Despite falling solar prices, experts say U.S. remains “rare bright spot”
Solar panel prices have fallen more than 40 percent this year to $1.30 per watt, well below the high of $3.50 per watt they hit in 2008. But that shouldn’t scare clean technology investors interested in U.S.-based solar providers, where the solar panel market is predicted to double this year, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).
Emerging solar markets like those in New Jersey, and third-party residential solar installers such as SolarCity and … Continue Reading
Google+ gets a new API just for Hangouts
Developers, are you ready to let your end users Hangout?
Google has just launched a developer preview of the new Google+ Hangouts API. The new API is just one component of the Google+ platform. It will allow developers to quickly build real-time applications and to create their own own experiences with and around Hangouts.
This means that you’ll be able to run your application — a polling app, an avatar-changing plug-in, a game, you name … Continue Reading
Nvidia hides a fifth core in its Kal-El mobile processor
Nvidia revealed today that its quad-core next-generation Tegra mobile processor has a surprise in it: a fifth core, or computing brain. The processor, code-named Project Kal-El, has a previously unannounced companion core that operates at exceptionally low power.
The extra core runs at a lower frequency and allows the overall chip to keep operating when it has a light workload. When a user is watching videos, listening to music, or browsing the web, the low-power … Continue Reading
T-Mobile executive says no iPhone 5 in 2011 (Updated)
An executive from the country’s fourth largest wireless carrier, T-Mobile, said the company won’t be getting the iPhone 5 this year, according to a leaked internal document obtained by Tmo News.
Right now, T-Mobile is the only carrier that has not confirmed Apple’s iPhone will launch on its network.
According to the document (a transcript from a recent Town Hall meeting at a T-Mobile field service center), T-Mobile’s chief marketing officer, Cole Broadman, claims that … Continue Reading
Amex plays virtual-currency-catchup by acquiring Sometrics
American Express (Amex) announced today it has acquired virtual currency company Sometrics, for $30 million, according to Tech Crunch.
Sometrics, with 450 games and an audience of 225 million gamers in 200 countries, is a smart acquisition for Amex. Sometrics has moved more than 3.3 trillion units of virtual currency through its payments platform. The company has a virtual currency exchange with Facebook as well as partnerships with many of the world’s largest game publishers, … Continue Reading
Zynga takes Hanging With Friends social game to Android
Zynga keeps spreading its bets around. It announced today that it is launching its Hanging With Friends game to Android mobile devices. The title is the fifth that the social game maker has launched on Android in recent months.
The strategy reflects an accelerated release schedule for San Francisco-based Zynga, which hopes to go public in an initial public offering. To diversify beyond Facebook, Zynga has been moving into mobile games. But it isn’t clear … Continue Reading
Google+ ditches the invites, opens its doors to everyone
After months of waiting, Google has finally opened the gates to its Google+ social network so anyone can join without the need for an invite, according to a company blog post.
Google said its social network has been in “field trail” for the past 90 days and kept the service invite-only to make improvements to the network. Anyone can now go to google.com/+ and sign up. Opening its doors will help the network better compete … Continue Reading
Major Google+ updates: Hangouts live streaming and mobile, Huddles becomes Messenger
Google just unveiled a boatload of new features for its fledgling Google+ social network, many of which will be sure to please fans of its Hangouts group video chat.
First off, Google+ Hangouts is now available on Android phones via an update today. You can also broadcast Hangouts sessions to the world via a new On Air feature, and collaborate with others during Hangouts by sharing your screen and working together on Google Docs or … Continue Reading
As competition heats up on Facebook, Zynga announces Mafia Wars 2
Zynga only just launched its Adventure World game on Facebook. But now the company is moving quickly to unveil another game that is core to its future growth: Mafia Wars 2.
Zynga has more than 2,500 employees as a result of making an acquisition a month for more than a year, so it’s not a complete surprise that it can launch new games at a fast pace. The real question is, why now? The answer … Continue Reading
Foursquare finally lets you keep home addresses private
Location-based social network Foursquare has quietly added the incredibly welcome ability to hide home addresses to its privacy features.
One of the biggest problems I’ve always had when scanning my friends’ Foursqaure check-ins has been seeing people checking in at their homes. While theoretically you’re sharing with just friends, surely there are at least a few people you’d prefer not to show off their exact address. Furthermore, many people who are the “mayor” of their … Continue Reading
Angry Birds are coming to a Starbucks near you
Rovio Entertainment, the company behind Angry Birds, is in talks with Starbucks to bring the game to life in Starbucks’ retail locations.
The gaming company is considering partnering with Starbucks to sell virtual goods and set up electronic leaderboards in the ubiquitous coffee shops. The extra visibility could lead to more players and fans — an important step in the company’s continued growth leading up to an initial public offering.
A similar partnership was reached … Continue Reading
WSJ opens up new walled garden with Facebook news app
The Wall Street Journal launched a new Facebook app today that allows people to read the publication’s content exclusively on the social network.
As you can see from the Dell and Intel logos in the screenshot, the app is ad-supported. This is an interesting twist considering that the bulk of WSJ content is now behind a paywall.
The app, called WSJ Social, filters the publication’s content through Facebook’s social graph to yield a collection of … Continue Reading
People analytics: How Google does HR by the numbers
Google offered some insights yesterday into its innovative, data-driven HR process. “All people decisions at Google are based on data and analytics,” said Kathryn Dekas, a manager in Google’s “people analytics” team, speaking at O’ Reilly Strata. Those decisions cover compensation, talent management, hiring and all other HR issues. Google’s data-based HR may become a key factor in the company’s future success.
With 28,000 employees and a constant stream of new hires, HR is an … Continue Reading
Podio unleashes user-made work apps on the iPhone
Podio, a company that lets anyone easily create Web apps tailored to their business workflow, today officially launched an iPhone app.
The company’s app builder, which launched back in March, lets users without any technical background easily create business apps, and also gives users access to over 200,000 apps available in Podio’s app store. The Podio platform includes capabilities such as project management, group collaboration and social intranet. It lets users to pick and choose … Continue Reading
Amazon makes a play for toys with YoYo.com
Amazon-owned Quidsi has already made a name for itself with specialized online markets for diapers, toiletries and pet supplies. The next market it’s tackling is toys with the launch of the aptly named site YoYo.com.
Quidsi is one of the world’s fastest growing e-commerce companies, thanks to its experience and taking an extremely user-friendly approach to selling products online. Its Diapers.com and Soap.com sites were so good that Amazon bought the company in November for … Continue Reading
Review: Gears of War 3 is like Band of Brothers with lady warriors and real closure
Editor note: Some story spoilers.
The season for epic games has begun. Gamers worldwide start shooting and save the world. Epic Games‘ Gears of War 3 launches today, and it brings closure to a sci-fi shooting game series that has kept millions of fans loyal to the Xbox 360 video game console.
Gears of War 3 is one of the blockbusters of the all-important fall selling season, and it has sold more than 13 million … Continue Reading
Slacker Radio and ESPN team up for personalized sports stations and updates
Slacker Radio on Tuesday announced it has teamed up with ESPN Audio to create user-customized sports stations, just in time to appreciate the beginning of the NFL football season and the start of post-season MLB baseball.
Streaming music services have been making quite a few headlines as of late with the hyped U.S. launch of Spotify, MOG and Rdio offering free versions, and the upcoming launch of a Facebook music service. But one thing often … Continue Reading
HP sacks over 500 WebOS employees
The inevitable layoffs for workers in HP’s webOS division began this week, with the company planning to let as many as 525 workers go, reports All Things Digital.
After HP killed its webOS hardware business out of the blue in August, the company had made it clear that downsizing was inevitable. While the company says it’s still committed to webOS as a software platform, that doesn’t mean much for the workers in the webOS hardware … Continue Reading
GetGlue gets more social with new iPhone app update
GetGlue, the social network that lets you check in for all things entertainment, is rolling out a big update to both its iPhone app and website today.
The update pulls in conversations about different kinds of entertainment (TV shows, movies, games, etc.) from around the Web and surfaces the most interesting pieces.
“Usually, conversation about entertainment is drowned out by lots of noise,” said GetGlue founder and CEO Alex Iskold. “The new features we’ve added … Continue Reading
Tapjoy says it can offer more effective mobile video ads that don’t tick off users
Mobile ad monetization firm Tapjoy is launching Tapjoy Videos today as part of a new way for game developers to make money and advertisers to reach a smartphone audience more effectively.
The move will help Tapjoy cash in better on mobile video ads, which are expected to grow to more than $20 billion by 2015, according to market researcher Gartner.
The program will allow advertisers to buy pay-per-view video ads within Tapjoy’s mobile app universe. … Continue Reading
