DiscoveryBeat "Needle in the Haystack" business contest
If you’re a content publisher these days, you’re probably feeling like a needle in a haystack. How on earth will you ever get found, amid all the content out there fighting for attention? If so, you should enter our DiscoveryBeat Needle in the Haystack business contest.
DiscoveryBeat, which takes place Oct. 18, is all about how to get your content noticed. And we’re hosting a new type of contest, to award the companies that have … Continue Reading
Apple dumps design firm SurfaceInk due to potential tablet threat
Apple seems to be getting touchy about working with companies that could potentially compete with its iPad. The company has severed ties with SurfaceInk, a design firm that it’s been working with for 10 years, because it dared to show off a prototype tablet of its own, reports the New York Times.
SurfaceInk founder and CEO Eric Bauswell told the NYT that the working relationship with the companies fell apart because of “Apple’s growing awareness … Continue Reading
VentureBeat declares war! Why "Google Beat" is a brand extension too far
Larry, Sergey, Eric: Matt Marshall and I are putting you on notice. This “Google Beat” thing is going too far. VentureBeat is mad as hell, and we’re not taking it anymore. This is our official notice to the triumvirate ruling Google that the gloves are off.
Not just off, but OffBeat.
Sure, Google Beat is just the name for a fluffy Web video series for what people are searching for on Google. But VentureBeat, which … Continue Reading
Emprivo sells book directory Read Print for $1M
Website developer Emprivo is selling its online book directory Read Print for about $1 million, according to a source with knowledge of the deal. Our source wouldn’t name the buyer, but described it as a large private equity fund in Silicon Valley.
Read Print’s catalogue consists of public domain books that users can view in a special pop-up “reading mode.” According to a posting on website auction service Flippa, Read Print receives 1.58 million pageviews … Continue Reading
Weakening economy catches up with Intel
Intel cut its revenue outlook for the third quarter based on weak demand for consumer PCs. The weak U.S. economy, which grew at only 1.6 percent in the second quarter, finally caught up with Intel, which had been posting record results this year.
That bodes ill for the tech industry, since Intel is the world’s biggest chip maker and is a bellwether for computer sales. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company said that third-quarter revenue will … Continue Reading
LA Times: Blockbuster preps for bankruptcy after Netflix, Redbox win movie rental wars
Brick-and-mortar movie and game rental chain Blockbuster has told major Hollywood studios that it’s preparing to file for bankruptcy next month despite several pushes to expand into online and kiosk services, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Sources close to the deal said the Dallas, Tex.-based company could file for bankruptcy as early as mid-September after executives met with six major movie studios to discuss their intent to enter a “pre-planned” bankruptcy.
Despite efforts to drive … Continue Reading
HP outbids Dell again with $2B offer for data storage company 3Par (updated)
Update: HP just upgraded its offer even further this morning. It’s now offering $2 billion for 3Par, or $30 a share. Earlier story below.
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The back and forth between Dell and HP regarding the acquisition of data storage company 3Par continues. Only a few hours after 3Par accepted Dell’s increased $1.6 billion offer, HP upped the ante again by offering $1.8 billion for the company, or $27 per share in cash.
Dell’s new offer … Continue Reading
Etsy lands $20M, bringing valuation to nearly $300M, hires ex-Googler as COO
It’s a busy time for e-commerce site Etsy, which focuses on handmade arts and crafts. The company announced yesterday that it has snagged $20 million in its fifth round of funding, led by Index Ventures. And just this morning, it was revealed that former Google international executive Adam Freed (pictured) is joining the company as COO, reports All Things Digital’s Kara Swisher.
The funding round brings Etsy’s valuation to nearly $300 million (not including the … Continue Reading
PlaySpan snags a gaming icon as its sales chief
Game-monetization company PlaySpan is announcing today that it is hiring Stevana Case as its vice president of sales and business development. Though she is just 33, she has already had a long career in games.
Case was once known as Stevie “KillCreek” Case , she became famous in the 1990s after she beat John Romero, design of Doom and Quake, in a “death match.” A pre-law student, she switched careers and became one of the … Continue Reading
Halo: Reach won't be a disappointment for 30 million waiting fans
Everything about Halo: Reach will seem familiar to the video game franchise’s 30 million fans. That’s both a blessing and a curse for the Xbox 360 game which debuts on Sept. 14.
I recently played part of the game’s single-player campaign and its multiplayer version, and I’m not disappointed in my preview. I found a lot of new tweaks in the game that surprised me and plenty of features that were familiar. Others may find … Continue Reading
Backup service Backblaze almost acquired by … someone
Backblaze, a startup that offers an easy way for users to continuously back up their hard drive, is making a rather unusual announcement on its blog this morning — that it was almost acquired.
Cofounder and chief executive Gleb Budman writes that Backblaze accepted an offer from a larger company and everything was just days away from being finalized, before the deal fell through. It may seem rather strange for a startup to write about … Continue Reading
The 5 biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make
Screw-ups are inevitable when you’re launching your own business. Entrepreneurs are often less clear about their company’s purpose than they thought they were – or hit roadblocks they didn’t anticipate and don’t know how to handle. Serial entrepreneur Jerry Kaplan, in this entrepreneur thought leader lecture given at Stanford University, runs down the list of mistakes that are most likely to bring a startup down. (The lecture’s seven years old, but the advice is timeless.)… Continue Reading
BilltoMobile gathers momentum for mobile payments plan
Mobile payments firm BilltoMobile is on the expansion path, adding new merchants to its electronic commerce program and hiring new executives.
The San Jose, Calif.-based company, a subsidiary of South Korea’s Danal, has added more than a dozen merchants to its mobile payments program since it announced a deal with Verizon Wireless in March. The company formally launched its alternative payment platform — which lets you buy things online using your mobile phone number for … Continue Reading
Roundup: Facebook clarifies mobile app numbers, Nuventix pushes LEDs forward, and more
Here’s the latest action:
Nuventix makes LEDs more practical — The startup, which makes systems that cool LED lighting systems, making them more suitable for a full range of environments, could break the seal on the untapped general market for LEDs.
Facebook revises number of mobile app users – The social network initially reported that 104 million people use their iPhone application every month but today said that the figure is closer to 44 million.… Continue Reading
Omnitrol Networks brings in $1.4M to help companies analyze daily operations
Omnitrol Networks, a company that makes software for supply chain analysis, has raised $1.4 million of an expected $2.5 million in equity, according to a filing with the SEC. Based in Santa Clara, Calif., the startup uses digital sensors and location services to provide companies in the manufacturing, aerospace and retail industries with data on business operations. One product made by Omnitrol helps retail companies track daily inventory–item by item and in real-time–for stores in … Continue Reading
Facebook-alternative Diaspora set to launch in three weeks
Diaspora, the open-sourced Facebook alternative initiated by four New York University students, will be launching in three weeks, its creators announced in a blog post today.
The project garnered a large amount of press back in May when it raised over $200,000 on the social pledging site Kickstarter based solely on the idea of building a “personally controlled, do-it-all, distributed open source social network.” In other words: the anti-Facebook social network.
At a time when … Continue Reading
Best Buy rolls out used game sales in 600 stores
Hot on the heels of Target’s trade-in program announcement, Best Buy announced today that they’re launching their own service at 600 stores this week. All trade-ins will receive a Best Buy gift card for the value of the game, good for use on all purchases in Best Buy or on BestBuy.com. As a celebratory bonus, consumers who trade-in specific popular games at an eligible store this Sunday, August 29 will get an extra $20 Best … Continue Reading
Is the game market generating $100B per year in revenues?
Recent estimates value the global games business somewhere in the range of $50 billion. But if you factor in the booming online gaming sector and look at the total market caps for all public companies, the global games industry is actually worth about double that, according to investment banker Paul Heydon of Avista Partners.
During a talk at Edinburgh Interactive, Heydon outlined the video game sector as he sees it. He noted that the total … Continue Reading
Facebook and Y Combinator partner to support social startups
Facebook said today that it’s going to be working with Y Combinator to give the incubator’s startups special access to Facebook support and features.
Facebook previously had an incubator and investment fund of its own, the fbFund, which it ran with Accel and Founders Fund. The company said in July that it has “no plans for future iterations of the program.”
This new partnership sounds like a way for Facebook to encourage startups to build … Continue Reading
Tesla scores more from Toyota's big Fremont Factory sale
It’s been almost three weeks since we published a Tesla story.
We trust that means that the Silicon Valley electric-vehicle startup is working away feverishly on the designs, engineering, production plans, and manufacturing site for its Model S four-door sports sedan (pictured right), which it is still promising will arrive during 2012 (perhaps as a 2013 model).
Only one little piece of Tesla news has drifted our way lately, from our colleagues at Autoblog Green: … Continue Reading
