AMD reports record Q2 revenue as it rides PC market recovery

PC chip maker Advanced Micro Devices reported record revenue of $1.65 billion in the second quarter, but it still had a net loss for the period because of a loss related to its ownership in chip manufacturer GlobalFoundries.

In other words, AMD would have made money in the quarter were it not for a $120 million equity loss related to GlobalFoundries. Revenues were $1.65 billion, up 40 percent from a year ago. The company rode … Continue Reading

MySpace acquiring team and assets of social messaging service Threadbox (exclusive)

MySpace is in the process of acquiring the team and assets of social messaging service Threadbox.

A source close to the matter tipped VentureBeat off on the news, and MySpace has since confirmed the deal with us. The statement from their spokesperson said, “We’re thrilled to announce that the talented Threadbox team has joined MySpace. We’re in active discussions about how we can incorporate their innovative technology into our site.”

Palo Alto, Calif.-based Threadbox is … Continue Reading

Matomy raises $1M to launch virtual payment widget for online games

Israeli firm Matomy said it has raised $1 million to launch its virtual payment widget for online games.

The Tel Aviv company has created the Engage Bar, a web-based virtual payment widget. The widget appears within an online game and can be timed to make an offer to buy virtual currency at the point when the user is just about to run out of it. Matomy’s testing has shown that the Engage Bar can result … Continue Reading

Flurry formally launches AppCircle to cross-sell mobile apps

Flurry said today it is formally launching its AppCircle network for cross-selling mobile apps.

Flurry operates a mobile analytics, money-making and promotion service for mobile developers. It reaches 65 million monthly mobile users and is used in 45,000 apps. AppCircle is a platform that developers can use to cross-sell their apps to all of Flurry’s users.

Flurry announced the private beta version of AppCircle in November as a natural extension of its analytics business to … Continue Reading

How Apple will be bringing FaceTime video chat to the iPad, iPod Touch

Ever since Apple debuted its FaceTime video chat feature on the iPhone 4, speculation has run rampant about the feature appearing on other Apple devices. Now, it appears we have more concrete information about FaceTime showing up on the next iPad and iPod Touch, as well as an idea of how it will work, according to a trusted source that spoke to the mobile gadget site Boy Genius Report.

On the iPhone 4, FaceTime relies … Continue Reading

Trilliant gears up with $106M, new utility deal for smart grid networking

Trilliant, one of several companies piecing together a cleaner, more efficient smart grid, just got a big shot in the arm. The Redwood City, Calif. company has raised $106 million in venture funding to expand globally and continue developing its products.

Trilliant provides mesh networking equipment that allows smart meters to communicate wirelessly with utilities and, increasingly, consumer-facing energy monitors. Its technology can beam this data over long distances and within local and even home-area … Continue Reading

HP puts Android tablet on hold

HP has apparently delayed its Android tablet, which it originally planned to release by the end of this year, sources in the know tell All Things Digital.

There’s no indication of what led to the decision, but the safest bet is that HP didn’t want to spread itself thin by developing tablets for multiple platforms. Following its Palm acquisition announcement, HP reportedly canceled its planned Windows 7 tablet months ago. The company went on to … Continue Reading

Will Microsoft come back strong with the Windows Phone?

Many pundits have written Microsoft off in the mobile platform wars, but based on what I heard during a Windows Phone 7 session at VentureBeat’s MobileBeat 2010 conference in San Francisco at the beginning of the week, I am here to tell you that Windows Phone looks promising.

First and most importantly, Microsoft has learned lessons from its Windows Mobile strategy. In allowing several device makers to develop devices for Windows Mobile, it made the … Continue Reading

The full movie trailer for Sorkin's The Social Network is out

The full trailer for screenwriter Aaron Sorkin and director David Fincher’s film on the origins of Facebook is out.

Unlike the earlier teasers, which were rather apocalyptic, this one features real footage from the film and is set to the music of a choir performing Radiohead’s “Creep.”

It focuses, like Ben Mezrich’s book (which was the foundation for the script), on the relationship between Mark Zuckerberg and co-founder Eduardo Saverin. Justin Timberlake gets a few … Continue Reading

Bloomberg: Apple engineer warned Steve Jobs about iPhone 4 antenna issues

Apple might have been expecting trouble with the iPhone 4′s antenna. Last year, senior engineer and antenna expert Ruben Caballero expressed his concerns about the new antenna design to Apple’s management, including CEO Steve Jobs, a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

Another person went on to say that a carrier partner expressed similar concerns.

Since the iPhone 4′s launch, Apple has faced considerable criticism regarding an issue with the device’s new external antenna … Continue Reading

Motorola's Droid X protects itself from hackers by self destructing (updated)

Updated with a quote from Motorola below.
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Motorola’s next flagship smartphone, the Droid X on Verizon, hits stores today– but you might want to think twice if you’re hoping to hack the device.

Motorola has apparently locked down the phone to the point where any modification attempts — including “rooting” the phone to install unauthorized apps, or changing its firmware — could render it completely inoperable (or “bricked”). The only way to fix it … Continue Reading

Rich Wong interviews HP's Phil McKinney at MobileBeat 2010 (video)

Rich Wong, general partner at Accel, interviewed HP executive Phil McKinney at our MobileBeat 2010 conference this week. Wong applied some pressure on McKinney to come up with some answers as to why HP spent more than $1 billion buying Palm when it could have done something on its own or in partnership with others. McKinney danced around the notion of whether HP would build a “slate,” or touchscreen tablet computer. Here’s our video excerpt … Continue Reading

HP's Phil McKinney describes the mobile devices we will carry (video)

Phil McKinney is one of the visionaries in Hewlett-Packard‘s personal systems group, where he is a vice president and chief technology officer. He spoke about his vision for mobile devices at our MobileBeat 2010 conference this week in San Francisco. His talk goes a long way toward explaining why HP bought Palm and gives a high level view of how HP plans to participate in the future of mobile devices. He also pulled out a … Continue Reading

Free-to-play business model starting to generate a "geiser of money" for iPhone game makers

Purchase of virtual goods are starting to take off on the iPhone and game startups are starting to prosper from the added revenue,  according to data from mobile analytics firm Flurry. For game developers, that means that the iPhone is finally living up to its potential as a revenue generator for third-party app creators.

Apple turned on the in-app purchase feature for the iPhone last fall. That enabled game developers to embrace the same “free … Continue Reading

Mig33's virtual gifts business grows 400 percent in second quarter

Mig33 has built itself a good business by remembering that billions of people worldwide use the humble feature phone instead of newfangled smart phones. The latest evidence of that is the growth of Mig33′s virtual gifts business on feature phones; it’s up 400 percent in the second quarter compared to the first quarter.

Those sales are helping the company transform itself from a mobile voice chat service to a social entertainment service, as the virtual … Continue Reading

Gendai Games raises $1M in first round for game creation tools

Gendai Games, a startup with a game creation tool for the iPhone, has raised over $1 million in a first round of funding.

Techcrunch reported that the round was led by DFJ Mercury with participation from Steamboat Ventures, DFJ Frontier, and ff Asset Management. Angel investors include Paul Bricault, Paige Craig, Tom McInerney, Josh Resnick and and Mark Suster.

Gendai makes GameSalad, which lets non-programmers easily build and publish two-dimensional casual games on the iPhone, … Continue Reading

Apple calls special iPhone 4 press conference on Friday; is it about the reception problem?

Apple is calling a special press conference on Friday to talk about the iPhone 4. The company hasn’t said what the topic is, but it’s a good bet that it’s about the reception problem that the new phone has when it is held a certain way.

Apple hasn’t addressed the issue head on, except to say it was issuing a software fix to deal with the fact that the phone doesn’t display the correct number … Continue Reading

BARRX brings in $15M to treat precancerous conditions

Sunnyvale, Calif.-based BARRX Medical has closed a $15 million fourth round of funding. The company develops treatments for the precancerous condition Barrett’s esophagus and other gastrointestinal diseases. Highland Capital Partners led the round, which BARRX plans to use to expand into new disease states and new international markets. Delphi Ventures, Alloy Ventures, Frazier Healthcare Ventures, Sutter Hill Ventures and Greenspring Associates also participated. The company last raised $27.8 million in 2006.

PRESS RELEASE

BARRX Medical, … Continue Reading

Axcient raises $9M for data protection and recovery

Data backup provider Axcient has raised $9 million in a second round of funding, according to a filing with the SEC. Thomvest Ventures, Peninsula Ventures and Media Technology Ventures participated in the round. Mountain View, Calif.-based Axcient provides small- and medium-sized businesses with data backup and recovery through both on-site devices and off-site data centers. The service is offered to customers through IT providers and requires minimal setup costs with no equipment and no software.… Continue Reading