ViaCLIX gets $3.1M to merge internet with TV

ViaCLIX, a startup that integrates web content with televisions shows, has raised $3.1 million of an expected $16 million, according to a filing with the SEC. Based in Los Gatos, Calif., the company develops both software and hardware solutions and introduced its set-top box product at DEMO Spring 2010. ViaCLIX, which aims to increase the power of advertisers by bringing internet and television ads together, previously raised $4 million in seed funding from a South … Continue Reading

Silego Technology brings in $5.75M for clock products

Silego Technology, maker of clock devices for notebook and netbook clocks, has secured $5.75 million of an expected $6 million in equity, according to a filing with the SEC. Based in Santa Clara, Calif., the company develops timing products for computing, consumer and communication applications. Investors in the fabless semiconductor company, which was formerly known as Pereq Semiconductor, include U.S. Venture Partners, Storm Ventures and Weston Presidio.… Continue Reading

HP launches netbook for primary school students

Seizing a chance to carve out a new market with low-priced netbooks, Hewlett-Packard is announcing today it is launching a small computer for primary school children. The HP Mini 100e Education Edition combines the functions of a netbook with the needs of school children.

Computer prices have fallen so low that they may now be much more attractive for schools. And that means that computer makers who target the schools may find lucrative new markets.… Continue Reading

AMD unveils Opteron chips for cloud computing

Cloud services are creating the need for a new kind of computing. That’s why Advanced Micro Devices is announcing new chips that have been designed from the beginning to power cloud computing servers.

This is one more sign that computing is being driven less by performance on single tasks and more by the ability to dispatch computing tasks without consuming a whole lot of power. The demands on cloud-based servers are becoming so severe that … Continue Reading

Semantic startup Primal builds Pages around your thoughts

We’ve seen a lot of startups using semantic technology, usually to improve Web search. Peter Sweeney, founder and co-president of a company called Primal, said he’s taking a different approach from the rest of the semantic crowd: “We’re focused less on annotating content, and more on expressing the thoughts and intentions of individual consumers.”

If that sounds a little vague, things should get a little clearer with Primal’s just-announced service, Primal Pages. Like other semantic … Continue Reading

PowerKiss gives your dead battery the kiss of life

We’ve all been there. Your mobile phone or laptop runs out of battery at the most inconvenient moment. Finnish startup PowerKiss wants to solve this problem by building wireless chargers into furniture. The company just launched a new set of products: a small receiver that plugs into handheld devices (the Ring) and an electrical transmitter built into a piece of furniture like a table (the Heart). You place your device on the table and it … Continue Reading

Smartphones taking over the navigation market (study)

More speed bumps lie ahead for in-car navigation devices. As maps are becoming a standard feature in smartphones, handheld devices are truly taking over the navigation market for cars, according to a recent report by market research firm iSuppli.

The report indicates that smartphones have already become the most important platform for maps and navigation, and the number of smartphone-based navigation systems will increase tenfold this year, not to mention hitting numbers nearly forty times … Continue Reading

uSamp lands $10M more for global market panels

uSamp, a company that creates focus groups and feedback panels around the world, announced today that it has secured a $10 million third round of funding. This brings its total funding raised to around $14 million. The money will be used to develop the next generation of its panel management platform, drive acquisition and expand globally.

uSamp coordinates 2 million global panelists that participate in discussions that help the company answer questions for its clients. … Continue Reading

ReputationDefender raises $15M to champion privacy on the web

ReputationDefender, a Redwood City-based startup aiming to help people manage their privacy and reputation in a world where more is being published and shared than ever before, raised $15 million in a third round of funding led by JAFCO Ventures. Earlier investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers along with Bessemer Venture Partners tacked on more funding as well.

The company sells monthly subscriptions to different services that monitor what is published about you or your … Continue Reading

RealNetworks executives get the axe in latest layoffs

Media technology company RealNetworks announced another round of layoffs today.

The company said it’s cutting about 85 positions, which adds up to about 6 percent of its total workforce, according to TechFlash. As part of the layoffs, RealNetworks will eliminate 25 percent of its executive positions and will shrink its offices in Europe, Asia, and its Seattle headquarters.

This follows a number other layoffs in recent months, including 60 in March and 70 in November. … Continue Reading

The best video games of E3 (vote for your own in our poll)

More than 300 game publishers showed off thousands of video games at the E3 trade show last week. I didn’t see them all, but I got a glimpse of most of the big games and the ones that generated a lot of buzz. Many of the games were frontrunners coming into the show and they made it onto my most-anticipated games list. But some games at E3 2010 were genuine surprises. Here’s my list of … Continue Reading

Google search adds medication info

Google has just expanded its search tool to include detailed information on medications. The goal: to give users verified information on a variety of drugs — and take more advantage of the pharmaceutical industry’s annual $900 million online ad spend.

Google started serving up tailored results to health-related search queries last year. Now the same search box can be used to call up fast facts about most medications, with the details being supplied by the … Continue Reading

Bing on the iPhone lets you search friends' updates, adds "visual scanning"

Following the release of Apple’s iOS4 iPhone update yesterday, and in anticipation of the upcoming iPhone 4 launch on Thursday, Microsoft released an updated version of its Bing iPhone app this morning that introduces two new features: Social networking integration, and a feature it’s calling Visual Scanning, which lets you search bar codes and media cover art with your camera.

The app can now connect to your Twitter and Facebook accounts to let you view … Continue Reading

Zynga's FrontierVille crosses 5M gamers in 13 days

Social game publisher Zynga said today that the company has garnered more than 5 million daily active users in its new FrontierVille game that was launched just 13 days ago.

The Wild West pioneer-themed game is the company’s latest bid to remain the dominant provider of social games on Facebook, where Zynga has hundreds of millions of users. FrontierVille is critical for Zynga if it’s going to stay on the treadmill of gaining new users … Continue Reading

Mobile virtual goods generated $168M in revenue in past year

Americans spent about $168 million on mobile virtual goods in the past year, according to a report from Frank N. Magid Associates and Aurora Feint.

Virtual goods are used in free-to-play apps. Those apps are free for consumers to play, but they have to pay real money to buy virtual goods such as a weapon in a shooting game. The market has taken off on Facebook, fueling the growth of such companies as Zynga. But … Continue Reading

Salesforce.com's Marc Benioff: Microsoft spat is 'the greatest thing that's ever happened'

Microsoft’s lawsuit against his company hasn’t cowed Salesforce.com chief executive Marc Benioff, judging from his on-stage remarks today.

Benioff spoke in San Jose, Calif. at a launch event for Chatter, the company’s new social networking application for businesses. During that speech, he repeatedly took swipes at Microsoft, noting for example that there were Microsoft representatives handing out fliers outside the event. (On the other hand, Salesforce representatives are a familiar sight outside Microsoft events.)

The … Continue Reading

Google Voice opens up to all

After more than a year of being an exclusive invite-only affair, Google today has opened up its Google Voice service to everyone. The news comes after Google began prioritizing college students last month for access to its innovative phone service.

VentureBeat’s Matt Marshall called Google Voice “a killer phone application” in his review of the service. After signing up, users are given a Google Voice phone number that’s intended to last for life. The number … Continue Reading

Snaptu raises $6M to make Java phones more iPhone-like

Snaptu, a company promising to bring a high-end application experience to low-end phones, said today that it has raised $8 million in a second round of funding.

Backed by high-profile venture firm Sequoia Capital, Snaptu offers a free application that is supposed to work on any phone that runs Java (that’s more than 2,000 devices total, the company says). That app, in turn, includes a catalog of other apps, such as a Facebook app, a … Continue Reading

Playdom raises $33M in funding to fuel social gaming acquisition spree

Playdom said it has raised $33 million in venture funding, presumably to continue the acquisition spree it has been on for the past year as it expands in social gaming.

Mountain View, Calif.-based Playdom has now raised a total of $76 million to date. New backers include Bessemer Venture Partners, Disney’s Steamboat Ventures, and New World Ventures.

Playdom was founded as YouPlus in 2008 by Dan Yue (pictured left) and Rick Thompson (pictured right). It … Continue Reading