Japanese electronics bigwigs team up for U.S. smart grid
A dozen well-known Japanese electronic companies — Toshiba and Hitachi prime among them — have announced that they are teaming up to build a working smart grid in the U.S. by 2010. Construction will begin as soon as October as part of a New Mexico pilot program of 1,000 households.
Spearheaded by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), Japan’s public research and development organization for environmental technologies, the smart grid initiative will be… Continue Reading
Roundup: US CTO choice gets thumbs up, EPA seeks new powers, Pirate Bay protests erupt
Here’s the latest action:
Tech industry cheers Obama’s CTO choice – He may not have come out of Silicon Valley, but Aneesh Chopra from Virginia is getting positive reaction to his appointment as the nation’s top technology official. The Wall Street Journal has more. Our initial story is here.
EPA to seek new powers over climate regulations — Two years after the Supreme Court said the Clean Air Act gave the EPA the power to regulate emissions, the… Continue Reading
StartupNation, Toshiba and GoToMeeting team up for Elevator Pitch Contest
Today, a group called StartupNation announces its Elevator Pitch Contest for 2009 — a competition designed to reward bright business ideas with capital.
Sponsored by Toshiba and GoToMeeting, it will give winners a chance to pitch their ideas to top venture capitalists in their industries, as well as win a Toshiba Satellite laptop and one-year GoToMeeting account, and of course legitimacy in an economic environment that doesn’t favor fledgling enterprise.
Prospective competitors are asked to submit a… Continue Reading
CES: Toshiba to launch TVs with Cell microprocessor
In a bid to move to the high-end of high-definition TVs, Toshiba will introduce a new series of TVs in 2009 that feature the Cell microprocessor developed by Sony, Toshiba and IBM.
The Cell has a bunch of processors on a single chip and serves as the heart of the PlayStation 3 console.
The company calls the new technology Cell TV and is showing it off in its booth. Scott Ramirez, vice president of marketing at Toshiba… Continue Reading
Roundup: Meg Whitman for governor?, Sling Player for the iPhone, Picasa for Mac and more
Here’s the latest action:
Meg Whitman, governor of California? — That’s the rumor following Whitman’s resignation from the boards of eBay, Procter & Gamble and Dreamworks SKG. Current Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (yes, the Governator) will leave office in 2010, and term limits prevent him from seeking re-election. Whitman, the former chief executive of eBay, and, like Schwarzenegger, a Republican, has hinted that she may run. One potential rival in the primary could be Steve Poizner, the current… Continue Reading
Updated: SanDisk may escape Samsung hostile takeover through a deal with Toshiba
Looks like SanDisk has figured out a way to avoid Samsung’s hostile takeover offer. Toshiba and SanDisk said today that Toshiba will pay $1 billion to gain a larger stake in their joint venture in flash memory chip manufacturing.
Under the deal, Milpitas, Calif.-based SanDisk has agreed to sell 30 percent of the manufacturing capacity of the joint venture to Toshiba, reducing SanDisk’s own capital spending costs. The venture currently operates two chip factories. The extra… Continue Reading
Toshiba and NCR invest $35 million in MOD Systems for portable storage
Toshiba and NCR have invested $35 million in MOD Systems, which is developing a new way to distribute digital content to portable storage devices.
Seattle-based MOD Systems is working on a faster, more convenient way to download movies and entertainment using flash memory cards (in the Secure Digital format). With it, you can download entertainment files to a memory card at self-service kiosks in retail stores, airports, and other outlets. It’s a lot like how you… Continue Reading
Apple’s North American notebook market share surges to double digits
Apple notebook computers which include the MacBook, the MacBook Pro and the MacBook Air are hot items. How hot? Their North American market share grew 60 percent in the second quarter of 2008 as compared to the same quarter last year, according to a report by DisplaySearch.
Consider this: While Dell and HP rose slightly during the same time period (Dell from 21.6 percent to 21.9 percent and HP from 21.2 percent to 21.4 percent), other… Continue Reading
With only Blu-ray left standing, player prices rise
When Toshiba conceded the defeat of HD DVD to the Blu-ray format, most consumers (beyond those who were unfortunate enough to be HD DVD early-adopters) cheered. The thought was that one option would finally create a viable high-definition disc format (our coverage).
It did, sales are way up. However, the downside to the lack of competition is that the prices of the Blu-ray players appear to be rising.
A scan of price aggregator Pricegrabber.com shows that the… Continue Reading
Roundup: The Classmates.com IPO flop, two acquisitions, and more
Here’s the latest action:
1) Classmates.com IPO called off
2) Microsoft buys Multimap for $50M
3) StyleHive picks up StyleDiary
4) Toshiba’s new lithium-ion released
5) Venture Hacks on legal fees and VCs
6) Zoho Show adds on functions
7) Six Apart sets Movable Type free
Guardian Analytics launches product
United Online cancels Classmates.com IPO — One less for the story books of internet success: United Online has nixed the nearly $180 million Classmates.com public offering, planned to take place on the Nasdaq. PaidContent… Continue Reading
Nuclear innovations — will they lure cleantech capital?
Nuclear power is a bit of a land mine in the field of clean technology. Mention it in any given room of environmentalists, and opinions will explode. Some say nuclear’s terminally unsafe. Others say it’s the only true cleantech solution.
Detractors have kept nuclear innovation limited for years. However, increasing demand for non-carbon-dioxide-emitting, high-output electricity generation has put nuclear back on the front burner. And projects like Hyperion Power Generation are showing that new ideas are… Continue Reading
Vast Systems, provider of design software for cars and consumer electronics, raises $12M
Vast Systems Technology, a provider of software for embedded systems design automation, has closed on $12 million in a fourth round of funding, according to VentureWire (subscription required).
The round was led by ZenShin Capital Partners, and included existing backers Mohr Davidow Ventures, Foundation Capital and Allen & Buckeridge. The company has raised $34 million in total, including from Toshiba. According to VentureWire:
The company’s software virtualizes electronic systems in automobiles and consumer electronics. This allows makers… Continue Reading