Apple's new gadget is an e-reader, says latest rumor

Sometimes a rumor lands in the VentureBeat inbox that has an inexplicable ring of truth to it. That’s the case with this post from the Quick PWN blog — pronounced “quick-pawn” — about Apple’s pending product unveiling on January 26th.

The mystery gadget, unofficially dubbed the iSlate because Apple bought the iSlate.com domain in 2007, is said to be a tablet-form computer. Apple patent applications show a tablet-form device in use. Taiwanese electronic parts manufacturer … Continue Reading

More Crunchies tickets now on sale

Another batch of tickets are now available for the third annual Crunchies, the tech awards co-hosted by TechCrunch, GigaOm, and VentureBeat.

This is the second set of tickets, with 150 balcony seats available for $45 each (we’re out of orchestra seats). Our first wave sold out within a few hours, so if you want to attend, you should hurry and purchase your tickets here. If you’re too slow today, the final set of tickets goes … Continue Reading

Updated: Twitter to deliver "several billion tweets" an hour next year

[Updated to include Twitter's comment.]

In a note in the U.K.’s Times of London over the weekend, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone revealed some impressive stats for next year. The company will handle 1 billion search queries a day and deliver “several billion tweets” an hour in 2010. He also said that by the time the Iranian elections took place last June, the number of Twitter accounts had grown tenfold in a single year.… Continue Reading

China tries to make nice after Copenhagen, passes green energy law

Little over a week since Copenhagen’s spectacular failure to battle global warming, China — one of the lead culprits — is trying to boost its image with a new law upping the use of renewable sources of energy. But, as many suspect, it may be too little too late.

The regulations will require government-owned grid operators to draw more power from hydroelectric dams and wind and reduce their dependence on coal — which, right now, … Continue Reading

Droid clobbers other Android phones in Xmas app downloads

On Christmas Day, the number of Android app downloads from the new Droid phones roughly equaled the number of downloads from all leading Android phones combined, according to the latest report from app market analysts Flurry.

T-Mobile’s myTouch 3G and G1, and the HTC Hero sold by Sprint, totaled roughly as many apps as those downloaded the Verizon/Motorola Droid phones on December 25.

Is this the new landscape, or was it just a one-day fluke? … Continue Reading

iPod Touch passes iPhone in app downloads over Christmas weekend

Apple app downloads for December will be 51% higher than November’s totals. The reason: A huge new group of customers who received an iPhone or iPod Touch as a gift.

According to the latest report fr0m app analytics firm Flurry, the boost isn’t the same for all mobile platforms. Android app downloads only rose 22 percent, for example. Apple’s App Store serves thirteen times as many downloads as Google’s competing Android Market, Flurry says.

Here … Continue Reading

Winter brings snowflake solar cells — upping solar efficiency 100 times

Here we are in the dead of winter, but the most interesting snowflake around is actually all about the sun. A new technology, called the snowflake solar cell, has just debuted and is said to be 100 times more efficient than traditional solar modules. If this is true, it could mean a major about-face for the entire solar industry.

The secret behind the snowflakes? They’re smaller — a lot smaller. A standard solar cell measures … Continue Reading

Smart Grid spending boom to top $200B by 2015

If there was one breakout business within the cleantech sector this year, it was the Smart Grid. Companies working toward the construction of a cleaner, more efficient electrical grid have multiplied, offering new ways to connect homes and businesses to utilities, to transmit more data, and to use less energy overall. The industry has gained so much momentum that it should represent $200 billion in total spending by 2015, according to a new report just … Continue Reading

Miles revs up on $1M for zero-emissions vehicles

Miles Electric Vehicles, maker of zero-emissions vehicles well-suited for fleet applications — including low-speed trucks — has brought in $1 million of a targeted $55.6 million round of equity, according to a filing with the SEC. Based in Santa Monica, Calif., the company is backed by Angeleno Group, among others. It previously raised $55 million over two rounds of funding.… Continue Reading

Palantir seeking $1.2M to provide financial, government intelligence

Palantir, a firm that provides analytics software to government agencies and financial institutions to track everything from terrorist networks to investment opportunities, has just opened a $1.2 million round of rights and securities, according to Dow Jones VentureWire. Based in Palo Alto, Calif., the company is backed by In-Q-Tel, the Founders Fund and Reed Elsevier Ventures. It landed $35 million in equity last month. In June, VentureBeat ran a detailed story on Palantir’s growth and … Continue Reading

Trigemina takes $305K to treat recurring pain

Trigemina, a pharmaceutical maker working on therapies for acute and chronic pain, has brought in $305,000 of an anticipated $999,000 round of equity and rights, according to a filing with the SEC. Based in Mountain View, Calif., the company is backed by grants from the National Institutes of Health, as well as equity from private sources.… Continue Reading

TriCipher lands $3M to provide single sign-on for apps

TriCipher, maker of the myOneLogin software for identity authentication on apps offered through the likes of SalesForce.com, Google and WebEx, has raised $3 million by issuing a new round of convertible promissory notes, according to a filing with the SEC. Based in Los Gatos, Calif., the company is backed by ArrowPath Venture Capital, Intel Capital, Trident Capital, RBC Technology Ventures and Epic Ventures. It has now raised $33 million to date.… Continue Reading

Skybox closes $2M to produce risk management software

Skybox Security, provider of risk assessment and compliance enforcement software to companies and organizations of all sizes, has brought in $2 million through a fourth-round offering of preferred stock, according to a filing with the SEC. Based in San Jose, Calif., the company is backed by Benchmark Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mitsubishi, Carmel Ventures, Valley Ventures and Rembrandt Ventures. It has now raised $36.5 million to date.… Continue Reading

Revance takes $25.6M for wrinkle treatments

Revance Therapeutics, a company deriving new methods for delivering botox across skin membranes (moving away from needles), has raised $25.6 million in a fourth round of venture funding, according to a filing with the SEC. Based in Newark, Calif., the company is backed by a large flock of investors, including Essex Woodlands Health Ventures, Vivo Ventures, Technology Partners, Bio*One Capital, Medicis Pharmaceutical, Palo Alto Investors, Pac-Link Management, Shepherd Ventures, Leader Ventures and Horizon Technology Finance.… Continue Reading

Avatar's success is a godsend for 3-D vendors at the Consumer Electronics Show

James Cameron’s Avatar film is breaking box office records, coming through on its promise to combine a riveting story with good use of cool 3-D special effects. And that’s extremely good news for companies hawking 3-D viewing technology at the International Consumer Electronics Show which starts next week.

Were it not for Avatar’s popularity (it’s generated more than $500 million in worldwide box office receipts in its first 10 days), 3-D might have been just … Continue Reading

Innolux said to be building Apple tablet displays

Officials at a couple of Chinese parts suppliers have blabbed to the press that they’re making parts for Apple’s rumored tablet computer, which rumormongers agree will be launched at a January 26th media event scheduled by Apple. Taiwanese trade mag Digitimes reports that Foxconn subsidiary Innolux is manufacturing the so-called iTablet’s touchscreen displays, and Taiwanese publication Economic Daily says that Cheng Uei Precision Industry Co., Ltd. has won orders to make screen connectors for the … Continue Reading

How do you get a $4 million second round from Google Ventures at age 21?

Ask Seth Priebatsch, the founder of SCVNGR.

SCVNGR offers a platform to help businesses, universities and museums build real-world, location-based games. Some are exactly what the name implies — scavenger hunts with clues from your phone. Cities can use them in tourism campaigns to promote places, while museums can use them to point out works of art. Still others, like jewelers, can use them for promotions. One SCVNGR-based game involves burying a $15,000 diamond ring … Continue Reading

Apple's MobileMe service conks out for three hours

Update: As of 3:00 PM Pacific time on Sunday, MobileMe is back online for me, but Apple’s MobileMe status page still lists several MobileMe services as being down.

Around 1:00 PM Pacific time on Sunday, Apple’s MobileMe suite of cloud applications stopped working for me. MobileMe syncs customers’ iPhones with their personal computers. It also serves Web-based email, calendar, and address book applications that stay in sync with customers’ computers and phones.

According to one … Continue Reading

NowPlaying.fm adds song links to #nowplaying tweets

According to startup nowPlaying.fm, Twitter users post 650,000 tweets per day that contain the hashtag #nowplaying, followed by the name of a song to which the user is currently listening. There’s only one problem: These tags rarely contain a link to the song, so other Twitter users can’t go listen to it themselves.

NowPlaying.fm hopes to change that. It’s a music search-and-play service in the style of GrooveShark or the late Imeem, which was absorbed … Continue Reading