Kutcher bets on SeatGeek as online ticket sites battle

Celebu-vestor Ashton Kutcher is at it again, using his venture capital fund, A Grade Investments, to pour an undisclosed amount of funding into online ticket-search firm startup SeatGeek, the company announced today.

SeatGeek uses algorithms to match the best deal with a customer’s specific needs for an event. It lets event-goers peruse thousands of potential pricing and seating options available for concerts and sporting events on the secondary market.

The company said it would use … Continue Reading

Google kills Android contact feature in Facebook data spat

It looks like Google is willing to eliminate product features in order to make a point about data portability.

Yes, this is the latest chapter in the baffling spat between Google and Facebook over user contact data. As outlined by TechCrunch’s Jason Kincaid, Google’s latest update to its Nexus S phone eliminates the ability for users to see their Facebook contacts in their Android address book. What’s the rationale? Here’s what a Google spokesperson said:… Continue Reading

Google yanks request for kids' social security numbers

What does Google need with (part of) your child’s security number?

That’s what privacy advocates were asking, prompting Google to withdraw a requirement that parents entering their children in its popular “Doodle-4-Google” provide the last four digits of a child’s social security number.

The art contest, which drew more than 33,000 entries last year, was created by Google to highlight “the creativity of young people” by having them send in a drawing under the theme … Continue Reading

Do women play more games than men?

Women now play games more than men, according to a report by mobile app analytics provider Flurry. At least that’s true in the realm of mobile and mobile social games, where the likes of Zynga’s FarmVille and Popcap’s Plants vs. Zombies are at the forefront.

More than half of all mobile and mobile social gamers — 53 percent, to be exact — are women, bucking the stereotype that gaming is typically a male-dominated form of … Continue Reading

On the GreenBeat: Khosla strikes back at WSJ, Gevo served a suit by BP and DuPont JV

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

Vinod Khosla strikes back at the WSJ — Range Fuels, a biofuels startup backed by billionaire venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, got dealt a pretty tough criticism in a WSJ editorial this month that also tackled the government’s support of Range. Khosla has fired back with two strong responses to the editorial. While the WSJ piece said Range received $76 million in DOE grants only to produce … Continue Reading

HP warns consumer PC sales may slip in 2011

Leo Apotheker’s first quarter results as chief executive of Hewlett-Packard have a bit of a Mark Hurd feel to them.

HP’s revenue was up 3.7 percent to $32.2 billion in its first quarter of the 2011 fiscal year, up from $31.2 billion the same quarter in its 2010 fiscal year. But the company’s operating profit shot up 16 percent to $2.61 billion in the first quarter of its 2011 fiscal year, compared to $2.25 billion … Continue Reading

Demand Media: Content farm? What content farm?

Demand Media had its first earnings call as a public company this afternoon, and chief executive Richard Rosenblatt took the opportunity to fire back at critics who have accused the company of being nothing more than a content farm churning out articles targeted at search engines.

Rosenblatt had to endure a lot of criticism in silence due to the quiet period before Demand Media’s IPO and its first earnings report. Now, however, he said it’s … Continue Reading

Apple iPad 2 said to be unveiled at March 2 event (updated)

Update: Apple has sent out press invitations for the event next week.
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Apple will finally debut the iPad 2 at a San Francisco event on March 2, multiple sources tell All Things Digital.

The iPad successor was expected to be announced within the next few weeks, so the report doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Since the original iPad was released last April, many expect Apple to have the iPad 2 available … Continue Reading

Solyndra and government support for cleantech under fire

As public and political eyes turn to the federal budget and cost-cutting, Silicon Valley startups backed by Department of Energy loan guarantees and grants are coming under scrutiny.

Solar cell company Solyndra is at the front of this. There’s a planned Congressional investigation to evaluate whether Solyndra was an appropriate candidate for the $535 million loan guarantee it received. Since winning the loan guarantee, the company has laid off workers, cancelled an IPO and closed … Continue Reading

Square eliminates its credit card transaction fee

Square took another step toward simplifying the credit card payment process today by getting rid of its 15-cent transaction fee. That means businesses who accept credit card payments using the Square reader just pay the company a 2.75 percent fee across all their payments.

The San Francisco startup’s chief operating officer Keith Rabois told me last month that Square is signing up between 30,000 to 50,000 merchants every month, many of them businesses who were … Continue Reading

Social games maker Digital Chocolate raises $12M

Digital Chocolate, a developer of social games that appear on sites like Facebook, announced today that it has raised $12 million in its fourth round of funding from Intel Capital.

While social gaming is still dominated by the likes of Zynga, the race for second best is still heating up. Zynga holds a commanding lead with 272 million users across all its games, according to AppData. The next closest developer, Badoo, has 45 million users. … Continue Reading

Apple hints it wants to tax content, not software

Apple recently dropped another hammer on iPhone app developers by requiring them to use a subscription payment plan similar to Apple’s in-app purchasing plan.

But Apple’s chief executive Steve Jobs said that web-based software applications that do not involve publishing content do not fall under Apple’s new subscription plans in an email message today, according to MacRumors. That means that services like Dropbox, Box.net and other analytics suites would not have to work under Apple’s … Continue Reading

Scvngr finds 1 million users willing to complete location challenges

Scvngr, the maker of a check-in app that asks users to complete activity challenges, is defying the conventional wisdom that services which broadcast one’s location to friends aren’t ready for the mainstream. Just yesterday, the app has reached 1 million users, founder and chief executive Seth Priebatsch tells VentureBeat, and added nearly 10,000 new users since then.

If it sustains that pace, Scvngr could quadruple its user base in a year.

Recent studies have suggested … Continue Reading

Fisker to release Karma hybrid (finally), with an extra $150M and possible IPO

After several rounds of delays and price increases, electric car startup Fisker says it will start production next month for the Karma, a luxury plug-in hybrid priced at $95,900.

The company raised $150 million earlier this month at a $600 million valuation, and its backers include storied venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers and New Enterprise Associates. Production of the Karma will start March 21, so it looks like the company is on … Continue Reading

Apple looks towards music files that surpass CD quality

Apple, the company responsible for the widespread popularity of heavily compressed music, is looking into offering high-fidelity music files that will surpass the quality of CDs.

Apple is apparently in talks with music companies to offer high quality 24-bit music files, CNN reports. Other digital music retailers are also investigating the possibility, according to Jimmy Iovine, chairman of Universal’s Interscope-Geffen-A&M record label.

This is good news for audiophiles, who have long bemoaned the popularity of … Continue Reading

Verizon to offer Motorola's Xoom tablet for $600 on contract

Verizon has finally offered up some pricing details on the 3G version of Motorola’s highly anticipated Xoom Android tablet.

The carrier will offer the 3G Xoom for $600 with a two-year data contract when it launches on June 24, Engadget reports. It will still be available at Best Buy stores for $800 without a contract, as we’ve previously reported. Motorola has also previously stated that a WiFi-only version of the Xoom will sell for $600, … Continue Reading

Mobile payments company Paydiant picks up $7.6M

A new mobile payments company, Paydiant, announced today that it has received $7.6 million in first round funding, led by North Bridge Venture Partners and General Catalyst Partners. The Boston, Mass.-based startup says the funding will go into product development and sales and marketing.

Paydiant is still in stealth mode but is planning to launch officially later this year. According to a press release, the company is focused on a cellphone-based payments solution for everyday … Continue Reading

Could a Civil Disobedience video game train Middle Eastern protesters?

If social media can inspire people to engage in peaceful revolutions, why couldn’t a video game do it too? After watching the peaceful revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, game designer and researcher Jane McGonigal suggested that someone create a game called Civ D, short for Civil Disobedience, about how to stage a peaceful revolution.

McGonigal said that such games could train people how to orchestrate a large-scale protest and peaceful revolution — a skill that … Continue Reading

Amazon takes on Netflix with Prime instant videos

Now we have yet another way to view streaming movies online. Amazon today launched its streaming video service for Prime members, which will offer subscribers access to 5,000 movies and TV shows and will serve as Amazon’s first move to counter Netflix’s streaming video dominance.

Amazon’s Prime service costs $79 a year and was initially billed as a way to get free two-day shipping (and one day shipping for $3.99 per item). That aspect of … Continue Reading