Cisco: Global cloud traffic will increase 12-fold by 2015

Better grab an umbrella, because it’s about to get real cloudy. A new study by Cisco estimates that global traffic generated by cloud computing services will increase a staggering 12 times by 2015 compared to cloud traffic in 2010, while data center traffic will increase at a less-showy-but-still-impressive four times by 2015.

As one of the biggest cloud computing providers in the world, Cisco has an interest in tracking and estimating how big its services … Continue Reading

Applied Materials launches a breakthrough tool to reduce chip power consumption

Applied Materials has announced a new tool for reducing the power chips consume, enabling a new generation of powerful new gadgets with longer battery life.

The innovation is built into the chip equipment manufacturer’s newest tool, the Applied Producer Onyx film treatment system, announced today. Semiconductor chips serve as the brains of electronic gadgets from laptops to iPhones. And each chip has miles of microscopic electrical wiring built into it these days. The new Onyx … Continue Reading

Sojo Studios’ WeTopia social game lets players do good in the real world

Sojo Studios is announcing its first online social game, WeTopia, which is designed to be part of a series of games where players can have fun while doing good in the real world by raising money for children’s charities.

WeTopia is a free-to-play Facebook game where players create villages and help their neighbors. When players purchase virtual goods in the game, that results in a direct donation to a real world cause. Buying an in-game … Continue Reading

Could a new game violence study and potential game addiction disorder affect the game market?

The age old debate over the effects of video games on the brain is back. On Monday, the Radiological Society of North America released information on new research that shows violent video games can effect the brain. At the same time, News.com Australia reported that mental health professionals in Australia are considering video game addiction and internet addition as official mental disorders.

These studies are far from definitive, given the large volume of game studies … Continue Reading

For super-fast laptops, Seagate launches next-generation hybrid flash/hard drive

Seagate is now shipping a second-generation drive that combines chip-based flash memory with a mechanical hard disk. The combination results in a high-speed, high-capacity drive for laptops and the fastest personal computers.

The hybrid technology is innovative because it combines the speed of flash chips with the low-cost and high storage capacity of hard disks. And Seagate uses software that is smart enough to disguise the storage from the user, who will never know if … Continue Reading

Mario and Zelda score record sales on Black Friday

Nintendo’s newest flagship video games, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and Super Mario 3D Land, have both sold over 500,000 units in the U.S. alone, according to an interview with a Nintendo executive.

Both of the games are critical to Nintendo’s sales this holiday season, which has turned out to be a very competitive season among game publishers and hardware makers. Roughly 40 percent to 50 percent of annual U.S. retail sales take place … Continue Reading

Teach your robot new tricks this Cyber Monday at the RobotsAppStore (video)

If you haven’t gotten a gift for your robot this Cyber Monday (what, you don’t have one yet?), you might want to think about visiting the RobotsAppStore, the Internet’s first portal for paid robot apps. The RobotsAppStore hosts a variety of programs created by enthusiasts worldwide who want to extend the functionality of robots everywhere.

A”programmable robot” is something of a misnomer if you stop to think about it. In order for a robot to … Continue Reading

Postal bags get lighter, Google Catalogs app out on Android

Shopping on the Android tablet got a little prettier today with the addition of Google Catalogs, an easy way to flip thought all of your catalogs digitally.

Google Catalogs was created as a tablet friendly way to view the many catalogs people receive in the mail from their favorite stores. Many may consider paper catalogs to be just another form of junk mail, as well as their email counterparts, but catalogs are also often very … Continue Reading

PayPal sees 514 percent increase of mobile payments on Cyber Monday

Maybe “cha-ching” should be “ra-ring,” as PayPal had a 514 percent increase in mobile payments this Cyber Monday from last year.

Just as people adapted to purchasing online, now they are becoming more accustomed to buying through their smartphones. PayPal is seeing a six-fold increase in mobile payments, as smartphones move toward owning half of 2011′s mobile marketshare. A recent Nielsen study states 43 percent of mobile phone owners are smartphone users, 62 percent being … Continue Reading

Facebook’s New Year’s resolution: Go public

With 2011 winding to a close, talk of Facebook’s long-rumored 2012 initial public offering is crescendoing to cacophonous levels. A new report purporting that Facebook is targeting an IPO date between April and June of the upcoming year is adding to the orchestra.

Facebook is looking to raise $10 billion at a $100 billion valuation through the offering, has its paperwork ready to go, and is already in talks with the Securities and Exchange Commission … Continue Reading

Kiip and GameSalad integrate ad-based rewards directly into game development platform

Kiip and GameSalad are announcing a partnership today that could ensure lots of new mobile games will have ad-based rewards baked into them from the start.

Kiip has a reward system that gives people real-world prizes for achievements in games. GameSalad’s game development platform makes it easy to create mobile games. Now all a mobile developer has to do to integrate Kiip rewards into a game is click a checkbox in GameSalad’s tools, said Brian … Continue Reading

Google chronicles the evolution of search (video)

Have you ever wondered how Google’s search got so good? An insightful new video released by Google uses employee interviews and engaging graphics to show how Google’s core search product has evolved since it began in 1997.

While it’s easy to focus on evolving Google products like Gmail and Google+, Google still makes most of its revenues on search and advertising. And its core search product is still one of the most helpful ways to … Continue Reading

Bieber fever afflicts nation: Pop star most searched person of 2011

Did Bieber fever get the best of you this year? Join the club. The YouTube sensation and current cause of adolescent ague was the most searched person of 2011 on Microsoft’s Bing search engine.

Bieber beat out 2010 Bing champion Kim Kardashian for the top spot. But don’t feel bad for the soon-to-be-divorced reality star; Kim still nabbed the number two position and was the most searched female of the year on Bing.

President Barack … Continue Reading

Google’s Motorola Mobility acquisition will get a decision from EU in January

Regulators in the European Commission will give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down to Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility sometime in January 2012.

Google must get the approval of both U.S. and EU officials before the acquisition can be completed. Since the deal would put the search giant into a particularly close relationship with an Android manufacturer — one of many such OEMs — anti-trust concerns hang in the balance.

EU officials have set a provisional deadline … Continue Reading

StyleCaster grabs $1M from Zynga exec David Ko, Owen Van Natta and others

Fashion-focused media company StyleCaster has raised $1 million in a new bridge round from investors including Zynga chief mobile officer David Ko and Zynga board member and former MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta. The move will help the startup make further inroads with Silicon Alley and Silicon Valley.

StyleCaster’s main web site, Stylecaster.com, and its social channels offer news and features related to style, fashion and celebrities, and the company focuses intently on fostering conversations … Continue Reading

A look at the history of Cyber Monday (infographic)

The current holiday season is shaping up to become the most lucrative ever for businesses, as VentureBeat has noted in many reports today.

Cyber Monday sales may reach $1.2 billion this year, up from $1 billion last season. Part of that increase might be due to shoppers either not finding what they wanted on Black Friday or wanting to avoid its crushing crowds altogether. Ultimately, it seems that the fictitious capitalist holiday is here to … Continue Reading

Best Buy sells out of PlayBook, cancels Black Friday orders (updated)

Best Buy sold out of Research in Motion’s PlayBook tablets this Black Friday, leading to speculation that the company was canning the tablet altogether.

Best Buy confirmed to VentureBeat that it is not canceling the PlayBook; it’s just temporarily sold out.

After purchasing PlayBooks for the sale price of $199 on Best Buy’s website, customers reported having credit cards charged, with e-mails following soon after stating Best Buy was not going to deliver the tablet. … Continue Reading