Are Apple's iAds stumbling?

Back when Apple announced its iAds platform for creating and placing high-quality ads in iPhone apps, we wondered whether smaller ad networks might get crushed. But early signs suggest that Apple hasn’t mastered this ad thing yet, according to a report today in the Wall Street Journal.

The article quotes a number of advertisers and developers, some of them anonymously, who mostly say that working with Apple has been a much slower process than expected. … Continue Reading

Adobe: More than 7,000 app developers using AIR for Android

Even though it hasn’t officially launched yet, Adobe said today that developers are already embracing its AIR technology for building applications on smartphones and other devices.

Adobe first released AIR in 2008 as a tool for creating desktop apps that are connected to the Web, but the company is positioning the new version of AIR as a key part of its mobile strategy. Most of the focus in recent months has been on Adobe’s Flash, … Continue Reading

Facebook Dislike button sounds great, but some links to it are scams

The Facebook Dislike button is going viral. But if somebody sends it to you, don’t click on the link. It’s likely just the latest scam from malware or spam creators, according to security firm Sophos.

Facebook’s Like button is spreading across the web and is very popular, since you can indicate your preference for something with a simple click. Users have begged Facebook for a Dislike button as well, but the social network has decided … Continue Reading

Verizon systems reveal new Android devices — Motorola Droid Pro, possible tablet

Verizon Wireless is gearing up for yet another wave of Android devices this fall — including the Motorola Droid Pro, and perhaps even a tablet or two — according to mobile gadget site Boy Genius Report.

The site reported last week on a leaked Verizon roadmap for 2010/2011, which mentioned the Droid Pro — a new Droid entry with a 4-inch screen and 1.3-gigahertz CPU — as well as tablets from Samsung and Motorola. The … Continue Reading

Adobe CEO: We don't need Apple's iPad

Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen doesn’t seem too broken up about Apple’s refusal to support its Flash technology on the iPhone and iPad. Speaking to the Telegraph, Narayen delves into why he’s moved on from that drama, as well as how the company has brought Flash to other, more open, mobile platforms.

“We believe in open systems. We believe in the power of the Internet and in customers making choices and I think a lot of … Continue Reading

Shape Up The Nation lands $5M to make exercise more social

Shape Up The Nation, a social network used to help motivate people to live healthier, today announced it has secured a first round of funding for $5 million. Cue Ball Capital and Excel Venture Management both led the funding.

The company’s social network is set up to help members achieve a healthier life, whether that be working out, quitting smoking, or losing weight. Tools are provided to create teams and goals, which can be viewed … Continue Reading

Dell acquires data storage company 3Par for $1.15B

Dell today announced that it would purchase 3Par, a data storage and management firm, for about $1.15 billion. Dell is offering $18 a share in cash, an 87 percent premium over 3Par’s $9.65 Friday closing price.

The deal would give Dell a stronger presence in the storage market and make it a competitor to HP, IBM, and others. 3Par provides “a leading, virtualized, utility storage platform” — all the right buzzwords these days — and … Continue Reading

Presentation startup SlideShare presents its ‘freemium’ business model

SlideShare, a site where users can share presentations, documents, and videos, continues to experiment with ways to make money from that content. Today it’s unveiling a set of features bundled together in a service called SlideShare Pro.

Whenever I talk to chief executive Rashmi Sinha, she emphasizes the site’s professional content and professional audience, so introducing premium pricing seems like a a natural fit. The company already launched business services last fall, specifically an advertising … Continue Reading

Ayeah Games raises seed funding for "social reality games"

Ayeah Games said today it has closed a round of seed funding to develop its “social reality games,” which mixes social networking and breaking news.

The Boston-based company was founded this year by Doug Levin, a serial entrepreneur. It plans on launching a casual social gme on Facebook in October. The game play will be similar to FarmVille and Mafia Wars — two popular Zynga games on Facebook — but will have a new look … Continue Reading

Open-standards advocate Monica Keller leaves Facebook, joins Socialcast

Facebook’s efforts to raise its reputation for technological openness suffered a blow with the departure of Monica Keller, a well-regarded program manager for open Web standards whose career at the company proved short-lived.

Keller left Facebook on Friday and is joining Socialcast, a San Francisco-based startup which focuses on social-networking tools for business collaboration, the companies confirmed to VentureBeat over the weekend.

For Facebook, a public perception that it adopts and supports open standards helps … Continue Reading

InstantAction's Instant Jam guitar game can be embedded on any web site

Web gaming company InstantAction is launching the beta version of its Instant Jam online guitar rhythm game today. What’s unique about it is that it can be embedded on any web site and can be played along with thousands of songs that consumers already have in their own music libraries.

The game is aimed at disrupting the billion-dollar-plus console music game business, which has had its own troubles lately as users have grown tired of … Continue Reading

WSJ reports HP board mistrusted Hurd after settlement with contractor

The battle for spin control between Hewlett-Packard‘s board and former chief executive Mark Hurd isn’t over. Hurd has been fired, but the HP board evidently feels a need to justify the action in light of ongoing criticism.

The Wall Street Journal has become the conduit for this post-game battle. In a story this evening, the newspaper reported that the HP board came to mistrust Hurd after he settled a sexual harassment claim with former marketing … Continue Reading

Yahoo Japan scoops up location-based mobile ad firm Cirius

Yahoo Japan has acquired location-based mobile ad firm Cirius Technologies. Cirius is based in Tokyo and operates AdLocal, a service that targets consumers with ads. It takes into account the physical location of the users via global positioning system (GPS), cell phone identification, map coordinates and other data.

Cirius has about 38 employees. After the acquisition, AdLocal will close its U.S. office in San Francisco, Calif. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Gen Miyazawa, … Continue Reading

Video site Hulu prepping for IPO that values company at $2B?

Fast-growing online movie and TV hub Hulu plans to go public in an initial public offering that values the company at more than $2 billion, according to the New York Times.

Citing people familiar with the matter, the New York Times said that Hulu executives have talked to investment banks about doing an IPO as soon as this fall.

Hulu is one of the hottest companies in new media, since it can stream popular TV … Continue Reading

Facebook buys semantic search firm Chai Labs for more than $10M

Facebook has purchased search firm Chai Labs for more than $10 million, according to All Things Digital.

It isn’t exactly clear why Facebook is buying Chai Labs. The company specializes in making platforms that allow for “structured content extraction” and semantic search. In other words, it makes search better. Customers include NBC Local, Associated Content, and the Travel Ad Network.

Chai Labs is based in Mountain View, Calif., and was founded by former Google AdSense … Continue Reading

Google to buy visual search firm Like.com for more than $100M?

Google is in the final stages of acquiring visual search and e-commerce firm Like.com for more than $100 million, according to a report in Techcrunch.

Citing multiple sources, Techcrunch said the acquisition looks like it will happen, though it isn’t clear why Google is interested in Like.com, which has a visual search technology. Perhaps Google wants to experiment with a new kind of search technology that appears to be getting traction. It isn’t clear if … Continue Reading

An atom bomb aimed at Intel: Smooth-Stone raises $48M for low-power ARM server chips

Hoping to outdo Intel in the server chip market, Smooth-Stone has raised $48 million to complete development of its ARM-based server chips which consume small amounts of power.

Server chips command the highest prices of any chips, so the market Smooth-Stone is pursuing is worth billions. To date, Intel has dominated that market. But Intel’s mainstay server chips are still brainiacs, which perform powerful computing tasks but also consume a lot of power.

Smooth-Stone is … Continue Reading

'Super angel' Aydin Senkut raises $40M fund

Felicis Ventures, the firm created by early Googler (and VentureBeat investor) Aydin Senkut, just announced that it has raised $40 million. It’s the firm’s first institutional fund.

Felicis says it will continue to focus on early-stage mobile and Internet investments. Senkut has invested in more than 60 startups, and 15 of them have already been acquired. Purchased companies include personal finance startup Mint.com (acquired by Intuit), semantic search startup Powerset (acquired by Microsoft), and mobile … Continue Reading