July chip sales up 37 percent, but growth rate is slowing
July semiconductor chip sales grew 37 percent from a year ago to $25.2 billion. But the monthly gain was just 1.2 percent above June sales of $24.9 billion, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association.
The chip industry’s trade group said that year-to-date sales are $169.2 billion, up 46.7 percent from $115.3 billion in the first seven months of 2009. The numbers are closely watched because chips are used in everything electronic, from computers to smartphones … Continue Reading
Here's the best way to value your startup
(Editor’s note: Scott Edward Walker is the founder and CEO of Walker Corporate Law Group, PLLC, a law firm specializing in the representation of entrepreneurs. He submitted this column to VentureBeat.)
A reader asks: I’m the founder of a mobile apps startup, and we’re starting to get some incredible traction. I’ve been bootstrapping the venture for the last year, but I’d really like to raise about $2 million to scale this thing. If a … Continue Reading
Maven teams up with Business Connect China to make VCs even smarter
Maven Research, a San Francisco-based consulting firm, just announced an alliance with Chinese consulting provider Business Connect China (BCC). The deal gives Maven’s clients access to more than 10,000 industry experts in China.
Unlike traditional consulting firms McKinsey and Bain, Maven sets up short telephone conversations between industry professionals, called members, and clients. Forty percent of business comes from venture capital and private equity clients. Accel Partners, one early client, led the company’s $1 million … Continue Reading
Fig leaf in place, Chatroulette launches version 2.0 of video chat service
Chatroulette is starting its transition to a real company as the video chat site today launched its redesigned web site.
The company headed by Russian youth Andrei Ternovskiy took its first site down a week ago and has now launched a new version that hopes will make money and be free of nudity that plagued its first version.
The site turned into a phenomenon because you never knew what you were going to find when … Continue Reading
Intel agrees to buy Infineon's communications chip business for $1.4B
Intel has agreed to purchase Infineon’s mobile chip business for $1.4 billion, the companies said late Sunday.
The move by the world’s largest chip maker will help boost the company’s presence in smartphones, which have begun to dominate the computing landscape. Rumors of the deal have been around for a while.
“The global demand for wireless solutions continues to grow at an extraordinary rate,” Intel chief executive Paul Otellini said in a statement. “The acquisition … Continue Reading
A potential $5B deal: Has Cisco made an offer to acquire Skype?
Cisco has reportedly made an offer to acquire internet phone firm Skype before it completes its planned initial public offering, according to Techcrunch.
Techcrunch said the rumor came from one of its more reliable sources but it has not been able to confirm anything. If it’s true, the deal could be a big one as Skype is gunning for a valuation of $5 billion. Techcrunch said that Google was also rumored to be considering an … Continue Reading
Foursquare still alive and kicking after Facebook tries to steal its thunder
Foursquare has hit 3 million users for its location-based social network. Facebook launched a rival location service, Facebook Places, in mid-August. But that apparently hasn’t lessened interest in Foursquare’s service, as some had feared. Foursquare’s growth is still accelerating, the numbers show.
As Techcrunch noted, Foursquare took a year to reach one million users, three months to hit its second million, and six weeks to hit its third million. Of course, Facebook Places is only … Continue Reading
YouTube to launch pay-per-view movies in deal with movie studios
Google’s YouTube video site is negotiating with Hollywood’s top movie studios to launch a pay-per-view movie service by the end of this year, according to the Financial Times.
YouTube is the dominant online destination for user-generated content. But the Google division wants to turn it into an international on-demand movie service in an effort to head off Apple in the digital distribution of film and TV shows.
Google has been emphasizing its advantage of having … Continue Reading
With 250,000 iPhone apps, can you find the one you want?
Apple‘s App Store now has more than 250,000 apps, just two years and a couple of months after it opened. The 148Apps.biz web site now counts 252,227 active apps for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.
That’s an extraordinary achievement. It means that for every day the App Store has been open, developers have uploaded 323.7 apps, on average. There are another 49,696 inactive apps, which are no longer available for download. So it actually … Continue Reading
Paul Allen's patent suits: Enough is enough
Paul Allen lost his nerve in the high stakes game of technology investments in 2000, when he shut down Interval Research, a respected Silicon Valley think tank. Now he has the gall to say that what his researchers created and patented was really valuable, and so all of the successful companies that weathered the storm and stuck it out should pay him. If it’s not clear already, my opinion is that Allen has just shredded … Continue Reading
Week in review: The problem with Dry Erase Girl
Here’s our roundup of the week’s tech business news. First, the five most popular stories VentureBeat published in the last seven days:
The problem with Dry Erase Girl: There’s no business in hoaxes — The men who fooled the Internet with their hoax about a woman who quit her job via a dry erase board say it made some money for their site, TheChive.com — but that attention-grabbing stunts don’t make for a reliable business … Continue Reading
Entrepreneur Corner: 5 startup pitfalls to avoid, and how to position yourself against your competition
Here’s the latest from VentureBeat’s Entrepreneur Corner:
Using contractors? Lock down their work as your IP – Owning intellectual property is the most important thing to a startup. But if you’re using a mix of salaried employees and contracted labor, you might be in murky waters. Attorney Curtis Smolar runs down how to protect yourself.
When should you turn on the marketing faucet? — “Turning on the faucet” is a metaphor for flooding your market … Continue Reading
Lolcat mastermind Ben Huh offers to buy social news site Reddit from Condé Nast (updated)
Update: Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian has replied to Huh’s offer on his blog. He says that he would be “very surprised” if Reddit were sold, but considering all of Huh’s accomplishments, they should probably chat at some point.
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Following the hubbub around Condé Nast’s refusal to run ads supporting California’s Proposition 19 — which would legalize certain marijuana-related activities — comes an offer to buy the site from the unlikeliest of sources.
Ben Huh … Continue Reading
Mercedes-Benz A-Class E-Cell set for 2010 Paris auto show debut
As reported earlier, Mercedes-Benz will be launching a new all-electric version of its entry-level A-Class model dubbed the A-Class E-Cell. This limited production model is being developed together with Tesla and will reportedly make its world debut next month at the 2010 Paris Auto Show.
Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, formed a partnership with Tesla last year to help accelerate the development of electric vehicles. In the case of the A-Class E-Cell, Tesla is … Continue Reading
Forte Design Systems gets $2.7M for chip hardware design
Forte Design Systems, a firm that makes semiconductor design software, has raised $2.7 million in equity. Lanza Tech Ventures, Infinity Capital and Maywood Capital Partners participated in the round, according to a filing with the SEC. The San Jose-based company develops products to help engineers create production-ready chip designs.
The company was founded in 1998 as C2 Design Automation.
Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen sharking everyone from Apple to Facebook on down
Paul Allen, the cofounder of Microsoft from long, long ago, is now trying his hand at suing the entire Internet over decade-old patents owned by his former company, Interval Research.
AOL, Apple, eBay, Facebook, Google, Netflix, Yahoo and YouTube are named as defendants in the case for infringing on several wide-reaching patents — one of which covers offering suggestions and different advertisements based on what the consumer is viewing.
Such patents, often known as business … Continue Reading
In totally non-awkward move, VentureBeat's Camille Ricketts joins Tesla Motors
At VentureBeat, we take pride in turning our writers, who are often fresh talents, into sought-after industry experts. Sometimes we do too good a job.
Camille Ricketts, our lead GreenBeat writer, is leaving to take a communications job at Tesla Motors, Silicon Valley’s iconic electric-car startup. In the course of covering the cleantech revolution over the past two years, she realized she couldn’t sit on the sidelines anymore.
It’s hard to think of a company … Continue Reading
Say hello to VentureBeat on the new Digg
Social news aggregator Digg launched the latest version of its design this week, making it easy for users to follow their friends’ story submissions, comments, and Diggs. So as you explore the new Digg, please consider following the VentureBeat Digg account.
Now, you may not think of VentureBeat as your friend, but let’s change that. Let’s be friends. On the Internet. You’ll be able to see the latest news and analysis from VentureBeat, plus other … Continue Reading
Online news site Reddit on pot-ad ban: What is Condé Nast smoking?
The user community of news-aggregation website Reddit is up in arms after site owner Condé Nast stated it would not run ads promoting California’s Proposition 19, which would legalize marijuana under certain restrictions.
Instead of using the online ad space to generate revenues, Condé Nast is now facing an army of “Redditors,” as the site’s active participants are known, placing what amounts to free advertising for Proposition 19 on the site’s homepage.
Eight of the … Continue Reading
Google continues social buying spree with Angstro
Google just revealed its latest social networking acquisition — a startup called Angstro, which builds applications pulling useful information from social networks.
The news was announced last night on the Angstro blog, with cofounder Rohit Khare writing, “While our work here may be done, the struggle for open, interoperable social networks is still only just beginning, and I’m looking forward to working on that in my new role at Google.” Angtro says its products include … Continue Reading
