Ouch: Nokia to cut another 3,500 jobs

Nokia plans to drastically reduce its workforce by another 3,500 positions, the company announced today.

The slashed jobs will be added to the 4,000 jobs Nokia already announced it would cut in April. At that time, Nokia said it would cut 4,000 positions by the end of 2012 and transfer 3,000 jobs to Accenture.

Nokia is in the midst of a major transformation led by CEO Stephen Elop in which the company is significantly cutting … Continue Reading

Travel search service Hipmunk launches new Android app

Travel and hotel search service Hipmunk launched a new mobile app for Android devices today.

Much like Hipmunk’s website, the Android app aggregates ticket fares from airlines and allows people to sort them by time, price, flight duration, airline as well as “agony,” Hipmunk’s algorithm for discovering the most enjoyable flights.

Similar to its iPhone app, Hipmunk for Android’s visual interface optimizes the travel search experience for a mobile device without sacrificing any of the … Continue Reading

Trulia brings its real estate expertise to Android with tablet, rentals apps

Online real estate finder Trulia is launching a big play on Android this morning with two new apps: an Android tablet app, and an app made specifically for renters.

Both apps show the increasing importance of mobile for Trulia, which the company says accounts for 25 percent of its overall traffic. It’s also a sign that companies are finally beginning to take Android tablets seriously, after they failed to get much traction last year.

Trulia … Continue Reading

Android “Ice Cream Sandwich” revealed by lucky eBay buyer (video)

One lucky eBay buyer got to preview the new version of Google Android a little early when he bought a Samsung Nexus S preloaded with Ice Cream Sandwich. The buyer then sent a 2-minute video demo to Engadget.

Because Android is the number one smartphone OS in the world and 56 percent of new smartphone buyers choose Android, many people can’t wait to see what Google has in store with the next update of the … Continue Reading

For PapayaMobile’s social games, the women are the “whales” (exclusive)

As is customary in games, PapayaMobile depends heavily on the tiny proportion of users who pay for goods in social mobile games. But one of the surprises is that some of the most enthusiastic customers, known as “whales,” are for the most part women. Papaya found that 69 percent of its big spenders in games are women.

In hardcore games, most of the fanatical customers are men. But many social mobile games appeal to women … Continue Reading

Just like with TV, there’s a prime-time for apps too

Mobile app usage peaks at around 7 pm during the day, according to the mobile analytics firm Flurry. The data shows that, just as there is with television, there is a prime-time for mobile apps as well.

Mobile app users generally use their apps from 3 pm to 10 pm, with the peak time being around 7 pm. That’s slightly off from the usual television prime-time, which lasts from around 7 pm to 11 pm. … Continue Reading

Socialbakers gets funding hot out of the oven after recent launch

Socialbakers, a social media analytics company, announced a $2 million round today after launching a product at the DEMO conference only a few weeks ago.

The company is surrounded by competitors calling themselves “social media analysts,” with big names like Radian6, to smaller ones like ViralHeat, all playing in the same pool. But Socialbakers, whose founders launched the product wearing white chef’s hats, thinks the company has a different approach and has already been successful … Continue Reading

Plantronics headset lets you tweet with voice commands

Plantronics is announcing a smartphone headset today that lets you tweet or update your Facebook status with voice commands.

The Plantronics Marque M155 uses the Vocalyst voice service to post to Facebook or Twitter, send emails or text messages, or check the weather via voice command. To answer a phone call, you don’t have to press a button. You just say the word, “answer.” The device shows that even makers of Bluetooth headsets have to … Continue Reading

Achievers raises $24.5M for employee rewards platform

Achievers has raised $24.5 million for its business of motivating employees by inspiring them with rewards and social network.

That seems like something every company should do. But Achievers gives them a helping hand, and the company has grown 105 percent in monthly revenue over the last 12 months.

The company has programs such as social recognition, which allows employees to share their work accomplishments on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Employees can forward their recognitions … Continue Reading

Start-up’s gaffe raises questions about blogs in Silicon Valley

We’ve pulled this story down after talking further with the startup involved. We apologize to the startup and to TechCrunch.… Continue Reading

Webinars aren’t dead yet, says BrightTalk and its $20.5M round

BrightTalk, a webinar marketing company, received $20.5 million today because evidently webinars aren’t boring anymore.

The funding comes from North Bridge Growth Equity for a minority stake in the company.

Webinars are inherently a dry topic. You watch or listen to a person talk about their product or company for a half hour and look at PowerPoint slides in the meantime. Technology today allows for collaborative, exciting ways of presenting knowledge, even in consumer entities … Continue Reading

Synaptics hires former AMD executive as CEO

Synaptics, the maker of touch pads and other input devices for computers and phones, has hired former Advanced Micro Devices executive Rick Bergman as its new chief executive.

Bergman will lead Synaptics into the future of human interfaces for computers, mobile phones, and entertainment devices. Synaptics currently makes the software and sensors for touchpads, which replace the computer mouse in a laptop. Users swipe their finger across the touchpad to get a cursor to move … Continue Reading

Apple may kill iPod Classic and iPod Shuffle

Possibly following-up on a reference to a “product transition” mentioned in Apple’s last earning call, the company’s iPod Classic and iPod Shuffle may get retired indefinitely, reports TUAW.

The news would hardly be surprising. The Classic is an old-style designed iPod that’s essentially a music storage device that plays music. The Shuffle is essentially just a smaller music storage device no screen. With Apple’s push to a cloud-based business model, both devices seem like relics … Continue Reading

Amazon makes ad-supported Kindle pricing the new normal

How the heck did Amazon make its new Kindle e-readers so cheap? By slyly making its ad-supported “Special Offers” pricing, which includes sponsored screensavers and ads on the home screen, the new standard for its e-readers.

The company announced today its new Kindle Touch for $99 and a revamped keyboard-less Kindle for $79. Remove the Special Offers though, and the price for those e-readers jumps to $139 and $109, respectively.

Amazon introduced its ad-supported Kindles … Continue Reading

Kindle, Nook, Kobo or iPad: Which tablet or e-reader should you buy?

Amazon’s announcement of the Kindle Fire today threw down the gauntlet for both tablets and e-book readers. At just $199, it’s not much more expensive than previous e-readers, and it’s a heck of a lot cheaper than competing tablets.

In fact, you might be asking yourself: Why would I want a drab, monochrome E Ink reader when for a little bit more money I could get an awesome 7-inch tablet?

Conversely, why would I spend … Continue Reading

Study: 52% of BlackBerry users plan on switching to iPhone 5

Mobile consumers are hungrily awaiting the launch of the next Apple iPhone. So hungry, in fact, that 41 percent of mobile consumers (and 52 percent of BlackBerry users!) in North America plan to purchase an iPhone 5, according to a new study by independent mobile ad network InMobi.

Many people are anticipating Apple will unveil an iPhone 5 at its just announced Oct. 4 event, so anticipation is running especially high for the device and … Continue Reading

It’s finally here: Amazon’s Kindle Fire (photo gallery)

Amazon confirmed rumors with the announcement of its own tablet device called Kindle Fire, which features a seven-inch touch screen, eight gigabytes of storage, an eight-hour battery and all the benefits of Amazon’s cloud services.

While you won’t be able to get your hands on a Kindle Fire until November 15, you can enjoy some product shots from Amazon.

We’ve also included some hands-on photos of Amazon’s new Kindle e-ink Readers taken by VentureBeat’s Devindra … Continue Reading

10 things you need to know about the Kindle Fire

Amazon unveiled its much-hyped Kindle Fire tablet in New York City on Wednesday.

Many analysts think the tablet and e-reader could cut into sales of Apple’s iPad and be a huge holiday hit with its $199 price point. One senior analyst at Forrester Research even predicted Amazon’s tablet could become the number two tablet in the world after the iPad by the end of 2011.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos also used the New York event … Continue Reading

Amazon has more hits on its hands with Kindle Fire tablet, Kindle Touch (video)

Amazon’s new Kindle Fire tablet and Kindle Touch look like the company’s best consumer devices yet, based on demonstrations from Amazon staff at the company’s launch event today in New York City.

Unfortunately, Amazon didn’t let me or anyone else get their hands on the new tablet and e-reader to test it out. Most likely, the devices shown today still need some software tweaks. But based on these demonstrations alone, I have a feeling that … Continue Reading