New data suggests Google+ isn’t raining men: 34 percent of users are female

Despite many reports to the contrary, about 33.6 percent of Google+’s total user base is female, according to new research by unofficial Google+ statistician and founder of Ancestry.com Paul Allen.

Allen, who earlier in the week accurately predicted that Google+ had surpassed 10 million registered members, determined his gender estimates using a method of analysis that is based on U.S. Census data about surname-popularity (the popularity of a person’s last name) and the number of … Continue Reading

Netflix is gearing up for European launch

Netflix is planning to expand its online video service into two European countries in the first quarter of 2012, reports Variety.

Top film distributors in Europe stated that Netflix recently closed deals to offer its service in both Spain and the United Kingdom, according to the report.

Netflix was unavailable for comment about entering into Europe. However, this wouldn’t be the first time it set up shop in another country. The company entered Canada in … Continue Reading

Why Apple’s ITC patent victory over HTC Android phones is scary

Apple on Friday dealt a serious legal blow to HTC and the Android platform in general. A U.S. International Trade Commission judge has ruled that HTC infringed on two patents Apple submitted in a March 2010 complaint.

Naturally, HTC appealed the judgement to the six ITC commissioners, who will ultimately have the final say on the patent verdict. But it’s easily possible their decision, which is due by Dec. 6, will uphold the judge’s initial … Continue Reading

Jaspersoft may be looking to acquire with its $11M funding

Business intelligence software maker, Jaspersoft, announced yesterday that it raised $11 million dollars in funding. The round was lead by existing investors Red Hat and SAP Ventures in addition to including newcomer Quest Software.

Jaspersoft caters to the enterprise with business intelligence products. It aims to centralize the way data is secured, delivered and analyzed.

“Data around us is exploding, the need to make sense of it is bigger than ever. You need to have … Continue Reading

Vizerra raises $6M to bring 3D innovation to the U.S.

Russian 3D software creator Vizerra raised $6 million last week in its first round of funding. The finances came primarily from venture firm Solway Investment Group, which focuses on Central and Eastern Europe investments.

Vizerra, which is part of 3DreamTeam Inc., creates photo-realistic, interactive 3D software, which is popularly used in architectural problem-solving and virtual tourism. For example, architects can take a project which has upwards of 600 computer aided design (CAD) drawings and compile … Continue Reading

Shasta Ventures pools a $200M fund, invests with Google Ventures and KP

Early stage venture firm Shasta Ventures raised $200 million dollars, according to a form D filed with the SEC. This is a growth fund intended to support start-ups.

This is a pooled investment fund, with the form citing Rob Coneybeer, Tod Francis, and Jason Pressman as involved in the pool. The company pooled its first fund in 2005 when it started investing $210 million. In 2007, Shasta raised a $250 million fund for investments in … Continue Reading

Facebook working with news outlets on ‘Facebook editions’

Prepare for more news content on Facebook than ever before. Facebook is reportedly working with publishers to create “Facebook editions” of their products to deliver news to social networkers, according to a Forbes report.

For years, news organizations have been using Twitter more than Facebook to get their messages out and publicize breaking news. So it makes sense that Facebook would be interested in building customized news applications and improving relationships with major news outlets. … Continue Reading

Zillow raises IPO price to $16-$18 with nearly $500M valuation

As it inches closer to going public, real estate listings site Zillow raised the price of its initial public offering to a range between $16 and $18. The new price ups its valuation to $485 million.

Originally, Zillow had set a range between between $12 and $14 a share. But this is an incredibly hot year for tech startups going public, so Zillow is taking advantage of the favorable financial climate. Both LinkedIn and Pandora … Continue Reading

CrowdStar and YouWeb launch $10M fund to invest in mobile developers

CrowdStar and YouWeb have launched a $10 million fund to invest in mobile social game developers. The fund is an acknowledgement that game maker CrowdStar can’t make all of the best games itself.

It is also yet another sign that winning over game developers is critical for publishers in the land grab for market share on fast-growing mobile platforms.

The two companies have the same roots and are natural partners, said Peter Relan, chief executive … Continue Reading

How Sony blew the chance to make a Kindle killer (updated)

Sony’s planned August update to its Reader line of e-book devices is the company’s last shot at reclaiming the market it pioneered in 2006. But it may already be too late.

Despite having a multi-year head-start, Sony’s Reader has lagged behind Amazon and its wildly successful Kindle for years. Even the last-generation Sony Readers — which added features that the Kindle doesn’t have, like a touchscreen interface — have failed to catch on much with … Continue Reading

Why you nerds should stop hating sports games

Basketball game NBA 2k11 doesn’t start off with a title menu. It throws you straight into the classic 1991 championship game between the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers. Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest basketball player of all time and the superstar shooting guard of the ’91 Bulls, turns to you and asks if you are ready.

He rushes out onto the court. It doesn’t even feel like a video game. It feels like I’m … Continue Reading

U.S. DOE: Wind power production fell in 2010

Only around a quarter of the new electricity capacity introduced in 2010 came from wind power, down from 42 percent in 2009, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Energy.

The average cost of installing new wind power held steady in 2010, while the cost of other forms of electricity fell, according to the report.

The cost of installing wind turbines and transmission lines also hasn’t yet caught up with the declining prices … Continue Reading

Have a Verizon 4G LTE phone? Forget about roaming on AT&T

Verizon Wireless customers on the carrier’s ultra-fast 4G LTE network can give up the faint glimmer of hope they may have of being able to roam onto competing LTE networks, PC Mag reports.

Verizon spokeswoman Brenda Raney confirmed yesterday that the company’s LTE phones aren’t compatible with other LTE networks in the US (from AT&T and MetroPCS) because they run on different network frequencies. The news means consumers will face the same confusing incompatibilities with … Continue Reading

Here’s what you missed at MobileBeat 2011

We just wrapped our MobileBeat 2011 conference yesterday, which featured many notable speakers including Square’s Keith Rabois, Yelp’s Jeremy Stoppelman, and PayPal’s Laura Chambers.

We initially intended to focus the show on “4G Nirvana,” although, as VentureBeat editor-in-chief Matt Marshall mentioned at the event, it became an exploration into the future of mobile payments as well. A group of 18 mobile startups also competed at the show for two of our coveted Tesla Awards.

If … Continue Reading

Electronic Arts borrows $550M in convertible loans to finance PopCap deal

Electronic Arts said today it has priced $550 million in convertible debt in a private placement. That means it is borrowing money in order to finance part of its purchase of PopCap games, which will cost $750 million at a minimum and as much of $1.3 billion over time.

EA has the cash for this deal, but it isn’t using it. That could mean EA’s buying spree isn’t over, since the debt will give EA … Continue Reading

Oops: Microsoft accidentally reveals secret social project

Microsoft is working on a social/design project called Tulalip, according to details from a splash page that was accidentally published to Socl.com recently.

As of Thursday, Microsoft has taken down the splash page and replaced it with a message acknowledging the project.

“Thanks for stopping by. Socl.com is an internal design project from a team in Microsoft Research which was mistakenly published to the web. We didn’t mean to, honest,” the message states.

While I … Continue Reading

Activision launches limited beta test for Call of Duty Elite social network

Activision Blizzard has launched the beta test for its Call of Duty Elite social network. It’s time to armor up.

The beta test began today on the Xbox 360 and Xbox Live online gaming service. The rollout will proceed in phases as the company tests the social network, which is dedicated to the Call of Duty series of games. Call of Duty Elite is an attempt to deeply engage gamers in a service that extends … Continue Reading

After breaking quiet period rules, Groupon amends IPO filing

Someone broke their quiet period. Groupon amended its IPO filing after Bloomberg News published a statement from Groupon’s co-founder and Executive Chairman in June.

The amended filing states that Eric Lefkofsky was reported saying that “Groupon was going to be wildly profitable.” That quote came from what Groupon claims was an un-agreed-upon interview with Bloomberg. Lefkofsky’s representatives requested that Bloomberg not release the statement.

When called about the amendment, Groupon declined to comment.

In short, … Continue Reading

Stellar students: Present at Stanford for a spot at DEMO

You know how “whipper snappers” always tend to know how to use those “new fangled” devices? We think they are ahead of the curve as well. That is why DEMO created AlphaPitch for College and is extending its talent search to Stanford on July 20th.

We have teamed up with Stanford’s StartX, a heralded startup accelerator for Stanford student entrepreneurs to discover technologies that only still-growing brains can think up.

Students will have an opportunity … Continue Reading