Stealthy life science startup Entourage gathers $1.5M
Entourage Medical Technologies, a company so stealthy it doesn’t even produce results on Google, has landed $1.5 million of a targeted $1.9 million round of equity, according to a filing with the SEC. Based in Menlo Park, Calif., it doesn’t have any web presence and hasn’t made more information on what it plans to do available yet.… Continue Reading
Tablet contest winner: "The affordable price" is the killer feature
VentureBeat reader Tami Fauvor, in response to my posts asking people to describe what would be the Apple Mystery Tablet’s killer feature, emailed, “I can only pray it will be the affordable price?”
Your prayers have been answered, Tami. Analysts had predicted a $999 price point for the tablet, but actual prices start at half that, and even the fully-loaded model tops out at $829. It’s Christmas in January!
[Photo: Gizmodo]… Continue Reading
Apple's iPad will run on AT&T 3G, $30 for unlimited data
Despite the constant complaints about iPhone reception, it looks like Apple is sticking with AT&T. The company’s new tablet device, the iPad, will come with two data plans for AT&T’s 3G network.
While I groaned when I first heard the news (and I doubt I was the only one), it looks like Apple has negotiated a really good deal with AT&T. The iPad is unlocked and doesn’t require a long-term contract, which means you don’t … Continue Reading
Apple shares spike as Steve Jobs announces iPad pricing
Apple shares spiked after chief executive Steve Jobs announced a starting price point of $499 for the iPad, the company’s new, and much-anticipated, tablet device. That’s half of what analysts had predicted at $999.
Shares surged to as high as $209.11 from $205.776 yesterday, once Jobs unveiled the price matrix. During the first part of Jobs’ keynote, they fell to as low as $200.43.
The iPad starts at $499 for a model with WiFi and … Continue Reading
Apple's iPad to sell for as little as $499
Steve Jobs saved some of his thunder for the end of the presentation as he announced that the price for the iPad will be as low as $499, far below the $999 predicted price.
For that price, you get a 16-gigabyte version. The price goes as high as $829 for an iPad with 64 gigabytes of storage and 3G wireless connectivity service. The data plans will cost $14.99 for 250 megabytes of data per month … Continue Reading
No Flash on Apple's iPad
Here’s another way Apple’s just-announced tablet device, the iPad, resembles a giant iPhone: It won’t run Flash content.
The continuing absence of Flash from the iPhone has been the subject of plenty of debate and speculation. Apple’s main defense has been preserving the device’s performance, and others have noted that Apple probably isn’t happy that so much web content, especially video and games, runs on a proprietary technology from Adobe.
Now, if you think of … Continue Reading
iPad for business? Yes, oh yes!
Apple’s Steve Jobs gave a demo a few minutes ago of the new Apple iPad, in which he portrayed it as an ultimate couch-surfing device. But will the device catch on among business travelers?
App makers are betting it will. A survey by app toolmaker Appcelerator found that app makers considered Apple’s pending tablet to be a much more business-focused device than the iPhone. They were more interested in building tablet productivity apps than tablet … Continue Reading
MADtv guessed the iPad name a long time ago (video)
Apparently, MADtv correctly predicted the name of the iPad long before it was announced today. In this parody of the iPod, a couple of office workers discuss Apple’s new iPad product for– er–feminine needs.
The Name. iPad. Why?
It could have been iSlate or iTablet. Or just plain old Tablet.
But no, Apple decided to go with their now venerable ‘i’ prefix, and create what sounds vaguely reminiscent of a feminine hygiene product.
The ‘i’ in iMac, iPod, iPhone and now iPad is more than a decade old. It feels like a walk through Tomorrow Land at Walt Disney World where visions of the future have long turned dusty.
That’s not to mention … Continue Reading
Steve Jobs: We call it the iPad
Here comes the “ah” moment. Apple’s Steve Jobs has taken the stage at the company’s big launch event today to talk about the much-anticipated iPad. It is very thin. You can browse the web with it, and Jobs says, “It’s the best browsing experience you ever had. Way better than a laptop. Way better than a smart phone.”
It has a virtual keyboard and can be viewed in landscape or portrait mode. It has a … Continue Reading
My tablet prediction: The price will be subsidized by publishers
Why was McGraw-Hill CEO Terry McGraw (pictured) all aflutter about Apple’s tablet on TV yesterday? My thinking goes like this: Apple’s tablet will only be a revolution if it’s affordable. AT&T will almost surely subsidize the price of the 3G models.
The publishing industry, which I’ve worked for since 1996, desperately needs a turnaround. It’s not enough that ad sales come back from their 2008 crash. The newspaper, magazine and book game needs to become … Continue Reading
Waiting in line at the Apple event with the press horde
I’m outside the Yerba Buena Gardens theater in San Francisco, waiting to go inside for the Apple tablet press conference. I’m in line with the press mob, including folks like my former colleague MG Siegler from Techcrunch. The line formed earlier this time compared to Apple’s iPod unveil here last fall. I’ll be blogging like crazy and posting pictures. So please stand by. [Update: I'm inside, sitting next to Rob Pegoraro from the Washington Post].… Continue Reading
Wired says Apple tablet will not use apps for content delivery
HTML5 and iTunes will form the centerpieces of Apple’s new content strategy, Wired reports in an article that claims an insider source.
“The new iTunes content will not be packaged as apps sold through the App Store,” Wired claims, “though Apple will likely provide a tablet app for displaying new content created with this new platform, and developers will still be free to create apps.”
Instead, HTML content will be presented similar to the way … Continue Reading
Senova bags $3.1M for precise pH meters
Senova Systems, developer of new technology used to precisely measure pH, has brought in $3.1 million of an expected $3.4 million round of equity, according to a filing with the SEC. Based in Sunnyvale, Calif., the company makes what is called a solid state pH meter, which requires no calibration and is temperature stable.… Continue Reading
Fresh patents: Apple tablet to get proximity sensor?
Apple has scored 13 fresh patents on the eve of the anticipated tablet launch, which Patently Apple dug up overnight.
They include:
Proximity detection: Detecting when an object such as a finger or stylus is in proximity to the computing device, not when it comes in contact. This is different from touch sensing and opens up a lot of interesting user interface possibilities.
Automatic detection of channel bandwidth: This could help with video conferencing. It’s … Continue Reading
SolarWinds dishes out $42M for Tek-Tools storage and virtualization products
Network software company SolarWinds today announced that it has acquired storage and virtualization management assets from Tek-Tools, a storage resource management provider, for $42 million in cash and stock.
The newly acquired assest is Tek-Tools’ Profiler series of products, which gives visibility into the performance of storage and virtualized server infrastructures. SolarWinds will be incorporating Tek-Tools Profiler to its current Orion network and applications management solutions. Over one million engineers currently use a SolarWind product, … Continue Reading
A new way of looking at sales and marketing
(Editor’s note: Brant Cooper is an independent consultant specializing in marketing and product management. He submitted this story to VentureBeat.)
Have you ever viewed a world map where South is up? It’s a useful frame of reference, since our Eurocentric view of North as “up” and South as “down” is really just an arbitrary one (a sphere has no top or bottom – nor left or right for that matter).
Perspective affects our perceptions – … Continue Reading
Tune identifier SoundHound announces new version with Pandora, tour dates
SoundHound, a music discovery app for iPhone, is announcing the release of version 3.1 today. The release includes updates that make the app respond more quickly on launch, as well as integration with Pandora and the addition of tour information.
SoundHound, like the better-known Shazam, is built around the core functionality of tune identification — holding up your iPhone to a radio and being told the name of the song and artist. You can also … Continue Reading
DocuSign gets a new CEO as it aims to dominate electronic signatures
Electronic signature company DocuSign has a new chief executive — Steve King, who previously served as an executive at E-Trade and also led a number of online software startups.
Seattle-based DocuSign said it now holds 73 percent of the “eSign” market — namely, allowing businesses to replace hand-written signatures with electronic ones, so deals can be made and contracts can be sent online. The company has more than 20,000 customers, including American Airlines, Comcast, LinkedIn, … Continue Reading
Roundup: LinkedIn revamps interface, Twitter racks up 75M users and more
Here’s the latest action:
LinkedIn revamps its interface — The professional networking site has changed its look and feel to make it easier to find your connections, organize them with tags, and determine how they have updated their profiles at a glance.
Google Docs debuts thumbnails, spelling suggestions — Now when you search for files in Google Docs, the site will check to make sure you are using the correct spelling. On top of that, … Continue Reading
