VentureBeat |
- Present at Vator Splash Feb and get your discounted tickets here!
- On the GreenBeat: SoloPower raises $51.6 million, Stion plans $150 million IPO
- LG says smart web-connected washing machines no longer a dumb idea
- LG aims to make TVs, phones, appliances smarter in 2011
- Qualcomm confirms $3.1B purchase of Atheros to move into Wi-Fi chips
- Depressing thoughts on Groupon’s model
- Sifteo demos its cute wireless game cubes for kids
- MIPS aims to drive Android into consumer electronics gear
- The gadget parade begins at CES: photos of the coolest tech toys at the opening reception
- Turn raises another $20M for its automated ad tools
- Qteros raises $22 million for ethanol production, inks developmental partnership
- OnStar’s rear-view mirror can now equip any car with communications services
- Facebook CFO explains Facebook to Goldman employees
- Seagate introduces its thinnest portable hard drive ever: 9 mm thick
- Asus goes tablet crazy at CES: Launches Android-powered Eee Pad Slider, Transformer and more
| Present at Vator Splash Feb and get your discounted tickets here! Posted: 05 Jan 2011 09:00 AM PST
Vator is looking for the most promising startups to present onstage at Cafe du Nord in San Francisco on February 3. If you’re a startup that’s under three years old, or looking for a stage to launch on, be sure to apply today. Ten finalists will make the stage and get in front of venture capitalists from AngelPad, August Capital, Greylock, Google Ventures, Javelin Venture Partners, SV Angels, Shasta Ventures, Mayfield, Norwest and more. Attendees will also get a chance to hear VCs discuss the changing early-stage investment dynamics, and two amazing entrepreneurs, who will share their nuggets of wisdom about entrepreneurship. Pandora founder and CSO, Tim Westergren, will talk about how he started Pandora a decade ago, and built it to be the leading personalized radio station in the country. Neil Young will share his lessons and advice about building up a gaming company, ngmoco, and then selling it to DeNA for $400 million. Finally, you won’t want to miss the afterparty performance by Cover Flow, starring Mayfield’s Raj Kapoor, Norwest’s Tim Chang, Blippy’s Phil Kaplan and Facebook’s Prashant Fuloria and Ethan Beard. Check out their promo video here. Vator expects a sellout crowd of some 400 attendees, including industry peers, investors and media, so don’t miss out. The best deal comes in the demo table packages, which are still available. Click here and use your VentureBeat discount code “VB25″ to get 25% off the already low prices. Vator Splash events have become the must-attend gatherings for early-stage startups. At Splash, entrepreneurs learn from leading founders, such as Zynga’s Mark Pincus, Zappos’ Tony Hsieh, Peter Thiel and Twitter’s Dick Costolo — all of whom have keynoted past Splash events. And, investors from top VC firms, such as August Capital, BlueRun, Canaan, Claremont, First Round, Founders Fund, FirstMark, Greenhill SAVP, Greycroft, Greylock, Google Ventures, Hummer Winblad, IVP, Javelin Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Lightspeed, Softech VC, SV Angels LLC, TechStars, RRE Ventures, Polaris, North Bridge Venture Partners, Norwest, NYC Seed, Scale, Shasta, Venrock and more have attended the Splash events.
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| On the GreenBeat: SoloPower raises $51.6 million, Stion plans $150 million IPO Posted: 05 Jan 2011 08:59 AM PST
SoloPower picks up $51.6 million – The thin-film solar startup (solar module pictured) has raised the cash from backers that include Hudson Clean Energy Partners and Crosslink Capital, according to an SEC filing cited by Earth2Tech, which also notes solar manufacturer Stion is looking to raise $100 – $150 million in an IPO in the next few years. Nvidia Tegra chips to power Tesla’s Model S — Tesla announced it will use two Nvidia Tegra chips to power the 17-inch touch screen on its 2012 all-electric Model S. Earth2Tech notes the display will be the largest ever in a car and will have 3-D graphics. The chips have the plus of being energy efficient, which is key for electric cars that run solely on battery. Ethanol unable to meet renewable fuel mandate — The U.S. doesn’t have the infrastructure to meet the federal mandate for renewable fuel use with ethanol, according to a Purdue University study. Instead, the study suggests the standard could be met by ramping up production of cellulosic and next-generation biofuels. Bloom Box costs $12.50 per watt – The price for a Bloom Box with warranty, installation, shipping and sales tax is $12.50 per watt, Greentech Media reports. The article cites an anonymous source to challenge Bloom’s claims that its fuel cell box generates electricity for nine to 11 cents per kilowatt hour after incentives. Biofuels microbe company Qteros raises $22 million — The money is considered the initial phase of a third round of financing. The company also announced a developmental deal with Indian bio-ethanol engineering and equipment company Praj. The two will collaborate to produce process design packages that make use of Qteros’s microbe and Praj’s engineering expertise. Companies: Bloom Energy, CrossLink Capital, Hudson Clean Energy Partners, Nvidia, Purdue University, Qteros, solopower, Stion, Tesla
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| LG says smart web-connected washing machines no longer a dumb idea Posted: 05 Jan 2011 08:39 AM PST
This idea has been around for a long time and has gained currency under the “internet of things” label. Sunbeam talked long ago about connecting blenders and the like to the internet. But everybody mocked the wrong-headed thinking about how the internet could make dumb appliances even dumber. The company made the announcement at the opening press conference for Press Day at the Consumer Electronics Show, the big tech conference in Las Vegas. Now LG says the time has come, given the ubiquity of internet access within the home via wireless technologies and more thoughtful design. LG is launching a series of ThinQ-branded home appliances, including smart refrigerators, dishwashers, laundry machines, and ovens. The oven can download optimal cooking instructions for cooking turkey on Thanksgiving day. It will also let you know that your roast is about done and you better get in the kitchen. The laundry machine will let you know if something is wrong with its operation, and it can download new wash cycles to deal with specific laundry stains. A smart dishwasher can detect what kind of wash cycle it should do to get lipstick off wine glasses. The refrigerator, which has quiet operation, sits on the smart grid. That means it knows how much energy it is using. You can adjust its temperature on your way home from the store. It could also send a text message saying some of your food is about to go bad or that you need to go to the store to replace items that are just about gone. Some of this sounds too good to be true. But it certainly seems like the sci-fi era of the Jetsons has arrived. I suppose if our TVs can become connected to the internet, we might as well connect everything else too. Companies: Lg Electronics
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| LG aims to make TVs, phones, appliances smarter in 2011 Posted: 05 Jan 2011 08:35 AM PST
With TVs, LG is following in the footsteps of many companies this year with an increased emphasis on apps. LG’s new Smart TV line will feature premium apps like Netflix, Hulu Plus, Vudu and Amazon on-demand streaming. There are also more apps for viewing shared content, like Picasa, Flickr and Youtube. The TVs will also support streaming of local content from USB storage, as well as over the network using DLNA sharing. The TV apps will use a card-based interface, which allows you to easily switch between apps. The company also announced its Smart TV Upgrader, a set-top box which will let anyone bring its app ecosystem to any television. When it comes to 3D TVs, LG announced that its upcoming 2011 units that will feature brighter screens, less flicker, and most importantly, they don’t require battery-powered active 3D glasses. Instead, the TVs will process 3D inside of the set — allowing users to rely on cheaper glasses like those you use in most movie theaters. LG also briefly hinted at some prototype TVs that it’s working on: A thin and bright display using OLED technology, and a 3D display that doesn’t require glasses at all. When it comes to phones, LG showed off its dual-core Optimus 2X Android smartphones, which it launched earlier this month. The company says that the 2X uses the world’s brightest display, and that the display is also 15 percent more efficient than its previous panels. Perhaps the most interesting thing LG showed off was its extensive smart appliance lineup, which includes washers, dryers, ovens, and refrigerators with network connectivity. LG’s smart ovens have the ability to download recipes and send you texts when your food is done cooking. Companies: Lg
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| Qualcomm confirms $3.1B purchase of Atheros to move into Wi-Fi chips Posted: 05 Jan 2011 06:46 AM PST
The move positions Qualcomm as a powerhouse in Wi-Fi wireless networking chips, helping it square away its position as a leader in communications chips. San Diego, Calif.-based Qualcomm already has a huge position in chips for cell phones and this deal gives it an edge in computer networking and consumer electronics as well. The deal is slightly less than the $3.5 billion that the New York Times reported yesterday, citing sources. With the acquisition, rivals such as Intel, Broadcom and Marvell will find it harder to challenge Qualcomm in communications. Presumably, Qualcomm will be able to combine computer networking and cellular communications chips into single devices. The deal is subject to closing conditions such as shareholder approval. “It is Qualcomm’s strategy to continually integrate additional technologies into mobile devices to make them the primary way that people communicate, compute and access content,” said Paul Jacobs, chief executive of Qualcomm, in a statement. “This acquisition is a natural extension of that strategy into other types of devices.” Atheros chief executive Craig H. Barratt is expected to join Qualcomm as president of Qualcomm Networking & Connectivity. [photo credit: Reuters] People: Craig Barratt, Paul Jacobs
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| Depressing thoughts on Groupon’s model Posted: 05 Jan 2011 06:00 AM PST (Editor's note: Jeff Bussgang is a General Partner at Flybridge Capital Partners. This column originally appeared on his blog Seeing Both Sides.) You probably read a lot last year about Groupon's rejection of a supposed $6 billion offer from Google. Most of the reports breathlessly described the explosive revenue and customer growth the company has achieved in two short years and what a breakthrough the model. With over 40 million email subscribers, Groupon's success is based on consumers responding to their daily deal emails, and sourcing high-quality offers that compel readers to respond. The story CEO and founder Andrew Mason told in his recent interview with Charlie Rose was that when they offered helicopter flying lessons in one of their daily email blasts, they sold 2,500 in one day. This compares to a business that had acquired only 5,000 customers in its 25-year history. But haven't we seen this movie before in the world of direct marketing? History has shown nearly every major new direct marketing paradigm sees impressive initial response rates, but depressing response rates over time. For example, when display advertising was innovative in the late-1990s (remember websites without ads?), publishers saw click through rates in the 1-2 percent range, allowing advertisers to be charged a high cost per thousand impression (CPM) in the range of $35-40. Today, iMarketer and MediaMind report that display advertising click-through rates are 0.10 – 0.20 percent and CPMs of $2-3 – less than one tenth what they were ten years ago. Email has shown a similar sharp decline over time. Average click through rates for the early years of email campaigns in the 1990s were as high as 30-40 percent. Today, they range from three to five percent – again, a 10x drop. Groupon conversion rates, supposedly, are now in the three to four percent range. What will those same response rates to the same consumers look like in five years? Will daily deals follow a fundamentally different model than every other new direct marketing medium? The benefit of being only two years old is that you don't have a lot of vintage data to analyze. What has impressed me about e-commerce stalwarts like Amazon.com and Netflix is that they have stood the test of time and have grown ARPU (average revenue per user) over time. Consumers continue to have an appetite for books and movies, year-in and year-out, and the volume of new content changes rapidly. In contrast, the merchants in my community and the ones I regularly do business with do not change all that rapidly. That said, Groupon is building a huge consumer database, a massive set of merchant relationships and a super-talented management team. Just as Amazon and Netflix have innovated beyond their initial model, Groupon has the capacity to replicate these results. But if the company is going to step into the multi-billion dollar winner's circle, it will need to find a model that stands the test of time, and the reality of depressing response rates over time. Companies: Groupon
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| Sifteo demos its cute wireless game cubes for kids Posted: 05 Jan 2011 06:00 AM PST
The cubes are one more example of how sensing technologies are changing the face of electronic gadgets. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Sifteo will show off how adults and kids can play games with the cubes. The company plans to sell the Sifteo cube system for $149, but it will offer it at a discount of $99 for early adopters. At CES, Sifteo has been named a finalist in the Last Gadget Standing contest that will take place on Jan. 8. San Francisco-based Sifteo is creating a bunch of games that can go with its 1.5-inch blocks, which interact wirelessly and can be placed in different orders and moved around. Co-founders David Merrill and Jeevan Kalanithi first came up with the prototype for the cubes when studying human-computer interaction at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab. They realized that humans typically interact with physical objects by picking them up and arranging them. But most game companies have overlooked this behavior in designing their entertainment. "Traditional game consoles have lost the tangible and interactive nature of classic tabletop games like Mahjong and dominoes, that bring people together," said Kalanithi. With Sifteo cubes, players install software on a Mac or Windows PC which is connected to the web. They can buy games and apps from Sifteo’s online library. A wireless universal serial bus (USB) link enables the games and apps to be downloaded onto the Sifteo cubes for play. The range for the downloads is a few feet to 20 feet. Companies: Sifteo People: David Merrill, Jeevan Kalanithi
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| MIPS aims to drive Android into consumer electronics gear Posted: 05 Jan 2011 06:00 AM PST
Hopefully, the move will make the web-connected consumer electronics market more competitive. MIPS designs a microprocessor that it licenses to other chip makers to build. Those chip makers create custom versions of the MIPS design and use them in chips for a wide variety of gadgets. MIPS-based chips have the No. 1 market share in digital TVs and set-top boxes. With its new SmartCE platform, MIPS is gathering together a variety of components and software that make it easy to build a cool gadget. The platform, unveiled for the first time this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas (the biggest tech extravaganza of the year), is being demonstrated by a number of licensees. The platform integrates Android, Adobe Flash platform for TV, Skype, the Home Jinni ConnecTV application (which brings search to internet content on the TV), social media and other applications. SmartCE will ensure that all of that software runs smoothly on MIPS-based digital TVs, set-top boxes, and Blu-ray players. By doing this, MIPS hopes to hold off any encroachment on its turf by ARM’s newest processors and Intel’s Atom chips, which are designed for lower-power applications. Licensees using SmartCE include Sigma Designs, ViXS Systems, Silicon Integrated Systems, Trident Microsystems, Zoran, and others. Devices that use the licensee chips will be able to run YouTube, Netflix, Yahoo Movies, Facebook, Skype, and Adobe Flash content. Consumers will also be able to use smartphones and tablet computers as remote controls for their electronics gear. The platform is particularly well suited for running Google TV applications, said Art Swift, vice president of marketing at Sunnyvale, Calif.-based MIPS. Google needs this kind of support to break into the TV software business and compete with the likes of Apple and others. MIPS’ newest licensee is MStar Semiconductor, which will use MIPS designs in its next-generation digital TV chips. MStar is the largest maker of chips for flat-panel TVs, according to market researcher DisplaySearch. MIPS is a decades-old chip design company; its licensees ship more than 600 million MIPS-based chips a year. The company also announced this week that it has targeted its chips at the mobile phone market as well. The company is profitable and is growing revenues. Companies: Google, Mips Technologies
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| The gadget parade begins at CES: photos of the coolest tech toys at the opening reception Posted: 05 Jan 2011 06:00 AM PST
For openers, the gadget pictured at top reflected the emphasis on greener technologies. Dexim’s Visible G Charger allows users to save power when charging an Apple iOS (iPod or iPhone) product because you can see from the color of the wire whether the device you’re charging needs charging or not. Just by glancing at the wire at the left, you can tell that the one on the right is almost done charging. The charger will also automatically shut off an outlet to stop it from unnecessarily sending current into a fully charged device. Dexim’s web site will have details on availability soon. WowWee showed off Cinemin Slice, a portable pico-power projector. Using Texas Instruments’ digital light processing chips (which have lots of little mirrors that reflect light as needed), WowWee created a projector that can take a WVGA image (854 x 480 pixels, a decent-sized image but not high-definition) from an iPod, iPad, or iPhone and project it onto a wall. The $429 device is available for pre-order now. 3M showed off the latest fast-response touchscreens that it manufactures and then combines with touchscreen software from Perceptive Pixels. 3M showed off a 23-inch projected capacitive touchscreen, above, which can handle more than 10 finger touches at a time. Even with that many touches on the screen, the response time for each finger is under 6 milliseconds, which is an instant. That makes it one of the most accurate and robust solutions on the market. Lots of other touchscreens are slow in response times. Withings showed off a connected blood pressure monitor, pictured above. It can connect wirelessly with your iPhone or iPad and show you the exact reading for your blood pressure. It captures your pulse and then stores the data. You can look at the data over time to figure out if you’ve got a health problem or not. Powered by chips from Cavium Networks, Actiontec showed off its wireless replacement for a high-definition multimedia cable. You can plug a PlayStation 3 into the Actiontec device, which uses the WiVu technology from Cavium, and then project the images wirelessly to a TV or computer screen somewhere in your home via ordinary Wi-Fi connections. The response time is about 20 milliseconds, making it good for gaming and video applications. Seeker Technology showed off its pipSqueak Bluetooth device that helps eliminate common complaints about cell phones. It clips on to your clothing or can be carried in a pocket. When you get a call, you can glance at the display and see if you want to answer it. Or, you can initiate a message to the caller that you are trying to answer but have to take longer to answer the phone than usual. That way, you don’t miss calls that you want and you don’t answer calls that you don’t want. This is especially useful for women who keep their phones in their purses.
Companies: 3M, Actiontec, Cavium Networks, Dexim, Perceptive Pixels, Seeker Technology
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| Turn raises another $20M for its automated ad tools Posted: 04 Jan 2011 10:35 PM PST
Advertising agencies use DSPs to centralize all their ad-buying across multiple ad exchanges and networks, usually with some degree of automated bidding and audience targeting. Not only are DSPs managing a big portion of online ad spending, but they're reportedly a major factor behind the display advertising growth Google has seen. When Turn launched its platform back in 2008, it emphasized the flexibility that it offers advertisers. When I asked the company via email how it stands out from the DSP crowd today, president and chief executive Bill Demas pointed to the high return on investment it offers advertisers, the breadth of its platform, and its transparency. He wrote:
Demas didn’t offer any specific details about Turn’s success so far, except to say that the company has consistently doubled its revenue every year. Greenberg Associates led the current round, and all of Turn's previous investors (Norwest Venture Partners, Trident Capital, Shasta Ventures and Focus Ventures) also participated. The Redwood City, Calif.-headquartered company has now raised $57 million. Companies: Focus Ventures, Greenberg Associates, Norwest Venture Partners, Shasta Ventures, Trident Capital, Turn People: Bill Demas
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| Qteros raises $22 million for ethanol production, inks developmental partnership Posted: 04 Jan 2011 07:48 PM PST
The company calls the funds “sufficient” to support continued development and commercialization. Though it did not announce investors, Battery Ventures confirmed it participated in the round, and existing Qteros investors include Venrock Associates, BP Technology Ventures, Valero and George Soros’s fund, Soros Fund Management. Qteros makes a microbe — the Q microbe — that it says “dramatically accelerates” and streamlines the process in which biomass is transformed into cellulosic ethanol by producing enzymes to break down biomass into sugars while simultaneously co-fermenting the sugars into ethanol. It offers a bioprocessing platform that companies can use in low-cost, large-scale production of ethanol. Biofuels are expected to become cost competitive with traditional gasoline by 2012-2015. Qteros also announced it will partner with Praj, a global Indian company that supplies engineering services and equipment for bioethanol plants. The two will collaborate in a multi-year deal to create process design packages that combine the Q microbe and Praj’s production engineering design that will be initially marketed to Praj’s existing customers. The partnership aims to deliver by the end of 2012 process design packages that are optimized to break down sugarcane, corn and wheat. For starters, the companies will retrofit an existing plant in India with Qteros' technology platform, which the company says will be the foundation for accelerated production scaling. [Photo via Flickr/jayneandd] Companies: Battery Ventures, BP, BP Technology Ventures, Praj, Qteros, Soros Fund Management, Valero, Venrock Associates People: George Soros
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| OnStar’s rear-view mirror can now equip any car with communications services Posted: 04 Jan 2011 07:44 PM PST
While cars are becoming a hotbed for internet-connected technology, turning them into gadgets isn’t easy. OnStar’s service is embedded in a cool-looking rear-view mirror with a blue button. You press the blue button to initiate a call with OnStar and can then ask its operators for information or driving directions. Another button on the mirror can initiate a 911 call. The mirror can be attached to just about any car and will be sold in Best Buy stores. The company made the announcement at the start of the Consumer Electronics Show, which kicked off for the press this afternoon in Las Vegas. OnStar calls the new strategy OnStar Anywhere, which takes the service beyond General Motors vehicles.
“Now we will be talking to a much bigger audience,” said Chris Preuss, chief executive of OnStar. OnStar has more than 6 million subscribers who pay hefty sums for anti-theft vehicle location, emergency response, hands-free phone calls (initiated by pushing a button on the rear-view mirror) and other services delivered over the company’s OnStar network. OnStar uses Nuance’s latest voice-recognition for car communication. OnStar handles 10,000 911 calls a month and automatically unlocks about 69,000 doors a month for people who have locked their keys in the car. While the system is known for its anti-theft and emergency response capability, Preuss said that OnStar’s service does a lot more; its operators give 2 million verbal driving directions a month and verbal answers to 3 million verbal queries per month. It also launched new services such as a Chevy Volt app as well as a Facebook app. The company also announced today an OnStar connectivity app that works via Bluetooth short-range communications with your phone. You can send and receive text messages via voice commands. You can speak a text message and OnStar will send it. It can convert the incoming text message to voice and take the volume of your car radio down at the same time. It uses Android 2.2 version phones or higher. OnStar will also have a relationship with Verizon Wireless on its 4G network. Companies: OnStar People: Chris Preuss
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| Facebook CFO explains Facebook to Goldman employees Posted: 04 Jan 2011 06:11 PM PST
Specifically, Ebersman walked Goldman's private wealth-management team through how the site works and gave them pointers on how to explain Facebook to older clients. He was speaking in the firm’s San Francisco office, but his presentation was transmitted to other Goldman offices. The news made me smile because, even though Goldman has reportedly invested $450 million in Facebook and plans to allow clients to invest $1.5 billion more, the firm’s employees normally can't access Facebook in the office (as other articles have pointed out). Of course, Goldman presumably had access to Facebook's financial details, which, if you’re going to invest hundreds of millions of dollars at a $50 billion valuation, are much more important than opening a Facebook account. As Facebook moves towards the initial public offering that's expected in 2012, it will probably have to win over many more Wall Street types who don't use the site themselves. Neither Facebook nor Goldman has confirmed the deal yet. The attention paid to Goldman's Facebook access kind of reminds me of the fuss over the fact that Aaron Sorkin didn't join Facebook until he'd signed up to write the movie that became The Social Network. And hey, he wrote a great movie that might win him an Academy Award. It just didn't have anything to do with how Facebook works. Companies: Facebook, Goldman Sachs People: David Ebersman
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| Seagate introduces its thinnest portable hard drive ever: 9 mm thick Posted: 04 Jan 2011 06:00 PM PST
The Scotts Valley, Calif.-based storage company said its newest 2.5-inch diameter GoFlex external hard drive is a razor-thin 9 millimeters thick, about 38 percent slimmer than the company’s current ultra-portable drives. Although people are putting more and more critical data on their computers — from family videos to work documents — only about 15 percent back up their data. If this can help get more people to do backups because it’s more convenient, that’s great. The new drive is aimed at entry-level laptops and netbooks. It represents the company’s best attempt to stay competitive with flash memory chips, which are used in SSD drives for laptops. This drive will be available this spring with a capacity of 320 gigabytes. It has a universal serial bus (USB) 3.0 interface to transfer data at speeds 10 times faster than USB 2.0. The small size will allow Seagate to sell cool-looking yet functional external hard drives for people who want to live a “mobile lifestyle.” Pricing isn’t available yet. Seagate also announced a new line of GoFlex portable external drives for Mac computers. The drives cost $249 for 1.5 terabytes, $199 for 1 terabyte, $179 for 750 gigabytes and $149 for 500 gigabytes. Seagate also announced that it will certify third-party vendors to make slots on their products that can house removable hard drive cartridges from Seagate. Companies: Seagate
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| Asus goes tablet crazy at CES: Launches Android-powered Eee Pad Slider, Transformer and more Posted: 04 Jan 2011 05:45 PM PST We're expecting tablets to be a dime a dozen at CES this year, and Taiwanese computer manufacturer Asus hasn't exactly been shy about teasing its tablet wares over the past year. Now we know exactly what sort of tablets Asus has up its sleeve — and surprisingly, they look unlike anything we've seen so far. First up are two 10.1-inch Android tablets centered around physical keyboards (of all things): The Eee Pad Slider and Eee Pad Transformer. The Slider lives up to its name by offering sliding access to its keyboard, similar to the slide-out functionality in some cellphones. The Transformer, on the other hand, comes with a keyboard dock — so you can choose when you need to lug around a keyboard.. Both tablets will run Android 3.0 (the fabled "Honeycomb" version built with tablets in mind), are powered by Nvidia's dual-core Tegra 2 processor, and feature front and rear-facing cameras. They'll also both feature high-quality IPS LCD display panels (which are known to offer better color range than traditional LCDs) running at a 1200 by 800 resolution. The Transformer's dock also packs in a battery of its own, allowing you to run the tablet for 16 hours when both device's batteries are fully charged. On its own the Transformer tablet should get around 8 hours of battery life (and we assume a similar amount for the Slider). Asus also showed off the Eee Pad MeMo, which appears to be an Android spin on Microsoft's Courier note-taking tablet. It's a 7-inch tablet that differentiates itself with a capacitive stylus for easy handwritten note taking. Asus demonstrated two apps that take advantage of the stylus — Media Note, a simple note taking program, and Painter, which lets you use the stylus to paint and draw with pressure sensitivity. The company also boasted about the MeMo's phone capabilities — it apparently can take calls with a stereo Bluetooth headset called the "MeMic." Finally, there's the dark horse of Asus's tablet plans. For the past year, the company has hinted at a powerful 12-inch tablet running Windows 7, dubbed the Eee Slate EP121. It's certainly got a lot of horsepower with its Intel Core i5 processor, support for 2 to 4 gigabytes of RAM, and 64 gigabyte solid state drive (SSD). The EP 121 also features a 12.1-inch screen — and like the MeMo, it packs a stylus for easy note taking. Variety and innovation is certainly one cure to the onslaught of similar-looking tablets we're expecting at CES. I suppose it isn't surprising then that the company that jump-started the netbook craze has some cool ideas for tablets. Pricing and availability for the tablets are still up in the air. Asus expects the Slider to retail between $500 to $800, and for it will be available in May. The Transformer will go between $400 and $700 and will land in June. The MeMo is expected to also land in June for around $499, while the powerful EP121 will retail for around $1,000 and will be available later this month.
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The submission deadline for the Vator Splash Feb event is coming to an end! Be sure to enter the 
Here’s the latest action we’re following on the GreenBeat today:
LG kicked off the day at the Consumer Electronics Show describing how it aims to make televisions, mobile devices, and yes even household appliances, smarter in 2011.
As if it already weren’t a dominant player in communications chips,
Chip design firm 
The press got the first peak at gadgetopia at the opening reception for the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Tuesday. There were more than 60 vendors show off their wares to hundreds of press in a carnival-like setting. We took plenty of pictures and here are our picks for some of the coolest gadgets at the event.
OK, we cheated with this last picture. It’s a shot of Toshiba’s latest concept prototype for a tablet computer. Toshiba wasn’t at the opening reception but it did show off its gear at a party at the glitzy Tao nightclub at the Venetian. The screen uses a resolution-enhancing technology that Toshiba also uses in its TVs, making for a crystal clear image.
Biofuels technology startup Qteros announced today it has secured $22 million in the first phase of its third round of financing.
OnStar
The mirror will sell for $299. Service plans will cost $18.95 a month or $199 a year. That gives you anti-theft, emergency response, hands-free calls and other services via an after-market product in retail stores.
Here's a fun sidenote to 
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