Verizon suffers yet another nationwide data outage

Losing network access seems to be a common occurrence for Verizon Wireless customers these days. They woke up to yet another nationwide data outage this morning.

The outage, which affected the carrier’s 3G and 4G LTE data networks, drove subscribers to Verizon’s technical support board and support Twitter account. Verizon hasn’t yet divulged the cause of the outage, but now it seems service is slowly being restored, Engadget reports. (Above, Verizon’s LTE network coverage in … Continue Reading

StyleCaster to challenge Condé Nast with ‘Style as a Service’ ads (exclusive)

Fashion-focused media company StyleCaster will launch a proprietary ad platform in mid-January that will challenge Condé Nast, Glam Media and third-party ad networks, the company revealed today.

The new ad platform, dubbed Style as a Service, is a joint venture between StyleCaster and ad space monitoring and brokering service MediaMath and seeks to help fashion, beauty and consumer brands with ad advice and placement. MediaMath gives access to the inventory of publishers like Rodale and … Continue Reading

Android chief: We see 700K+ Android activations each day

So, you just got a new Android phone, eh? Don’t feel so special — you’re not the only one.

According to Google’s Android chief, Andy Rubin, you’re one of a growing mob of people tuning in and turning on to the open-source mobile operating system.

“There are now over 700,000 Android devices activated every day,” Rubin stated late last night on his Google+ page.

This statistic has more than doubled since last year, when Rubin … Continue Reading

Intel unveils Android tablet & smartphone line for 2012

Intel is showing off prototypes for a line of smartphones and tablets set to come to market in 2012.

The devices will run on Android and will be powered by Intel’s new Medfield mobile chip, the latest and most power-efficient design in its Atom line and the most serious competitor to chips from ARM, which currently dominate the mobile landscape.

The Medfield chips are smaller, faster and more advanced than existing mobile chips, and they’re … Continue Reading

Microsoft and Nokia considered a joint bid for ailing RIM

Amazon wasn’t the only company interested in snapping up BlackBerry maker Research in Motion.

Microsoft and Nokia, now close partners thanks to Nokia’s adoption of Windows Phone 7, also considered a joint bid for RIM, the Wall Street Journal reports. It’s not clear if the discussions were anything more than a pipe dream, as the WSJ notes executives from all three companies often get together to discuss other partnerships.

With both Microsoft and Nokia struggling … Continue Reading

Amazon updates Kindle Fire software to fix performance & touchscreen

Amazon has issued an over-the-air update to improve performance and resolve some touchscreen issues for the Kindle Fire.

Kindle Software Update Version 6.2.1 is available now and will be delivered automatically to connected devices.

If you don’t want to wait for the OTA update to come directly to you, you can also choose to download the update manually right now.

“This update enhances fluidity and performance, improves touch navigation responsiveness, gives you the option to … Continue Reading

MoMinis launches PlayScape, a “Mega-Game” with 50 games in one Android app

MoMinis, an Israeli mobile game firm, is launching PlayScape, its first “Mega-Game” with 50 games inside one free Android app.

The PlayScape Mega-Game offers a uniform cross-game experience and allows you to carry experience points and virtual currency accumulated in one game to another. It should make for convenient and frequent game playing, said Eyal Rabinovich, vice president of marketing and co-founder of MoMinis, in an interview.

The cross-game features will encourage players to try … Continue Reading

Check out this real world Angry Birds Christmas light game

You know that Angry Birds has reached a new height if people are so crazy about it they’ll create a Christmas light display dedicated to it — with 20,000 lights. Can you imagine how long it took to set this up? And you can actually play it with a controller.

It’s from Ric Turner, the same man who brought us the Guitar Hero Christmas Light game, and it’s set up outside his own house in … Continue Reading

Internet “douchebag” Allthis responds to controversy

A privacy dust up that started Monday night has unintentionally given a little-known startup its 10 minutes in the spotlight.

Allthis, an online marketplace where users buy and sell 10-minute chunks of time, found itself on the defensive after front-end web developer Joel Housman accused it of “douchebaggery,” and popular publication Boing Boing called it a “shifty startup.”

“We have literally seen our traffic increase 100x,” Allthis founder Christoper Poseley told VentureBeat. “Our experience over … Continue Reading

Sony acknowledges technical problems with PlayStation Vita

Sony has acknowledged that it’s received a number of reports about technical problems with the PlayStation Vita, a  handheld gaming device that launched in Japan over the weekend.

The company said on its Japanese web site that Sony has gotten more inquiries than usual and it apologizes to customers for any inconvenience. The problems include the device randomly turning off, freezing or lagging during game play, and problems registering a PlayStation Network account.

Many new … Continue Reading

Apple adds ‘Season Pass’ discount for TV shows on iTunes

iTunes has always offered its customers a way to save a few bucks on digital music purchases if they buy the full album, and now Apple is extending that option to television shows.

This week Apple, added a “Season Pass” purchase option for most television series. Rather than spending $2 to $3 per episode, iTunes customers can now get a discount when they purchase all the episodes within a single season of a TV show. … Continue Reading

Keas wants to keep your employees healthy with games and social media

Keas, a social game that promotes health and wellness within companies, received $6.5 million in funding on Tuesday. The second fundraising round was led by Atlas Venture and Ignition Partners.

Keas was developed by former Google Health leader Adam Bosworth to promote corporate wellness. It combines game play and socialization to motivate employees to adopt healthy lifestyles. Employees form teams and work together to complete three fitness and health goals each week. Goals range from … Continue Reading

RIM said to have spurned Amazon’s acquisition advances

Research in Motion, the mobile device company in desperate need of a hit, apparently shunned the summer acquisition advances of e-commerce and hardware behemoth Amazon.

Amazon, a lovely suitor if ever there was one, went so far as to hire an investment bank to advise on a potential deal, but it did not make a formal offer, Reuters is reporting. The reason? RIM just wasn’t that into them.

RIM, said people familiar with the matter, … Continue Reading

DOJ launches probe into Verizon’s spectrum deal with big cable

Perhaps Verizon was a bit hasty in its decision to stop growing its FiOS TV and broadband Internet business in favor of wireless partnerships with big cable companies. U.S. regulators have launched a probe into Verizon’s recent wireless spectrum agreements,which could leave the largest wireless carrier walking away empty-handed.

As VentureBeat previously reported, Verizon will pay Comcast, Time Warner and Bright House $3.6 billion to license a portion of wireless spectrum owned (but not in … Continue Reading

Oracle stock drops 9% after weaker-than-expected earnings

Software titan Oracle reported underwhelming quarterly results this afternoon, leading the company’s stock to drop more than 9 percent in after-hours trading.

Oracle provides enterprises and governments with software and data-center hardware. Sales for the company’s fiscal second quarter disappointed Wall Street analysts. The company’s revenues were up just 2 percent to $8.8 billion, and profits amounted to 54 cents per share. Analysts had expected sales of $9.23 billion and a per-share profit of 57 … Continue Reading

Mygola wants to bring back the travel agent, grabs $1M in funding

Remember travel agents? Remember how the Internet gave everyone the power to plan their own trips, and then there weren’t any more travel agents? Mygola is a hoping the hassle of researching and booking a vacation online brings the trend full-circle.

The company just received $1 million in funding for its service that uses a combination of technology and real people to plan trips for clients. The round of funding was led by Blumberg Capital, … Continue Reading

Playstation Vita and Nintendo 3DS batteries put through their paces – which was the winner?

Handheld gaming can be great fun, but not so much when your console battery dies mid-flight. A dedicated gamer who goes by the name “kurekureyon” has put both the Nintendo 3DS and PS Vita to the test this week, comparing their battery life to the PSP-3000 handheld.

The three systems were set to their highest brightness and highest volume, then left to run mid-game. The resulting film of the test has been shared on YouTube, … Continue Reading

Sony gets sued for its “no sue” clause for PlayStation Network

Sony has been sued for adding a clause to the PlayStation Network’s terms-of-service that prohibits gamers from suing Sony whenever something goes wrong with the network.

Sony got the idea for this clause after it was sued by gamers earlier this year when the PlayStation Network (PSN) was hacked and went down for six weeks.

After Sony added the clause that prohibited gamers from suing to the PSN terms of service, Electronic Arts and Microsoft … Continue Reading

Twitter releases code for TextSecure to the open-source community

Android text-message-encrypting application TextSecure is now open-source, thanks to Twitter. On Tuesday, Twitter announced on its developer’s blog that it would be releasing the code from newly acquired Whisper Systems, starting with TextSecure.

In November, Twitter acquired Android-security startup Whisper Systems and added its co-founders, Moxie Marlinspike and Stuart Anderson, to the Twitter team. With the acquisition, Twitter also gained the code for Whisper System’s products including TextSecure, WhisperCore, WhisperMonitor and Flashback, all applications that … Continue Reading

Ge.tt gets $455,000 to transfer your files faster

Ge.tt is a browser-based, file transfer service that today announced an investment of €350,000 ($455,000) from Atomico, the venture capital firm of Skype founder Niklas Zennström. The Copenhagen-based startup will use the cash to hire new staff.

“The space is very fragmented and there are a lot of competitors,” says CEO Tobias Baunbæk. ”They all have different qualities: Dropbox for file collaboration, Box.net for content collaboration and YouSendIt to send files over email.”

Let’s remind … Continue Reading