Los Angeles – Electronics maker Samsung has sold 10 million
of its Galaxy S smartphones since introducing the device in June, Bloomberg
reports. According to IDC data, Samsung ranked fourth in smartphone sales
during the third quarter of 2010, behind Nokia, Apple and RIM.
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/297fomw
(Bloomberg)
Kirkland, Wash. – Craig McCaw, the telecom pioneer who
helped build wireless companies Nextel and XO Communications, has resigned as
the chairman of Clearwire, the wireless company he founded in 2003, according
to an SEC filing. McCaw had served as chairman of Clearwire for more than seven
years. The move comes as majority owner Sprint Nextel reportedly declined its
option to buy notes from Clearwire, which has been trying to raise upwards of
$1.2 billion to continue building out its nationwide mobile broadband network.
Related Links:
http://www.clearwire.com
http://tinyurl.com/28rtk5k
(SEC)
http://tinyurl.com/2b7abzk
(Bloomberg)
San Francisco – BitTorrent, the company created by the
designers of the file-sharing software, announced on Monday that it now counts
over 100 million worldwide monthly users of its applications.
San
Francisco-based BitTorrent offers both the original BitTorrent Mainline
application, and µTorrent.
The company said it is seeing over 400,000 daily
downloads of the applications, and clients checking in from over 220 countries
every day.
It also highlighted recent partnerships with content producers, to
legitimately distribute a number of feature films.
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/24qahso
Cupertino, Calif. – Apple (NASD: AAPL) and Sony (NYSE: SNE) Pictures Home
Entertainment are testing new "special features" on movies available
for download from the iTunes Store, which are not available on DVD or other
digital platforms, PaidContent reports.
The features, available on current titles
such as "The Other Guys," "Salt" and "Resident Evil:
Afterlife," include a search function that will lead viewers searching for
a keyword directly to instances where terms they are searching for appear in
the film.
Another "clip & share" feature lets users easily share
select clips on social networks.
Finally, each film is accompanied by a
playlist of songs featured, with link to purchase them on iTunes.
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/25hwye8
(PaidContent)
San Francisco – Lookout Mobile Security, a developer of
cloud-based smartphone security services, said it has raised $19.5 million in
its third round of funding, led by Index Ventures.
Accel Partners and Khosla
Ventures also participated in the round, which the company — which currently
boasts more than four million registered users — will use to expand its
offerings.
"This investment will help Lookout expand to other platforms
and develop additional security services to protect consumers," said
founder and CEO John Hering.
San Francisco-based Lookout’s free and premium
service are available on more than 400 mobile networks in 170 countries.
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/2eb4b5w
New York – Google (NASD: GOOG) is in talks with publishers to create a
digital newsstand that would offer magazines and newspapers for mobile devices
running its Android operating system, The Wall Street Journal reported. Details
of the newsstand and its timing "remain vague," media executives who
have spoken with Google told The Times.
The company, which recently launched a digital store for e-books, has reportedly spoken with
publishers including Time, Conde Nast and Hearst.
Apple already operates a
digital newsstand, where users can purchase and download publications to an
iPad or iPhone.
"We know consumers want an ongoing relationship with our
print and digital products, and we are working with all partners to achieve
that," Monica Ray, executive vice president of consumer marketing at Conde
Nast, told The Times.
"We also need commercial terms that we’re
comfortable with."
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/2fwpcts
(WSJ)
Belmont, Mass. – CQuotient, a data analytics start-up
founded last July, has raised $3 million in venture capital, according to a new
filing by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Bain Capital
Ventures is an investor in CQuotient, which offers technology that helps retail
businesses gain insight into consumer shopping behavior.
The Belmont, Mass.-based
company says on its website that it has "a paying customer already."
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/2f22xl5
San Francisco – Toshiba plans to introduce a tablet computer
in the first half of 2011 to compete with Apple’s iPad and a growing stable of
similar devices, Reuters reported.
The 10-inch Toshiba Tablet will reportedly
run the Honeycomb version of Google’s Android operating system, and feature
Wi-Fi connectivity but no cellular network access.
The Toshiba device is
expected to be competitively priced with the iPad, which sells for $499
"We
are going to embrace this category, and we are looking to develop a family of
tablets," Jeff Barney, general manager of digital products at Toshiba
America, told Reuters.
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/2843pqb
(Reuters)
Palo Alto, Calif. – Facebook has raised $500 million in new
financing from Goldman Sachs and previous backer, Russia’s Digital Sky
Technologies, in a deal that values the company at $50 billion, The New York
Times reported, citing people involved in the transaction. The deal notably
gives Facebook a higher valuation than companies such as Yahoo and Time Warner,
and may signal an eventual initial public offering (IPO) for Facebook.
Goldman
Sachs is expected to raise up to $1.5 billion from investors for Facebook,
sources told The Times.
As a result of the new investment that values Facebook at $50 billion, Digital Sky Technologies will see
its initial nearly half-billion dollar investment in Facebook increase fivefold
in value, while Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth may double, to near
$15 billion.
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/24o6m3z
(N.Y. Times)
New York – Online ad targeting firm [x+1] announced on
Monday that it has closed a $10 million second round of funding, led by Intel
Capital.
Previous backers including Advanced Technology Ventures, Blue Chip
Venture Company and Hudson Venture Partners also participated.
New York-based [x+1]
said it will use the funds to support growth of its digital marketing hub,
which it says enables multi-channel audience targeting at scale.
Related Links:
http://www.xplusone.com
