PayPal keeps on rolling as eBay posts solid fourth quarter

eBay’s chief executive John Donahoe has a plan to turn his company around — and it looks like it’s working.

eBay’s revenue rose 5 percent year over year in the fourth quarter, bolstered by increased holiday sales and strong growth in its transaction service PayPal.

The company raked in $2.5 billion in the fourth quarter last year, up from $2.4 billion in 2009. At the same time, eBay dramatically slashed its administrative costs by about … Continue Reading

Does Google get games? Kongregate mobile arcade banned from Android Marketplace

Whispers of Google’s social gaming service had gone quiet since Facebook marched to the top of the hill and planted its feet at the front of the social gaming pack. But it might still be alive and in the works.

That, or Google just doesn’t know what the heck to do with games.

Kongregate — a GameStop-owned online site that hosts independently developed flash games — released a mobile app this week that brought most … Continue Reading

Private equity firm General Atlantic takes $200M stake in security software vendor Kaspersky Lab

Private equity firm General Atlantic has purchased a 20 percent stake in Kaspersky Lab for $200 million. The deal shows that security technology companies are hot and it shows how much value Kaspersky has created in its 13 years as an antivirus software vendor, according to the newspaper Vedomosti (translated via Quintura).

General Atlantic bought the stake from Natalya Kaspersky, chairman and co-founder of Kaspersky Lab, which is based in Moscow. The company has more … Continue Reading

Is Bill Gates a green hypocrite?

Well, well, Bill Gates.

Today came news that the Microsoft founder, philanthropist and green investor has invested in a $60 million round for NEOS GeoSolutions, a Houston-based firm that uses data analysis and geophysical sensors to help oil and gas companies decide where to drill. NEOS’s backers also include Goldman Sachs, Kleiner Perkins, Passport Capital and, now, Saudi-based oil and industrial conglomerate Energy Capital Group, which joined as a new investor with Gates.

It’s a … Continue Reading

RightNow acquires Q-go to improve customer service with natural language search

Natural language processing specialist Q-go was just acquired by RightNow Technologies for $34M. RightNow handles customer service for companies: It operates customer support centers and can handle every interaction with customers via company websites, email, mobile apps, support communities and social media.

Many web sites only recognize keywords in searches or provide static FAQs (frequently asked questions). But Q-go’s research shows that 70-80 percent of customers use more than two words in a query and … Continue Reading

Android Trojan Soundminer can “hear” credit card numbers

Researchers have developed a proof-of-concept Android program that can literally keep an ear out for credit card numbers.

Dubbed Soundminer, the software uses the phone’s microphone to listen for credit card numbers spoken aloud, or typed into the phone, Forbes reports. It was developed by six researchers at Indiana University and the City University of Hong Kong, who plan to demonstrate it next month at a security symposium in San Diego.

The team set out … Continue Reading

Vudu HD streaming video lands on Boxee Box, Netflix coming soon

Boxee Box owners (all two of you) rejoice! As promised, Boxee is bringing Vudu’s extensive library of streaming high-definition movies to its set-top box in an update today.

Additionally, the company says Netflix support for the Boxee Box is still on track for the end of this month.

Vudu offers 1080p high-definition films with Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 surround sound. Pricing starts at $2 for 2 nights of a standard definition film, while an HD … Continue Reading

On the GreenBeat: BP says renewable energy growth to beat oil, more of California's solar panels come from China

Here’s the latest action we’re following on the GreenBeat today:

BP predicts renewable energy growth to outpace oil — The company’s Energy Outlook 2030 sees renewables, nuclear and hydropower growing steadily in the next two decades, outpacing the growth of oil. Solar, wind and geothermal will contribute 18 percent to energy growth between 2010 and 2030, CNET reports. The numbers are still small, though. By 2030, renewable energy will make up 6 percent of primary … Continue Reading

Josh Klein explains how "Hacking Work" can build a smarter business (Q&A)

Josh Klein is a professional hacker who examines systems and helps people understand how to affect change within them. Speaking at conferences like TED and the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, and to companies such as Microsoft and Oracle, he recently teamed up with Bill Jensen, President/CEO of The Jensen Group to write the new book, “Hacking Work“.

Called one of the top breakthrough ideas for 2010 by the Harvard Business Review, “hacking … Continue Reading

Dance Cam mobile app promotes Dance Central 2 on Xbox 360

Digital ad agency AKQA has created a novel new app called Dance Cam to promote the Dance Central 2 game that works with Microsoft’s Kinect motion-sensing system for the Xbox 360. The mobile app is designed to showcase new songs, new moves and features of the game while letting users create their own studio-quality music video.

Users can record themselves doing dance moves to some of the biggest dance hits from stars such as Enrique … Continue Reading

How many tablets will businesses buy in 2011? Try 10M (report)

Tablet growth is set to explode this year, and businesses will certainly account for much of it. Companies are expected to purchase more than 10 million tablets in 2011, Reuters reports, based on a market forecast from consulting firm Deloitte.

The projection is in line with much of what we’re seeing already. Apple’s iPad is already being widely adopted by businesses — the company said 80 companies on the Fortune 100 list are testing or … Continue Reading

SCI pulls in $15.6M for energy-monitoring of commercial buildings

Scientific Conservation Inc. (SCI), which makes software that monitors energy use in commercial buildings, has raised $15.65 million in a second round of funding.

This marks the latest in a string of companies focusing on opportunities in the mammoth commercial buildings market, which SCI estimates as a $5 billion opportunity.

SCI’s software tracks and diagnoses energy use and problems across a building’s HVAC, refrigeration, lighting, and other systems. The latest funding round was led by … Continue Reading

LivingSocial does another deal with Amazon.com

Since VentureBeat first reported that Amazon.com was jumping into the group-buying frenzy with its $175 million investment in LivingSocial, we’ve been wondering how the companies will collaborate. Wonder no more: LivingSocial is offering $20 Amazon.com gift certificates for $10.

On the surface, this deal looks stupid. And stupid popular: More than 430,000 people have signed up for what’s essentially $10 in free money. The economics are even worse than they might seem: If you get … Continue Reading

Playboy to strut its stuff on the iPad (updated)

Update: Playboy is actually releasing an iPad-friendly version of it website. The Playboy app in the App Store will be censored, according to a Playboy spokesperson. Original story below.
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Despite Apple’s history of putting Church Lady restrictions on app content, Playboy has announced that it’s bringing every issue of the magazine ever published to the iPad.  So rejoice, fans of woman-shaped manikins and terrible cartoon jokes.

It’s not yet clear whether Apple has eased … Continue Reading

4info says its mobile ad business is exploding

Mobile startup 4info first became known for delivering advertising in SMS text messages, but the company moved aggressively into display ads last year, and it sounds like those efforts have paid off.

The company said that the number of mobile display ads it served increased by almost 2,000 percent in 2010. A big increase was probably expected, since 4info didn’t start ramping up its display efforts until recently. The San Mateo, Calif. company launched its … Continue Reading

Generation tech: More kids can play computer games than ride a bike

If you were in any doubt that technology is now a fundamental part of kids’ lives, these statistics prove it: 69 percent of children aged 2-5 can use a computer mouse, but only 11 percent can tie their own shoelaces. More young children know how to play a computer game (58 percent) than swim (20 percent) or ride a bike (52 percent). There is no gender divide. Boys and girls under the age of 5 … Continue Reading

Video: Tesla shows off Model S hitting the road

First came VentureBeat’s scoop on the Model S prototype’s completion. Then came Tesla’s trifecta of professionally-edited videos showing off the engineering of the all-electric 2012 Model S sedan. Now, Tesla has released a video showing the Model S alpha going for a spin on a set of country roads.

The release comes a week after the Detroit Auto Show, and shows off two things: One, Tesla’s sticking with videos rather than press releases, continuing the … Continue Reading

Samsung to debut Galaxy S successor in February?

Sure, Samsung is now the king of Android phone manufacturers, but that doesn’t mean it plans to rest on the success of its current Galaxy S line of Android phones.

The company is gearing up to show off the “evolution” of the Galaxy S line (and give smartphone geeks an early Valentine’s gift in the process) on February 13 at the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona, according to a Samsung promotional site. Samsung will … Continue Reading