Live video app Knocking hits 2M users

Knocking, an application that shares live video footage from your iPhone or Android camera, said today that it now has 2 million users.

The Knocking app first launched on iPhones in December, then added Android in March. So (to offer two random examples that Knocking-maker Pointy Heads Software gave me when the app launched) you could show your spouse video footage of a product that you want to buy while you’re at the store, or … Continue Reading

Samsung strategist Omar Khan talks superphones (video)

VentureBeat’s mobile advisor, Matthäus Kryzkowski, interviewed chief strategy officer at Samsung Telecommunications America Omar Khan, this week at the MobileBeat 2010 conference in San Francisco. Khan described how the Samsung Galaxy S series of phones, which are debuting at six carriers this summer, are the company’s first entry into the “superphone” market. These phones are chasing Apple’s iPhone and adding more variety to the choices consumers have when it comes to computer-like smartphones that run … Continue Reading

AdMob founder Hamoui takes questions on the mobile ad business (video)

Omar Hamoui founded mobile ad network AdMob in 2006 and sold it to Google earlier this year for $750 million. Now he’s sitting pretty at Google, where he has been named vice president of mobile ads. Hamoui spoke on the second day of VentureBeat’s MobileBeat 2010 conference this week in San Francisco and answered questions about the mobile ad trade. He talks about the effectiveness of mobile ads, among other things. Here’s a video excerpt … Continue Reading

Roundup: Firefox comes to the iPhone, MySpace gets a makeover and more

Here’s the latest action:

Apple OS on the rise among advertisers — Apple OS requests increased by 36 percent in June, according to a survey of millions of mobile web users conducted by mobile ad network Millenial Media. Android requests also jumped 23 percent during the month.

Firefox comes to the iPhone — The new free Firefox Home application, available for iPhone and iPod Touch, organizes your desktop history, bookmarks and open tabs. You can … Continue Reading

SGN launches Skies of Glory as the first cross-platform Android-iPhone game

SGN today launched its first game where players with Android phones can engage in multiplayer competition with players using iPhones.

The Skies of Glory flight combat game launched last fall on the iPhone, and its Android version is launching today. Players can connect via Wi-Fi and other wireless modes and play each other in multiplayer dogfights. Such live cross-platform play hasn’t been possible before, but the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company did the necessary work to … Continue Reading

Apple won't recall iPhone 4 despite reception problems, WSJ says

Apple isn’t planning to recall the iPhone 4 despite its well-publicized antenna reception problems, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

We should have official word from Apple soon enough, as the company has planned a press conference for Friday, July 16 at 10 am at its Cupertino, Calif. headquarters. We plan to be there. While there has been a lot of talk about a recall, particularly since Consumer Reports said Monday it … Continue Reading

TriVascular brings in $45M to treat vascular diseases

TriVascular, a subsidiary of the TV2 Holding Company, has raised $45 million in  a third round of funding, according to a filing with the SEC. Based in Santa Rosa, Calif., TriVascular makes endovascular medical devices for aortic repair.

TriVascular was acquired by Boston Scientific in 2005 and then sold to the TV2 Holding Company in 2008. The company last raised $30.5M  in equity in 2009.

The company plans to use its latest round to launch … Continue Reading

DFine raises $36.2M to repair spine fractures

DFine, maker of an injection device that heals vertebral fractures, has raised $36.2 million in equity. Prospect Venture Partners, BB&T Fund, Split Rock Partners and OrbiMed Advisors participated in the round, according to a filing with the SEC. The San Jose-based company uses a minimally invasive procedure to treat spine fractures, providing patients with immediate pain relief and a fast recovery.

Founded in 2004, DFine previously raised more than $60 million.… Continue Reading

2011 Chevrolet Volt battery pack warranty: 8 years, 100K miles

General Motors announced today that it would offer an 8-year, 100,000-mile warranty on the battery pack, the charger, and the Voltec electric drive components of its upcoming 2011 Chevrolet Volt electric car.

The announcement sets to rest potential worries that Volt owners might be stuck having to replace an expensive, high-voltage battery pack costing thousands of dollars just a few years down the road.

The warranty matches the length of time that all components affecting … Continue Reading

California sues Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for blocking green energy initiative

[Update: Thirty Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives banded together today to pitch a bill that would protect the PACE program detailed below. The bill would force corporations that took bailout money to stay afloat -- like Fannie and Freddie -- to support PACE despite their opposition.]

California State Attorney General Jerry Brown has filed a lawsuit against controversial mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency, for … Continue Reading

SDL acquires machine translation company Language Weaver

SDL, a translation company that’s publicly-traded on the London stock exchanged, announced today that it has agreed to acquire Language Weaver for $42.5 million in cash.

In the press release, SDL chief executive Mark Lancaster emphasized the rapidly growing amount of content on the Web and estimated that in five years, 30 percent of all translated content will be at least partly machine-translated. So Language Weaver, which Lancaster describes as “the best-in-class machine translation technology … Continue Reading

Senate says yes to financial reform, but exempts VCs from new rules

The U.S. Senate passed the 2,300-page financial reform bill today (vote was 60 to 39) after more than a year of deliberation. The Obama administration is casting it as a major victory — protecting average consumers from Wall Street excesses.

For the most part, senators voted along party lines, with only three Republicans breaking ranks to support the legislation, one of the highest domestic priorities for the Democrats.

The bill, to be signed by President … Continue Reading

Zynga's FrontierVille skyrockets to 20 million users in 36 days

Social game publisher Zynga said today that its Wild West pioneer-themed game FrontierVille has soared to more than 20 million users since it was launched on Facebook on June 9, 36 days ago.

The game is now the company’s third largest, after FarmVille (62 million users) and Texas HoldEm Poker (28 million users).

As we noted before, FrontierVille is critical for Zynga if it’s going to stay on the treadmill of gaining new users even … Continue Reading

Tiger Woods golf video game sales plummet compared to a year ago

Sales of Tiger Woods PGA Tour video games plummeted this year, with the game selling only 32 percent of the total that it sold in its inaugural month compared to a year ago.

The results apparently show that reputation matters in all sorts of businesses, including video games, and that gamers aren’t necessarily blindly devoted to buying certain kinds of games year in and year out.

Market researcher NPD Group reported today that sales during … Continue Reading

U.S. retail video game sales fall 6 percent in June despite new Xbox 360 hardware

U.S. video game sales fell 6 percent overall in June despite strong sales of Microsoft’s slimmer Xbox 360 video game console, according to market researcher NPD Group. This sorry result is sure to get conversations going about how the industry is making a transition to digital online game sales, which aren’t counted in NPD’s retail sales results.

The monthly sales are closely watched because analysts have been wondering about the impact of used game sales … Continue Reading

Zynga's FarmVille social game partners with real-world farm to offer in-game crops

Zynga’s FarmVille has more than 62 million monthly users on Facebook. And that has made it a magnet for marketing deals. The company announced that it has integrated special crops from organic food company Cascadian Farm into the FarmVille game.

Now, from July 19 to July 26, users will be able to plant organic Blueberries with the Cascadian Farm brand name. (Cascadian Farm is in the Upper Skagit Valley of Washington’s North Cascade mountains.) On … Continue Reading

Google execs: Android costs are "not material"

During today’s conference call discussing Google’s second-quarter earnings, company executives offered some perspective on what the Android mobile operating system means to the larger organization.

An analyst on the call asked for more details about Android from a business perspective and whether Google sees it as a big moneymaker. Chief Financial Officer Patrick Pichette said the important thing about Android is that most of the “key products” are not made by Google — in other … Continue Reading

HP shutting its Cupertino campuses and moving employees to Palo Alto (internal memo)

As its Silicon Valley workforce changes, Hewlett-Packard has decided to consolidate its employees at its Palo Alto, Calif. headquarters.

The world’s largest computer company has gone through big changes over the years, laying off many of its Bay Area employees and expanding in places overseas such as India. As a result, the company no longer needs its offices on various campuses in Cupertino, Calif. HP was started by Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard in a … Continue Reading

Google revenue climbs 24 percent

Google just released its earnings for the second quarter of the year, with revenue increasing to $6.82 billion, up 24 percent from the same period last year. The numbers were basically in-line with analyst expectations.

Specifically, when the traffic-acquisition costs paid to partners are deducted, Google made $5.1 billion in revenue, more than the predicted $5 billion. Excluding costs, the company earned $6.45, below the $6.48 that analysts were expecting.

You can read the report … Continue Reading