FocuSoft Tech Blog |
| HP’s new external Blu-ray drive is sleek as hell Posted: 13 Apr 2009 04:45 PM PDT
The Blu-ray drive that will be coming with the HP dv2 "ultra-slim" notebook is looking really nice. It's shiny, gorgeous, and incredibly thin. I thought I better get some pictures of this sexy accessory up so you guys know how HP rolls with this new stylish line of not-netbooks-but-not-notebooks. We'll have a full review of the laptop up soon, since it's sitting right here next to me.
View original here: |
| Posted: 13 Apr 2009 04:30 PM PDT
As investors wait for Google to announce first quarter earnings later this week, the question is how bad will it be? J.P. Morgan analyst Imran Khan put out a note this morning predicting that revenues will actually decline 2 percent from last year and will be down 13 percent from last quarter. (His prior estimate was for 5 percent growth). Khan also revised his pro forma EPS estimates down 5.5 percent from $5.04 to $4.76. What’s got him spooked? Through February, comScore is showing declines in U.S. search activity (measured in query volume) and Khan’s own checks with search-engine marketers leads him to believe that commercial-oriented searches took a hit during the quarter. That would be significant since so far search has remained the healthiest segment of the online advertising industry. While search advertising has experienced a dramatic slowdown in growth, it has yet to see any actual declines. Will this be Google’s first down quarter in terms of revenues? It is certainly acting that way—cutting temporary workers and even a few hundred full time staff, and killing projects left and right. Khan thinks all of these cuts will result in $450 million in savings this year alone:
Finally, Khan believes that about 20 percent of Google advertisers will cut back their spending as a result of tighter credit markets and the general economic downturn. Meanwhile, the stock has been on a tear the past month, rising from $290 on March 9 to today’s closing price of $378. Will a bad quarter end the ride, or will Google somehow pull it off despite the challenges? Information provided by CrunchBase Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily. Original post: |
| Another International Polar Year comes to an end Posted: 13 Apr 2009 04:30 PM PDT
The International Polar Year just wrapped up. Yeah, I didn't know anything about it, either. It involved 160 scientific projects conducted by researchers from over 60 countries, so you'd think it might have gotten a little more mainstream press. You'd think the construction of cyborg seals would garner some attention, at least! Okay, so they're not really cyborg seals. Using custom-made radio transmitters, scientists from the Norwegian Polar Institute not only monitored the behaviour of elephant seals, they also recorded data about temperature and salinity of waters around Antarctica. The transmitters fell off when the seals molted, so there was no long-term damage to these majestic animals. Neat! Via CNN. Read more: |
| Ashton Kutcher Promises To Punk Ted Turner If He Beats CNN To A Million Twitter Followers Posted: 13 Apr 2009 04:24 PM PDT
So Kutcher is throwing down the gauntlet. In a video released on YouTube today (embedded below), he's promising to "ding dong ditch" billionaire Ted Tuner (founder of CNN) if he beats CNN to a million Twitter followers. What is a ding dong ditch you may ask? Well, it's when you go up to a person's house, ring their doorbell, them run away and watch as they look around to see who's there. Yes, it's kind of a wussy version of stuff they used to do on Kutcher's hit MTV show "Punk'd." In releasing this to the Internet and tweeting it out, it's pretty clear that Kutcher wants to be the first Twitter user with a million followers. That should be enough to put him over the top, but he may need a little more help as singer Britney Spears also remains ahead of him (though slightly with just over 870,000 followers). Information provided by CrunchBase Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it's time for you to find a new Job2.0 Go here to see the original: |
| NextWorth now paying for your old gadgets Posted: 13 Apr 2009 04:01 PM PDT
I can't tell you how much stuff I have lying around my apartment and office that I've been meaning to unload for the last few months or even year. I've used Flipswap and Gazelle in the past with varying degrees of success - $20 vs $45 for an old Nokia from college – and now NextWorth is getting in on the used gadget recycling game with added categories. You can opt to be paid via a check, Paypal, Target or Amazon gift card, which is something the competitors don't offer. And shipping for your gadget is free. If it turns out that you fibbed about your gadget (jk) and it turns out to be worth nothing then NextWorth will recycle it for you. Did you know that e-waste is growing 2-3 times faster than any other waste stream? Me either, but that's what the EPA is saying. So go and get yourself some beer money for all your used junk. Information provided by CrunchBase Information provided by CrunchBase Read the original post: |
| Application Delivery Software Ravenflow Nabs $6 Million In Funding Posted: 13 Apr 2009 03:45 PM PDT
Ravenflow has secured $6 million in an unattributed round of funding from existing investors Alloy Ventures, Palomar Ventures and the Roda Group, bringing the company’s total funding to $20.7 million. Ravenflow’s software helps enterprises deliver applications faster. Launched in 2004, Ravenflow lets business analysts gain better insight into application development projects, letting analysts create mamange their workflow and specify business application needs. In short, the software allows companies seamlessly translate data and language from MBAs to engineers. This company made a business around that, although its site is so filled with jargon that it doesn’t give you much confidence that it can explain things in simple English to MBAs. Ravenflow previously raised $5 million is unattributed round of funding from the same investors as above in 2008, and $9.7 million in funding in 2005, in another undisclosed round of funding. Both rounds were funded by Alloy Ventures, Palomar Ventures and the Roda Group. Information provided by CrunchBase Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily. View original post here: |
| Ooma Offline: If You Wanna Be A Phone Company, You Can’t Go Dead (Redux) Posted: 13 Apr 2009 03:42 PM PDT
Exactly one year ago today, a widespread outage hit Google's GrandCentral (recently upgraded and relaunched as Google Voice). At the time, we wrote "If you want to be a phone company, and get your users to rely on you to manage all of your incoming calls, this simply cannot happen". A year later those words ring true as a widespread outage has hit another VoIP provider: Ooma, the device that offers users free phone service for life. Ooma has had a somewhat checkered history, struggling for years to gain market-share as consumers largely scoffed at its high pricetag (the service may have been free for life, but the $400 price of admission to purchase the unit was simply too steep for most people). But more recently, the company has been on the rebound after lowering its price to $250 per unit and closing a third round of funding last September. Update: CMO Rich Buchanan has left the following comment below:
Information provided by CrunchBase
Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it's time for you to find a new Job2.0 Read the rest here: |
| Posted: 13 Apr 2009 03:37 PM PDT
A handful of gaming news just got dumped on my lap, so I figured a roundup post was in order. First up is some news about the upcoming PS3 exclusive inFamous from Sucker Punch. It was supposed to launch sometime in June, but Sony announced today that it would be coming on May 26. The demo drops on May 21, but if you pre-order now, you'll be privy to some exclusive goodies, like, early access to the demo on the 7th of May.
If you missed the gameplay trailer for BioShock 2 then check it out now! Next up is the latest trailer for Terminator Salvation - The Videogame, which "features the visceral, story and character driven gaming experience with John Conner and the Resistance fighting Skynet's deadly machines." I want to believe that this game is going to be good, I really do. And last but not least is some gameplay footage of Battlestations: Pacific, which drops on May 12 for the Xbox 360 and PC. Read more: |
| Reminder: Take All Your Data Out Of Kwiry Before It Sinks Into The Deadpool Posted: 13 Apr 2009 03:12 PM PDT
When SMS reminder service Kwiry launched back in December, 2007, I wondered whether anyone would use it. We now have our answer: not enough people to keep it going. The company sent out a notice today to users, also on its Website, that it will be shutting down on April 23, 2009. Kwiry allowed you to text a keyword from your phone and get back an email with links to search results for that keyword. It was supposed to be a simple way to remind yourself of things. Later, it expanded to other ways to use SMS, such as to update your Netflix movie lineup. But it didn't really solve a pressing problem. There are easier ways to remind yourself of something than sending yourself a search results page via clunky SMS. The bigger issue I think was that these reminders were for yourself instead of being aimed at other people. People don't want to talk to themselves, they want to talk to other people, which is why communication-based services always have an easier time gaining traction. The founders wrote a farewell note on their Website today saying:
At least Kwiry is doing the right thing by letting users take their data out of the system before the servers get turned off. Information provided by CrunchBase Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware. Go here to see the original: |
| Nokia 5530 XpressMusic to launch for Nokia World? Posted: 13 Apr 2009 03:11 PM PDT
For instance, the Symbian S60-running phone will have a 3.2-megapixel camera, a 2.9-inch display, Wi-Fi and a FM radio. Featuring a touchscreen, this phone should help solidify Nokia's touchscreen product line up. We don't know if GPS or 3G will be included, but we do know that this smartphone may be available in time for Nokia World, on September 2. Nothing's known for sure yet, but we can always use more smartphones! Relevant Entries on SlashGear
Excerpt from: |
| You are subscribed to email updates from FocuSoft Tech Blog To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
Inbox too full?  Subscribe to the feed version of FocuSoft Tech Blog in a feed reader. | |
| If you prefer to unsubscribe via postal mail, write to: FocuSoft Tech Blog, c/o Google, 20 W Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 comments:
Post a Comment