Smart Technologies moves into touchscreen business with NextWindow acquisition

Touchscreens are the hottest thing in user interfaces for everything from phones to laptops to tablet computers such as the iPad. So it’s no surprise that Canada’s Smart Technologies has acquired New Zealand touchscreen technology maker NextWindow.

The purchase price wasn’t disclosed. NextWindow makes the optical touch technology that is used in all-in-one computers, computer displays, and large-format touchscreens. It makes touch components that are used in computers and monitors sold by Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, … Continue Reading

Apple hires video game journalist to pick iPhone games

Apple is bringing on Matt Casamassina, an editor at News Corp.-owned video-game website IGN, to spearhead editorial content for iPhone and iPad games on the App Store. He announced the move on Thursday via a recent blog post.

Casamassina describes the position like this:

In a nutshell, I will be leading the charge for games on the App Store, so whether you browse through iTunes, iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, the games content you see … Continue Reading

Here come the mash-ups: Likebutton.me shows what Facebook friends are 'liking' across the web

Just a few days after Facebook unveiled a number of plug-ins that spread its social features across the web, the neat mash-ups are starting to appear.

LikeButton.me takes Facebook’s activity feed plug-in, which shows what your friends “like” on other pages, copies it several times while referencing different destinations like YouTube, The Huffington Post and CNN, and puts them all in one place.

The combined effect is to show you what friends are liking on … Continue Reading

Week in review: Police investigate lost iPhone, Blippy overshares credit card numbers

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

Police get involved in the lost iPhone case — Police are investigating the case of the lost iPhone prototype, which was left by an Apple engineer at a bar and subsequently sold to the blog Gizmodo for $5,000.

Blippy users’ credit card numbers found on Google — VentureBeat broke the news that some members … Continue Reading

Another credit-card number Googled on Blippy: Philip Kaplan explains

On Friday, we reported that Blippy, a social network for shoppers cofounded by FuckedCompany and AdBrite founder Philip “Pud” Kaplan, had accidentally published some of its members’ credit-card numbers into Google. Kaplan was quick to respond. “It’s a lot less bad than it looks.”

It turned out it was worse than Kaplan thought when he wrote that post: a VentureBeat tipster turned up another credit-card number by Googling Blippy this morning.

True, the 127 transactions … Continue Reading

Woz makes light of the lost iPhone prototype

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has taken the liberty of making light of the serious incident where an Apple employee named Gray Powell left an iPhone prototype at a bar and the finders sold it to the blog Gizmodo. That incident has reportedly prompted a police investigation.

CNET reports that Wozniak sent around a photo to his friends where he is wearing a T-shirt that says, “I went drinking with Gray Powell and all I got … Continue Reading

EC Roundup: Another bubble rears its head – and the entrepreneurial benefits of WoW

Here’s the latest from VentureBeat’s Entrepreneur Corner.

What’s wrong with an LLC? – LLCs can be a good way to shield yourself and your personal assets, but if your future business plans involve seeking venture capital, there are some big pitfalls. Attorney Scott Edward Walker runs down the pros and cons.

Another bubble? Eye-popping valuations raise eyebrows – There’s a rebound happening in venture capital, but not one that anyone was expecting. While most companies … Continue Reading

More open than thou: Blogger battle rages over new Facebook tools

Facebook has reignited the openness debate by launching tools this week that may reshape the web and hand the company a big advantage over its competitors.

The word “open” — like “green” or “eco-conscious” — is one of the more amorphous concepts floating about the tech industry. Google touts openness while keeping its advertising and search algorithms secret. On the opposing side, Apple regularly faces heated criticism about the barriers it has erected to the … Continue Reading

Roundup: Amazon profits climb, Google denies iPhone rumors

Here’s the latest action:

Amazon profits climb in the first quarter — The growth was driven by increased business, not cost-cutting. The online retailer’s sales grew 46 percent.

Is Google developing an iPhone app for free turn-by-turn directions? — Google says no.

Google Ventures invests in OpenCandy — The startup, which recommends software to its users, raised a $5 million second round, bringing its total funding to $8.5 million.

Senate may fix anti-angel legislation — … Continue Reading

The police get involved in the lost iPhone case

Police are investigating the case of the lost iPhone prototype, which was left by an Apple engineer at a bar and subsequently sold to the blog Gizmodo for $5,000.

CNET reported that Apple has spoken to local police in Silicon Valley about the circumstances behind the disappearance of the iPhone, and it’s believed the investigation is being led by a computer crime task force of the Santa Clara County district attorney’s office, which has jurisdiction … Continue Reading

Kleiner Perkins' Randy Komisar: Maybe Web startups don't need venture capital

Venture capitalist Randy Komisar suggested today that Web startups may not actually need his money — at least, not right away.

Komisar, a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, reached that conclusion in a roundabout way during a question-and-answer session at the Startup Lessons Learned conference in San Francisco. His main point was a piece of common entrepreneurial advice: To paraphrase Komisar’s new book on the topic, startups need to “get to plan B.” … Continue Reading

Fusion Garage may have sold only 64 Joojoo tablets

Updated

A recent email sent by Fusion Garage to customers of its Joojoo tablets (via Uneasy Silence) tells us two things: One, the company apparently doesn’t know how to properly use the BCC field to hide email addresses, and two, it’s likely that it only sold 64 Joojoos.

[Update: A Fusion Garage spokesperson wrote the following message in the comments:

The email in question was sent by a temporary customer support employee to a select … Continue Reading

And Groupon makes three. What's Russian firm DST's secret sauce?

Moscow-based Digital Sky Technologies has come out of nowhere to become the investment firm du jour, beating out other investors to win the hands of Facebook, Zynga and Groupon in the past year.

The firm bought $200 million in Facebook preferred stock last May, grabbing a 1.96 percent equity stake at a $10 billion valuation. It also agreed to buy at least $100 million of common stock from current and former Facebook employees. Last December, … Continue Reading

Social Gold takes a blast at the tyranny of Facebook Credits

Facebook announced this week that it will be launching its Facebook Credits virtual currency in June so that people can spend real money on virtual goods in games and other apps on the social network.

That doesn’t sit well with other providers of virtual currency, including Jambool, which offers virtual currency on its Social Gold platform. Vikas Gupta, chief executive at Jambool in San Francisco, wrote in a blog post that Facebook’s new currency could … Continue Reading

"Geofencing" enables new location-based apps, raises privacy concerns

A coffee shop pinging your cell phone with a deal for latte when you’re 300 feet away? A mother alerted when her child leaves the school grounds? All this is done with “geofencing“, the latest thing in location-based services, according to some proponents and users.

Geofencing means setting up a virtual perimeter—the “fence” around a location, such as a restaurant. When people carrying cell phones cross that perimeter, the system becomes aware that they are … Continue Reading

YouTube makes the world safer for Hitler videos

Recently, the German film production company Constantin Film AG began issuing takedown notices to people who had posted re-subtitled clips from Constantin’s copyrighted movie Der Untergang, known to Americans as “Downfall.”

In an Internet meme that began years ago but caught on at a whole new level this year, people used basic video editing tools such as Windows Movie Maker to add funny subtitles to clips from the super-serious film, so that Adolf Hitler appeared … Continue Reading

Austin companies: Join us May 6 for pitches and drinks at Austin Ventures

If you’re a tech company in the Austin, Texas region and are considering launching your product over the next year or so, join us for  a meetup at one of Austin’s most respected venture capital firms, Austin Ventures.

We’ll be inviting up to 10 companies that are contemplating launching products at DEMO (either at the upcoming DEMO event in September 13-15 in Silicon Valley, or DEMO Spring 2011) to pitch on Thursday, May 6 at … Continue Reading

Google blocks Blippy credit card search

This is why you must always take screenshots. Overnight, a VentureBeat tipster discovered a simple Google search that turned up credit card numbers for a few Blippy members. As of a few minutes ago, Google blocks any search for site:blippy.com with the bogus claim, “your computer or network may be sending automated queries.” Oh, come on. Shouldn’t part of Google’s Don’t Be Evil modus operandi include being honest and accurate in error messages? “You’re a … Continue Reading

Pickka offers a shopping-centric approach to mobile weight loss

There are a bunch of companies offering mobile tools that help users stay healthy — either through iPhone apps, like Ringful, or standalone devices, like FitBit. But Charlie Koo, chief executive of a company called Pickka, said they all take the wrong approach.

Control-your-eating apps are usually focused on food as you’re eating it. They might tell you that the donut you’re about to devour is super-fattening, for example. That’s already too late, Koo said, … Continue Reading

Does Facebook deserve to own the Web? Maybe not

Facebook announced several new features this week at its F8 conference showing grand ambitions to become the authoritative source for people’s identities online. However, a recent report from research security experts at VeriSign iDefense, found some 1.5 million Facebook accounts hacked and for sale online. Which raises the obvious question: Do we really want to give Facebook this much power and authority?

According to eWeek, the VeriSign report states that a hacker, known as “kirllos” … Continue Reading