Obama may appoint Google's Eric Schmidt as Commerce Secretary (rumor)
President Barack Obama may name Eric Schmidt, the outgoing CEO of Google, as the next Secretary of Commerce, according to a rumor picked up by Business Insider.
Google has declined comment. We’ve heard from one source that this rumor isn’t a good one. Schmidt’s name may get tossed around, but an announcement that this is going to happen in the next couple of weeks is not imminent.
Schmidt remains chairman of Google but is handing … Continue Reading
Laser beam uses graphics chip to identify and zap mosquitoes
Graphics have proven to be very useful in powering video games where you can zap huge numbers of bad guys in a minute. But now they may prove useful in powering lasers that can zap live mosquitoes out of the sky — all in the name of eliminating malaria.
Intellectual Ventures, the research company founded by Nathan Mhyrvold, created a “laser fence” to protect homes from malaria-bearing mosquitoes. It’s a great example of taking technologies … Continue Reading
RIM and Microsoft: cloudy with a chance of collaboration
Microsoft announced it is partnering with RIM on BlackBerry cloud services. Is this just two weak players trying to reinforce their positions against the onslaught of Android, Apple and others? Certainly both companies have been feeling the pressure of late. But contrary to what many believe, this partnership actually is a pretty significant win-win for both companies, as well as enterprises.
The vast majority of enterprise BlackBerry users are tied to a corporate installed-behind-the-firewall BlackBerry … Continue Reading
iPhone 5 rumors point to metal back and larger screen
The latest batch of leaked information from Apple’s Foxconn production plant indicates that the next iPhone might have a metal back and a larger screen along with the rest of its new bells and whistles, according to 9to5mac.
The glass back on the iPhone 4 became a bit of a pain point, striking up a micro-scandal that the media dubbed “glassgate.” Any case outside of Apple’s official iPhone 4 bumper could lead to scratching and … Continue Reading
Zynga buys indie game developer Floodgate Entertainment
Zynga announced today that it has added another shiny object to its collection with the acquisition of the team at Floodgate Entertainment, an independent game developer in Waltham, Mass.
The deal is Zynga’s tenth acquisition in 10 months, as the company uses the profits from its big social games on Facebook — such as FarmVille, CityVille and Mafia Wars — to buy some of the most talented developers in the video game business.
Zynga has … Continue Reading
Meal review app Chewsy adds photos, so you can share your food porn
Chewsy, creator of a mobile app that lets you review restaurant dishes, launched version 2.0 of its app today, bringing with it support for photos and an easy way to find nearby food.
The first version of Chewsy, which launched in December, let you quickly rate specific dishes at restaurants on a five-spoon scale. Think of it as a more finely tuned version of Yelp, specifically focused on meals. But the developers quickly realized something … Continue Reading
How many co-working spaces does the world need?
As my co-founders and I investigated the idea of creating Founders Den, we frequently heard the questions: “What is the difference between an incubator, accelerator, and co-working space?” and “Is there a need for another one?”
The incubator concept was largely defined in the dot-com era by Bill Gross’ IdeaLabs and Guy Kawasaki’s Garage.com, both of which turned out to be expensive endeavors providing office space, legal, financial, and other shared services to start-ups in … Continue Reading
Sex harassment letter that led to ex-HP chief Mark Hurd's firing to be unsealed
The letter that got Mark Hurd forced out of the top job at the world’s largest technology company is expected to be unsealed.
A Delaware judge ordered that the letter from former HP marketing contractor Jodie Fisher to Hewlett-Packard’s board be made public. In the letter, sent by Fisher’s attorney Gloria Allred, Fisher accused Hurd of sexual harassment and other details that got him into hot water. Hurd resigned under pressure from the board last … Continue Reading
RSA security breach leaves data for 40M employees vulnerable
The servers of RSA, the security division of information storage giant EMC, have been breached and sensitive information from more than 40 million employees may have been compromised.
The information at risk is the two-factor authentication tokens used by employees to access corporate and government networks.
The RSA authentication security system uses these tokens to create a time sensitive number for an employee to enter along with his or her password.
This additional security measure … Continue Reading
Nokia CEO: Microsoft won't buy us
While many believe that Microsoft’s recent partnership with Nokia is a not-so-stealthy hint at an eventual takeover, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop (pictured right with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer) doesn’t agree, and sees no reason why Microsoft would choose to buy the company.
“I’m not aware of a strategic interest that Microsoft would have in the rest of the business,” Elop said to Reuters. “To the extent that a partnership has been formed around what they’re … Continue Reading
Robots, dutchmen and IBM create supersmart baggage handling system
Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam just introduced a new baggage handling system which will allow the airport to handle 70 million bags a year, 40 percent more than today with the aid of greater automation including robots.
Schiphol is one of the major transportation hubs in Europe and is the 15th largest airport in the world. Currently the airport handles around 50 million bags a year. Handling more would normally require a lot of new space … Continue Reading
Sorry jailbreakers: AT&T cracks down on unofficial iPhone tethering
One of the most compelling reasons to jailbreak, or hack, your iPhone, is to run an app called MyWi that lets you share your iPhone’s mobile internet connection without paying a monthly fee to AT&T. But now it looks like the heady days of free tethering are coming to an end.
AT&T is now sending out notification emails to subscribers using MyWi and other unofficial tethering applications, telling them their service plans will be automatically … Continue Reading
Q&A: Big Fish Games chief sees more growth in mobile than social
Big Fish Games is one of the stalwarts of casual games, with more than $100 million in revenues and steadily growing profits. Jeremy Lewis, chief executive of the Seattle-based company, has watched a lot of disruption in the game business with the growth of social games on Facebook and the rise of companies such as Zynga.
But he isn’t worried that the new social game startups will send Big Fish to the bottom of the … Continue Reading
T-Mobile’s Sidekick 4G swaps swiveling screen for a sexy slider (video)
One of the most iconic elements of the original Sidekick messaging phone was its swiveling screen — which in a pre-iPhone era was enough to make Sidekick owners get noticed.
With the upcoming Sidekick 4G, T-Mobile and new Sidekick manufacturer Samsung went for something different: a “pop-tilt” hinge that slides out and reveals the phone’s keyboard with less effort than its predecessors.
You can catch a glimpse of what the Sidekick 4G’s sliding mechanism looks … Continue Reading
First look at the Nintendo 3DS: it makes your eyes work hard
I got my first look at the final Nintendo 3DS portable gaming system yesterday and found that the glasses-free stereoscopic 3D is pretty tough on my eyes.
The device, which debuts March 27, is Nintendo’s big bet at differentiating itself in portable games. Its purpose is to strike a blow against rivals such as the iPhone as well as take a shot at game pirates.
If it takes off, it could reverse a slow slide … Continue Reading
Book review: The Breakthrough Company by Keith R. McFarland
(Editor’s note: Javier Rojas is a managing director leading U.S. investment activities for Kennet Partners. He submitted this story to VentureBeat.)
“The Breakthrough Company” helps entrepreneurs navigate the hyper-growth that companies pass through on the way to becoming market leaders.
In the spirit of Jim Collins’ Good to Great, author Keith R. McFarland undertook an extensive study of small growth companies that grew from $5 million to $250 million in revenue, comparing them with … Continue Reading
Dutch firm Eccky grows a new virtual game world for kids
Virtual worlds for kids are kind of out of fashion among entrepreneurs. Big companies such as Disney own a lot of the market with game worlds such as Club Penguin.
But Eccky has carved out a nice space in the market with its virtual game world for children in the Netherlands. It launched in the spring of 2010 on Hyves, a leading social network in the Netherlands with more than 10 million members, or twice … Continue Reading
Report: Verizon iPhone snagged 4.5% of iPhone mobile ad impressions in Feb.
In its first two weeks on the market, the Verizon iPhone accounted for 4.5 percent of all iPhone ad impressions in the U.S. on Millennial Media’s mobile ad network, according to the company’s February Mobile Mix report.
It’s difficult to discern much from that figure, given the limited amount of data available. While it seems low, it’s worth remembering that Millennial only had two weeks of February to count for the Verizon iPhone. One thing … Continue Reading
Japan's quake aftermath poses supply risks for iPad 2
The aftermath of the Japanese earthquake may disrupt the flow of supplies for Apple‘s iPad 2, according to the latest intelligence from market researcher IHS iSuppli. Other electronics manufacturers could also see disruptions due to logistical problems.
Apple’s tablet uses several components manufactured in Japan. They include a hard-to-replace electronic compass, the battery, and possibly the advanced technology glass in the display. If these components are in short supply for weeks, Apple could see delays … Continue Reading
Rustock spam botnet felled by Microsoft and the feds
Rustock was one of the biggest botnets in the world, producing more e-mail spam than any other network. But early yesterday, it ceased sending spam. Investigators at Microsoft uncovered Rustock’s owners, and law enforcement swooped in to shut it down.
The shutdown is one of the rare victories against cybercriminals who use botnets, or herds of compromised computers, to wreak havoc on the internet. It shows that technology can be used to perpetrate cyber crime … Continue Reading
