriter Aaron Sorkin let it be known he was working on a movie about the high-flying social network. Here’s a (rather entertaining) formulation of which actor might play which geek role. Yes, Michael Cera (a co-star in Juno) would be Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. [Michael Cera image via Radar Online.]

Linux rises to 13.4 percent of the server market — CNET’s Matt Asay examines the… Continue Reading

Get discount tickets for GigaOm’s Mobilize event

Our friends at GigaOm are adding to their conference lineup with Mobilize, taking place September 18 at the Mission Bay Conference Center in San Francisco.

Mobilize will ask what the growth of the mobile web means for entrepreneurs and their investors. Developments in design, user experience, handset technology, location and wireless network technology are changing the game.

In addition to their speaker lineup including Rich Miner, co-founder of Google’s Android, Padmasree Warrior, Cisco’s CTO, and many others,… Continue Reading

Android Developer Challenge I winners — nary a big name in sight

Earlier today we learned about the Android Market, Google’s way to get third-party applications on phones running Android. It sounds a lot like Apple’s App Store for the iPhone, but claims to be more open. Now we know some of the applications that will be offered on it.

Google has just announced the winners of the final round of Android Developer Challenge I, a challenge that started last November to spur Android app development. Fifty finalists… Continue Reading

Webcarzz raises $4 million to create online car game for boys

Many of the successful online games for kids — from Club Penguin to Neopets — are appealing to girls. But Webcarzz is going after the boys with its new car-themed online video game world.

The San Francisco company has raised $4 million in a first round of funding from Meakem Becker Venture Capital to create a Flash-based online game with 3-D graphics. The company has five employees and is jointly developing the game — dubbed a… Continue Reading

Mobile advertising: Better measurement leads to new opportunities

[Editor's note: This is a piece by Russell Buckley, managing director of mobile advertising company AdMob's European operations. He is global chairman of the Mobile Marketing Association and blogger at MobHappy.com. He’s spent nearly 10 years working on mobile marketing, overseeing thousands of campaigns for both large and small advertisers. This is the first of a series of posts about mobile advertising coordinated by mobile expert and VentureBeat freelancer Matthäus Krzykowski.]

Marketers have dabbled in mobile… Continue Reading