Roundup: Facebook clarifies mobile app numbers, Nuventix pushes LEDs forward, and more

Here’s the latest action:

Nuventix makes LEDs more practical — The startup, which makes systems that cool LED lighting systems, making them more suitable for a full range of environments, could break the seal on the untapped general market for LEDs.

Facebook revises number of mobile app users – The social network initially reported that 104 million people use their iPhone application every month but today said that the figure is closer to 44 million.… Continue Reading

Roundup: Mobile dating heating up, Droid X battery wins endurance test, and more

Here’s the latest action:

Mobile dating heating up — A new report from Ground Truth shows that traffic to mobile dating sites has spiked 92 percent this summer so far. Check it out here.

Craigslist in trouble again — The popular marketplace site has been targeted by attorneys general from 17 states who have written a letter to the CEO asking for Craigslist to immediately remove its questionable Adult Services category.

Moonfruit lands funds — … Continue Reading

Roundup: Elevation funding Pandora, MiaSole scores solar supply deal, and more

Here’s the latest action:

Elevation investing in Pandora — Venture Capital firm Elevation Partners is about to sink some money into music discovery and application company Pandora, according to TechCrunch.

Keith Rabois jumps into Square — The startup, which allows people to pay with credit cards via their mobile devices, has snapped up PayPal alum and Silicon Valley man about town Keith Rabois.

NexTag on hiring spree — The comparison shopping site has just restocked … Continue Reading

Roundup: Google Earth dives under the sea, Foursquare CEO disses ‘Places’ and more

Here’s the latest action:

Google under the sea — Google has updated its Google Earth offering for mobile devices running Android, allowing users to see maps of the oceans as well as land on their handsets.

EA raises eyebrows with Taliban game — Electronic Arts is getting a lot of flack for its forthcoming version of Medal of Honor for Sony PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360, which allows gamers to play as the Taliban, … Continue Reading

Applied Materials backs solar inspection and quality-control startup

Applied Materials is in the middle of restructuring its solar strategy. It recently called it quits on its SunFab line of equipment for thin-film solar cell manufacturing, cutting 500 jobs in the process. But now it’s sinking money into a new business : solar inspection and quality control. The company’s investment arm, Applied Ventures, joined a $3.8 million first round of funding for BT Imaging, a startup that does just that.

The core of BT’s … Continue Reading

Roundup: Chegg snaps up CourseRank, Groupon has banner day, and more

Here’s the latest action:

Chegg buys Courserank — Online textbook rental service Chegg.com has acquired Courserank, a startup that helps college students build and share their class schedules.

GM’s green IPO — Earth2Tech published a comprehensive list of 12 items in its IPO filing that relate to its green strategy, including the Chevrolet Volt, biofuels, OnStar and more.

EpicWin turns your to-do list into an RPG — Game developer Rexbox has released a new productivity … Continue Reading

Content-discovery app StumbleUpon goes mobile with iPhone, Android

StumbleUpon, the social network-based web content discovery service, announced today that it has launched mobile applications for both the iPhone and Android handsets that will allow users to randomly find and rate new sites while they are on the go.

Just like StumbleUpon does on the web, its mobile apps overlay a branded bar over websites, containing a choice of tools. Users can upvote or downvote content, or transport themselves to a completely random page … Continue Reading

Energy Dept. ponies up $120M more for building energy efficiency

The U.S. Department of Energy announced today that it has earmarked $120 million to be divided among about 120 organizations working to weatherize buildings for greater energy efficiency. The grant money will be distributed under the banner of its Weatherization Assistance Program, which has already retrofitted thousands of homes across the country.

Like all of the DOE’s funding initiatives, this drive toward more innovative weatherization methods is expected to create thousands of jobs for construction … Continue Reading

Viridity Software pulls in $8M to make data centers greener

Viridity Software, maker of a package, dubbed EnergyCenter, that collects data on server energy consumption and a host of other metrics without using fancy sensors, announced today that it has landed $8 million in a second round of venture capital funding from Battery Ventures and North Bridge Venture Partners.

Data center energy conservation is a hot topic these days, with major companies like Google, Apple and others moving to slash the energy demanded by their … Continue Reading

Roundup: Home Depot to sell cheap LED bulbs, Vevo launches mobile apps

Here’s the latest action:

Precise Path Robotics lands $4.5M — The maker of robotic lawn mowers has raised $4.5 million in venture capital funding from angel investors. It has now raised $10 million to date.

Home Depot to sell $20 LED bulbs – The home improvement chain is partnering with both Cree and Philips to sell LED light bulbs for as little as $20, significantly cheaper than these bulbs have been before.

Google offers universal … Continue Reading

China’s Suntech on its way up despite Q2 loss

Chinese solar equipment maker Suntech Power Holdings today reported a loss of $174.9 million despite a 95 percent increase in revenue to $625.1 million in the second quarter of 2010. Still, the company says demand for its products is way up, boding well for the future.

It attributed the loss it incurred to reorganization costs and write-downs. And, for the most part, the results exceeded analysts’ forecasts.

Suntech was hit hard by the economic downturn, … Continue Reading

Range Fuels opens plant to commercialize methanol

Range Fuels, one of the more successful biofuel startups backed by Khosla Ventures, announced today that it has opened up its first commercial plant to make cellulosic methanol out of non-food feedstocks. Located in Georgia, the facility is expected to pump out 20 million gallons of ethanol and biodiesel every year.

The company’s plan is to use wood waste generated by timber plants located around the Soperton, Ga. site (pictured above). It will convert that … Continue Reading

Roundup: iPad browsing surges, Google TV faces hurdles, and more

Here’s the latest action:

iPad browsing traffic on the rise – In the last month, iPad browsing traffic has jumped to four times what it was in April, beating out Linux browsing.

Google TV a tough sell – Television networks seem hesitant to partner with Google’s new television service. The Wall Street Journal has the full story.

Yahoo Mail comes to iPad – Yahoo says it has restructured its email interface to better fit the … Continue Reading

Infinite Power banks $20M for thin-film batteries

Infinite Power Solutions, one of a small handful of companies working on advanced thin-film batteries for portable electronics, has brought in $20 million in a third round of venture funding. In doing so, it’s landed backing from former vice president Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management.

Based in Littleton, Colo., Infinite Power claims that its micro-energy cell (MEC) batteries — marketed under the THINERGY brand — are not only thinner and more flexible than other solid-state … Continue Reading

Roundup: Droid 2 runs into its own Antenna-gate, Zivity teams with Playboy and more

Here’s the latest action:

Droid 2 hits its own Antennagate – MobileCrunch reports that droves of customers are experiencing reception problems with Motorola’s Droid 2 phone that could rival the iPhone 4’s.

Zivity joins forces with Playboy — The famous magazine will be co-hosting contests with photography site Zivity, allowing winners to be featured on the Playboy.com website, and may even be drafted as models for the magazine itself.

Blizzard wins $88 million in lawsuit … Continue Reading

A123 spin-off 24M lands $16M to explore the next frontier of batteries

Last week, advanced battery company A123Systems announced that it was spinning off a new venture called 24M Technologies, which would focus on more unorthodox energy storage innovations, including grid-scale flow batteries. One of the reasons it decided to release the new entity into the wild was so it could raise a substantial amount of funding for its projects. Now it has, banking $10 million in a first round of venture funding and a $6 million … Continue Reading

Another biofuel IPO: Gevo files for $150M sale

Only a couple of days after algae-to-fuel company PetroAlgae filed for a $200 million IPO, Gevo — a startup boasting catalysts that can convert waste and cellulosic feedstocks into fuels — has also filed to raise $150 million on the public market.

It’s an interesting move for Gevo, considering how poor green sector IPOs have been performing so far this year — with the exception of Tesla Motors’ $226 million sale at the end of … Continue Reading

AQT opens thin-film solar plant despite shaky market

Thin-film solar, once predicted to be the future of renewable energy, has fallen on hard times lately. Venture-backed thin-film companies have had a tough time raising money, and even the bigger players like Applied Materials have scaled back their goals in the area.

But one startup, AQT Solar (Applied Quantum Technologies), is going against the grain, forecasting a future in which crystalline silicon and thin-film, CIGS solar coexist, but are tailored to different applications. The … Continue Reading

Coinstar backs EcoATM’s e-recycling kiosks

Coinstar is all about kiosks, and not only the ones that count your coins and give you cash. It also owns and operates the redbox DVD rental kiosks popping up in super markets. Now it’s extending its reach even further with an undisclosed investment in EcoATM, maker of kiosks that pays you for recycling your old electronics.

E-waste is a mounting problem. Landfills are starting to brim with tossed out computers, printers, fax machines, music … Continue Reading

Kiva banks $5M grant from Omidyar Network

Kiva, the startup that made micro-finance a household term, announced today that it has landed a $5 million grant for the next three years from social impact investment firm Omidyar Network. The grant will match up to $2 million in loans transacted on the site during each of the next two years.

Omidyar Network, started by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam, funds startups and projects that could positively impact the developing world, … Continue Reading