Coraid gathers $10M to iron out wrinkles in storage virtualization

Coraid, maker of software that helps companies and their servers store the explosion of data that occurs during virtualization of operations, has brought in $10 million in a first round of venture funding. Based in Redwood City, Calif., the company is backed by Allegis Capital and Azure Capital Partners.… Continue Reading

ExteNet Systems lands $128M from Soros for wireless network gear

Network gear maker ExteNet Systems announced $128 million in funding today. The company’s second round of funding was lead by Soros Fund Management and SBA Communications.

Two Soros executives have joined ExteNet’s board of directors.

ExteNet makes distributed antenna systems (see illustration at right) that are used by wireless carriers to build out their backbone networks.

Instead of one big antenna — something most citizens will no longer allow to be installed in their neighborhoods … Continue Reading

Foursquare grabs content from Metro as the check-in becomes a commodity

Location-based game service Foursquare announced its first partnership ever with a news organization today, grabbing location-specific reviews and tips for users in Canada.

With the deal, the news chain will add content so people who follow Metro on Foursquare can receive alerts when they’re physically close to a place that’s been covered. If you’re close to a restaurant that Metro has reviewed, you’ll get a “tip” through your phone with a link to the full … Continue Reading

Tickets for Twitter's first Chirp conference go on sale for $469

Twitter’s first official conference for developers, Chirp, is coming April 14-15 and will cost developers $469. It’s a two-day event with a conference covering OAuth, geolocation and streaming among other topics, and then a 24-hour hack day at the Herbst Pavilion.

The company is releasing the first 100 tickets today, and will make others available in waves. There will also be a ‘scholarship’ version of the ticket that’s subsidized for companies and developers who can’t … Continue Reading

Larry King's Twitterfied fans raise $10 million for Haiti in one night

With J-Lo working the phones, Molly Sims — aka @MollyBSims — on Twitter, and Mick Jagger on a video Skype call, an all-star team of volunteers encouraged viewers to pledge an estimated $10 million-plus during a special two-hour Larry King Live on Sunday night.

Besides the touching display of celebrity-driven charity actually working, the show proved that Twitter, Skype, SMS and auction sites are no longer at all the domain of self-styled geeks. King regularly … Continue Reading

Rumored Apple iPad advertisement surfaces

Update

Just days before Apple’s special event to launch what is said to be a tablet computer, a possible tablet advertisementhas surfaced according to French blog NoWhereElse.fr. The video, now posted on YouTube(and embedded below), looks genuine but many commenters, including myself, are a bit dubious.

The supposed ad is in English and has the look and feel of an Apple ad — cool graphics and a unique song overlay. However, the device in the … Continue Reading

Acquisition roundup: AOL – StudioNow, StockTwits – Abnormal Returns, LivePerson – NuConomy

Lots of merger reports are coming in this morning. AOL, in the largest of the three reported deals, has picked up Internet video firm StudioNow for a reported $36.5 million. That’s a pretty good payoff for investors in the Nashville-based startup. Clayton Associates and Claritas Capital had put only $3.5 million into StudioNow.

In addition, AOL confirmed last week’s rumors that CTO Ted Cahall is leaving AOL, and Google/Microsoft alumnus Jeff Raynar has become AOL’s … Continue Reading

EA shows off mass destruction in Battlefield Bad Company 2 (video)

The sting from the success of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is still hot. But Electronic Arts is taking a shot at rival Activision Blizzard with Battlefield Bad Company 2. Today, it revealed new details of its first-person shooter game, set in the modern combat era.

The game continues the tradition of having buildings and an environment that are entirely destructible. You can shoot through walls and knock down structures to gain a tactical … Continue Reading

Trapped man in Haiti saved by iPhone app

When the Haitian earthquake hit on January 12th, it trapped American documentary filmmaker Dan Woolley among the collapsed walls of the Hotel Montana in Port-au-Prince. One of his legs was badly hurt. Luckily, Woolley was packing his iPhone.

At first, Woolley used the phone’s camera flash to illuminate the space in which he was trapped in near dark, and to take flash photos that let him study his surroundings. He was able to spot an … Continue Reading

Better Place draws massive $350M to charge electric cars

Electric cars will be making their big debut later this year — but one of the biggest questions standing between their release and wide market adoption is charging infrastructure. It doesn’t make much sense to buy a car that you can only fuel up at home.

Leading the pack of companies working to solve this problem, Better Place has just landed $350 million second round of equity led by the HSBC Group — a potential … Continue Reading

Intacct builds on its financial management system in the cloud

Intacct Corp, maker of financial management and accounting software that competes indirectly with Intuit’s Quickbooks, announced that it has launched a cloud computing system that will be more consumer-friendly and cost effective for small to mid-size businesses looking to keep close tabs on their cashflow and budgets. The San Jose, Calif. still targets its products at CPA firms as well.

Called Intacct Winter 2010, this new edition allows companies of all sizes to record and … Continue Reading

Joonto takes $575K to generate buzz around your personal brand

Joonto, the startup that runs Society.me, a platform that helps people generate buzz around their blogs using social networks like Twitter and Facebook, has raised $575,000 in a new round of equity, according to a filing with the SEC. Based in Mountain View, Calif., the company has helped organizations like Startup2Startup, the Bay Area Glass Institute and Ettractions pull together their fans and friends into a single online community.… Continue Reading

Game developers look forward to making games for Apple tablet

[updated] Game developers are starting to get excited about making games for Apple‘s tablet computer, which is expected to be announced on Jan. 27.

The tablet is likely to be a hot new platform for games, since it will have more processing power, a bigger touch screen, and other capabilities that dwarf the game experience on the iPhone, which is no slouch when it comes to games.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Electronic Arts … Continue Reading

Evidence of Apple tablet tests shows up in Flurry data

Apple has been testing 50 devices believed to be its new tablet computers, according to analytics firm Flurry.

Flurry said its analytics showed that the devices were being tested on Apple’s campus in Cupertino, Calif. Flurry said its data showed that the testing of the devices increased dramatically in January, although it detected the devices as early as October.

“Apple appears to be going through its cycle of testing and polish, which is expected from … Continue Reading

Music-streamer Spotify may pass $50 million in revenue this year

One of the interesting tidbits to come out of Midem, the music industry’s top trade fair in Cannes, over the weekend were some hard figures from Spotify, the much-hyped music streaming startup from Sweden.

Spotify senior vice president Paul Brown said the company has 250,000 paid subscribers. At 9.99 euros or pounds, or 99 Norwegian or Swedish kronor, a month, that would put annual subscription revenues at $41.1 – $51.2 million, depending on how many … Continue Reading

Week in review: Apple tablet rumors gather, Seesmic launches Look

Here’s our rundown of the week’s business and tech news. First, the most popular stories VentureBeat published in the last seven days:

Apple tablet roundup: Who’s going to use the thing? — Apple’s tablet has provided no shortage of rumors. Everything from design specs to pricing have flooded the internet from various media outlets and sources. To gain a better perspective on the scope of rumors, we put together a snapshot below of the most … Continue Reading

Roundup: China fires back at US, Q4 venture numbers

Here’s the latest action:

China fires back against Clinton — In response to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s call for China to investigate Google’s claims that human rights activist email accounts were hacked, the country’s Foreign Ministry posted a messaging saying the Obama administration was making “groundless charges.”

Dow Jones VentureSource shows uptick in venture investing – VentureSource found that after a crummy year for startups raising money, VC funding actually went up during the … Continue Reading

EC Roundup: The C-Corp question and the magnetic appeal of loudmouths

Here’s the latest from Venturebeat’s Entrepreneur Corner:

Ask the attorney: Should I be a C-Corp? (And other formation issues) – Deciding what sort of entity your start-up will be can be tricky – and that’s just the start of the legal mysteries. Where should you form your business? What issues do you face regarding previous employers? In the first of a two-part series, attorney Scott Walker looks at the hurdles entrepreneurs face when the decide … Continue Reading

Larry and Sergey to give up voting control in Google

Google revealed a plan today for co-founder Larry Page and Sergey Brin to sell off some of their company stock, with the end result that the pair’s voting power will drop below 50 percent.

The news was revealed in a regulatory filing disclosing a plan that Page and Brin made last November to sell off about 5 million shares each. It’s described “as part of their respective long-term strategies for individual asset diversification and liquidity.” … Continue Reading