Admob report: Android finds home in U.S., but iPhone still dominates

Right after Google got the green light to acquire Admob, the mobile advertising company today released a report analyzing where the majority of Android and iPhone operating systems are in its network around the world.

While the study notes that 75 percent of Android OS devices are in North America, compared to 49 percent of iPhone OS devices, the reality is that the iPhone still outnumbers Android two to one in the U.S. There were … Continue Reading

With faster broadband, Africa generates 3.6 billion spam emails per day

Africa is now the source of 3.6 billion spam emails per day, or 3 percent of the world’s email spam. That raw number of spam email is up 50 percent, or 1.2 billion more messages per day than a year ago.

That’s one of the consequences of faster broadband access available in parts of Africa, particularly since a new undersea fiber-optic cable has been strung along Africa’s east coast. During the first half of 2009, … Continue Reading

ClariPhy raises $24M for chips to speed internet

To keep up with the growth of internet traffic, infrastructure companies have to constantly expand their network capacity. That’s fueling the interest in ClariPhy Communications, a chip company that is announcing today that it has raised $24 million in a third round of funding.

Irvine, Calif.-based ClariPhy has been working on optical networking chips for six years. It has launched its second-generation chips as network speeds advance from 10 gigabits per second to 40 or … Continue Reading

Accel Partners lands RealNetworks' founder Rob Glaser as a partner

Vinod Khosla may have scored Tony Blair as a partner at Khosla Ventures. But Rob Glaser, the founder and chairman of RealNetworks, has joined Accel Partners as a venture partner.

Glaser will be focusing on areas such as digital media, social media, and mobile services. Glaser was one of visionaries of the tech industry, first as an executive at Microsoft and then as founder of RealNetworks, whose media player brought video and music to the … Continue Reading

Art.sy wants to help the masses find and love art

While wealthy patrons can hire art consultants to search out original pieces for their collections, finding and purchasing original artwork is difficult for most people. Today at Techcrunch Disrupt, New York startup Art.sy announced their intention to bring art collecting to masses.

Art.sy lets users search for art based on a number of criteria, including price, color, location and type of art. Users are presented with high quality photos of each piece, and if they … Continue Reading

Roundup: Allard says farewell in memo, Holiday Inn turns your phone into a hotel key, and more

Here’s the latest action:

HP supplants IBM as server leader — Hewlett-Packard has captured 31.5 percent of the server market, bringing in $3.39 billion in revenue from this vertical, and passing up former leader IBM, which now only claims 28.4 percent of the market with $3.05 billion in revenue.

Allard says goodbye — Microsoft Chief Experience Officer J Allard has penned a farewell note upon his departure from the company, along with Entertainment and Devices … Continue Reading

Subutai demos The Mongoliad, an app from author Neal Stephenson

A stealthy startup called Subutai is working on a mobile app it calls as an experiment in “post-book publishing and storytelling.” The company demoed the application at the SF App Showcase tonight. With only six minutes on-stage, chief executive Jeremy Bornstein could only offer the basic outlines of the app, so the most exciting thing about the company is still the names involved — bestselling science fiction authors Neal Stephenson and Greg Bear.

The app … Continue Reading

Department of Justice investigating Apple's online music clout

Federal investigators have talked to major music labels and Internet music companies about online music sales and, particularly, about Apple’s conduct in that market, according to a breaking New York Times report.

The investigation is separate from the Federal Trade Commission’s study of Apple’s App Store restrictions on software developers, and from the Justice Departments ongoing look into hiring practices at Apple and other tech giants.

According to reporter Brad Stone, “People briefed on the … Continue Reading

CODA to build batteries in the U.S. with Energy Dept. loan

CODA Automotive, builder of electric cars and batteries, is diversifying its manufacturing operations, which had previously been based mostly in China. The company, headquartered in Santa Monica, Calif., says it will be opening a lithium-ion battery factory in Ohio that could add more than 1,000 jobs to the local area.

The creation of so many green collar jobs is right up the U.S. Department of Energy’s alley. It’s been handing out billions of dollars in … Continue Reading

Video game industry to hit $70 billion by 2015, but growth will slow

The worldwide video game industry is poised to reach $70.1 billion by 2015, thanks to the combined growth of console, portable, PC, and online video games, according to market researcher DFC Intelligence.

DFC is one of the few market researchers that tries to gather data on a worldwide basis. It estimates that games were a $60.4 billion business in 2009. So, over five years, the game industry will grow just 16 percent. That’s not exactly … Continue Reading

Ad optimizer Rubicon Project acquires SiteScout to battle malware

The Rubicon Project, a company offering technology for publishers to optimize the ads they run from advertising networks, has acquired a startup called SiteScout. Technology from SiteScout will reportedly be integrated into the Rubicon Project’s services, so that it can better guard against malicious software attacks via advertising.

Publishers and advertisers face a growing threat from attacks that convince their visitors to download malware through what looks like legitimate content and advertising, according to the … Continue Reading

30 percent of netbook shoppers bought an iPad instead, survey says

Nearly one in three buyers who had been considering a netbook waited for, and then bought, an Apple iPad tablet instead, according to a survey of more than a thousand US consumers spread across gender, age, income and location demographics. The study was commissioned by consumer electronics review site Retrevo.

The stats come soon after industry analysts declared that the iPad’s debut had shut down the buzz for netbooks. Buyers, the analysts said, mostly bought … Continue Reading

After a year of big talk, Cisco launches its first Smart Grid products

Cisco Systems has been talking a big game about its involvement in the Smart Grid for a year. And it’s been successful at building its reputation in the space without ever releasing anything concrete. Today, it’s finally made good on the hype, unveiling the first of what its calling its “Connected Grid Solutions.”

It has launched the Cisco Connected Grid Router (CGR 2010) and Cisco Connected Grid Switch 2520 (CGR 2520), both variations on existing … Continue Reading

Forbes buys self-publishing news site True/Slant

Independent journalism site True/Slant, founded a year ago by former AOL news executive Lewis DVorkin, has been acquired by relatively deep-pocketed publisher Forbes Media, DVorkin announced in a post this morning. Terms of the deal have not become available yet, but Forbes is expected to use True/Slant as a “blog farm” to grow stories that Forbes can redistribute.

When DVorkin enthusiastically launched True/Slant in April 2009, he envisioned a site that would serve as a … Continue Reading

Intel reminds us Larrabee graphics chip is still dead, in case we were confused

Intel confirmed  today that it won’t be shipping a graphics chip under the Larrabee project, repeating what it said back in December. Back then, Intel said that it would cancel its first chip because it wasn’t fast enough and that it would continue to invest in Larrabee as a software development platform.

In other words, it’s still dead. The folks at Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices can continue to breathe easier. Today, Intel spokesman Bill … Continue Reading

LiveMatrix, a search engine for what's happening now on the Web

LiveMatrix, a search engine for events on the Web, has opened today to make sure people don’t miss shows and sales happening online.

The site’s definition of live events is pretty broad. It covers livestreamed videos from conferences, private sales or auctions with deadlines on sites like Gilt Groupe or even events in virtual worlds. At launch, it’s indexing 80,000 live events a week. This is distinct from more general real-time search, which looks for … Continue Reading

Bach and Allard speak out about why they're leaving Microsoft

Robbie Bach and J Allard, two key leaders in Microsoft’s entertainment business, have both spoken up about why they’ve decided to leave the company in interviews with TechFlash.

Allard’s interview with TechFlash was brief. Allard (pictured, right) said the departure did not have to do with the cancellation of Courier, the tablet computer project he was working on. He also said he doesn’t plan to work for Apple, Google or any other Microsoft rivals. After … Continue Reading

Swaptree bags $6M to grow site for DVD, CD, book and video game trading

Swaptree, a web-based swap meet for books, CDs, DVDs and video games, has nabbed $6 million in fresh venture funding. The news comes at a time of expansion for the company, which has also just named Jeff Bennett as its new CEO.

Based in Boston, the relatively simple site allows its users to list the items they’re looking for and items they’re willing to trade to facilitate easy matches and trades. You can even import … Continue Reading