Amazon launches cheaper Kindle DX e-book reader with better display
Amazon launched the latest generation of its Kindle DX e-book reader with a higher-contrast display than the last version and a lower price of $379.
The previous model of the Kindle DX, which has a 9.7-inch screen, cost $489. All Kindle DXs come with free 3G wireless access and no annual contracts or data plan costs. Amazon has targeted the Kindle DX at people who want to be able to see the clearest text and … Continue Reading
PARC spinout Enable Networks raises $3.2M
Enable Networks, a telecom spinout from the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), has raised $3.2 million in equity, according to a filing with the SEC. Led by CEO Jeff Abramowitz, a former entrepreneur in residence at PARC, the startup has not publicly announced its product.… Continue Reading
ApaceWave gets $7.8M for WiMAX hardware
ApaceWave Technologies has raised $7.8 million of an expected $10 million in equity, according to a filing with the SEC. The startup makes hardware for the WiMAX industry. Venrock, DCM and Chinese fund WK Technology are investors in the Fremont, Calif.-based company. ApaceWave, which serves broadband service providers, previously raised $12 million in funding.… Continue Reading
Lookout hits a million users for its smartphone security app
Mobile security firm Lookout is announcing today that it has gotten more than a million registered users in the past six months for its smartphone security app.
The San Francisco-based company says the rapid growth of the free app is due to rising concerns about mobile security threats. As smartphones become more popular and more like connected computers, malware creators are following the crowds and creating malicious software that can disable cell phones, steal personal … Continue Reading
Kleiner-backed Siluria turns natural gas into green chemicals
Siluria Technologies, a young startup that engineers bugs to convert natural gas into organic chemicals, has just emerged from stealth. Sounds dull, but there are lots of dollar signs attached — including an investment from Silicon Valley’s cleantech kingmaker, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
More and more startups are chasing the biofuels bandwagon these days, spending millions in capital on refineries and plants to churn out gallons of automotive and jet fuels made from feedstocks … Continue Reading
Is angel investing headed for a crash?
Chris Yeh is an angel investor and the vice president of marketing at collaboration company PBworks. This column was originally published on his blog.
The investing socialsphere has been all a-Twitter ever since Paul Kedrosky predicted an upcoming super-seed crash.
The result has been a series of opinion pieces, both for and against, that tackle various aspects of the issue — whether super angels are a fad, if there is a seed bubble (I’m on … Continue Reading
IPO or not, Tesla won't survive as independent, analysts say
Quick, name the last automaker to go public before yesterday’s Tesla Motors IPO. Stumped?
It was Ford Motor Company. The year was 1956.
Perhaps buyers of Tesla Motors stock were optimistic because they had little context to assess the company. Tesla’s stock soared from its offering price of $17 to close at $23.89 by the end of yesterday, meaning Tesla Motors is now worth $2.2 billion.
Not bad for a company that’s sold just over … Continue Reading
Personal finance startup Wesabe prepares to shut down
It looks like this is the end for Wesabe, a personal finance startup backed by O’Reilly Alpha Tech Ventures and Union Square Ventures.
According to a note from chief executive Marc Hedlund posted today on the Wesabe site (and spotted by TechCrunch), the company plans to shut down most of the service on July 31 and is announcing the news now so that users have time to remove their data. The “Groups” area, which is … Continue Reading
Fisker gets green light for new plant, toils in Tesla's shadow
Amid all the hubbub surrounding Tesla Motors‘ IPO yesterday, its competitor, Fisker Automotive — a company started by the original designer of Tesla’s Model S electric sedan, Henrik Fisker — has taken a quiet step forward, earning approval to transform a defunct General Motors plant into a factory for its own line of green vehicles.
Fisker’s story closely parallel’s Tesla’s. Both companies initially unveiled luxury sports cars: Tesla’s Roadster, released in December 2009, versus Fisker’s … Continue Reading
Image Metrics Acquires Character-FX to build realistic 3D game avatars
Image Metrics, a leading facial animation technology provider for video games and film (which recently animated over 100 characters in Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption), has announced today that it is expanding its scope by acquiring Character-FX, an avatar creation company founded by 3D animation pioneer John Riggs.
Character-FX is a toolset for use with Autodesk’s Maya and 3DS Max (two very commonly used tools at game studios). The toolset “helps to create character facial rigs … Continue Reading
Watch out for the impact of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm as beta test starts
An earthquake is coming for the video game business. Blizzard Entertainment is readying a new expansion pack for its market-dominating World of Warcraft online game, and the company is launching the beta test for it today.
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm is going to create shock waves for rival game publishers as it launches later this year, sucking the time out of the 11 million hardcore gamers who are fans of World of Warcraft, which generates … Continue Reading
Ad targeting startup Chango raises $1.4M
Chango, a Toronto-based company offerings tools for display advertisers to target their ads based on search engine data, today announced that it has raised $1.4 million in a first round of funding.
An ad retargeting startup called Magnetic announced $4 million in funding earlier this month. The promise of these tools is to take the targeted approach that has made search advertising so successful and bring it into the media-rich world of display ads.
Where … Continue Reading
Infographic: iPhone 4 gets roughed up in Twitter, Facebook mentions
How did the Apple’s reception snafu affect the launch of its latest iPhone?
ViralHeat, a startup that tracks social media metrics for brands, took a look at more than 2.3 million iPhone-related mentions on Google Buzz, Twitter, Facebook and video-sharing sites from May 22 up until today.
Apple, as it often does, got off to a very good start, with slightly over half of the mentions containing positive sentiment. But sentiment took a dip when … Continue Reading
Top BP exec faces the YouTube firing squad Thursday at 12:30 p.m. PT
At 12:30 p.m. Pacific time on Thursday, Bob Dudley, CEO of BP’s Gulf Coast Restoration Organization, will answer questions from the public about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and what it plans to do now, via an internet broadcast hosted by Google, YouTube and the PBS NewsHour. Viewers are invited to submit questions for Dudley, who has quickly become one of the most despised executives in the world.
This is the first … Continue Reading
Why is Yahoo buying back $3 billion of stock?
According to an SEC filing, Yahoo’s board of directors has approved a stock buyback program that will pay cash for up to three billion dollars’ worth of shares over the next three years. The repurchases may take place on the open market, or in privately negotiated transactions.
It’s generally assumed that a stock buyback means Yahoo’s directors have no compelling ideas for what to do with the money. They don’t think they can invest it … Continue Reading
The 20 hottest startups in mobile battle it out at MobileBeat 2010
On July 12, San Francisco becomes a mobile battleground as the MobileBeat 2010 Startup Competition takes off. The prize: Two of VentureBeat’s coveted Tesla Awards.
Twenty contenders have emerged as finalists from a field of more than 200 nominees. You, our readers, singled out Snaptu and Aava Mobile as favorites in an online poll, earning them finalist spots in the application and service categories respectively. MobileBeat’s advisory panel picked eighteen others which will present their … Continue Reading
Joystick Labs starts seed-stage venture fund for indie video games
Joystick Labs has announced that it plans to boost the fortunes of indie game developers by starting a seed-stage venture fund and startup accelerator program.
The Durham, N.C.-based firm is now accepting applications for the program, which will focus on video games that will be distributed via digital online channels. It is akin to a Y Combinator for the game industry, which has had unique problems in its history when it comes to game financing.… Continue Reading
Microsoft kills its Kin
Microsoft’s youth-centered Kin smartphone line is dead, according to reports from several sites this afternoon. Slow sales, and increasing competition from much more capable Android phones and the iPhone 4, likely led to the decision.
A Microsoft representative wouldn’t comment on actual sales figures, or anything beyond the company’s official statement:
Microsoft has made the decision to focus on the Windows Phone 7 launch and will not ship KIN in Europe this fall as planned. … Continue Reading
Indie fashion site ModCloth closes $19.8M led by Accel
ModCloth, an online retailer that specializes in an indie-retro clothing style, has announced a $19.8 million Series B funding round led by Accel, with participation from existing investors Floodgate and First Round Capital.
Accel’s Theresia Gouw Ranzetta will join ModCloth’s board of advisors, joining husband-and-wife founders Eric and Susan Koger, along with First Round’s Josh Kopelman and Floodgate’s Mike Maples.
The Kogers told TechCrunch that their company has been profitable sine 2009, but they’ll use … Continue Reading
Samsung launches Galaxy S Android smartphones across all major U.S. carriers
When last we reported on Samsung’s Galaxy S, we didn’t yet know that Samsung was actually planning to release an entire line of Galaxy S phones across major U.S. carriers. At a launch event in New York last night, the company finally showed off its ambitious lineup of Galaxy S phones, including the T-Mobile Vibrant, Verizon Fascinate, Sprint Epic 4G, and AT&T Captivate.
All of the phones share the same basic specifications — including a … Continue Reading
