Motorola probably sold 250,000 Droids in first week, Flurry says
Motorola probably sold 250,000 Droids in the first week, making it the Android platform’s first legitimate challenger to the iPhone, according to analytics firm Flurry. Those figures are more than four times what HTC and T-Mobile were able to do with the MyTouch phone and about one-sixth of what Apple pulled off with the iPhone 3GS in their first weeks. (Keep in mind that Apple launched that model in eight countries, not one like the … Continue Reading
Inspired by Nintendo Wii, Playfish CEO tries to broaden appeal of social games
Playfish scored big last week as Electronic Arts said it would buy the social gaming company for as much as $400 million. That’s a remarkable achievement for a company that is just a couple of years old. It’s a validation of the fast growth of the social gaming market and a tribute to Facebook’s growth as well. With original games like Pet Society and Restaurant City, Playfish has been able to garner 59 million monthly … Continue Reading
Former Microsoft evangelist Don Dodge joins Google, discovers Gmail
Don Dodge, the Microsoft startup evangelist whose layoff earlier this month was much-bemoaned in the tech community, has landed on his feet, and then some. He has accepted a new job at Google, where it sounds like he’ll be occupying a role similar to his job at Microsoft — convincing startups and other developers to build using Google’s technology and platforms.
In his blog post announcing the move, Dodge sounds pretty mixed in his feelings … Continue Reading
Chinese Suntech eyes panel assembly site in Arizona
Chinese solar company Suntech Power Holdings is primed to become the first recipient of Arizona’s property tax reduction and tax credit incentives policies. With a 100,000 square-foot solar panel manufacturing facility in the works outside of Phoenix, it hopes to ramp up production by fall 2010.
Suntech says the plant will employ 75 people full time from the moment it opens its shipping bay doors. If north American demand for solar panels follows the trrack … Continue Reading
How about that new Twoffice? (Photo slideshow of Twitter's new headquarters)
Twitter just relocated across San Francisco’s SoMa District to new digs at 795 Folsom St. from its old headquarters on Bryant St. Co-founder Ev Williams‘ wife Sara Morishige Williams helped put together the new decor — complete with hundreds of bird decals and a DJ booth. Here’s a slideshow (from Twitter’s official set and Ryan King’s)
How much has Facebook's valuation grown this year? Not much, says Sharespost report
Has a bull market help lift Facebook’s value in the eyes of investors?
Not really, says a report by NeXt Up Research, a firm founded by Michael Moe, a former director of global growth research at Merrill Lynch. Expectations of $1.5 billion or more in annual revenue by 2014 have already been priced in, plus much of Facebook’s growth is now taking place in the developing world, where it’s less profitable per user.
NeXt Up … Continue Reading
Electric drag-races: The trend toward performance-focused EVs
Acceleration is a U.S. tradition, harkening back to a time when Main Street on a Friday night was an endless series of drag races a la American Graffiti. Back then, a 1974 GTO ran a quarter mile in 16.4 seconds. But today, the car market is seeing a strong trend toward MPG rather than MPH. Still, there are a few diehards out there who long to be pushed back in their heat when they hit … Continue Reading
GreenBeat 2009: Hot opportunities for startups, investors
GreenBeat 2009 may be the first conference we’ve hosted in the environmental space, but it wouldn’t be a VentureBeat event without emphasis on investors and innovators. Our Innovation Competition will spotlight some of the most promising technologies and business models in the Smart Grid business, hopefully attracting the right backers.
On Thursday, Nov. 19, our “Follow the Money” panel will give some of the most active investors in the grid a chance to talk about … Continue Reading
Google Earth adds custom map-viewing to iPhone app
Google Earth is adding custom map-sharing to its iPhone app — so you can share anything from your favorite places in Barcelona to a preferred hiking trail with friends. (They’ve given a few examples, including Lonely Planet co-founder Tony Wheeler’s favorite destinations and Ferran Adria‘s recommendations for places to eat.)
While logged into Google Maps on a computer, you can save maps you’re interested in so they’ll appear when you log in to your iPhone … Continue Reading
All-in-one TV service Sezmi lands $25M
There are a few words that when put together are music to my ears — one of them being “all-in-one.” Startup Sezmi has just landed $25 million in third round funding and is hoping consumers are interested in just that — an all-in-one television service. As more and more companies begin to offer their own set-top boxes, the chances that consumers will bite are good.
Sezmi secured $33 million back in November 2008, equaling near … Continue Reading
Appirio launches interactive cloud computing map
Companies often realize the potential of cloud computing but lack the resources and knowledge to proceed with any kind of integration. Enter Appirio, a startup cloud solution provider, that has launched a public tool to bring some clarity to the sometimes daunting cloud.
Today, the company is launching an interactive map that it’s calling the first cloud computing ecosystem map. Leveraging its experience consulting with enterprises as they move onto different cloud services and originally … Continue Reading
Hohm vs. Powermeter: A side-by-side rundown
Much has been written about how the bitter rivalry between Google and Microsoft has extended to their respective home energy management systems, Google PowerMeter and Microsoft Hohm. But most of these stories make it sound like the tools render the same service: reporting how much energy people are using and how much it is costing them. Few have sussed out their subtler differences.
With so many smaller players in the home energy monitoring field (think … Continue Reading
Updated: Modern Warfare 2 banned in Russia due to civilian massacre scene
Russia has banned sales of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, the hottest-selling video game of all time, because it contains a scene in which civilians are massacred at a Russian airport.
[Update: Activision Blizzard released this statement today: Reports that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has been banned in Russia are erroneous. Activision only released a PC version of the game in Russia which went on sale on Tuesday, Nov. 10. Other countries … Continue Reading
Teknovus captures $5.6M for optical Ethernet chips
Teknovus, a provider of Ethernet optical networking chips, has brought in $5.6 million in convertible promissory notes, preferred and common stock, according to a filing with the SEC. Based in Petaluma, Calif., the company is backed by Partech International, Focus Ventures, Galleon Group, Itochu Technology Ventures, U.S. Venture Partners, Vision Venture Capital, Mitsubishi, Technology Alliance Investment and Samsung Ventures America.… Continue Reading
Mercantila takes in $500K for retail site network
Mercantila, a San Francisco-based portal of related specialty retail web sites, has tacked $500,000 onto a now $2.5 million in convertible promissory notes and warrants, according to a filing with the SEC. The company is backed by Lightspeed Venture Partners, among others.… Continue Reading
CyberHeart raises $3.6M for cardiac radiosurgery
CyberHeart, a company that develops radiosurgical equipment for non-invasive cardiac surgeries (radiosurgery is used to treat benign and malignant tumors), has brought in $3.6 million of a targeted $8.1 million round of debt, rights and securities according to a filing with the SEC. Based in Menlo Park, Calif., the company is backed by Emergent Medical Ventures, Mitsubishi, Venture Select and United Investments.… Continue Reading
Cell Biosci takes $15M to examine cell pathways
Cell Biosciences, maker of software and other tools to learn more about how cells move and interact, has brought in $15 million of an anticipated $17.6 million fourth round of funding, according to a filing with the SEC. Based in Santa Clara, Calif., the company is backed by Domain Associates, Latterell Venture Partners, Vertical Group, Wellcome Trust, Novo A/S and the Royal Bank of Canada.… Continue Reading
Aperto bags $240K more for Wimax equipment
WiMax equipment provider Aperto Networks has raised $240,000 more in equity, according to a filing with the SEC. It just raised $537,000 at the end of October. Based in Milpitas, Calif., the company is backed by Alliance Ventures, Canaan Partners, GunnAllen Venture Partners, Quicksilver Ventures, Tyco Ventures, Innovacom and Jafco Ventures. It has now raised more than $160 million to date.… Continue Reading
Warner Bros. launches first Harry Potter iPhone app
Independent developers have had great success creating apps for the iPhone in the past couple of years. But big brands are expected to elbow their way into the market as it grows more mainstream.
So it’s worth nothing that Warner Bros. has launched its first Harry Potter app on the AppStore this morning. Harry Potter Spells is a magic game that lets players cast spells at their opponents by using their phones as wands. With … Continue Reading
Chelsio raises $17M for high-speed networking adapters
The transition to high-speed 10-gigabit per second networking adapters has spawned a lot of broadband communications companies. One of them, Chelsio, has raised $17 million to expand its business of making 10 gigabit Ethernet network adapters, chips and storage solutions.
Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Chelsio designs a family of custom chips dubbed the Terminator (T3) ASIC. It uses those chips in network adapter cards for enterprise computers and storage devices. The storage devices include high-speed network-attached storage … Continue Reading
