Hitachi seems to have made a major leap forward in the development of “green” vehicles. The company claims it has developed the world’s most efficient lithium-ion battery for hybrid cars, topping previous Hitachi batteries by an impressive 70% in output density. → Read More
We all know that Facebook is growing like a weed, especially internationally, but which countries are really seeing the most growth? TechCrunch alum Nick Gonzalez has put together a new tool called CheckFacebook designed to help users do exactly that. The site is primarily meant for advertisers, who can use it to gauge where to deploy campaigns, but it also offers an interesting look at each nation’s basic demographic information in an easily digestible format. The site pulls from data that Facebook publicly discloses to advertisers, but isn’t normally readily available because it’s tucked away into the ad signup process.
Each country on the map is shaded according to how popular it is on Facebook, with the darkest shades of green representing the most popular countries (unsurprisingly, the United States is by far the most popular single country, though it only accounts for around 30% of Facebook’s total audience). You can also see some basic demographic information, including gender and age distributions in each nation. → Read More
Never have I been happier to be a Cablevision subscriber. The New York area company will offer the fastest broadband in the United States starting next month. Top speed is said to be 101 megabits per second downsteam, and 15 megabits per second upstream. My [private high-def BitTorrent site whose name I've removed] account is jumping for joy. → Read More
Just last month, we wrote that Hulu had gained some 10 million viewers to become the fourth largest video portal on the web. Now, it’s slain another rival to the list: Yahoo, to move into #3 — at least in terms of videos viewed.
To be clear, the new March U.S. numbers released by comScore show that Hulu is still slightly behind Yahoo’s video properties when it comes to unique viewers. But the NBC and Fox-backed Hulu should pass it any day now in that category as well. Meanwhile, the number two player, Fox Interactive Media (which runs MySpace), is slipping just as quickly as Hulu is rising in videos viewed. It could well be as soon as this month when Hulu moves into the number two web video position. → Read More
If you like Slushees but you hate the inconvenience of getting out of your car, entering your local convenience store, and paying upwards of two dollars, might I suggest the Slush Mug, a $10 mug with a freezable core that allows you to make your own slushalicious treats at home with just six hours of prep time and another six minutes of stirring. → Read More
OK. This is an official GE video so once you get past the first 50 seconds of fluff, it explains how microholographic discs work in everyday speak. Seriously, it’s 1:52 out of your life and you’ll probably learn something about next-gen optical media. Click through to watch the video. → Read More
Japan-based PC accessory maker Sanwa Supply is selling a tiny point-and-click device that can possibly save a lot of space in your work area and might be handy during presentations. The device is sized at just 35×30×30mm, can be used held in your hand with your thumb operating it and looks cool. → Read More
Google is getting fancy with public data in search results. If you search for “unemployment rate New York” or for any other state or county in the U.S., the first result will be the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics along with a chart. If you click on the link or image it will take you to an interactive chart where you can compare the unemployment rate to other states or counties. For instance, here is New York (8.1%) vs. California (11.5%).
Try it with “population New York” or the name of another state or city, and it will give you the same thing. Google gets that data straight from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Population Division. On the Google Blog, product manager Ola Rosling writes: → Read More
It’s time to get excited, friends. Not only will Capcom release Marvel vs. Capcom 2 on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network this summer, but it will release demo this Thursday. That means you only have to wait two days till you’re unleashing 100+ hit combos and trash talking like you never thought you could. → Read More
I continue to be fascinated by Owen Van Natta’s abrupt departure from Project Playlist, the company he ran for five whole months before becoming the CEO of the much more exciting MySpace.
Emails have been flying in from company CEOs who say Van Natta, with a promise of “massive funding from China,” offered to acquire them (there was no funding). Playlist employees, speaking off the record, are in shock. And worst of all, Van Natta recruited a number of executives, including one, ironically, from MySpace, on the promise that he’d lead the company to a win. Which he definitely would have done, if he hadn’t been interviewing non stop for other jobs since nearly the very day he was announced to head up Playlist.
We’ll post the full list of the down and out executives soon. But among the saddest stories is Jason Bitensky, who joined Project Playlist today as Director of National Sales. Bitensky, a former Slide executive, was heavily recruited by Van Natta for months, says a source, and he finally agreed a couple of weeks ago to resign from his current position at Nabbr and join Van Natta at Playlist. Unfortunately, he gave his notice to Nabbr before the news broke that Van Natta was jumping ship, putting him in an awkward position, to say the least. → Read More
Wikipedia aside, wikis just don’t get any respect. PBwiki, a startup that specializes in helping businesses, non-profits, and educational institutions collaborate via wikis, finally realized that and has officially changed its name to PBworks. Founder and Chief Product Officer David Weekly says the name change reflects the company’s expansion into offerings and functionality that extend beyond just a wiki. That is his story and he is sticking to it.
PBworks, which had an overhaul of its user interface and features last year, offers businesses a customized wiki workspace, with mobile support, document management, access controls and more. The company is also introducing a new project management application in the next few months. The company also rolled out a “Legal Edition” which merges a wiki with case management features, offers a legal knowledge base, and an electronic deal room to manage files that require review, input, and approval by legal professionals. → Read More
Gameloft, the folks behind Oregon Trail for the iPhone and countless other mobile and console games, have just released their earnings report for the first calendar quarter of 2009. Though sales saw a dip from quarter-to-quarter, they’re up significantly from the same quarter last year. In the first three months of this year, Gameloft pulled in a total of €30.8 million ($40.2 million USD), as opposed to €33.8 million ($44.2 million USD) in the fourth quarter of last year. This works out to a quarter-to-quarter variation of roughly -9%. Compared to Q1 of 2008′s €25.3 million ($33 million USD), however, sales are up nearly 22%. Though Gameloft dabbles in the console gaming space, their primary focus is on mobile. It’s also their main revenue generator, accounting for 94% of their sales thus far in 2009. → Read More
Mixx, a Digg-like site that lets users vote to push news stories and other bookmarked content to the home page, is experimenting with an innovative new advertising platform called Mixx Sifter. Frankly, and we’ve written this before with other Mixx features, this is something Digg should have done.
The idea is to get the Mixx community to give direct feedback on advertising. The better ads will get impressions – not based on how much is paid, but simply on how positive the feedback is from users. Last year we’d heard that Digg was thinking of doing something along these lines. Digg founder Kevin Rose refused to speculate on it, though, in a recent interview.
Here’s how Mixx Sifter works – an advertiser uploads five different ads, in virtually any format. Mixx then invites its power users (elite Mixx users who have spent hundreds of hours on the site) to review those ads, rate them and provide direct private feedback. The users get karma points and a chance to win a gift certificate or computer in return. The most popular ad unit is then run on the site. → Read More
Wow, hats off to some of the eggheads at Carnegie Mellon. They’ve developed a touchscreen that can actually produce tactile buttons by using latex, acrylic, and a little air pump. Imagine a touchscreen-only phone that pops up little keys when you open the on-screen keyboard. It’s like haptic feedback on steroids. → Read More
This will never come out, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth looking at. It’s called PathQuest, and it’s a portable GPS device that’s shaped, yes, like a compass. How this isn’t a more popular concept—GPS devices shaped like a compass—I have no idea. → Read More
Fresh on the heels of all the Verizon+Apple hoopla is talks of a Verizon+Microsoft partnership working to create a true iPhone competitor. According to the Wall Street Journal, the two companies are discussing the launch of a “touch-screen multimedia cellphone on the carrier’s network early next year.” Perhaps the best part of this rumor is the projects code-name – “Pink” – which “is aiming to produce a phone that extends the tech giant’s Windows Mobile cellphone operating system, adding new software capabilities.” An iPhone killer named “Pink.” Seriously, you just can’t make up stuff this good. Not surprisingly, although Big Red and Big Redmond are working together on the design, its expected that a third-party will end up making the device, a la Google and its Android phones. → Read More
First, it was reported that Apple was talking to Verizon about getting the iPhone on its network in 2010. Then it was reported that Apple was actually working on new mobile devices for Verizon. With so much Apple blood in the Verizon water, it was only a matter of time before the Microsoft shark surfaced.
A new report in The Wall Street Journal suggests that Microsoft is also talking with Verizon about getting a device on its service. To be clear, this apparently is not just a standard new Windows Mobile device, as there are already plenty of those on the Verizon network. What this apparently is, is some sort of new device, designed in part by Microsoft, but developed by a third party. This device is said to include access to Microsoft’s upcoming Windows Marketplace for Mobile — its app store. → Read More
Dell’s all-in-one “Studio One 19″ series is now available in the US starting at $699. That’ll get you a 2.5GHz dual-core Intel CPU, an 18.5 inch LCD at 1366×768, 2GB of RAM, a slot-load DVD burner, nVidia GeForce 9200 graphics, built-in webcam, and a 320GB hard drive. → Read More
Love the iPhone or hate the iPhone, at least you know what you’re getting out of the box is a device that will work with all the apps in the App Store. That’s been the case so far with Google’s Android platform as well — but only because there has been only one device, the G1. With more devices starting to roll out, and a new firmware (1.5, “cupcake”) to support them, things are continuing to get a bit murky.
Last week, we wrote about how the 1.5 Android software update would break some apps that previously worked with Android. Google gave some tips as to how to fix them, but it’s still a bit troubling. Today, comes another post on the Android Developer blog with two dreaded words: Backward compatibility. → Read More
