Here it is, treehuggers and haters. The EPA’s rating of the Chevy Volt: 93 when on electric, 37 combined city/hwy on gasoline, which works out to a 60 MPG composite . Those combine to give the Volt an average range of 379 miles, although, just like with the Leaf, the total range for EV-only topped off slightly less than what the manufacturer advertises. Those keeping score will also note that the Leaf was rated at 99MPGe earlier this week with a total yearly cost of ownership at $561. So yeah, let the arguing continue. → Read More
Upon seeing our last post about announcement invites for the tentatively-titled “Playstation Phone” supposedly going out, a much-trusted tipster just rang us up with the skinny on a recent private event, where they tell us they saw the rumored handset in all of its plasticky-flesh Here’s what they told us: → Read More
GMBHnews, from Otzberg, Germany-based Omer Networks, has launched as a quick and easy way for publishers to create and monetize mobile versions of their website. It does this through a near idiot-proof setup ‘wizard’ that asks for the site’s name, URL, RSS feed and Google Mobile AdSense code (if applicable).
However, the fact that it’s RSS-driven would seem to suggest that GMBHnews is primarily aimed at bloggers, which if the case, begs the question: why not just install, say, a free Wordpress mobile site plug-in and be done. Apparently, that’s still too complicated for some publishers, claims the startup. → Read More
We see cool gadgets all the time here at TechCrunch. But not many of them can help paraplegics walk again. This one does.
Berkeley Bionics has created an exoskeleton product called eLegs that literally gets these people up and walking. Arm swings on crutches control the legs and tell them when to walk. Time Magazine calls it one 50 best inventions of 2010, and they are clearly right. Technology like this may eliminate the concept of a wheelchair for millions of people with spinal cord injuries, stroke, MS, etc.. Here’s it in action: → Read More
Nokia has appointed Jerri DeVard as Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, a new role that comes into effect as of January 1, 2011. DeVard is a 25-year marketing vet, with relevant experience in the telecom industry – she served as Senior Vice President for Marketing and Brand Management at Verizon from 2003 to 2007.
DeVard started her own marketing consultancy agency, called DeVard Marketing Group and based in New York. As a Principal at the firm, she provided counsel to Microsoft, among other consumer-focused companies. I mention that, of course, because Nokia’s new CEO, Stephen Elop, hails from the Redmond software company.
DeVard will join Nokia’s Group Executive Board and report to Niklas Savander, Executive Vice President and head of Nokia’s Markets unit. → Read More
Nat Goldhaber of Claremont Creek Ventures thinks that 2011 will be the year of the cleantech IPO…finally. So does that mean that America hasn’t totally lost the cleantech race after all?
The most optimistic case is that we’re in a clump of countries leading the pack. The glass-half-empty version: Politics, boneheaded legislation and our lousy capital markets will saddle America’s culture of innovation, giving other surging hot spots a leg up. In the second part of our interview with Goldhaber, we talk about America’s cleantech mojo. → Read More
Snaptu, a Sequoia-backed company that offers a suite of smartphone-like applications that can be installed on more basic handsets, has hit another major milestone: it’s now up to 20 million registered accounts, 5.5 million of which are active. And it’s adding users very quickly — it was only last June that the company announced that it had 10 million registered users, 2.5 million of which were active. In other words, the company has doubled its user base in only five months.
The company isn’t showing any signs of slowing down, either. Snaptu reports that it’s now adding 2.5 million new users a month — more than one a second — and that it’s drawing 3.3 billion monthly page views. Snaptu says that 43% of its users are in Asia (including India), with 26% in North America and the rest split between Europe and South and Central America. → Read More
It was inevitable, developer Jesse Stay has built a way “Like” tweets on the Twitter homepage. The winner of Kynetx’s Facebook App contest, Stay’s browser plugin uses Facebook’s iframe code give you the option to “Like” in addition to “Retweet,”"Favorite,” and “Reply to” Tweets on Chrome, Internet Explorer or Firefox. The buttons show up when you hover over the tweet in your stream. Well if Twitter wasn’t going to do it … → Read More
You should be able to find Gran Turismo 5 in your local store today. That makes today a good day. (It also doesn’t hurt that there’s Champions League today, too.) (Allow me to say the word “today” for the 500th time in four sentences.) Some reviews have popped up online, and I’m going to take 45 seconds to distill some of them for you. Not that it really matters: if you have a PS3 you’ll be getting this game. (Spoiler: it’s generally OK.) → Read More
Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages: THERE’S A STEAM SALE~! → Read More
Well, this is interesting. Google’s Advertising Assistance Program extends to video ads. Earlier today I published an investigative post about Google’s relationship with Publicis and other large ad agencies and incentive programs whereby Google pays the ad agencies to use its advertising platform. That post focussed on the demand-side platforms (DSPs) and trading desks inside the ad agencies which sometimes are powered by Google technology under the covers. Well, it turns out that Google also offers ad agencies incentives to adopt its video and display ads.
A reader who used to work at Google sent us a tip with some text from a PDF that was circulated to Google sales people back in 2009 detailing the “North America Display & Video Incentive Program.” The handout basically lists some sales talking points, including some stats on the disparity between consumer online video viewing and the amount of advertising dollars going to video. Here is the part about the financial incentives: → Read More
Ok TRON fans, have I got a treat for you!
I just returned from a two day TRON press event with some awesome interviews from the creators, cast and crew of TRON: Legacy and the original TRON. I asked many of the questions I solicited from TechCrunch commenters and everyone seemed to love them — especially Jeff Bridges. I mean, maybe they say this to everyone, but his handlers said they had not seen him that animated until our question came along.
Bridges was also pretty excited to talk about the tech involved in the making of TRON: Legacy. He took on the project of making the movie with enthusiasm when he realized he could do much of the acting without cameras by using motion capture. Keep a look out for his interview in part 3&4 along with the super sexy and awesome Olivia Wilde!
2 Videos Ahead. → Read More
A child is born on a roadside as a Google Streetview car swishes by. It’s almost good too good to be true. And it is.
The photo, which was apparently taken in the German suburb of Wilmersdorf, exactly outside No. 37 Hubertusallee, Berlin, looks like it was snapped by one of Google’s camera cars. It’s doing the rounds of Twitter and Facebook right now.
A man cradles a newborn baby in his hands beside a car which has been parked hurriedly on the street with its door open. Uh huh…
German website pcgames.de has called it out as a hoax, and it’s not hard to see why.
Here’s where the photo is supposed to have been taken. Notice how close it is to a nearby hospital? → Read More
A new federal investigation is focusing on the legality of supply line leaks and their consequences on Wall Street. The poster boy for this would have to be Apple, around which an entire manufacturing and distribution channels has grown, and which is now too big to plug every leak — especially now that memetically propagating news magnifies every murmur into a clamor, for better or for worse.
The subjects of the probe are some research firms that make it their business to know what’s going on in, say, Shenzhen or Taiwan, where friends and industry experts dispense information that may or may not be confidential about such things as big new orders, equipment changes, and meetings with other companies. The feds say that at some point, these things must constitute insider trading. I say good luck drawing that particular line. → Read More
As Apple CEO Steve Jobs like to point out, the Android Market is great for users who want to find porn. While that may not be exactly true, other Android-based stores are trying to make it true. And perhaps perception was getting too close to reality, as today, Google has announced that in the next few weeks, they’ll be showing content ratings for all apps listed in the Market.
While Android has previously had a content rating policy, prior to this, these ratings were not surfaced to users. Nor does it seem like they were strictly enforced. As a result, it was difficult to distinguish an app with mature content from those that were meant for kids. Now, all apps in the Market will be required to show one of four content rating levels: All, Pre-teen, Teen, & Mature, Google’s Eric Chu writes today. → Read More
All signs point to this holiday season being a prosperous one for retailers. Hitwise is reporting that searches around Black Friday are up 31%, and the share of visits to Black Friday websites are up 18% from last year during the same time.
Hitwise’s data also shows that more women than men are visiting the Black Friday websites with visits split 59% female and 41% male and visitors to Black Friday sites tend to be younger with 59% of visitors under the age of 35. → Read More
So many video games have used the Unreal Engine over the years, including, of course, Unreal, as well as Epic Games’ other big series, Gears of War. Then there’s the BioShock games, Mass Effect. Even Namco’s new Enslaved: Odyssey to the West uses it. So, presenting a new trailer showing off just what Unreal Engine 3 can do. → Read More
In retrospect, Tesla may have been cleantech’s Netscape moment. It didn’t get off to the world’s greatest start, but like a few other venture-backed IPOs, lately it has been trading at nearly double its opening price.
Meanwhile, a few other cleantech companies have filed S-1s and several more are waiting in the wings, watching to see what the market does. To continue the Netscape analogy, 2011 could even see Elon Musk emerge as the new Jim Clark if one of his other companies SolarCity files, as some in the industry expect.
Nat Goldhaber of the venture firm Claremont Creek Ventures argues that 2011 will be the year of the cleantech IPO, and it’s not just because of those handful of hot companies are finally ready for primetime and bankers are itching to take them out. → Read More
According to a reliable tipster, the PSP phone may be dropping (or at least getting its announcement) on December 9, before CES but in time for the holidays. The invitation, shown here, mentions Pierre Perron, DG of Sony Ericsson France. → Read More
While I won’t claim that any of us on CrunchGear are writers – “hacks” is the more accurate term – we do know a thing or two about a thing or two. And one of those things is sitting for long hours writing stuff down. While many of us use “computers” and “keyboards,” we also occassionally like to feel like we are producing “art” and sometimes we need to get away from the desk chair. Here are some tools to make your writer friend a happier and more productive drain on society. → Read More
