The English Patient, the video game? Artsy film maker The Weinstein Co. will make games

We all know your waiting for a video game version of Shakespeare in Love, The English Patient, (pictured) and The Cider House Rules. No doubt this is why The Weinstein Company — headed by filmmakers Harvey and Bob Weinstein — has formed a video game division called TWC Games.

The TWC Games label will make games based on the properties of The Weinstein Company and Dimension Films. It will work with external partners to develop … Continue Reading

Confirmed: Nook Color getting apps, tablet features with update

Barnes and Noble confirmed growing rumors this morning that it would bring apps, email, and other tablet features to the Nook Color.

The $250 Nook Color has been a curious entry since it was first announced in October: Barnes and Noble was marketing it as an ereader with tablet-like features, but it seemed clear from the hardware (and the fact it ran Android) that it was a tablet in ereader clothing. With the April update, … Continue Reading

Facebook "likes" Seedcamp and European startups

Seedcamp, a seed fund that is best described as Europe’s version of Y Combinator, just announced a partnership with Facebook that will give Seedcamp’s teams access to product, technical, and design support as well as early access to beta products and programs on Facebook Platform. This means that Seedcamp’s teams will get a head start on other startups when it comes to integrating new Facebook features.

Facebook already offers similar services to Y Combinator’s startups. … Continue Reading

Hey, journalists: natural gas is not a safe alternative to nuclear

In the wake of Japan’s Fukushima disaster, several media outlets have speculated that the fears surrounding nuclear power may lead to a boom in the demand for natural gas. Some of these reports minimize the dangers of natural gas and ignore the role that cleantech can play in providing safe, renewable energy resources.

Take a look at this article from Monday’s New York Times, “Natural Gas Now Viewed as Safer Bet.” Total mentions of solar, … Continue Reading

Crowds gather in 25 countries as iPad 2 debuts overseas

Apple’s iPad 2 goes on sale today in 25 more countries in a kind of land grab to outpace its Android opponents. The long lines and celebrating are already happening across the globe. One fan in Sydney, Australia, waited outside a store more than 53 hours to get the device.

Consumers in the overseas markets can also start placing online orders today for the iPad 2.

The list of countries where the iPad 2 is … Continue Reading

Washington judge: Mass lawsuits against file-sharers can continue

Lawyers can simultaneously sue thousands of anonymous people who share files online, based on a recent court ruling.

Any ruling that makes it easier to sue file sharers could hearten traditional content producers like Hollywood studios and record labels, while inconveniencing broadband-Internet providers, who bear a substantial burden in providing information about their users’ activities in connection with such lawsuits.

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., announced that a mass lawsuit against users of BitTorrent, … Continue Reading

iPad 2’s thinner glass makes it much stronger than iPad 1 (video)

Despite what you may think, the iPad 2’s thinner glass screen doesn’t make it more fragile than the iPad 1’s. In fact, its thinness offers a level of flexibility that soundly trumps its predecessor, according to a stress test by repair site iFixyouri.

We’ll likely see other manufacturers offering ultra-thin glass screens as well. Glass is among the heaviest elements of a mobile device, so being able to move to a glass screen that’s both … Continue Reading

Google delays Android 3.0 Honeycomb due to rush to compete with iPad 2

Google’s Android 3.0 “Honeycomb” update won’t be making its way to smaller developers anytime soon. The company has decided to delay the release of Android 3.0’s source code to the community, Bloomberg reported yesterday.

It’s not difficult to fathom why Google is delaying. The 3.0 update has long been touted as being made specifically for tablets, and Google has been strangely quiet about how exactly the update will apply to smartphones. The company’s rush to … Continue Reading

Tim Draper doesn't think we're in a tech investment bubble yet

Tim Draper, the gregarious founder and managing director of venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson, says there isn’t reason to fear a big bubble in the technology sector just yet.

Draper said so during a question and answer session after his speech in a windy tent yesterday at the Global Technology Symposium in Menlo Park, Calif. The potential for a bubble is on everyone’s minds in Silicon Valley these days because a lot of people … Continue Reading

Futurist Paul Saffo predicts The Great Turbulence ahead (video)

The thing about futurists is that they often aren’t right and their careers are consequently short. But Paul Saffo (pictured above) is different. He’s been making prognostications about Silicon Valley and its future for a long time, first at the Institute for the Future and now at a financial analytics firm called Discern Investment Analytics. When Saffo makes predictions, I pay attention. These days, he has been pushing the idea of an age of “Great … Continue Reading

Deals & More: InsideView gets $12M to drive sales via social media

Today’s funding announcements include one company offering sales data and two companies offering local deals:

InsideView brings in $12M for sales intelligence: The developer of a tool for sales professionals has raised a third round of funding led by Foundation Capital with participation from Emergence Capital Partners, Rembrandt Venture Partners and Greenhouse Capital Partners. Based in San Francisco, the company provides more than 75,000 sales professionals with aggregate data from news, editorial and social media … Continue Reading

Sprint smack talk luring away bitter T-Mobile customers?

Whether intentional or not, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse may have started luring bitter T-Mobile subscribers to the Sprint network who share common ground with him when it comes to AT&T.

Neither camp thinks AT&T’s purchase of the T-Mobile network is a good idea, but only one of them (Hesse) can say they voiced that opinion directly to the face of AT&T President Ralph De La Vega.

When Hesse was asked what his thoughts were on … Continue Reading

Nintendo 3DS costs at least $101 to make, sells for $249

The Nintendo 3DS portable game device costs about $101 to make and will start selling on March 27 in North America for $249.

According to a product “teardown” by UBM TechInsights, the 3DS costs about $15 more to make than the Nintendo DSi cost. Does that mean Nintendo is gouging consumers with the hefty price?

Not necessarily, since the cost estimate is simply an estimate of the raw materials for the 3DS. It doesn’t include … Continue Reading

Podio launches a work app builder and business app store

Consumer have been eagerly downloading apps for their smartphones and tablets. Now business apps for mobile devices are gaining popularity.

Podio is launching what it calls the world’s first business app store and business app builder to help people at work create productivity apps with no need for technical expertise. The approach is a good example of how company’s can try to snare users by making it dead simple for them to create what they … Continue Reading

Sulia CEO explains how to be friends with Twitter

Updated

There’s been a lot of negative talk recently about Twitter’s relationship with developers, but not every Twitter developer is struggling. In fact, New York City startup Sulia just announced that it’s partnering with Twitter to provide publishers with widgets featuring high-quality tweets on specific topics.

Sulia has already created “channels” of expert tweets on its own site. Under the deal with Twitter, Sulia will be providing those streams to publishers including Flipboard, The Washington … Continue Reading

As recovery drives big data growth, Oracle earnings soar 78 percent

If there’s one tech company that is charging full-speed into the recovery, it’s Oracle. The company said today that profits for its third fiscal quarter ended Feb. 28 were up 78 percent to $2.1 billion, partly because Oracle is starting to get some benefit from its $7.4 billion acquisition of Sun Microsystems.

The company also raised its dividend by a penny a share, or 20 percent. It’s no surprise that the company’s stock price is … Continue Reading

RIM opens up to Android, but will it be too late?

BlackBerry maker Research in Motion had a double dose of news today. It announced that its BlackBerry PlayBook would support Android apps, and it also released financials that included a 36 percent increase in quarterly revenues.

The Canadian company hit its earnings estimates. But RIM’s stock price is down about 10 percent in after-hours trading today to $57.59 a share, presumably because RIM’s outlook was cautious for the current quarter. The company expects revenue to … Continue Reading

After a long wait, Google starts testing in-app purchases

Google finally said today that it has begun testing in-app billing for the Android Market and it will formally launch it next week. That could kick off a new era of financial viability for makers of apps and games on Google’s mobile operating system.

In-app purchases have been transformational for app makers on Apple’s iPhone, allowing them to execute free-to-play business models that have been very lucrative. But for app makers for Android, it’s been … Continue Reading