March 14th, 2011

HP's Sandy Bridge Notebook Line Now Shipping

Intel’s Sandy Bridge platform got off to a rough start with a recall shortly after it launched, which then sent ripples through top-tier manufacturers who then had to delay or recall their wares. But everything is worked out now and the sun is beating down on the sandy bridges as HP starts shipping its first round of next-gen Intel notebooks. → Read More

March 14th, 2011

Intel Buys Egypt-Based SySDSoft To Boost Its 4G LTE Efforts

Intel, through stand-alone subsidiary Intel Mobile Communications, today announced that it has acquired most of the assets of SySDSoft, a Cairo, Egypt-based software company to accelerate its 4G LTE efforts.

The privately-held company develops embedded wireless systems. Intel says it will hire roughly 100 of SySDSoft’s electrical engineers and computer scientists. → Read More

March 12th, 2011

The Walled Garden Has Won

barbedwire

Ten days ago Google discovered that apparently innocuous Android apps were in fact infested with “DroidDream” malware that included an Android rootkit, with the apparent intent of creating a smartphone botnet. It infected more than a quarter of a million devices before Google intervened. The thriller writer in me immediately began to wonder what would happen if black hats built a wildly popular game that doubled as a botnet beachhead. Imagine if Angry Birds was secretly the world’s biggest botnet: even without root access to its install base, those hypothetical black hats could grab private data from tens millions of people, and/or probably DDoS every wireless network in the developed world, especially if it ran as a background service with location access.

That will never happen, of course: it’s what security guru Bruce Schneier calls a “movie-plot threat.” But it does illustrate that you couldn’t stop a Trojan app like that in advance. Android Market security is based on permission requests when an app is installed: such requests are routinely ignored, since nowadays almost every app asks for full Internet and SD card access. Ah, you might say, if only Android apps were vetted in advance, like Apple’s! In which case you should really stop kidding yourself. Most apps seem to be reviewed in an hour or less (after days in the queue.) Apple appears to check the libraries they link against, and maybe they can decompile to the original source code, too – though I doubt it – but iOS apps are written in Objective-C, which includes support for C itself, a language for which labyrinthine obfuscation has become an art form. Any developer worth his/her salt could write an iOS app that includes code whose use only becomes apparent when the app receives a secret signal. → Read More

March 3rd, 2011

Apple, Google, Amazon, And Microsoft Make Up 4 Of The Top 10 Most Admired Companies

Every year, Fortune magazine (where I started out as a reporter) comes out with its list of the Most Admired Companies in the world. In truth, it doesn’t really change much from year to year. Apple, once again for the fourth year in a row, is No. 1, as it should be. The company single-handedly created an entirely new class of touch computing with the iPad last year, and is on it’s way to becoming the most valuable company in the world.

Google is No. 2 (although, confusingly, it’s overall score of 8.22 is higher than Apple’s 8.16—it turns out that those are their industry scores not their separate Top 50 scores, a spokesperson explains, even though they are labeled “overall scores”). And Amazon comes in at No. 7. Microsoft hangs on at No. 9. So four of the top 10 companies are from the technology industry. And IBM is No. 12. After that, the list becomes a mixed bag, and even a little questionable. Cisco, Intel, Netflix, eBay, Sony, and Oracle also made the list. Netflix totally deserves to be there and maybe Cisco, but the others just seem to grandfathered in. Where’s Yahoo? → Read More

March 2nd, 2011

AMD Belittles Thunderbolt, Says It's Unnecessary

AMD certainly would benefit from minimizing Thunderbolt. If Thunderbolt were to catch on, AMD would likely have to purchase components from chief rival, Intel. AMD says that they support USB 3.0 and that Thunderbolt’s speed would be superfluous. → Read More

February 28th, 2011

Intel Announces New Solid-State Drives

Today, Intel announced a new line of solid-state drives: the Intel SSD 510 Series. The new drives operate over 6Gbps SATA to take advantage of Intel’s new higher speed SATA bus interface (like the new MBPs). Speeds are now up to 500MB per second and 315MB per second for reading and writing respectively. That’s a pretty serious upgrade from just a year ago. The two drives available now are 250GB and 120GB and are priced at $584 and $284 in quantities of 1,000. Got three hundred grand lying around? → Read More

February 28th, 2011

Intel Closes $7.68 Billion McAfee Acquisition

Intel has officially completed its acquisition of security giant McAfee, according to a release issued today. Intel announced the $7.68 billion, all-cash deal last August.

According to the release, McAfee will continue developing and selling security products and services under its own brand and “first fruits of their strategic partnership” will be brought to market later in 2011. McAfee will report into Intel’s Software and Services Group, which is led by Intel’s Renée James. → Read More

February 24th, 2011

Apple Has Significant "Head Start" With Thunderbolt, But Not Exclusive

Intel’s new Thunderbolt interface, which made its debut this morning in an upgrade to Apple’s MacBook Pro line, may be effectively an Apple exclusive for quite some time, according to Intel. At their press release, held shortly after Apple’s update when live, Intel noted that the developer kit for the interface would be provided to other computer manufacturers this spring, and that they didn’t expect OEMs to ship with Thunderbolt until 2012.

It’s not exactly an exclusive, but it’s close. That’s a pretty big coup for Apple — assuming Thunderbolt catches on faster than USB 3.0, and has no problems and plenty of applications. It’s actually a lot to assume, and although Apple is definitely a winner here, there are also some risks involved. → Read More

February 24th, 2011

What Is Thunderbolt And Will It Change Your Life?

Though you’re probably hearing about it for the first time now, Intel’s been working on a new interconnection technology for the last few years. “Light Peak”, as it was called up until it was rebranded “Thunderbolt” today, promises a new world of screaming-fast data transfers. The claims are spectacular: 10 gigabit per second transfers (both upload and download!), dual protocol support, and power over the cable. Light Peak… excuse me, Thunderbolt, is truly the interconnect of the future.

The technology launched today on Apple’s latest MacBook Pros, but Apple is just one of a bunch of companies with plans to support Intel’s technology. Thunderbolt devices will slowly trickle out of major industry players over the coming year.

It’s going to be an uphill battle for the standard — the USB horde won’t go without a fight. If you’re going to throw your support behind just one camp in this silly battle (first person to get a Thunderbolt tattoo wins!), you may want to give Thunderbolt a long look. It’s good. → Read More

February 22nd, 2011

Intel To Debut Light Peak Alongside Apple's New MacBook Pros?

Intel has released a statement saying it will be discussing “a new technology that is about to appear on the market” on Thursday, the day expected by some to bring updates to Apple’s MacBook Pro line. Coincidence? I think not. It’s almost certainly the roll-out for Intel’s big new interface, Light Peak, which was supposed to hit in 2010 but was delayed. → Read More

February 12th, 2011

Intel Kept In The Dark Over Nokia’s MeeGo Plans; Operators Reject First Device

Prior to the public announcement on Friday, Intel was kept in the dark with regards to Nokia’s plans to relegate MeeGo to a glorified R&D project, sources with knowledge of the situation tell TechCrunch Europe.

The U.S. chip maker, it appears, was caught off guard as were many media outlets and analysts – this publication aside – with the news that Nokia has forged a long term partnership with Microsoft that will see the handset maker adopt Windows Phone as its primary smartphone platform. Intel, which along with Nokia is developing the MeeGo operating system, is said to be extremely concerned now that Nokia will inevitably reduce its engineering commitment, which it desperately needs, and where this leaves plans to get its Atom chip into smartphones and other mobile devices.

We’ve also learned that Nokia’s first MeeGo device, originally scheduled to be announced late last year, has been sent back to the drawing board by operators. → Read More

February 2nd, 2011

Intel Sandy Bridge Glitch Causes Manufacturers To Scramble [Updated] For A Fix

Looks like Intel “le falta un tornillo.” You’re surely aware of the problem with its Series 6 (“Cougar Point”) support chipset, which has caused the company to stop production of its Sandy Bridge processors. It’s a nightmare, and not only for Intel. Take Asus: a fine company that produces a number motherboards and laptops that are afflicted with the rotten chipset. What to do? → Read More

January 26th, 2011

Intel To Open Cloud Computing Research Center At Stanford, Will Invest $100M In University Research

Intel Labs is opening up its deep pockets once again today, announcing a $100 million cash investment in U.S. university research over the next 5 years. The company plans to develop and open several branded “Intel Science and Technology Centers” at a number of universities for sponsored research and innovation throughout 2011.

The first Center will be built at Stanford University and will focus on creating innovations around cloud-computing, says Intel. Researchers at Stanford will collaborate with a community of researchers from seven other universities and Intel’s Core processor with combined visual and 3-D graphics will “be a key R&D platform” for researchers. Other focus areas of Intel Research Centers will include visual computing, mobility, security and embedded solutions. → Read More

January 24th, 2011

Digital Storm New Enix Desktop Has A Sandy Bridge With 4.7GHz

You may remember the Digital Storm Black Ops that we gave away during Christmas. That thing was a beast; how could it get better? Well, as you know, technology always gets better. And now, we have the entirely new Enix; which will raise the GHz ceiling a bit higher. → Read More

January 3rd, 2011

Intel's Sandy Bridge Processors In The Wild And Reviewed

The “tock” portion of Intel’s latest tick-tock cycle has officially hit, and the shrink of last year’s Core processors brings a number of improvements to the line. Intel’s finally taking some steps towards reducing systems’ reliance on discrete GPUs, and they’ve also seriously improved hardware transcoding. Essentially, though, this isn’t a feature or performance release, it’s bringing the top-end speed of the last generation to chips that plain cost less money and produce less heat. Looks like it’s time to upgrade to me. → Read More

November 16th, 2010

Intel Capital Invests $77 Million in 18 Startups Worldwide

Intel Capital, Intel’s investment arm, has just announced that it has made 18 investments spanning 11 countries, totaling a whopping $77 million. Intel also announced that the venture firm has seen 28 exists of Intel Capital portfolio companies either through an IPO or an acquisition in 2010.

The new investments for Intel Capital include Adaptivity, Althea Systems, Anobit, boo-box, De Novo, IPTEGO, Layar, Lilliputian Systems, Inc, Ortiva Wireless, Rock Flow Dynamics, Select-TV, SilkRoad, Taifatech, Videon Central, Verismo Networks, Winchannel, YuMe and Yummly.com. The firm also made several follow-on investments in existing portfolio companies including GainSpan, JackBe, Fonality, TecTotal and Wortal. → Read More

November 16th, 2010

Video Advertising Platform YuMe Gets A $5 Million Infusion From Intel Capital

Video ad network YuMetoday announced that it has received $5 million in a strategic investment from Intel Capital. YuMe has now raised nearly $55 million in funding and is profitable.

YuMe’s technology places video ad networks dynamically on videos on a number of publishers across a variety of platform. The company also developers monetization technologies for video publishers that allows them to build apps to support mobile video ads. The new capital from Intel will be used towards this technology. → Read More

November 16th, 2010

Intel Capital Augments Layar's Reality With A $14 Million Capital Infusion

Augmented reality startup Layar has raised roughly $14 million (€10 million) in its second round of funding, which was led by Intel Capital and joined by previous backers Sunstone Capital and Prime Ventures. This brings the total of capital raised by the Dutch company to a healthy $17.4 million. → Read More

October 27th, 2010

Intel And Another 70 Companies Launch Cloud 2015 Open Data Center Alliance

Today at a press event in San Francisco, Intel and a group of 70 companies announced an alliance to build a system of open standards for cloud computing. Part of the Cloud 2015 initiative, The Open Data Center Alliance makes it easier for customers to deploy cloud computing solutions, as it focuses on interoperability, flexibility and unifying industry standards. The Open Data Center Alliance will represent more than $50 billion in annual IT investment.

Intel, which powers 9 out 10 of the servers for cloud today, will be a technical advisor and non voting member in the alliance. The companies involved are cross-vertical including Lockheed Martin, Marriott International, BMW and JP Morgan Chase, joining together with Intel towards the ultimate endgoal of simplified virtual computing. While Google, Amazon Yahoo are missing from the list, Intel commented that membership is still open, “There’s a lot of people still in the pipeline. We’re adding people by the minute.” → Read More

October 27th, 2010

Intel Backs Three Startups From The Middle East: Nymgo, Jeeran, ShooFeeTV

Intel’s investment arm, Intel Capital, announced three new investments at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa today.

The three startups that have received fresh capital from the investment organization are UK/Lebanon based Nymgo (which delivers cheap VoIP telephony services), Jordan-based Jeeran (social networking site) and ShooFeeTV (which operates a Web-based entertainment guide). → Read More

Real-Time
Crunchbase

Durham Graphene Science — Received £1.2M in Seed funding from IP Group Plc
2.13.2012
OpenLabel — Company added to CrunchBase
2.13.2012
2.13.2012
Cidade Internet — Acquired by Populis.
2.1.2012
Jive Software — Went public with stock symbol NASDAQ:JIVE.
2.3.2012
Cidade Internet — Acquired by Populis.
2.1.2012
2.1.2012
2.9.2012
LetsBuy.com — Acquired by Flipkart.
2.9.2012
Cocoafish — Acquired by Appcelerator.
2.9.2012
Durham Graphene Science — Received £1.2M in Seed funding from IP Group Plc
2.13.2012
ClevrU — Received $550k in Unattributed funding
2.10.2012
OpenLabel — Received $80k in Seed funding from Peter Kirwan, Tim Drees, and Doug Taylor
2.10.2012
sneakpeeq — Received $2.67M in Unattributed funding from Bain Capital Ventures, Metamorphic Ventures, Keith Rabois, Tim Kendall, Mike Murphy, and Vikas Gupta
2.10.2012
Noble Biomaterials — Received $8M in Series B funding from Northwater Capital, TL Ventures, and DuPont Capital Management
2.10.2012
2.13.2012
Peter Kirwan — Invested in OpenLabel.
2.10.2012
Doug Taylor — Invested in OpenLabel.
2.10.2012
Tim Drees — Invested in OpenLabel.
2.10.2012
Metamorphic Ventures — Invested in sneakpeeq.
2.10.2012
Jive Software — Went public with stock symbol NASDAQ:JIVE.
2.3.2012
OpenLabel — Company added to CrunchBase
2.13.2012
Bookt — Company added to CrunchBase
2.12.2012
Kigo.Net — Company added to CrunchBase
2.12.2012
LiveRez — Company added to CrunchBase
2.12.2012
Preference Digital — Company added to CrunchBase
2.12.2012
2.12.2012
Metier HR - Cloud Based HR Process Automation Suite — Product added to CrunchBase
2.12.2012
TweepsMap — Product added to CrunchBase
2.12.2012
Wupbox account — Product added to CrunchBase
2.11.2012
Pocketbook (Mobile app, coming soon) — Product added to CrunchBase
2.11.2012
CrunchBase