VentureBeat |
- Confessions of a Hashable addict
- On the GreenBeat: IKEA stops selling incandescent light bulbs, green VC totaled $400 million in 2010
- Google’s Chrome browser hits 10 percent market share
- Scvngr grabs $15M more to locate challenges abroad
- Deals & More: Wild Needle scores $2.5M for social, mobile games, trueAnthem grabs $2.9M for ad-supported music service
- 6 reasons why college is the best time to launch a start up
- Eye-Fi cards will be able to upload photos to your smartphones and tablets
- MIPS breaks into Android mobile phones with latest chips
- 3 steps for building an extensive talent pipeline
- Clickfree introduces hassle-free wireless backup for mutiple computers
- OnLive’s cloud gaming service will be built into Vizio flat-panel TVs
- Lenovo’s IdeaCentre tries to cash in on the mad rush to all-in-one desktops
- HP unleashes a host of new computers at CES
- With Fusion, AMD plans to stop being the underdog in chips
- Dachis Group gets $30M to advance social consulting
| Confessions of a Hashable addict Posted: 04 Jan 2011 09:16 AM PST In early September, I noticed introductions popping up on Twitter always cc'ing @Hashable. My first impression was that they were incredibly stupid vanity tweets clogging my Twitter feed. Three months later I have to confess that I am a Hashable addict. Hashable is a networking and contact-management service that rose from the ashes of Tracked, a Yahoo-Finance like site that launched in late 2009. The service facilitates introductions and allows you to post your real world interactions – #justmet @mikeyavo or #greatmeeting w/ Emily Hickey– using Twitter or email. Hashable organizes all your introductions and interactions in an address book. Users earn points for activity, called HashCred, with the most active users ranked on Hashable's leader board. In late 2009, Hashable founder and CEO Mike Yavonditte had raised about $11.5 million from Union Square Ventures and a number of angel investors for his company, Tracked. He brought in chief marketing officer Emily Hickey in January of 2010, along with Quigo alums Teddy Jawde and Dave Sebag to run product development. While in the beginning they attempted to turn Tracked around, they eventually decided to pivot towards what became Hashable. "I could tell in the first week it wasn't going to work," Yavonditte recalls. Yavonditte’s previous company Quigo sold to AOL for $360 million in 2007. I began using Hashable in September after a demo from Yavonditte at the company's New York office. Hashable undertook a grass roots campaign directed at key influencers in the New York City tech scene similar to that employed by Linkedin in the Valley during its early days. Soon a fierce battle for the top of the leaderboard ensued. Super networkers like angel investors John Frankel and Jeff Singer, Lowenstein Sandler attorney Ed Zimmerman, and First Round Capital Principal Charlie O'Donnell became power users while the service remained in beta testing. You couldn't check Twitter without seeing a Hashable intro or #justmet hashtag in your feed. Hashable's traction sparked Singer to push for a new round of financing, despite the fact that Hashable had enough cash in the bank to last until the end of 2011. "It took me one week to say, Mike I'd like to lead a round for you," Singer told me. "It's a dashboard for my life." Union Square Ventures was soon on board as a $2 million round grew to $4 million at a $30 million post-money valuation that priced out a number of prominent New York City angels. Hashable, still in private beta, now has over 10,000 users and around $8 million in the bank. While competing for the leaderboard motivated many people to use Hashable, utility won out over vanity for me. Hashable makes it easier for me to network. My task list used to be clogged with instructions to follow up on intros I've made or received. After meeting someone, I would try to write a summary of our conversation on the back of his or her business card. Now I use Hashable, cc'ing the service on email intros and receiving updates notifying me if the people I introduced actually connected. While I'm a little more reticent to share all of my interactions on a daily basis, I use Hashable privately. The game mechanics have some annoying side effects, however. Responding to complaints about spam intros, the company has recently changed the point system to reward successful and useful introductions, an effort that has significantly reduced the volume of bad intros I receive. Game mechanics also inspire people to do Twitter intros, increasing users' Hashcred while clogging Twitter streams with spam. Twitter introductions are lazy, providing little context for intro recipients as introducers vainly move up the leaderboard. Yavonditte told me that the Hashable team continues to adjust the scoring system in order to incentivize positive interactions and fight users who try to game the system. Even as I am annoyed by the poor Twitter etiquette of many Hashable users, I still use the service. While I'm ranked 25 this month and all-time on the Hashable Global Leaderboard, the only thing it has gotten me are Twitter followers. I post interactions to the service every day and use it for every email introduction I make. Hashable’s utility, not my own vanity, is the reason. Companies: Hashable, Quigo, Tracked People: Mike Yavonditte
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| On the GreenBeat: IKEA stops selling incandescent light bulbs, green VC totaled $400 million in 2010 Posted: 04 Jan 2011 09:07 AM PST
IKEA stops selling incandescent light bulbs — Sounds like good news for energy-efficient LEDs, which are set to to surge this year. The company announced today it has stopped selling all incandescent light bulbs, Cleantechnica reports. Solar Power raises $6.08 million — According to an SEC filing pointed out by TechCrunch, Solar Power Technologies has raised the money for its technology, which optimizes the harvest of large solar arrays. The company claims its systems can increase the amount of sunlight harvested by 15 to 20 percent more over 20 years than they would otherwise. Its investors in this round include Austin Ventures and Oxantium Ventures. Venture capital in 2010 totaled $400 million — That’s according to a tally by Greentech Media. Venture capital going into the sector was down sharply in the third quarter of last year (compared to the third quarter of 2009), leading analysts and some venture capitalists to argue that the market was shifting towards more capital-efficient investments. Wind makes for big business for Siemens — The company’s annual report revealed that its renewable energy division increased sales by 48 percent in the quarter ended Sept. 30, making $1.3 billion, more than any other Siemens division — and also increased new orders by 85 percent, the New York Times reports. Profit margins for the wind business are still less than ideal — 10.6 percent compared to a target of 12 to 16 percent. Siemens aims to become one of the top three wind equipment players in the world; it currently resides at eighth or ninth, the article notes. BaWa buys Focused Energy – The German international trading group has announced it is entering the U.S. market through its subsidiary, BayWa r.e, which acquired an 80 percent stake in solar wholesaler Focused Energy. The Santa Fe-based company sells solar equipment to installers for use in small t mid-size commercial and residential installations. The company reports a revenue of $43 million in 2010. Stion to place thin-film solar factory in Mississippi — The venture-backed company will open a 100-megawatt factory in Hattiesburg, according to the Hattiesburg American. It’s the first phase of a total $500 million project to ramp up production and is expected to generate 1,000 jobs. The state also offered Stion a $75 million loan and tax incentives. Companies: BaWa, Focused Energy, IKEA, siemens, solar power
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| Google’s Chrome browser hits 10 percent market share Posted: 04 Jan 2011 07:01 AM PST
Browser market share is closely watched for several reasons: It’s seen as a sign of health for the Internet strategies of major companies like Microsoft, Google, and Apple, as well as smaller operations like Mozilla and Opera Software. It also serves as a guide to developers on which browsers are worth catering to in building Web apps, since all of them have their quirks. In the same time period, Microsoft’s IE browser was in a steady decline. IE had a 62.69 percent share in December 2009, but wrapped up 2010 with a 57.08 percent share, declining by over 5.5 percent. Mozilla Firefox also took a bit of a hit, as its market share was 22.81 percent in December 2010, down nearly 2 percent from a year before. The open-source browser still hasn’t hit a 25 percent market share. The other browser underdog that finished the year with a higher market share than it started with was Apple’s Safari, which had a 5.89 percent share in December 2010, compared with a 4.46 percent share in December 2009. Safari, originally designed only for Apple’s Mac computers, is now available for Windows, and Apple pushes users who download its iTunes store software to download Safari, too. Opera, the browser made by the similarly named Norwegian software company, was flat at approximately 2.2 percent. Once mighty, now all but forgotten and abandoned by its current owner AOL, Netscape has long since been relegated to having curiosity value only: Yes, it is still out there with a 0.78 percent market share. Of all the different browser versions, IE 8 is dominates the scene with a 33.02 percent share. Microsoft’s upcoming IE 9, which is out as a public beta, has 0.49 percent. Chrome is the youngest browser around, having been launched in 2008, and it has been making significant headway ever since, for example in the enterprise space. During 2009, the browser’s market share grew every month, with an insignificant lapse of 0.08% in July, before picking up speed again. And this won’t be the end of it: Chrome will surely continue its growth once the long-awaited and much-touted Chrome OS makes its official appearence. [Photo credit: mayhem, homepage photo: Clive Darr] Companies: aol, Google, Microsoft, Mozilla, Opera Software
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| Scvngr grabs $15M more to locate challenges abroad Posted: 04 Jan 2011 06:52 AM PST
Founder and chief executive Seth Priebatsch told me that the company’s biggest motivation for this round was getting Balderton Capital partner Barry Maloney on board to help with future international plans. Balderton is Benchmark Capital’s former European affiliate, now independent for several years, and Maloney has experience in the mobile industry having been chief executive of Ireland’s second largest GSM mobile operator, Esat Digifone. “Right now Scvngr has a great international infrastructure thanks to its partnership with Google Places, but it’s not an international company by any means,” said Priebatsch. With Maloney on its board, “when we’re ready to do a major international push, we’ll have the expertise we’ll need to make sure we do it right.” For consumers, Scvngr is a fun way of getting over check-in fatigue — the feeling of malaise after users discover there’s not much more involved with most check-in apps than announcing your location to your friends. Scvngr’s app adds activities or challenges to the mix. For example, a user can complete one of the default challenges by taking a picture or checking in with a group to a location. For businesses, the service allows them to give customers a new way of engaging with a store and providing an incentive, like a coupon or percentage off a purchase. The company had a good year in 2010, including partnering with major beverage distributor Coca-Cola give users who check-in to certain Simon Malls across United States the opportunity to earn points and rewards like gift cards and other Coke-branded merchandise. Other partnerships include the Boston Celtics, New England Patriots and Princeton University. The Boston-based company, founded in 2008, previously raised a first round of funding for $4 million, as well as a small seed round. Balderton’s contribution brings the total funding to around $20 million. Companies: balderton capital, Google Ventures, Highland Capital Partners, Scvngr People: Barry Maloney, Seth Priebatsch
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| Posted: 04 Jan 2011 06:00 AM PST Today’s funding announcements include games for the young-at-heart and genetic testing for the very young:
trueAnthem brings in $2.9M for sponsored online music: The San Francisco-based company has raised funding in its first round to help brands reach influential music-lovers online, according to a filing with the SEC. The startup, founded in 2010, works with clients like Levi’s, adidas and Nestle to deliver sponsored music and videos to online audiences. CellScape raises $1.6M for genetic testing: The Mountain View, Calif.-based medical device company has raised equity funding, according to a filing with the SEC. The company, backed by X/Seed Capital Management, is developing a technology to enable non-invasive, fetal genetic testing in the period between 8 and 14 weeks of pregnancy. Document Security Systems gets $4M to protect your personal documents: The company has received an equity investment from Fletcher International to prevent counterfeiting and fraud of sensitive documents. The Rochester, New York-based company develops solutions to secure government documents, healthcare records and academic transcripts.
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| 6 reasons why college is the best time to launch a start up Posted: 04 Jan 2011 06:00 AM PST
For young adults, the best place to flex your entrepreneurial muscle is while you are in college — or at the very least when you are young enough to not be bogged down with a career. College is a great place to start your venture as you have lots of free time, access to a large pool of human capital and your school can provide much-needed support. The following six points are what I have based my college endeavors around: 1. Plan for the "bridge" between college and real lifeOne of my main goals as a student entrepreneur was financially bridging the gap between college and the post-college world, better known as “real life”. I made it my goal to find a way to make just enough money on my own to not need a traditional job once I'm out of school. Once you get a job, starting your own company is much harder. You're committed to working full-time and it’s easy to become comfortable with a steady salary. I understood the chances of hitting a home run with a successful start up was low, but also that getting a full-time job lowered the chances of ever becoming a successful entrepreneur even more. In my teens I began creating websites for fun, and eventually turned towards making websites for profit. While the sites were functional and cash flow positive, I knew they would never get big enough to sustain me. I used these ventures successively as springboards to my next idea, gradually creating more complex and successful sites. I knew that if I kept moving, and kept thinking bigger, I could get to the point where I am today — 22 and the owner of an angel-backed start up. The odds of you hitting it big with your first venture are stacked against you, make sure you have experience running a venture, no matter how small, before you begin investing in a big concept. 2. If you're not technical, NETWORK!Every campus has teachers and other students that you can learn from. Find them. Find the teachers that are willing to help you create your business plan, marketing plan, or set up other introductions. If you're not technical, network with peers who are. Sell them on your start up idea and offer equity in exchange for their services. Stop by the computer science building and post some fliers about your project. Someone is bound to see it and catch some interest. In my case I looked for students who saw themselves as entrepreneurs. I didn't need someone who could do a task, I needed people who were creative and innovative. One of my team members, Andrew Chalmers, was a semi-finalist in a business concept contest for Entrepreneur Magazine, obviously this was someone who has outstanding business talent and I'm excited to have him working with me. Also, start networking outside of your campus. For example, you could work as a volunteer at a conference in order to get free admission. I did this for the Techcrunch Disrupt conference this past fall and ended up working speaker registration. I got to meet Peter Theil, Gina Bianchini, Kevin Hartz, and many other CEOs of large companies. I doubt they remember me but it was still an awesome experience to say the least! Opportunity is everywhere, go out and find it. 3. Take advantage of the business competitions on campusI’ve never really been a fan of business competitions, primarily because of their notorious emphasis on business plans. Your business idea will change so much it's mind blowing — so much so that writing a business plan could be counter productive. This year, however, I won first place in the Fall 2010 CSU Chico Business Competition for my current start up, Bizness Apps, which led to my first angel investors. Two teachers involved in the competition were so impressed with my start up that they set up a lunch meeting with my current investors. Take advantage of these opportunities – even if the first place cash prize is only $300 bucks! You never know who will be in attendance at these events, and at the very least it gives you valuable experience in pitching a concept in a professional setting. By entering business competitions you have everything to gain and nothing to lose. Don't worry about people stealing your idea – if you don't win the contest why would a contestant want to steal a losing idea? On the flip side, if you win people will look to you as the person who can pull the concept off. 4. Learn outside of the classroomBuild a library full of business books and read all of them. Learn to read a book in a day or two. Scan through the parts that you're already familiar with in order to get through the book quickly. I usually aim to read 3-4 books a week. Teach yourself everything you need to know in order to make your start up successful. Be very selective and know what you are looking to take away from every book. I wanted to focus on effective simplicity, which led me to the book Rework by the founders of 37Signals. When I wanted to learn about the early stages of startup life, I read Founders at Work by Y Combinator founding partner Jessica Livingston, a collection of interviews with largely successful entrepreneurs. When you set out to acquire knowledge, be sure it's relevant to your situation. 5. Use your surroundings for business idea inspirationIt only makes sense when setting out on your venture to immerse yourself in something you are knowledgeable and passionate about. In my case I looked towards my obsession with my iPhone, and I began paying attention to how smart phones were changing the way people interacted with businesses. It wasn't very long before I realized that there was an enormous opportunity to help the average business owner connect with their clientele on a mobile level. While I knew that a business would love to have a presence in the pocket of their customers at all times, I also wanted there to be a significant value for the person using the app as well. By looking towards my own habits, and that of my peers, I was able to develop a solution that was beneficial to both the business and consumer. Talk often with your target markets to be sure you're on the right path. It is so easy to get carried away with an idea that you think is great but offers little to no real value to your clients. It seems obvious, but always pay attention to feedback and structure your decisions around what your environment is telling you. 6. Just do itThis is probably my biggest piece of advice for college entrepreneurs: just do it! There is no better time in your life to start a company. You have little to no responsibilities, you're surrounded my people who can help you, and now is the best time in your life to take on risk! Got a business idea you've been bouncing around in your head? Just do it. Don't wait until tomorrow, next week, or next month. Start building traction today. In my experience, the biggest hurdle of starting a business is actually doing it. When you start a business, it's fine not to know everything or even have a 'solid' business plan. In fact, most companies deviate significantly from their original plan! These things will fall into place and the things you learn along the way will last a lifetime. To get to this point though, you have to stop planning and start doing. I'm a huge supporter of the "minimum viable product" business strategy, which advocates to move quickly, get your product out fast, and improve your product with feedback. You shove your product out into the market knowing it has bugs, knowing it could be improved — but you do this to simply start building your business. By implementing this strategy you are building traction everyday. You stop thinking and you start acting. This is the single biggest step for an entrepreneur. Just do it!
Companies: Bizness Apps People: Andrew Gazdecki
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| Eye-Fi cards will be able to upload photos to your smartphones and tablets Posted: 04 Jan 2011 06:00 AM PST
In doing so, the Mountain View, Calif.-based company is taking instant gratification to a new level, allowing people to immediately enjoy and share the photos they take. Eye-Fi is proving again that a little innovation will allow it to sell its memory cards at higher prices, allowing it to escape a commodity battle among the memory card makers. The company recognizes that digital cameras are great for taking photos, while smartphones and tablets are great for sharing those photos. The new Direct Mode solution uses new technology in Eye-Fi cards and new Eye-Fi mobile apps that will be available on smartphones and tablets. "For anyone who has ever had to choose between taking great images with their digital camera and the instant gratification of sharing with a smartphone, Direct Mode is the answer," said Jef Holove, chief executive of Eye-Fi. Direct Mode allows photos taken with a digital camera to be sent wirelessly (over a Wi-Fi network) to a smartphone or tablet, where they can be viewed, uploaded and shared. That’s because the company’s Eye-Fi X2 cards will be able — after a software upgrade — to create their own wireless access points. The mobile device can then be connected to the card’s access point, establishing a connection so that photos can be directly uploaded to the mobile device. It works for videos as well. Also, photos and videos can be wirelessly backed up and organized in the consumer’s own Eye-Fi View account. Then they can be viewed from any internet-connected device and shared, regardless of which camera they were taken with. Current Eye-Fi memory cards can upload photos to laptops or 45 different online photo-sharing sites via Wi-Fi connections. Millions of such photos are uploaded each month using Eye-Fi. Direct Mode will be available as a free upgrade to all Eye-Fi X2 cards later this year. Eye-Fi was founded in 2005 and its backers include LMS Capital, Opus Capital, Shasta Ventures and TransLink Capital. Companies: Eye Fi People: Jef Holove
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| MIPS breaks into Android mobile phones with latest chips Posted: 04 Jan 2011 06:00 AM PST
MIPS Technologies is announcing this week at the Consumer Electronics Show – the tech industry extravaganza that takes place this week in Las Vegas — that it has created versions of its chip designs for cell phones and other mobile devices based on the Android operating system. And it has also won over some customers for its designs, including Chinese chip maker Ingenic Semiconductor, a new licensee that will use MIPS designs in chips for both smartphones and tablet computers. “Customers are looking for alternatives to monopoly suppliers,” said Art Swift, vice president of marketing at MIPS, a decades-old company that was the key supplier of chips for the pioneering graphics computer firm Silicon Graphics. “In the mobile market, we think there is plenty of room for competition.” While Intel both designs and manufactures chips, ARM creates designs for microprocessors that it licenses to a broad array of chip makers. Sunnyvale, Calif.-based MIPS operates the same way, creating a MIPS architecture that can be licensed to chip makers, who sell the chips to gadget makers. One of the newest gadget makers to adopt MIPS designs is Ingenic. While the new customers are a big potential source of revenue for MIPS, it has a long way to go to catch up with ARM, whose licensees ship billions of chips based on ARM’s low-power chip architecture each year. MIPS chips have been beefier in terms of performance but haven’t been as good historically on power consumption, which is critical in small devices that operate on battery power. MIPS has done well in TV sets, particularly the web-connected TVs that are more like computers. Still, MIPS is no slouch. The company is profitable (net income was up 235 percent in the most recent quarter) and revenues are growing (up 50 percent from a year ago). Its designs are used in more than 600 million chips a year, which are built into a wide array of digital consumer devices: networking gear, set-top boxes, TVs and Blu-ray players. MIPS is the market share leader in chips for digital TVs and set-top boxes, said Art Swift, vice president of marketing at MIPS. Now it’s time to make some headway into the mobile device market with more power-efficient MIPS designs, said Swift. That’s because the mobile devices — tablets, e-readers or phones — require more and more performance to handle apps that feature rich media and graphics. On display at CES will be two MIPS-based smartphones, a MIPS-based ebook reader, and several MIPS-based tablets. Both Ingenic and Actions Semiconductor are showing off MIPS-based chips running in these devices. Ingenic has shipped more than 25 million chips to date, mostly for gadgets in the Chinese market. Less than a year ago, MIPS said it planned to enter the mobile market by designing chips that could run the Google Android software. Overall, including unannounced products, MIPS has seven wins for its designs in cell phones, Swift said. That’s a minor dent in ARM’s business, but it’s a start. Swift said that Intel’s chips are still too power-hungry for the cell phone market. Quoting Nvidia chief executive Jen-Hsun Huang, Swift said about Intel’s big and power-inefficient chips, “An elephant on a diet is still an elephant.” Companies: Arm, Intel, Mips Technologies People: Art Swift, Jen Hsun Huang
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| 3 steps for building an extensive talent pipeline Posted: 04 Jan 2011 06:00 AM PST (Editor's note: Mike Cassidy is CEO of Undertone Networks. He submitted this story to VentureBeat.) Finding and keeping good talent can be a difficult task in any industry, but in the New York online ad market (where we compete) it's especially challenging, as the sheer number of "cool" companies in the space makes it highly competitive from a recruiting standpoint. Over the years I've learned a lot about what it takes to find and nurture good talent. The bottom line is something you probably already know: The right people can drive growth for almost any business. To help you achieve that growth, here are a few tips I've found useful over the years in discovering, growing and keeping talented employees: Step One: Recruiting - The critical thing to remember before you begin the recruiting process is to have a very clear idea of who you are looking for from the outset. It's helpful to use the past performance of employees in that role as a guide, and to consider the skill set you'd want in the ideal candidate. Spend more time on the front end, before you begin searching, to determine what you are looking for. Know exactly which qualities and experience you are seeking, where you will look for prospective candidates, the make-or-break criteria you will use for hiring, what questions you will ask them and exactly who will do the interviewing. Once you have found candidates that seem like a strong fit, challenge them during the interview process by asking them to research and present a homework assignment as part of the process. Use reference checks to confirm your belief in someone, not to shape it. Be open to input from your staff on all hires and, more importantly, use it. Too many companies fail to take the time to adequately evaluate candidates in the rush to find someone to fill a position, without ever questioning whether that person is the right person for the role. This may all sound like extra work, but in the end it ensures you hire the best candidate for your company, even if it takes a longer period of time. Step Two: Growing talent – Provide real feedback by implementing an appraisal system, regardless of the size of your company. Constructive ongoing feedback gives your employees coaching on how to improve their performance and grow in their roles. As part of the growth process, you should also encourage your employees to stretch beyond their current skill set to accomplish more. Urge them to take a leap and make the investment to provide training and development programs that will give them the tools they need to meet and exceed their goals. We've implemented a company-wide minimum annual number of training hours for each employee, which has worked very well. Not only does this foster employee growth, but it's an effective recruiting tool as well. Step Three: Retaining talent – The step that many entrepreneurs struggle with is making sure you keep talent you've hired. One of the best ways to do this is to listen to your employees by incorporating surveys as a feedback loop. This approach has worked wonders for Undertone. Through it, we learned that our employee demographic had changed. Many of the employees had gotten married and started a family. In order to provide them with meaningful benefits, my company began to offer medical coverage that was more family-friendly, adjusting the coverage to the changing needs of the employee base. Aside from perks and benefits, it is also helpful to remember what else you can offer your employees. Among the most important are:
After you find and nurture your best employees, recognize when it's time to relinquish control and let your staff do the work. It's a poorly kept secret that CEOs can be a chief roadblock to their company's growth for this very reason. Know when to get out of the way of your talent and allow your business to grow before your eyes.
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| Clickfree introduces hassle-free wireless backup for mutiple computers Posted: 04 Jan 2011 05:00 AM PST
This is the kind of simple and automatic technology that is needed for a tech product to reach the masses. Clickfree is one of those companies that truly gets the meaning of simplification. That’s important because only about 15 percent of computer users currently back up their data. The Toronto, Canada-based company’s real name is Storage Appliance, but it has started going by Clickfree. The company made the announcement in advance of the Consumer Electronics Show, the tech trade show that takes place this week in Las Vegas. With the new backup system, called Clickfree Wireless, the backup drive can be placed anywhere in the home or office. Using the company’s Backuplink technology, the system can connect to multiple computers that are connected to the home network. With this system, consumers don’t have to download, install, or configure software. They simply plug the Clickfree device into each computer to perform an initial backup. All the settings will be found and configured, and then backups will be handled automatically over an 802.11n wireless network. After the initial backup, the Clickfree Wireless device does not need to be hooked up to any computer for it to continue backing up and safeguarding customers’ digital data. It will handle the backups via a connection to your home network’s router. That means your photos, music, videos and other documents will be easily protected and restored without much hassle if necessary. You can also backup iPods, iPhones and iPads easily. The 500-gigabyte version will sell for $179, and the 1 terabyte version will sell for $249. The products are available now and systems with more capacity will be available later in the first quarter. Clickfree raised $30 million to date in three rounds of funding, including a $15 million round last year. Investors include Tandem Expansion. Rivals include Seagate, Western Digital, Hewlett-Packard and Pogoplug. Clickfree was founded in 2005 and has 100 employees. Companies: Clickfree, Storage Appliance
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| OnLive’s cloud gaming service will be built into Vizio flat-panel TVs Posted: 04 Jan 2011 05:00 AM PST
If this kind of on-demand service takes off on the computer, OnLive could make a lot of headway in its plans to disrupt the console video game business, as it will eliminate the need to buy a console. OnLive and Vizio, the nation’s largest liquid-crystal display TV vendor, are making the announcement today at the Consumer Electronics Show, the big tech show in Las Vegas this week. Steve Perlman, chief executive of Palo Alto, Calif.-based OnLive, said in an interview that the OnLive service — which streams games from web-connected data centers directly to a variety of devices — can run on the same hardware that is ordinarily included in the web-connected Vizio TV models. (It’s a chip made by Marvell). "For the first time in the history of video games, consumers will be able to enjoy premium video games directly on a TV, no console or computer needed," said Perlman. OnLive’s cloud technology runs a game on a beefy server in a data center. It compresses the data and sends it over broadband connections to the user’s computer. The benefit is that the user can play the newest high-end 3D games on ordinary hardware, or log in to play those games while on the run. OnLive can thus disrupt not only game retailers, but game hardware makers as well. With the new distribution channel on the TV itself, OnLive can reach its audience of gamers more readily. Besides Vizio, OnLive is in talks with other TV makers as well, Perlman said. He also said that OnLive plans to offer movie services in addition to games sometime this year, giving TV makers an additional reason to include the service as a built-in feature on a TV. The TV makers are already including web-based services such as Netflix, Pandora music streaming, and RoxioNow (previously CinemaNow). But the inclusion of OnLive could also disrupt another emerging trend: putting apps on a TV set. That’s because with OnLive, the games can be streamed to a TV set. Users don’t have to download an app at all. They just play instantly over a broadband connection. The Vizio models run the software routines that are ordinarily included in OnLive’s MicroConsole, which adapts images so they can be decompressed and displayed on a TV. But since Vizio already has the same chip in its TVs that is in OnLive’s MicroConsole, the adapter is no longer necessary on a new Vizio TV. OnLive launched its service on the PC last June and in November it shipped its first MicroConsoles. OnLive works on PCs, Macs and iPads. Perlman said the acceptance has been great and users have already played millions of game sessions. Vizio will include the OnLive service on its high-definition TVs, Via tablets, Via Phones, and Blu-ray players that use the Via Plus ecosystem. OnLive has dozens of hardcore and casual games on its system and it plans to add more, including some of the newest blockbuster games hitting the market. The games will be available in full 1080p HD resolutions with 5.1 surround sound. In fact, OnLive is announcing today it has created a partnership with surround-sound technology company SRS Labs. Under the partnership, OnLive subscribers will be able to hear game sounds in SRS’s 5.1 surround-sound technology via an automatic update. The update will happen early this year. OnLive and Vizio are demonstrating working versions of the service on Vizio products in hotel suites at CES. The Vizio TVs and other devices will be available later this year. OnLive’s games range in price from $2.99 for a rental to $49.99 for full purchases. It also offers an all-you-can-eat $9.99 a month subscription for a collection of games. People: Steve Perlman
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| Lenovo’s IdeaCentre tries to cash in on the mad rush to all-in-one desktops Posted: 03 Jan 2011 09:01 PM PST
The models include the A320, billed as the world’s slimmest all-in-one computer (which combines a desktop and a monitor in one device); the B520 entertainment all-in-one with no frame (pictured); the B320 computer that doubles as a TV; and the C205, which is compact and affordable. By coming up with so many models, it’s clear that Lenovo wants to make a big statement about all-in-one computers. Each one is tailored to a slightly different audience. And the market researchers are clearly saying that the consumer demand is there for the all-in-one market. Dion Weisler, vice president of business operations at Lenovo, said the company’s all-in-one desktop business grew 150 percent in 2009. The A320 model is just 18.5 millimeters deep at its thinnest point. It features a 21.5-inch high-definition display and high-contrast LED panel technology. It has an Intel Core i5 processor. The B520 entertainment machine has an Intel Core i7 processor and a frameless touchscreen. It has a 23-inch screen and comes with an option for an Nvidia 3D Vision stereoscopic 3D headset. The B320 has a 21.5-inch screen and has TV functionality at the press of a button. And it has an Intel Core i5 processor. The Lenovo C205 has an 18.5-inch screen and sells for $449. The IdeaCentre A320 will start at $699. The B520 and B320 will be available in June at $899 and $699, respectively. Lenovo didn’t say when the A320 and C205 will be available. Companies: Apple, Hewlett Packard, Intel, Lenovo, Sony People: Dion Weisler
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| HP unleashes a host of new computers at CES Posted: 03 Jan 2011 09:00 PM PST
HP’s line-up isn’t just a pile of me-too computers. They are well-designed machines that have the latest features, from the latest Intel processors to touchscreen displays. HP typically adds new features to one machine and then rolls them out across the line-up over time. That’s what it’s doing with this launch. Based on HP’s line-up, it looks like both Intel and Advanced Micro Devices have scored a lot of design wins in HP machines. That’s a big deal since HP is the world’s largest computer maker. The top of the line is still the HP Envy 17 (pictured), a laptop designed for enthusiasts who want something that can compete favorably with Apple’s thin MacBook Air laptops. HP has been making this model for a few years and the latest has CoolSense cooling technology, new Intel Core processors, and newly released AMD Radeon switchable graphics (which can put the machine into a power-saving mode when advanced graphics aren’t needed). The CoolSense feature measures heat levels and cools the machine off to your preferred temperature. It has HP’s Beats by Dr. Dre audio, a 17.3-inch high-definition display, and the Intel Wireless Display, which allows you to view your laptop’s screen on your TV via a wireless connection. The Envy models will include a stereoscopic 3D screen that you can view with 3D glasses. Pricing and availability are to be determined.
The HP Pavilion dm1 is a functional laptop in a compact case. It has an 11.6-inch display and measures less than an inch thick. The dm1 is one of the first machines to use Advanced Micro Devices’ Fusion Accelerated Processing Unit, or APU. That chip combines a microprocessor and a graphics chip on a single piece of silicon, allowing for both fast 3D graphics and power efficiency. The Fusion chip goes up against Intel’s Sandy Bridge combo chips. The results are pretty good; this machine can display DirectX 11 3D graphics (based on Microsoft’s most-advanced 3D standard) and can run up to 10.75 hours on battery. The HP dm1 will be available Jan. 9 in the U.S. for $449.
On the business side, HP also has a bevy of new desktop computers, thin-client computers, and monitors. The thin clients are especially popular these days in businesses, given the trend toward running virtualization software, which allows a client to tap powerful software running on servers, even though the machine itself is relatively modest in hardware capability. The new HP t5500 series thin clients will go up against the latest machines from Wyse Technology and NComputing. Companies: Apple, desktop computers, Fusion, Hewlett Packard, HP, laptops, Microsoft, NComputing, Radeon, Sandy Bridge, thin client, Wyse Technology
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| With Fusion, AMD plans to stop being the underdog in chips Posted: 03 Jan 2011 09:00 PM PST
The Fusion chips represent AMD’s attempt to escape its underdog status in the multibillion-dollar microprocessor market, where Intel has roughly 80 percent of the market share. The company started working on Fusion in 2006 after it bought graphics chip maker ATI Technologies. The company made the announcement this week at CES, the tech extravaganza which traditionally sets the agenda for hot gadgets for the year. It’s the culmination of the biggest bet that AMD has made in computer and chip design, said Rick Bergman, general manager of the AMD products group which designed the Fusion family of chips.
AMD took a while to get its chips out. Its first attempt to build a Fusion chip using 45-nanometer manufacturing technology turned out to be a false start. The team realized it would have to wait for 32-nanometer manufacturing (which is akin to making a drawing with a finer pencil) to cram all of the circuitry needed into a combo chip. Now the need for the better 3D performance is pronounced. Desktops and laptops are being used for graphics-rich applications like never before, with features such as stereoscopic 3D, Blu-ray movies, rich 3D games, and 3D features in operating system user interfaces. Many of the new computers will be available for sale this week, since AMD has been shipping its new Fusion microprocessors for weeks now. The chips are part of AMD’s code-named Brazos platform, which contains all of the chips needed to make the processing part of a computer. Brazos can use either the code-named Zacate or Ontario Accelerated Processing Units (APUs), which are the combo chips. Each Zacate or Ontario chip uses a brand new microprocessor core, code-named Bobcat. The new chips range in performance, depending on whether they use one or two Bobcat cores, and they generate 9 watts to 18 watts, which is low enough to be used in most laptops. Laptops with the chips will cost $300 to $400 and desktops will likely cost around $700. The machines will have battery life of around 10 to 12 hours. While Intel’s combo chips have moderate microprocessor performance coupled with weak graphics, AMD’s combo chips have strong graphics performance. AMD’s Fusion chips are thus being used in models that feature strong graphics performance. The APUs are made with a 40-nanometer manufacturing process by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.
Over time, AMD will make Fusion chips that can be part of any computer, from netbooks and tablets to high-end desktops and laptops. AMD is also announcing today its newest stand-alone mobile graphics chips, dubbed the AMD Radeon HD 6000M series of graphics chips for notebook computers. AMD has grabbed the No. 1 market share in notebook computers and it expects that to continue, as it has hundreds of design wins for its 6000M graphics chip, which can power multiple screens. The 6000M is AMD’s second-generation DX11 mobile chip (referring to Microsoft’s most-advanced graphics standard) and it has already shipped more than 25 million DX11 chips to 10 major computer makers. The new version can handle 3D Blu-ray movies and other features. The fastest new mobile chip, the 6900M, is 37 percent faster than its predecessor. The chip has 40 percent faster tessellation, a graphics smoothing feature that Nvidia has proven it can do better in its chips. And the new chips use AMD’s EyeSpeed technology, which uses the graphics chip for non-graphics applications. Most of the laptops with the new mobile graphics chip are shipping in the first quarter. Was Fusion the right move for AMD? “We can compare notes in a year,” Bergman said. “We expect it to grab market share. But to be No. 1 would be a heck of a goal.” AMD created a promo video for Fusion below. The tough dude at the end is none other than Dirk Meyer, chief executive of AMD. Companies: advanced micro devices, Amd, Intel People: Rick Bergman
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| Dachis Group gets $30M to advance social consulting Posted: 03 Jan 2011 08:49 PM PST
Dachis Group sells software to corporations looking to better use social networking to advance their brands. It was founded in 2008 by Silicon Valley and “new media” guru Dachis, who is best known for co-founding the then-white hot Web shop Razorfish in 1995. Dachis has been adamant in the past that his new company is not just a consultancy but instead focuses on three key themes: social business strategy, social business engagement and social business intelligence, to help businesses navigate an “increasingly connected social world” to become “social businesses.” The two-year-old shop has parlayed that “everything that can be social, will be” philosophy into building a stable of marquee-name clients at a scorching pace. Dachis Group has been snapping up social-business consultancies along the way, including acquiring Portland, Ore.-based Xplane, an information-design consultancy in April, after its first, $50 million round of funding from Austin Ventures in June of 2008. It also put some of that money to work last month when it grabbed Austin-based Powered, which creates social marketing programs for more than 200 customers, its seventh acquisition since its founding. The company currently has 300 clients, including Microsoft, American Express, AOL, AT&T, Bud Light, Calvin Klein, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Cisco, Citibank, The Coca-Cola Company, McDonald’s, HBO and Procter and Gamble. It also estimates it services 15 percent of the Fortune 500 and operates the largest Facebook Preferred Developer services group in the world through its subsidiaries. Dachis said it would use the money to grow most areas of its business, including attracting new talent and investing in process development, knowledge sharing systems and quality control. It will also be aiming to expand its international presence: Dachis Group has 220 employees in offices in 10 cities across five countries, including New York, Philadelphia, Portland, London, Sydney, Amsterdam and Madrid. Companies: American Express, aol, AT&T, Austin Ventures, Bud Light, Calvin Klein, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Cisco, Citibank, Dachis Group, Facebook, Hbo, Mcdonald’s, Microsoft, Powered, Procter and Gamble, razorfish, The Coca-Cola Company, Xplane People: Jeff Dachis
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Here’s the latest action we’re following on the GreenBeat:
While Microsoft’s Internet Explorer is still the dominant Web browser, Google’s Chrome has been growing consistently, as is evident from 
Scvngr
Wild Needle gets $2.5M for new social gaming: The startup has raised $2.5M of an expected $3M in its first round of funding, 
There's been a lot of talk as of late regarding young entrepreneurs and the paths available to them; PayPal cofounder Peter Theil is going as far as to give 20 teams of entrepreneurs under 20 a two-year $100,000 fellowship on which to fund their next big ideas. Unfortunately, there simply aren’t that many investors out there to fund ideas from mostly unproven young adults, so it remains up to the entrepreneur to do it on their own.
Andrew Gazdecki is the founder and CEO of 
Eye-Fi
When it comes to cell phone chips, 
The company has made it easy to back up data automatically simply by plugging a backup hard disk drive into a computer’s universal serial bus (USB) port. But the new version lets a user back up as many computers as they want — both Windows or Mac — via a wireless connection.
Cloud-gaming service 
At the 
HP has also relaunched a bunch of consumer laptop, netbook, and desktop models. All feature cool exterior designs. The new HP Mini 210 netbooks (pictured) feature a plaid design with matching accessories. With models such as these, HP isn’t going after just geeks. It’s going after women and others who appreciate how a machine looks. The HP Mini 210 will be available on Jan. 9 in “iceberry” for $349 while the raspberry version will be on sale on Jan. 23 for $329 at Best Buy stores only.
Starting Jan. 9, a number of HP’s touch-enabled machines will be able to download a new version of HP’s TouchSmart touchscreen user interface, which features a “carousel” design that lets you browse through apps by swiping your finger sideways across the screen. HP has some new business TouchSmart all-in-one computers (pictured), but it updated most of its TouchSmart consumer PCs in the fall. HP has adopted an update center modeled after the Apple App Store, where you can download an app at a touch and get regular updates without hassle.
Making good on plans it laid in 2006, 
“As far back as 2005, we saw that the integration of the CPU (central processing unit) and the GPU (graphics processing unit) was inevitable,” Bergman (pictured right) said in an interview.
The Zacate and Ontario chips — aimed at mobile users — are just the first of AMD’s Fusion family of combo chips. More chips based on the Llano code name will be out later in the first half of the year; those chips will target mainstream laptop and desktop users. AMD claims that its best Brazos platform will be able to run graphics 11 times faster than the Intel Atom 550, which was one of Intel’s mainstay low-cost mobile processors in 2010. The more important comparison will concern how much faster AMD’s Fusion chips are than Intel’s combo chip, code-named Sandy Bridge, which is also debuting at CES.
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