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<title>Haaze.com / DimaFGert / All</title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com</link>
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<pubDate>Thu, 06 Jan 2011 08:10:19 +0000</pubDate>
<language>en</language>
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<title><![CDATA[CES: Pilot iRobot's AVA telepresence bot with iPad]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ces-pilot-irobots-ava-telepresence-bot-with-ipad</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ces-pilot-irobots-ava-telepresence-bot-with-ipad</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 06 Jan 2011 08:10:19 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>DimaFGert</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ces-pilot-irobots-ava-telepresence-bot-with-ipad</guid>
<description><![CDATA[iRobot CEO Colin Angle introduces AVA, a tablet-controlled robot with telepresence functions. (Credit:Tim Hornyak/CNET)LAS VEGAS--What if you could control a 5-foot-tall robot with youriPad iRobot's AVA, introduced today at the Consumer Electronics Show, is a self-navigating,tablet-controlled droid that can map out environments, project your presence into remote locations, and turn virtually any app into a mobile platform. &quot;You just tap your tablet screen to tell it where to go,&quot; said iRobot CEO Colin Angle, who introduced a prototype of the machine. &quot;It could be serving drinks or act as a mobile alarm clock.&quot; AVA, short for &quot;avatar,&quot; is a three-wheel platform that runs on software from the company's military robots like PackBot. It has a Wi-Fi-linked tablet mounted on a mast that can move up and down, from about 3 feet to a maximum height of about 5 feet.  The robot has two PrimeSense sensors, the same ones used in the Kinect forXbox 360, as well as microphones and speakers, laser rangefinders, scanning acoustic sensors, and bump sensors for obstacles.  It can move in any direction, with a top speed of about 6 feet per second. Aside from its excellent maneuverability and speed, using a tablet (or any Android device) opens up a wealth of applications as well as programming by myriad app developers.  Unlike telepresence robots that rely on remote control to move around, AVA can learn and map out its environment, taking some of the navigation tedium out of telepresence. iRobot doesn't have a release date yet, but Angle said the company is actively seeking application developers for the platform. The telepresence robotics field keeps growing steadily, and if iRobot's success with Roomba is anything to judge by, it looks poised to go mainstream before too long.  <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Racktivity raises $8 million for data center efficiency]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=racktivity-raises-8-million-for-data-center-efficiency</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=racktivity-raises-8-million-for-data-center-efficiency</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>DimaFGert</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=racktivity-raises-8-million-for-data-center-efficiency</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Racktivity has raised $8 million in second-round financing for its management of data center power.The round was led by Partech International, and existing investor Big Bang Ventures participated. The European company also announced it would open a U.S. headquarters in Redwood City, Calif. It said it will use the new round of funding to accelerate growth and expand its sales presence in Europe and the U.S.Racktivity makes a power distribution unit called Rack Controller as well as software that manages and reduces data center energy use and maximizes uptime, or the time equipment can run without failing. The company says it will deliver the first of its modules to the U.S. in the first quarter of 2011.Greening data centers are a growing concern for big companies. Data centers eat up around three percent of all energy consumed in the U.S., and a number of startups are competing to provide solutions ranging from wireless centers to energy management software to networked lighting.Racktivity has deployed its Rack Controller in Europe through companies like Combell, Terremark Europe and Zenith Infotech. Combell, a data center hosting company, reported lowering its total cost of ownership by 65 percent.[Flickr/The Planet]Next Story: Verizon&amp;'s LTE 4G network lands Dec. 5, serving 110M users in 38 markets Previous Story: Study says training with video games can help you do your job betterPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: data centers, green data centersCompanies: Big Band Ventures, Combell, Partech International, Racktivity, Terremark Europe, Zenith Infotech          Tags: data centers, green data centersCompanies: Big Band Ventures, Combell, Partech International, Racktivity, Terremark Europe, Zenith InfotechIris Kuo is the VentureBeat's lead GreenBeat writer. She has reported for The Wall Street Journal in Hong Kong, Houston Chronicle, the McClatchy Washington Bureau and Dallas public radio. Iris attended the University of Texas at Dallas and lives in Houston. Follow Iris on Twitter @thestatuskuo (and yes, that's how you  pronounce her last name).VentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Social Networking: The&nbsp'Future]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=social-networking-thenbspfuture</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=social-networking-thenbspfuture</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>DimaFGert</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=social-networking-thenbspfuture</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Editor&amp;'s note: This is the third of a three-part guest post by venture capitalist Mark Suster of GRP Partners on &amp;''Social Networking: The Past, Present, And Future.&amp;''  Read Part I  and Part II first.  This series is an adaptation of a recent talk Suster gave at the Caltech / MIT Enterprise Forum on &amp;''the future of social networking.&amp;''  You can watch thea4svideo here , or you can scroll quickly through the Powerpoint slides embedded at the bottom of the post ora4shere on DocStoc.  Follow him on Twitter @msuster.In my first post I talked about the history of social networking from 1985-2002 dominated by CompuServe, AOL &amp;amp' Yahoo!  In the second post I explored the current era which covers Web 2.0 (blogs, YouTube, MySpace, Facebook), Realtime (Twitter), and mobile (Foursquare).  Is the game over  Have Facebook &amp;amp' Twitter won or is their another act  No prizes for guessing &amp;8230' there&amp;'s always a second (and third, and fourth, and fifth) act in technology. a4sSo where is social networking headed next a4sI make eight predictions below.1. The Social Graph Will Become PortableRight now our social graph (whom we are connected to and their key information like email addresses) is mostly held captive by Facebook. a4sThere is growing pressure on Facebook to make this portable and they have made some progress on this front. a4sUltimately I don&amp;'t believe users or society as a whole will accept a single company &amp;''locking in&amp;'' our vital information.Facebook will succumb to pressure and over time make this available to us to allow us more choice in being part of several social networks without having to spam all of our friends again. a4sI know in 2010 this doesn&amp;'t seem obvious to everybody but it&amp;'s my judgment. a4sEither they make our social graph portable or we&amp;'ll find other networks to join. a4sI predict this will come before the end of 2012.2. We Will Form Around &amp;''True&amp;'' Social Networks: Quora, HackerNews, Namesake, StockTwitsSince 2006 I have been lamenting what I see as &amp;''the Facebook problem&amp;'' &amp;8211' they are trying to lump me into one big social network. a4sNobody exists in one social network. I have the one with my friends where I want to talk about how wasted we were at the party last weekend that I don&amp;'t want to share with my family network where I share pictures of the kids with my parents and siblings.I don&amp;'t want either of these mixed with the business social network in which I want to maintain the appearance that I&amp;'m &amp;''all business&amp;'' and certainly don&amp;'t want to see college pictures of me in Mexico floating around. I don&amp;'t want to mix my &amp;''public network&amp;'' with my &amp;''private networks.&amp;'' a4sFacebook has jumbled these all together and then tried to bandage it by making groups available. a4sI don&amp;'t think this really solves the problem.And young people aren&amp;'t stupid &amp;8211' they certainly aren&amp;'t as digitally navea4sas their elders like to think. a4sTo get around all of this jumbling of social graphs they simply create multiple Facebook accounts undera4spseudonymsa4sor &amp;''nom du guerre&amp;'' for their real discussions and more pristine Facebook accounts for their real names. I wonder how many of Facebook&amp;'s 500 million users are created for this purpose a4sI&amp;'ve confirmed this trend with several young people.I believe that people already form topical social networks as evidenced in places like HackerNews or Quora. a4sWe are also seeing the growth of social networks around topics of interest likea4sStockTwits for people interested in investing in the stock market. a4sThere are new networks forming to try and address the needs of specific social networks such asa4sNamesake that is in its experimental stage but sees a world in which people want to network outside of Facebook.3. Privacy Issues Will Continue to Cause Problems: DiasporaFacebook made a deal with us that our social network was private. a4sWhen they jealously watched the rise of Twitter they decided that it should be made more public, but that wasn&amp;'t the bargain we made when we signed up in the first place. a4sIf I were Facebook I would have simply created two places where you could network, Facebook &amp;''private&amp;'' and Facebook &amp;''open.&amp;'' a4sThe latter product could have competed directly with Twitter and could have had an asymmetric follow model.Sure, we would have had to choose which followers to have in that separate timeline and they wouldn&amp;'t have gotten all the synergies that they have by just lumping them together. a4sBut if they would have done it this way they never would have crossed the ethical lines that they did and we could all just love Facebook instead of our love-hate relationships. a4sI&amp;'m still there daily to see pictures of mya4sniecesa4s&amp;amp' nephews &amp;8211' but I never connect more broadly with anybody in the business community. a4sSo 95% of my social networking time goes to Twitter.I know most people aren&amp;'t troubled by the loosening of their information &amp;8211' but I believe that&amp;'s because most people don&amp;'t understand it.What I realized in working with so many startup technology firms is that even if you don&amp;'t give permission to third-party apps to access your information much of it is available anyways as long as somebody you&amp;'re connected to is more promiscuous with third-party apps. a4sAlso, all of those &amp;''Facebook Connect&amp;'' buttons on websites are awesome for quickly logging in, but each gives those websites unprecedented access to your personal information.I believe that privacy leaks will cause a longer-term backlash against misusing our information but in the short-term not enough people understand the consequences to be alarmed.  Diaspora was created in direct response to the growing concerns about Facebook privacy and lock-in. a4sWhether or not Diaspora will take off is anybody&amp;'s guess. a4sBut a lot of people would love to see them or similar players emerge.4. Social Networking Will Become Pervasive: Facebook Connect meets Pandora, NYTimesAs our social graph becomes more portable I believe that social networking will become a feature in everything we do. a4sYou can already see it slipping into services like Pandora where my social graph instantly appears and my friends&amp;' musical tastes are displayed without my knowing this would happen. a4sOn NY Times I&amp;'m getting recommended articles by friends and I didn&amp;'t explicitly turn this feature on. a4sThis trend of social pervasiveness will continue.5. Third-Party Tools Will Embed Social Features in Websites: MeeboOne thing that is obvious to me is that while many websites want to have Facebook Connect log-ins to know more about you, they don&amp;'t really know what to do with you once they have that information. a4sThey&amp;'re mostly now thinking about serving demographically targeted ads to you, but that&amp;'s not very interesting. a4sThird-party software companies will start to offer features to websites to actually drive social features. a4sThis will take a few years but players such as Meebo are already innovating in this category though their toolbar.6. Social Networking (like the web) Will Split Into Layers: SimpleGeo, PlaceIQOne of the most interesting trends in the last few years has been watching the Internet split into layers. a4sAt the bottom end of the stack is storage (S3) and processing (EC2). a4sAt the top end is the business logic created by startups and established technology companies. a4sI&amp;'m going to write a whole post ona4sBothSid.es in the next few weeks on the layering of the Internet and the most important layer that will emerge in the next few years. a4sWe know that the layering of the PC era led to huge innovation at each layer in the stack and I expect the same to continue to emerge on the Internet. a4sBut for now suffice it to say that we&amp;'re already seeing this happen in social networks.One interesting layer is the &amp;''mapping layer&amp;'' that is emerging in mobile social networks. a4sIf every startup had to figure out the locations of every business, what type of business they were and where they were located on a map we&amp;'d have very few startups. a4sSimpleGeo is designed with the idea that startups can create new mobile products without having to each build their own mapping functionality. a4sThis is an awesome trend and will further lower the cost of startup development. a4sI predict that SimpleGeo will do well in the mapping layer but I see more innovative companies emerging at the data layer.And there are other companies racing to create horizontal platforms. a4sOne I saw recently wasa4sPlaceIQ. a4sTheir goal is to create a horizontal platform that allows marketers or developers to know a lot more about the geo-locations and not just the specific businesses / points-of-interest. a4sThey&amp;'re capturing information about the demographics of map tiles, levels of LBS activity, what certain zones are known for (i.e. romantic spot, financial district) and want to make this available to others.7. Social Chaos Will Create New Business Opportunities: Klout, Sprout Social, CoTweet,a4sawe.sm, (next gen) BuzzdThe explosion of data is creating opportunities just in the management of the data in and of itself. a4sOnce we&amp;'re uber-connected and getting information online from people we&amp;'ve only met online we need to know more about the &amp;''authority&amp;'' of the people we&amp;'re following. a4sEntera4sKlout, a service that tracks the influence of individuals in social networks. a4sIt can be imported into other products (e.g. StockTwits) where you really want to know more about the person giving you advice.We know that Twitter is leading to customer service opportunities for businesses but the opposite is also true. a4sIf you don&amp;'t manage what is said about you in social networks it could be detrimental. a4sProducts such asa4sSprout Social anda4sCoTweet are emerging to help businesses better track and communicate with their customers and leads. a4sProducts likea4sawe.sm (I&amp;'m an investor) will help you manage the efficacy of your social media marketing campaigns.And one of the cooler new products that will emerge in 2011 is being created bya4sNihal Mehta, who has pivoted from his previous company Buzzd, but I&amp;'m sworn to secrecy on what he&amp;'s up to until he releases it publicly. a4sI saw the product recently in New York and loved it. a4sIt will address the world of what happens when businesses and consumers are increasingly mobile &amp;amp' social.8. Facebook Will Not be the Only Dominant PlayerI know that in 2010 it seemsa4sridiculousa4sto say anything other than &amp;''Facebook has wona4&quot;the war is over&amp;'' and I know that it feels that way right now. a4sFacebook is so dominant it is astounding. a4sIn a complete return to where we all began with AOLa4&quot;the world is &amp;''closed&amp;'' again as Facebook has become this generation&amp;'s walled garden. a4sWhen you&amp;'re on Facebook you&amp;'re not on the Interneta4&quot;you&amp;'re on the InterNOT. a4sIt is an amazing service and I use it regularly myself (although much less than I use Twitter). a4sBut it makes me laugh to now see so many brands advertising their &amp;''fan pages&amp;'' as they did their AOL Keywords back in the day. a4sPlus aa4schange &amp;8230'Well, here&amp;'s a quick history primer that may change your mind:In 1998 the Department of Justice launched an anti-trust case against Microsoft. a4sPeople feared they were going to have a monopoly over the Internet due to &amp;''bunding&amp;'' Internet Explorer with their operating system. a4sA bit laughable in 2010, just 12 years later. a4sThese days people would sooner fear Apple than Microsoft, proving that reality is stranger than fiction. In April of 2000 there were fears that the AOL / Time Warner merger would create a monopoly on the Internet. a4sAs you know, Time Warner eventually spun off AOL for peanuts. a4sAOL is in the process of rebuilding itself and emulating a little-known LA-based startup called Demand Media. a4sAOL seems to be doing great things to reinvent itself under the leadership of Tim Armstrong, but monopoly Never.In May 2007 there were fears that Google was becoming a monopoly. a4sIt controlled two-thirds of all Internet searches in the US and as we all knewa4&quot;search was inevitably going to be the portal to finding information on the Internet. a4sOr was it a4sWe now know that social networking is having a profound impact on how we discover and share content online.So . . . now it is November 2010 and Facebook has more than 500 million users. a4sThey have more page views than even Google. a4sMore than 10% of all time on the web is now Facebook. a4sThey have become a juggernaut in online advertising, pictures, video and online games. a4sAnd now they want to revolutionize email. a4sIt is no doubt that the next decade belongs to Facebook. But the coincidence is that 10 years out will be 2020 and when we look back from that date I&amp;'m certain that people will also find a Facebook monopoly a bit laughable.var docstoc_docid=&quot;63969915&quot;'var docstoc_title=&quot;Social Networks: Past, Present &amp;amp' Future&quot;'var docstoc_urltitle=&quot;Social Networks: Past, Present &amp;amp' Future&quot;'Social Networks: Past, Present &amp;amp' FutureCrunchBase InformationMark SusterInformation provided by CrunchBase<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[If WikiLeaks founder turns himself in, will the cyber leak war end]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=if-wikileaks-founder-turns-himself-in-will-the-cyber-leak-war-end</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=if-wikileaks-founder-turns-himself-in-will-the-cyber-leak-war-end</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>DimaFGert</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=if-wikileaks-founder-turns-himself-in-will-the-cyber-leak-war-end</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Julian Assange, the founder of WikilLeaks, is planning to turn himself into police to face questioning over allegations of rape and other crimes in Sweden. The question is whether that will end the cyber leak war that has been happening for weeks.The case is a test of just how far internet freedoms can go, since WikiLeaks has come under fire from governments around the world for making classified documents public on the internet. It&amp;'s unclear whether such leaks would continue if Assange is arrested and prosecuted, although Assange has said himself that if anything happens to him, further sensitive documents would automatically go live.Newspapers have reported that Assange is expected to hand himself into police as early as Tuesday, after the Swedish authorities issued a European Arrest Warrant. Assange has been hiding in the southeast of England. The development follows news that Swiss authorities have closed down one of Assange&amp;'s bank accounts. The 39-year-old Australian has been operating WikiLeaks from secret locations.Wikileaks stirred an enormous controversy as it released secret documents related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan earlier this year and then released secret U.S. diplomatic cables in recent days. WikiLeaks also published a list of hundreds of sensitive sites around the world that the U.S. fears could come under attack.Kristinn Hrafnsson, spokesman for WikiLeaks, told the Guardian that Assange had to keep a low profile after several threats on his life. But Sweden&amp;'s Supreme Court upheld an order seeking to detain Assange for questioning related to charges of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion. Assange has denied wrongdoing.WikiLeaks has faced increasing troubles since its publication of the 251,000 secret documents. It lost its domain name service provider, EveryDNS.net, because that company came under a huge cyberattack and had to jettison WikiLeaks. And Amazon also stopped providing web-hosting services to WikiLeaks, saying its display of stolen content had violated Amazon&amp;'s terms of service. The Swiss Bank, Postfinance, said it shut his bank account after it found Assange gave a false address.Next Story: So. California companies: Get great feedback from VCs and&amp;8230'cocktails Previous Story: Zynga has its best launch ever with CityVille social gamePrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: secret documentsCompanies: WikiLeaksPeople: Julian Assange          Tags: secret documentsCompanies: WikiLeaksPeople: Julian AssangeDean is lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He covers video games, security, chips and a variety of other subjects. Dean previously worked at the San Jose Mercury News, the Wall Street Journal, the Red Herring, the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register and the Dallas Times Herald. He is the author of two books, Opening the Xbox and the Xbox 360 Uncloaked. Follow him on Twitter at @deantak, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.VentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Google exec: Chrome OS and Android represent two visions of computing]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-exec-chrome-os-and-android-represent-two-visions-of-computing</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-exec-chrome-os-and-android-represent-two-visions-of-computing</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>DimaFGert</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-exec-chrome-os-and-android-represent-two-visions-of-computing</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Tech pundits (including me) have been wondering about how Googlea4a4s Chrome OS will compare to Android and how the two operating systems fit into Googlea4a4s broader product strategy. Sundar Pichai, Googlea4a4s vice president of product management, took another stab at answering the question today.The topic came up at a Chrome OS press event in San Francisco, where a reporter asked if Chrome OS might be a better operating system than Android for tablet. The Chrome OS pilot device and the consumer launch devices are netbooks, but Google has hinted that Chrome OS might work on other devices eventually.Pichai answered that Chrome OS and Android represent a4Atwo different approaches to computing.a4 He noted that Google is making both operating systems available via open source, so both can (and have been) adopted by a variety of manufacturing partners.a4AHaving said that, we want the market and the users to use what they want,a4 Pichai said. a4AAs long as ita4a4s Google &amp;8212' both of them are Google products &amp;8212' wea4a4ll be pretty happy.a4On the tablet question, Pichai said Google is moving a4Aone step at a timea4 and is currently working with netbook partners. He noted that Chrome OS doesna4a4t require a physical keyboard to work, so theoretically it should work on a tablet.Pichai also said that Google has to answer this question all the time. I would argue thata4a4s because the answer seems to change. Initially, all the discussion of Chrome versus Android focused on phones versus netbooks, then it shifted to Chromea4a4s focus on the Web (ita4a4s basically just a version of the Chrome browser that runs on a netbook) versus Androida4a4s downloadable applications. Last month, Eric Schmidt said Google doesna4a4t want to impose an answer, but that a4Athe Android solution is particularly optimized for things that involve touch in some form, and Chrome OS appears to be for keyboard-based solutions.a4Ultimately, the confusion may not be a huge deal. I suspect consumers will care less about how Chrome OS compares to Android and more about whether a Chrome netbook does what they want it to.Front photo via Danny SullivanNext Story: The anti-shocker: Shocking Technologies uses nanotech to protect devices from static electricity Previous Story: Mobile analytics firm Flurry raises $15MPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: Android, chrome, Chrome OS, netbooks, tabletsCompanies: GooglePeople: Sundar Pichai          Tags: Android, chrome, Chrome OS, netbooks, tabletsCompanies: GooglePeople: Sundar PichaiAnthony is VentureBeat's assistant editor, as well as its reporter on media, advertising, and social networks. Before joining VentureBeat in 2008, Anthony worked at the Hollister Free Lance, where he won awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association for breaking news coverage and writing. He attended Stanford University and now lives in San Francisco. Reach him at anthony@venturebeat.com. (All story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com) You can also follow Anthony on Twitter.VentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Mobile sharing startup Bump raises $16M]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=mobile-sharing-startup-bump-raises-16m</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=mobile-sharing-startup-bump-raises-16m</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>DimaFGert</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=mobile-sharing-startup-bump-raises-16m</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Bump Technologies, the startup that first grabbed attention by allowing users to a4Abumpa4 their phones together and share contact information, just raised $16 million in a second round of funding.The company has an impressive lineup of investors &amp;8212' Andreessen Horowitz, the firm co-founded by Netscape creator Marc Andreessen, led the current round. Past backers Sequoia Capital, Ram Shirama4a4s Sherpalo Ventures, and Ron Conwaya4a4s SV Angels also participated. Andreessen is joining the Bump board.Although I still think of Bump as a contact-sharing company, chief executive David Lieb and co-founder Jake Mintz told me that Ia4a4m a little behind the times. They said that after observing that Bump was mostly used on nights and weekends in social contexts, they added other kinds of sharing like music and photos. Now photos are the most-shared item on Bump, with 20 photos shared every second.The app (which is available for iOS and Android devices) now has 25 million users, with 1 million users added in the last two weeks alone. The app is free, and Lieb said the company is focused on improving the product for now, then adding features to make money later on.As for future plans, Lieb said Bump is looking beyond person-to-person interactions. Ita4a4s too early to talk about new features, he said, but one of the most-requested additions has come from musicians who want to find ways to share music and other media with their fans.Bump was incubated by Y Combinator. Don&amp;'t confuse it with another company called Bump, which has created social networking tools around license plates.Previous Story: Motorola&amp;'s Xoom is the Android tablet to beat (video)PrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: Bump, mobile sharingCompanies: Andreessen Horowitz, BumpPeople: David Lieb, jake mintz, Marc Andreessen          Tags: Bump, mobile sharingCompanies: Andreessen Horowitz, BumpPeople: David Lieb, jake mintz, Marc AndreessenAnthony is a senior editor at VentureBeat, as well as its reporter on media, advertising, and social networks. Before joining the site in 2008, Anthony worked at the Hollister Free Lance, where he won awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association for breaking news coverage and writing. He attended Stanford University and now lives in San Francisco. Reach him at anthony@venturebeat.com. (All story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com) You can also follow Anthony on Twitter.VentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Elevation Partners makes it official: Marc Bodnick resigns]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=elevation-partners-makes-it-official-marc-bodnick-resigns</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=elevation-partners-makes-it-official-marc-bodnick-resigns</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>DimaFGert</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=elevation-partners-makes-it-official-marc-bodnick-resigns</guid>
<description><![CDATA[It&amp;'s official: Elevation Partners has announced the resignation of Marc Bodnick from the high-profile private-equity firm, just a couple days after VentureBeat first reported his impending departure.While Bodnick hasn&amp;'t commented on his plans, he&amp;'s widely understood to be joining Quora, a highly valued question-and-answer startup founded by former Facebook employees, in an unspecified role.Elevation cofounder Roger McNamee made the following statement:&amp;''Marc has made the decision to leave Elevation to pursue new opportunities. Over the years, Marc has made many contributions to the firm, and he leaves behind a healthy portfolio from Elevationa4a4s first fund. We wish Marc continued success in the future.&amp;''Let&amp;'s parse that, shall weFrom what we&amp;'ve gathered, Bodnick felt frustrated that there wasn&amp;'t much work for him at Elevation. Elevation sought permission last year  from its investors to extend the fund&amp;'s investment period, during which it could make new bets on companies. It&amp;'s now permitted only follow-on investments in its current portfolio. It has talked about raising a new fund, but it hasn&amp;'t yet. And it&amp;'s not clear whether investors will want to back Elevation without Bodnick on board.So Elevation is now, in essence, winding down its first $1.9 billion fund, which had duds in its investments in Forbes Media and Palm, the smartphone maker, an as-yet unproven bet on Yelp, the local-reviews site, and a major win &amp;8212' at least on paper &amp;8212' in Facebook, whose shares have more than tripled in value since Elevation cobbled together a stake in the social network.That&amp;'s what Bodnick &amp;''leaves behind,&amp;'' in McNamee&amp;'s telling words.It appears that Bodnick wanted to get more involved with Quora, while maintaining a role with Elevation &amp;8212' and a lucrative payout from management fees and, potentially, its positions in Facebook and Yelp.So it&amp;'s interesting that McNamee cited Bodnick&amp;'s &amp;''many contributions&amp;'' &amp;8212' since, according to Dan Lyons in the Daily Beast, McNamee and Bodnick feuded over exactly how much Bodnick deserved from the fund.It&amp;'s worth noting that McNamee has several interests outside Elevation, including serving as executive chairman of a startup, Wordnik, and playing guitar in a band, Moonalice, which toured for 87 days in 2010.And Elevation&amp;'s most famous partner, Bono, is the lead singer of U2.If Bono and McNamee can manage $1.9 billion and handle their musical careers, why couldn&amp;'t Bodnick help Quora explore some deeper questions, like how the startup is going to justify its $87 million valuationIt&amp;'s a moot point: With Elevation announcing Bodnick&amp;'s resignation, his career there&amp;'s clearly done. The only question left to answer: Will Bodnick get what he thinks he&amp;'s owedPrevious Story: What you should know about LinkedIna4a4s IPOPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: feuds, Private EquityCompanies: Elevation Partners, quora, WordnikPeople: Bono, Marc Bodnick, Roger Mcnamee          Tags: feuds, Private EquityCompanies: Elevation Partners, quora, WordnikPeople: Bono, Marc Bodnick, Roger McnameeOwen Thomas is the executive editor of VentureBeat. Have news to share Launching a startup Email: tips@venturebeat.comVentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[On the GreenBeat: GE, NRG and ConocoPhilips create $300 million venture fund, Volt expands nationwide]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=on-the-greenbeat-ge-nrg-and-conocophilips-create-300-million-venture-fund-volt-expands-nationwide</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=on-the-greenbeat-ge-nrg-and-conocophilips-create-300-million-venture-fund-volt-expands-nationwide</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>DimaFGert</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=on-the-greenbeat-ge-nrg-and-conocophilips-create-300-million-venture-fund-volt-expands-nationwide</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Here&amp;'s the latest action we&amp;'re following on the GreenBeat today:NRG, ConocoPhilips and GE create $300 million fund &amp;8211' Energy Technology Ventures will look to invest in early-stage technologies within the energy and cleantech fields. GE will conduct due diligence for the deals, while NRG and ConocoPhilips may also invest in demonstration projects for the startups, the Wall Street Journal reports. Three GE-backed startups have already received backing from Energy Technology Ventures: solar company Alta Devices, biofuels player CoolPlanetBioFuels and clean coal venture Ciris Energy.Chevrolet Volt expands sales nationwide &amp;8212' GM&amp;'s partially-electric hybrid will be available nationwide by the end of this year. The company plans to step up production in response to high demand. So far, Volts have been delivered to customers in the Washington D.C. area, California, New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and Texas.Zipcar adds Prius Plug-In to lineup &amp;8212' The popular carsharing service will add eight of the partially-electric Priuses to its offerings in Boston/Cambridge, San Francisco and Portland. The car will not be commercially available until 2012' only 160 of the cars are currently available nationwide.Enernoc has acquired M2M &amp;8212' M2M Communications makes wireless technology-enabled demand response solutions, and holds hundreds of megawatts in contracts with utilities. This is one of many acquisitions Enernoc has made lately. The company is one of the top makers of demand response solutions that allow utilities to create programs that offer financial incentives when customers lower electricity use during peak hours.Next Story: RentPost aims to simplify rent for landlords and tenants Previous Story: NudgeMail gains momentum after teaming up with Google CalendarsPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: carsharing, cleantech, demand response, electric cars, electric vehicles, Venture CapitalCompanies: Chevrolet, ConocoPhilips, Enernoc, GE, GM, m2m, NRG          Tags: carsharing, cleantech, demand response, electric cars, electric vehicles, Venture CapitalCompanies: Chevrolet, ConocoPhilips, Enernoc, GE, GM, m2m, NRGIris Kuo is the VentureBeat's lead GreenBeat writer. She has reported for The Wall Street Journal in Hong Kong, Houston Chronicle, the McClatchy Washington Bureau and Dallas public radio. Iris attended the University of Texas at Dallas and lives in Houston. Follow Iris on Twitter @thestatuskuo (and yes, that's how you  pronounce her last name). Have news to share Launching a startup Email: tips@venturebeat.comVentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Find out where to meet friends with Echoecho]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=find-out-where-to-meet-friends-with-echoecho</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=find-out-where-to-meet-friends-with-echoecho</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>DimaFGert</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=find-out-where-to-meet-friends-with-echoecho</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Everyone has been in that situation a4&quot; stuck in a back-and-forth texting war with a friend deciding where to meet for coffee or lunch. It can be a bit of a hassle.Echoecho is trying to make that process a little easier by showing where nearby friends are on a map and suggesting nearby locations to meet. The company unveiled its iPhone application at the Launch Conference in San Francisco today.When one Echoecho user finds a nearby person they want to meet, they can send them a message through the app. They can text message their friends or call them directly from the application just by touching them once or twice. The two users then share each other&amp;'s locations through the application and determine where to meet from there. Echoecho uses the phone&amp;'s existing address book contacts to build a social network of sorts within the application.If the other person has the application, they get a push notification that takes them to a map and shows what storefronts are nearby. If they don&amp;'t have the application, Echoecho sends the other person a text message that has a link to download the application.The application is already on the Apple app store, where it has a score of two and a half stars out of five. It&amp;'s also available for Google&amp;'s mobile operating system Android, Symbian, BlackBerry&amp;'s operating system and Windows Mobile.So far Echoecho isn&amp;'t too worried about making money. But it might rely on lead generation a4&quot; basically letting merchants pay for a top spot in the recommendation list a4&quot; to generate revenue once it gets rolling.One other option would be adding advertisements to the map, but the company doesn&amp;'t plan to try that strategy because it would mar the user experience.Next Story: eEvent helps event organizers spread the word Previous Story: BrandYourself offers a DIY approach to looking good onlinePrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: geo-location, LBS, location based servicesCompanies: Echoecho          Tags: geo-location, LBS, location based servicesCompanies: EchoechoMatthew Lynley is VentureBeat's enterprise writer. He graduated from the University of North Carolina, where he studied math and physics, in May 2010. He has reported for Reuters. He currently lives in San Francisco, California. You can reach him at mattl@venturebeat.com (all story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com), and on Twitter at @logicalmoron. Have news to share Launching a startup Email: tips@venturebeat.comVentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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