Microsoft survey: Utilities still slow to buy into the Smart GridThursday, March 11, 2010Source: Venture Beat | Category: Technology Utilities around the world are still struggling to understand and implement new technology needed to make electrical grids cleaner and more efficient. Only 8 percent of them worldwide have finished rolling out smart meters and other equipment under the banner of “Smart Grid,” according to new survey data collected by Microsoft. Completed Smart Grid deployments might not be the best metric, but data showing that only 37 percent of utilities are working on relevant projects, and that more than half have done nothing to transition their operations, indicates that we here in the U. [...] Read more |
U.S. video game sales drop again in February even with big game launchesThursday, March 11, 2010Source: Venture Beat | Category: Technology Video game sales fell 15 percent in February compared to a year ago as the industry struggles to climb out of the recession. That’s a surprise, given the launch of some very strong titles. But it’s nothing new for the game industry in the past year. Overall U.S. video game sales were $1.26 billion in February, down 15 percent from $1.48 billion a year ago, according to market researcher NPD Group. Game hardware was down 20 percent to $426 million from $534.2 million a year ago. Software sales were $624. [...] Read more |
Incubator Betaworks raises $20MThursday, March 11, 2010Source: Venture Beat | Category: Technology Betaworks, the New York-based startup incubator and early-stage investor, has raised $20 million in a second round of funding. The firm, which focuses on real-time web startups, was founded by former AOL executives John Borthwick and Andrew Weisman. Betaworks has made 24 investments so far, with a big stake in five companies — Bit.ly, Chartbeat, Tweetdeck, Twitterfeed, and a stealth startup — according to GigaOm. Although the firm is commonly known as an incubator, Borthwick reportedly prefers to compare it to a holding company like InterActiveCorp. [...] Read more |
Stealthy EV maker Aurica moves to save Bay Area auto plant, 4,700 jobsThursday, March 11, 2010Source: Venture Beat | Category: Technology Fremont, Calif.’s NUMMI automotive plant has been facing a death sentence for a while now. Slated to shutter on April 1, leaving upwards of 4,700 locals jobless, the facility was one of the biggest industrial employers in the southern Bay Area. But today, stealthy electric vehicle company Aurica Motors says it might have a plan to keep the plant’s doors open — as a new manufacturing facility for its Aurica E-Car. The Santa Clara, Calif. auto company has actually been in talks with NUMMI for more than three months about assuming ownership of the plant, and has raised millions in private capital to make it possible. [...] Read more |
Visualize your business plan with PlancruncherThursday, March 11, 2010Source: Venture Beat | Category: Technology A good business plan is like the trailer for a movie; it should be eye-catching enough to make an investor want to see more. After wading through too many long-winded business plans, Dutch investment firm Lunatech Ventures has built a web tool called Plan Cruncher that creates a one-page, visual summary of your plan. Plan Cruncher asks questions about key issues such as the team, product and revenue plan and uses icons to represent concepts such as “advertising-based revenue model” or “we have a working demo”. [...] Read more |
Visualize your business plan with Plan CruncherThursday, March 11, 2010Source: Venture Beat | Category: Technology A good business plan is like the trailer for a movie; it should be eye-catching enough to make an investor want to see more. After wading through too many long-winded business plans, Dutch investment firm Lunatech Ventures has built a web tool called Plan Cruncher that creates a one-page, visual summary of your plan. Plan Cruncher asks questions about key issues such as the team, product and revenue plan and uses icons to represent concepts such as “advertising-based revenue model” or “we have a working demo”. [...] Read more |
JooJoo tablet gets a new interface and featuresThursday, March 11, 2010Source: Venture Beat | Category: Technology In the not-so-long running saga of Fusion Garage’s JooJoo tablet, the company has excelled at talking up the product, but not so much at delivering. Here’s more talk: The tablet is sporting a new interface, gestures, and the ability to play local video, according to Engadget. Formerly known as the Crunchpad, the JooJoo has fascinated me since Fusion Garage decided to strike out on its own with the device. The company left its partnership with TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington with an ocean of bad blood between them, and in mid-December announced that it would ship the device within 8-10 weeks. [...] Read more |
GamesBeat 2010 in pictures – Part 4Thursday, March 11, 2010Source: Venture Beat | Category: Technology An exciting part of GamesBeat 2010 was the ‘Who’s Got Game?’ contest. Five selected finalists presented their company onstage while the all-star panel of judges evaluated them. [9 photos; photos by JP Manninen] At GamesBeat 2010, it was all about stepping up to the mic, and, stepping up. Who's Got Game? Dave Werner of Atomsphir is the first one on the podium. BeanJar's David Chodosh presents his company second in line. Scott Reismanis, Desura, brings Aussie power to the stage as contestant number three. [...] Read more |
GamesBeat 2010 in pictures – Part 3Thursday, March 11, 2010Source: Venture Beat | Category: Technology Brian Reynolds from Zynga havign a hallway conversation. GamesBeat 2010 was all about networking and bringing people together. Some of the conversations spilled out from the stage out in to the hallways of Moscone Center. [6 photos; photos by JP Manninen] Mark Friedler from IndustryGamers.com moderates a panel on gaming on mobile devices. Neil Young from ngomoco sits in on Mark Friedler's panel. Barte Decrem, Tapulous CEO, making a point while Eric Chu from Android Platform listens. The crowd gathers around the speakers in the aftermath of Mark Friedler's session. [...] Read more |
iPhone may finally receive multitasking in OS 4.0 update this summerThursday, March 11, 2010Source: Venture Beat | Category: Technology Apple is working on implementing multitasking support — the ability to run more than one app at once — for the iPhone’s operating system this summer, according to AppleInsider. It’s said to be a major new feature in the next version of the iPhone’s OS, version 4.o. The information comes from trusted sources who have a history of accurately predicting Apple’s new technologies. They don’t offer many specifics, but they say that Apple has already developed a “full-on solution” to the iPhone’s multitasking limitation. [...] Read more |
GamesBeat 2010 in pictures – Part 2Thursday, March 11, 2010Source: Venture Beat | Category: Technology The audience paid close attention to things onstage. The audience attended GamesBeat 2010 in large numbers. Some of the sessions were really popular, so much so that people had to squeeze in to get seats. [15 photos; photos by JP Manninen] GamesBeat 2010 occupied Rooms 305 and 307 at Moscone South. The audience showed up in large numbers to many sessions, such as Dean Takahashi -led panel on disruptive game platforms. John Schappert, COO of Electronic Arts, has a fireside chat with Alex Pham of the Los Angeles Times. [...] Read more |
Foursquare Turns 1 With Half a Million UsersThursday, March 11, 2010Source: GigaOM | Category: Media Foursquare, the New York-based location services startup, has more than 500,000 users and 1.4 million venues, it announced today, one year after it launched at SXSW. The company says it had its biggest day ever last Friday, with 275,000 check-ins. Read more |
Nintendo’s creator of Metroid Other M explains how he creates both serious and comic gamesThursday, March 11, 2010Source: Venture Beat | Category: Technology It is a little funny that the producer of the serious game Metroid Other M is also behind the comic expression of Nintendo’s WarioWare series of handheld games. In a talk before hundreds of game developers today at the Game Developers Conference, Sakamoto talked about his career making Metroid games for Nintendo since 1986. The Metroid games, which star the heroine Samus with a signature “arm cannon,” are known for their serious dramatic style and shooting action. But Sakamoto said he also loves to make people laugh with the goofy WarioWare games. [...] Read more |
GamesBeat 2010 in pictures – Part 1Thursday, March 11, 2010Source: Venture Beat | Category: Technology GamesBeat 2010 kicked off to a packed house on March 10. GamesBeat 2010 was a roaring success! Here’s another look at the goings-on in the conference on Wednesday, March 10 at GDC 2010. [10 photos; photos by JP Manninen] VentureBeat's Matt Marshall set the theme of Disruption 2.0 in his welcome speech. Steve Perlman, CEO of OnLive, delivered his keynote to a riveted audience. Tim Chang, Norwest Venture Partners speaks up as John Salter, The Raine Group, listens. Paul Lee of Vanedge Capital and Chris Petrovic of GameStop Digital Ventures change ideas on investment opportunities. [...] Read more |
Forrester Research dresses up analyst blog platformThursday, March 11, 2010Source: Venture Beat | Category: Technology Well-known technology and market research firm Forrester Research today unveiled an upgraded blog platform for its various industry category teams and individual analysts. Forrester claims the new platform will make engagement with readers easier through a more interactive approach to blogging. Using new tools like polling and “most recent posts” as well as search, RSS and Twitter feed integration, the platform aggregates all forms of content from analysts and their teams to one location. [...] Read more |
Evri acquires Twine for a semantic search team-upThursday, March 11, 2010Source: Venture Beat | Category: Technology Evri, a company using semantic technology to deliver real-time search results around news, just announced that it has acquired another semantic-focused startup, Radar Networks, and its flagship product Twine. Evri chief executive Will Hunsinger said Twine’s technology, including the in-development revamp dubbed “T2,” will be incorporated into Evri. There’s a nice complement between Evri’s “semantic index of the real-time web” with Twine’s tools for organizing, recommending, and sharing content. [...] Read more |
Google Blogger gives itself a touch-up with template designerThursday, March 11, 2010Source: Venture Beat | Category: Technology Google Blogger, a venerable player in the space after celebrating its 10th birthday last fall, is giving itself a touchup. The company has launched Blogger Template Designer, which gives users a lot more freedom to design the look and feel of their Google-hosted blogs. Users can change colors, titles, background images from hundreds of stock photos and there’s a drag-and-drop interface to shuffle pieces of the layout. There are 15 templates to start with and custom blog layouts with one, two or three columns. [...] Read more |
Mobile application social network Appboy launches new iPhone app and site featuresThursday, March 11, 2010Source: Venture Beat | Category: Technology Appboy — the social network for mobile application users and developers — has launched a new iPhone app, and a revamped website with more robust social features. In addition to simply discussing mobile apps, Appboy enables users to pitch mobile app ideas, receive feedback from the community, and get paid if their app idea comes to fruition. The site also offers many ways for mobile app developers to promote their offerings. Developers can link to all of their mobile apps (even across separate platforms), and even create their own personalized App Store. [...] Read more |
Betaworks Raises $20M From Intel, OthersThursday, March 11, 2010Source: GigaOM | Category: Media Betaworks, a New York City-based Internet company has raised $20 million in new venture funding from Intel Capital and RRE Ventures who led the current round. Softbank, Founders Collective, DFJ Growth, AOL Ventures and the New York Times are new investors in the company. Read more |
App Store SEO: The Impact of iTunes Web PreviewThursday, March 11, 2010Source: GigaOM | Category: Media When iTunes web preview pages first appeared for songs and albums the industry was abuzz with the possibility that iTunes could be migrating to the cloud. iTunes preview has so far had little impact on how we use purchased media content, but it has had a [...] Read more |
