What does Jobs' departure tell us about Apple's most recent quarter?

Apple’s chief executive Steve Jobs has decided to take a leave of absence from running the company, and his timing couldn’t be better.

Don’t expect the doomsday that some of the Technorati are predicting for the iPhone manufacturer’s shares. The company is slated to release data tomorrow about earnings from its most recent operating quarter, which includes the holiday season.

The last time Jobs decided to take a leave of absence, Apple’s shares plunged nearly … Continue Reading

OpenGamma raises $6M to kill old-school trading software

OpenGamma, a provider of analytics software for the financial services industry, announced today that it has raised $6 million in its second round of funding — even though it doesn’t have a product quite yet.

Traders can basically use OpenGamma to work with a suped-up version of Excel. The application programming interface (API) uses Excel and taps into multiple on-premise machines to quickly do calculations and access data without slowing down the machine a trader … Continue Reading

Apple CEO takes medical leave again

For the third time in seven years, Apple CEO Steve Jobs has temporarily stepped away from the iconic tech company to tend to his health.

In a brief, terse media advisory, the company quoted from an email Jobs sent to all employees announcing that he was taking a temporary medical leave.

As on the past two occasions, Apple COO Tim Cook will run the company in Jobs’s absence. In August 2004, Jobs underwent surgery for … Continue Reading

Eighth grader knocks Angry Birds out of the top free spot on the App Store

Angry Birds and its variants have dominated the top ranks of iPhone games for the past year. But on Thursday, a game called Bubble Ball ousted Angry Birds: Seasons from the No. 1 spot on the App Store’s top free apps list.

Bubble Ball is the work of 14-year-old Robert Nay, an eighth grader in Spanish Fork, Utah, and his mother Kari. Robert Nay managed to take a free version of Angry Birds Seasons — … Continue Reading

Social Network creators compliment Zuck on Golden Globe stage

The Social Network walked away with a few choice awards, including Best Picture, at the Golden Globes tonight. The film is loosely based on Mark Zuckerberg and the creation of Facebook, and it largely trashes his reputation from the very first scene, where the Zuckerberg character (Jesse Eisenberg) gets trashed by an ex-girlfriend, who says some classic lines to him.

Erica Albright, played by Rooney Mara, says, “You are probably going to be a very … Continue Reading

iPhone 5, iPad 2 rumors abound: dual-core processors, high-resolution display

It’s been less than a week since the Verizon iPhone was announced, and not surprisingly, it looks like the tech world is already hungry for Apple’s next major products.

Over the past few days, details on Apple’s upcoming iPhone 5 and iPad 2 have begun leaking, including reports of fast dual-core processors, as well as a higher resolution display on the iPad 2 to complement the iPhone 4’s Retina Display.

We’ve been hearing about blazing … Continue Reading

Seeking Alpha unveils a new business model for financial news

Popular financial news and commentary website Seeking Alpha seems to have a pretty sweet setup — the site has built up a large readership (40 to 45 million pageviews per month) with articles that are written for free. So the announcement that the site will start paying its contributors looks a bit odd — why start paying for something you were already getting for free?

The move seems especially risky since Seeking Alpha’s Premium Partnership … Continue Reading

Evidence suggests Stuxnet worm set Iran's nuclear program back

Stuxnet, the computer worm that spread among industrial machinery, is commonly believed to have been created by Israeli and American intelligence forces to take down the nuclear weapons machinery in Iran.

The New York Times delved into that topic today in a long story that examines the evidence and reveals new details about the computer worm, which is among the most sophisticated ever created. The story includes some interesting technology details that show just how … Continue Reading

Week in review: Verizon finally has an iPhone

Here’s our roundup of the week’s biggest tech business news. First, the most popular stories VentureBeat published in the last seven days:

Live at Verizon’s iPhone event: iPhone 4 will be available early next month — At long last, Verizon has an iPhone.

Toyota Prius Plug-In: Can it measure up to Chevrolet, Ford and Nissan’s offerings? — Ford and GM have staged comebacks that hinged in part on the carmakers’ embrace of new electronics, launching … Continue Reading

Entrepreneur Corner: Life outside of the Valley and free-sample dangers

Here’s the latest from VentureBeat’s Entrepreneur Corner.

There’s no such thing as a free sample – Adding music to your business presentation – especially if you have it posted online – can result in some unexpected business headaches. Attorney Curtis Smolar looks at the misconceptions about “Fair use” and how to protect yourself.

How to build a tech startup outside of Silicon Valley – Silicon Valley has been the king of the tech world for … Continue Reading

Deals & More: Scenechronize scores $5M to streamline film production, GlobalTranz raises $10M for goods transport

Today’s funding announcements include software to streamline movie-making and transportation of goods:

Scenechronize grabs $5M to bring efficiency to Hollywood: The San Francisco-based company has raised $1.6M in equity funding for production management software, according to a filing with the SEC. The funding is part of a $5M second round that is expected to close next week, the company said today. Scenechronize’s tool, which can be used throughout the production process, is popular among … Continue Reading

Google on Web video formats: Industry at an impasse

Google has been trying to quell some of the controversy that it stirred up earlier this week when it announced that it would limit support for the H.264 video codec in its Chrome browser. Today the search giant published a blog post laying out a longer explanation for the decision.

If, like me, you don’t spend that much time thinking about video formats, this may seem like an arcane point. But Google framed the move … Continue Reading

Can Boingo IPO before 4G and free Wi-fi make it pointless?

Wi-fi hotspot provider Boingo has filed to go public on the NASDAQ exchange under the ticker “WIFI” and is looking to raise $75 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Boingo operates around 211,000 Wi-fi hotspots around the world — most of which are in Asia. In fact, only around 15 percent of its active hotspots are in the United States. The company has a number of recurring payment plans that … Continue Reading

Peter Relan takes over as CEO of social game firm CrowdStar (exclusive)

There’s some shuffling in the management suite at CrowdStar, a social game company with 47 million monthly active users on Facebook.

Niren Hiro is stepping down as chief executive after less than a year in the job. Executive Chairman Peter Relan (pictured right) will take over as the new CEO.

In a joint phone interview, Relan thanked Hiro and said it was an amicable parting. Relan said, “We agreed about our larger goals but not … Continue Reading

How HP rocks 3D: Earth Wind & Fire on a huge screen (video)

At the close of the Consumer Electronics Show, Monster Cable always throws a huge concert with a marquee band. This year, Earth Wind & Fire gave a rousing concert at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas. And Hewlett-Packard captured the event live in stereoscopic 3D.

HP streamed the live video in 3D to a huge screen in a room across the way where VIP guests watched. I was impressed with all of the effort HP … Continue Reading

Find mobile data wherever you need it with Coverage for the iPhone/iPad

If you’ve ever gone on a road trip through the US, you know how maddening keeping track of mobile coverage areas can be. Enter “Coverage?”, an app that compiles data coverage maps across all major US cellular carriers.

Available for the iPhone and iPad ($1.99 on the iTunes Store), Coverage gives you the ability to plan out your trips with mobile data in mind. And since it downloads the map data to your device, you … Continue Reading

On the GreenBeat: Range Fuels to close plant, Valero puts $50 million in biofuels

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

Valero will invest $50 million biofuels plant — The plant is operated by venture-backed Mascoma and will churn out biofuels from wood chips. Valero will also purchase 40 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol from the $350 million Michigan plant. It’s a significant investment for biofuels from a mainstream oil company, Reuters reports.

Range Fuels to close plant – On the flip side, this is bad news … Continue Reading

Pay your taxes on your smartphone using Intuit’s SnapTax

Intuit just released what may be the easiest way possible to do your taxes — an iPhone and Android application called SnapTax.

With SnapTax, you don’t have to fill out a bunch of complicated forms. Instead, you just use your smartphone camera to scan your W-2 form from your employer, answer a few more questions, then file your taxes from your phone. You don’t have to pay for any expensive software, either. Instead, the app … Continue Reading