Augmented reality to be a $732 million market by 2014?

Hype around augmented reality, a technology that can superimpose graphics or information over the real world in your phone’s viewfinder, is at a fever pitch. But can it deliver the revenues?

Around two dozen applications like Layar, Junaio and Wikitude have burst onto iPhone and Android devices. (If you’re curious about how augmented reality looks and feels, see the video I’ve embedded below. It’s kind of like looking at the world through Terminator vision.)

Now … Continue Reading

5 o'clock roundup: Mac fans try to hijack Windows, Emblaze unveils First Else smartphone

Here’s the latest action:

Mac fans try to hijack Microsoft window display — In a holiday-themed promotional effort, Microsoft set up Windows 7 displays in Saks Fifth Avenue in New York, displaying messages from Twitter with the hashtag “#holidaywindows.” Hoping to hijack the display, mischievous Apple fans started tweeting anti-Microsoft messages using that hashtag. Just one problem: Microsoft says it was filtering the tweets, so none of that anti-Windows propaganda made it to the display.… Continue Reading

Fast-growing sync service Dropbox reveals $6M of new-ish funding

It has been a good few months for Dropbox, a startup that backs up and synchronizes your files — after crossing the 1 million user mark seven months ago, its audience has now tripled to 3 million. While publicizing those growth numbers, the San Francisco company also revealed that it has raised $6 million in a first round of institutional funding.

GigaOm first reported the funding based on a regulatory filing, but much of the … Continue Reading

Fring launches video VoIP for mobile

Fring, which started out offering a VoIP client for mobile phones has added the ability to make and receive video calls from mobile phones, letting you see your friends as you talk to them — for free.

As with the VoIP client, you have to be a Fring user, or “fringster,” as CEO Avi Schechter calls them, to download the video client. Fringsters can then talk to friends outside of Fring via various services, including … Continue Reading

Hulu U.S. video streams soar almost 50% in October, Google's YouTube flat

Video viewing habits are continuing their shift online. More than half of people in the U.S. watched video on the Internet in October, according to comScore.

Hulu is rising rapidly. The video portal for professionally produced content attracted 47 percent more views over the month. It pulled in about 850 million views in October compared to 583 million views in September. The site’s also stickier: the average user is watching about 20 videos, up from … Continue Reading

Tesla eyes Downey, Calif. for Model S assembly plant

Tesla Motors may have finally picked a site for its new Model S Assembly plant — an announcement that has been awaited with bated breath by California politicians and those in the advanced vehicle industry for months. While the company has yet to confirm the selection, the city of Downey, Calif., likes its chances — its mayor has gone as far as to say the deal is 99.9 percent done.

Today, the issue is under … Continue Reading

Study: Hybrid cars hit more pedestrians

According to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study, hybrids are twice as dangerous to pedestrians because they are sneaky-quiet. This has provoked debate in the auto industry, with manufacturers trying to pick a noise to warn pedestrians of the vehicle’s presence.

HEV’s are most dangerous in the city, when they are almost silent. A rumbling V-8 lets you know it is coming but electric vehicles offer no such warning. The American Council of the … Continue Reading

TVDeck creates a TV Guide for web video

TVDeck, a new site that launched its public beta test yesterday, aims to help Internet users find some of the best and most interesting videos among the massive amounts posted on the web.

TVDeck does this by aggregating the feeds, in a way somewhat similar to Alltop, of all the best shows online. There are a huge number of podcasts, video series, and the like out there, but the company says it’s only looking for … Continue Reading

GreenBeat: Ultimate media roundup — pics, videos, slides and more

At this time last week, we were just about to kick off our inaugural GreenBeat conference focused on the Smart Grid. We’re thrilled to still be receiving valuable feedback and new ideas for the event next year. To provide our readers — including those who couldn’t make it out this time — with a taste of the GreenBeat experience, we’re providing some photos and videos here, as well as the presentations made by our lineup … Continue Reading

DEMO Spring: Looking for cool tech products — in 7 categories

I’m pleased to announce the latest plans by DEMO:

First, we’ve identified 7 technology sectors that will serve as the primary themes for product launches at the next DEMO in Palm Springs on March 21-23.

Second, we’ve created a brand new DEMO Mentor Program, which will connect 6 winning teams of students with business plans with members of the DEMO Alumni community.

I believe both of these changes will help make DEMO even more exciting … Continue Reading

Flightcaster raises $1.3M for better flight prediction

Flightcaster, a company that licenses flight prediction data to travel agencies and even mobile app developers, has brought in $1.3 million in a first round of funding. Based in San Francico, it is backed by Tandem Entrepreneurs and Sherpalo Ventures.… Continue Reading

Founder Institute: Seattle has the most promising entrepreneurs

As The Founder Institute (the entrepreneur training program developed by TheFunded‘s Adeo Ressi) expands to cities around the country, it’s gathering some provocative data about how aspiring startup founders stack up in different regions. Specifically, the institute says that in the latest batch of applicants, Seattle’s entrepreneurs have the highest chance of success.

The institute asks applicants to provide a full LinkedIn profile and to answer two questions: “Why do you think you can be … Continue Reading

Life360 takes in $750K to secure personal information

Life360, provider of a service that secures people’s important personal information — such as their medical history — until there is an emergency, has raised $750,000 in funding. Based in San Francisco, it is backed by LaunchCapital, Seraph Group, Founders Fund and angel investor Mark Goines.… Continue Reading

Sneak preview of Sony's MAG online game for PS 3 (video)

Here’s some video of Dean Takahashi playing the beta version of Sony’s MAG, which debuts on Jan. 26 on the PlayStation 3 as an online only first-person shooter game where 256 players can join in the same battle. Check out our story on MAG here.

[Photo and video by Alexa Lee]… Continue Reading

CloudFlare floats $2.05M equity round to strengthen web site security

CloudFlare, a company that gives web site owners more control over who can access their sites to protect against attacks and increase performance, announced that it opened a $2.05 million round of equity, according to Dow Jones VentureWire. Based in San Francisco, it is backed by UV Partners and Venrock.… Continue Reading

The top 10 video games of the holiday season

1. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (Sony PlayStation 3. Mature) Naughty Dog/Sony. This game could have been a tired sequel in the tired action adventure category, as with ethical treasure hunter Nathan Drake returning and two women contending to be his main sidekick. But Naughty Dog raised the bar with great cinematics, outstanding 3-D art that fully exploited the power of the PlayStation 3, and combat scenes that were executed well. You feel like you’re taking … Continue Reading

Ustream launches viewer app for Android

Interested in seeing a live KISS concert tonight? Ustream, a company that lets people broadcast live interactive video, has embraced the mobile phone even more aggressively: It just launched a mobile viewer feature for Android phones. Called Android Viewer, it enables users to watch any Ustream show on Wifi or 3G.

The Android Viewer provides a chat feature, so that people viewing the show can interact with each other. Ustream also recently launched Broadcaster, a … Continue Reading

Bizo, targeted B2B marketing network, bags $6M

Bizo, a startup that claims to be the first targeted B2B marketing network, brought in $6 million in venture capital, according to a filing with the SEC. Based in San Francisco, the company is backed by Bessemer Venture Partners, Flagship Ventures and Venrock.… Continue Reading