Awesome! Activision blows a kiss to fans with Call of Duty XP event

Just as Blizzard Entertainment has Blizzcon for its game fans, Activision Blizzard is now creating Call of Duty XP 2011, a two-day convention for fans of the Call of Duty games.

The event is a stroke of marketing brilliance for Activision Blizzard, which wants to stoke the video game fans into a frenzy of excitement around upcoming titles such as Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, which debuts Nov. 8. If it works, then fans … Continue Reading

IBM makes breakthrough in new kind of “universal” memory chip

IBM researchers have made a breakthrough in a new kind of memory chip that can record data 100 times faster than today’s flash memory chips. That means scientists are one step closer to creating a universal memory chip that is fast, permanent, and has lots of capacity.

If they really work as billed, these multi-bit phase-change memory chips could transform enterprise computing and storage by around 2016, according to IBM. The technology could lead to … Continue Reading

Blue Jeans launches “any(ware) video conferencing”

Blue Jeans Network came out of stealth mode Wednesday, making the cloud-based, multi-party video conferencing service commercially available. Dubbed “any(ware) video conferencing,” Blue Jeans Network makes video conferencing accessible to pretty much everyone with practically any video-enabled device.

“What was once an elite boardroom technology has moved to the cloud,” said Krish Ramakrishnan, co-founder and CEO of Blue Jeans Network in a press release. Alagu Periyannan, another co-founder is the company’s Chief Technical Officer.

Based … Continue Reading

Analyst: Revenue from app stores to top $36B in 2015

Total revenue from app stores like the Apple App Store and Android Marketplace will nearly double to $14.1 billion next year and will reach $36.7 billion by 2015, according to tech research firm Canalys.

App Stores are expected to bring in $7.3 billion in revenue in 2011, which includes direct app purchases, in-app purchases and subscriptions, Canalys said.

The overwhelming number of apps on the Apple App Store and Android Marketplace might prove too daunting … Continue Reading

Can’t get a white MacBook? An update might be coming.

When supplies of certain Apple products suddenly become scarce, Mac fans take notice. It often means that the product or model in short supply is being phased out to make way for an updated version.

Wednesday, AppleInsider reports the availability of Apple’s current $999 white MacBook “has become constrained.” Eeee! Shiny, new, entry-level white computers could be on the way! Will they still have a polycarbonate shell?!

No one, including AppleInsider, has received any word … Continue Reading

Finnish music discovery service Hitlantis grabs $1.5 million funding

Mothers have been telling children they are not the center of the universe ever since we knew what a universe was. Hitlantis respectfully disagrees. The Helsinki music discovery company is setting out to pull indie bands into the center of their universe. And now it’s raised $1.5 million in angel funding to help it do just that.

Hitlantis offers a unique user interface to facilitate indie music discovery. The app and web versions sport a … Continue Reading

Justin Timberlake takes a stake in Myspace

Myspace’s new owner, Specific Media, said Wednesday that Emmy- and Grammy-Award winning artist Justin Timberlake will take an undisclosed stake in the newly acquired company.

Timberlake will play a major role in developing the strategy and creative direction of Myspace, according to Specific Media. Both parties plan to unveil details of Myspace’s new direction later this summer.

“There’s a need for a place where fans can go to interact with their favorite entertainers, listen to … Continue Reading

Cloudera releases real-time Hadoop monitoring software

Cloudera, a maker of data-management software, has released an update for its enterprise software that will allow system administrators to quickly deploy applications based on the Hadoop software architecture.

Hadoop is an open-source data-management software framework. But Cloudera provides a version that is specifically for enterprise users, coupled with IT support and management. The software provides analytics and storage options for large-scale networks that have thousands of nodes and process petabytes (that’s 1,000 terabytes) in … Continue Reading

Tech executives offer their views on the U.S. economy (It’s not good)

Sorry to rain on your parade, but this will only take a minute. A new report surveying leaders of technology companies indicates the U.S. economic recovery is two years away, instead of previous forecasts that it will happen in 2012.

The report, from consulting firm KPMG, showed that tech executives don’t plan to go on a hiring spree any time soon. KMPG surveyed 102 executives for the report: 71 at software and hardware companies with … Continue Reading

Microsoft Office 365 may include Skype

We could be seeing the first result of the Skype-Microsoft union with Office 365, Microsoft’s new cloud office suite.

Details on the addition of Skype, a massively popular chat application, to Office 365 were vague during yesterday’s launch. That’s because, while U.S. regulators are allowing the merger to move forward, Microsoft is still awaiting approval from antitrust regulators in other countries.

On the Seattle Times’s site, Kurt DelBene, president of Microsoft’s Business division, mentioned Skype … Continue Reading

HP in talks to license WebOS to others as an iOS, Android alternative

Hewlett-Packard CEO Léo Apotheker has been fairly open about his intention to license WebOS to other companies, but now he’s actually admitted that HP  is in talks with others over such a deal, Bloomberg reports.

By licensing WebOS, HP would open up its mobile platform to be a true competitor against iOS and Android. Currently, device makers who want to develop a new phone or tablet have little choice beyond Google’s Android.

“We are talking … Continue Reading

AmazonFresh goes mobile with Windows Phone app

AmazonFresh, a grocery service from Amazon.com, has released its first mobile app. In a peculiar fashion, the first platform to get the app is Windows Phone 7, which has a much smaller market share than iPhone and Android.

But because AmazonFresh is only up and running in Seattle—where Microsoft resides and many Windows Phones are active—the launch of the mobile app is a smart, calculated move. Microsoft’s 40,000 employees are equipped with Windows Phones and … Continue Reading

GateGuru arrives on Android, gets its wings with angel funding

On the heals of Hipmunk exciting the travel industry comes more news for the airborne community. GateGuru, an app specifically focused on quality airport experiences, has raised a modest $800k in angel funding and is simultaneously launching their Android app today.

Rejoice, Droid users, you will never be stuck wondering what is beyond the mysterious security line (until you go through it).

GateGuru, which launched in 2009, is one of those apps that collects a … Continue Reading

Specific Media acquires Myspace for $35 million

Myspace’s parent company News Corp. has sold the social networking site for $35 million to Specific Media, reports All Things Digital.

The deal will pay out a mix of cash and stock to Specific Media, an online advertising company, with News Corp. retaining about 5 percent of Myspace, according to the report.

Significant cuts to Myspace’s 400-employee staff are expected to follow the sale, according to sources within the company. CEO Mike Jones and other … Continue Reading

Zynga inks deal giving AT&T customers exclusive content, credits

Social games maker Zynga is launching a program that will give AT&T customers access to exclusive games and content as well as a number of other perks.

AT&T customers will receive free credits for Zynga’s games, which include Words with Friends and the smash hit FarmVille. Zynga players typically have to buy credits for Zynga games with real-world money. Those credits help players advance in Zynga games more quickly than players who don’t buy Zynga … Continue Reading

Samsung asks ITC for an import ban on Apple products

The soap-opera-like legal battle between Samsung and Apple has taken another twist. Samsung has filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission that seeks to ban the import of Apple products into the United States, according to FOSS Patents.

Samsung and Apple have been sparring since April when Apple sued Samsung for violating its patents with the Galaxy series of phone and tablet devices. Samsung then filed a counter-suit against Apple and even dragged … Continue Reading

LivingSocial prepping for IPO valued between $10B and $15B

LivingSocial is in conversations with bankers about filing for an initial public offering at a valuation between $10 billion and $15 billion, according to CNBC.

The company offers “daily deals,” which let consumers purchase goods or services at steep discounts. LivingSocial users can then redeem those deals through the individual businesses that are selling them through the site. LivingSocial famously sold a $20 Amazon gift card for $10 as a publicity stunt, which attracted more … Continue Reading

Gamevil to invest $10M in U.S. game developers

South Korean mobile-game publisher Gamevil, aiming to break into the U.S. market, announced Wednesday it will invest $10 million into partnerships with external game developers in America.

The goal is to line up high-quality smartphone game titles that Gamevil can publish. The decision to create the fund shows that the company believes it will have more success if it can attack the big American smartphone game market using local game developers who know the market … Continue Reading

LivingSocial deals minor blow to Groupon’s market share

More bad news for Groupon, the group-coupon company heading for an IPO. Its share of the group-buying market declined in May, according to the latest report from Yipit, a site that aggregates deals from 482 sites.

Yipit’s report tracked 17,958 discounts offered in May across 30 North American cities including Miami, Atlanta, New York, Dallas, Denver and Toronto. Groupon had 48 percent of the group-buying market in May –  down four percentage points from the … Continue Reading

HTC’s Status phone will have Facebook fans on a short leash

HTC‘s Status phone is a bit like a pug. It’s so ugly, and yet it’s so cute — and helpful for Facebook addicts. Despite all the design flaws (raised buttons are so 2000), you can’t resist the urge to pick it up and play.

HTC launched a new page on Facebook today for the Status, available this summer from AT&T.

This is the first device with a Facebook share button, “keeping you at the center … Continue Reading