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<title>Haaze.com / joeysyjeoy / All</title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com</link>
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<pubDate>Tue, 03 May 2011 07:10:22 +0000</pubDate>
<language>en</language>
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<title><![CDATA[Microsoft-RIM caveat: Dim results in deals with rivals]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-rim-caveat-dim-results-in-deals-with-rivals</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-rim-caveat-dim-results-in-deals-with-rivals</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 03 May 2011 07:10:22 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>joeysyjeoy</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-rim-caveat-dim-results-in-deals-with-rivals</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Seeing Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer take the stage at Research in Motion's Blackberry World conference in Orlando today prompted some wags to wonder if Lucifer was donning a down coat. A new partnership between once fierce rivals, which calls for Microsoft's Bing Search and Bing Maps to be built into the operating system of future RIM devices, would have seemed unfathomable just a few years ago.Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer speaking at Mobile World Congress 2011, shortly after announcing a deal with Nokia.(Credit:Stephen Shankland/CNET )But it's hardly an unusual strategy for Microsoft. For years, the software titan has competed fiercely against companies, only to embrace them when their fortunes sag. The list is long. Microsoft made peace with America Online, a one-time competitor in Internet access that also bought browser rival Netscape. It settled with RealNetworks, with which it once did battle in the emerging digital media business. It famously courted Yahoo, eventually striking a deal in which Yahoo replaced its own search engine on its own site with Microsoft's technology. And just this year, Nokia agreed to use Microsoft's Windows Phone mobile operating system instead of its own Symbian software.It's hard, though, to point to a deal that Microsoft signed with a former rival that's worked out well for both companies. These days, AOL's Internet access business is a thing for history books, and the company is working to remake itself as a Web content powerhouse. RealNetworks never became the digital media leader it once aspired to be. That's Apple's mantle these days. And Yahoo's chief executive, Carol Bartz, acknowledged during the company's quarterly earnings call last month that Microsoft's AdCenter technology, the system for buying and delivering online ads that Yahoo agreed to use as part of its deal between the two companies, hasn't generated the amount of revenue it expected.Related links&amp;149' RIM, Microsoft ally in smartphone wars&amp;149' Nokia, Microsoft becoming Windows Phone bedfellows&amp;149' Bing scores 30 percent of all searches in U.S.And it's not clear how much the deals with one-time rivals have helped Microsoft, either. Redmond shelled out eye-popping sums--$750 million to AOL Time Warner, and $761 million to RealNetworks--to settle lawsuits. Did the partnerships launched with those settlements really change marketplace dynamics AOL agreed to a seven-year royalty-free license of Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser, which has lost share over the years to Mozilla'sFirefox and Google's Chrome. Real, in its deal, agreed to support Bing's predecessor, MSN Search, and to promote use of Windows Media on portable devices. Those are businesses dominated today by Google and Apple.The Yahoo deal has helped increase Microsoft's share of the search business. According to Experian Hitwise, searches powered by Bing topped 30 percent in March. But as Business Insider's Henry Blodget points out, it's coming at a huge cost. Microsoft is shelling out far more for distribution deals, like the newly inked RIM partnership, than it is generating from that business. That's one reason why Microsoft's online services division is hemorrhaging cash, losing $726 million just in the most recent quarter.RIM, meanwhile, has been losing share in the smartphone market in recent years to both Apple's iOS and Google's Android operating systems. There's no doubt the company hopes the new deal with Microsoft will help staunch those losses. And Microsoft would like nothing more than for Bing to emerge as the leader in mobile search. But the history of these deals doesn't offer either company a lot of hope.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Verizon Wireless adds 16 New York cell sites]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=verizon-wireless-adds-16-new-york-cell-sites</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=verizon-wireless-adds-16-new-york-cell-sites</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 12 Jan 2011 08:10:09 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>joeysyjeoy</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=verizon-wireless-adds-16-new-york-cell-sites</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Verizon Wireless is beefing up its service in and around New York City.The carrier announced today that it has added 16 new sites around the Big Apple, including one in the city. Verizon customers in Yonkers, Bronxville, and other locations can also take advantage of the improved service. The cell sites will provide better access to the company's 3G network, Verizon said.&quot;It is important for our customers to know that we are also committed to holding our position as the most reliable 3G network in the nation,&quot; Verizon's New York Metro region president, Pat Devlin, said in a statement. &quot;As it stands now, the 3G network is what most of our customers are using now.&quot;The timing of Verizon's service improvements may lead some to speculate that it's related to yesterday's announcement of theiPhone finally being made available on the carrier's network. The smartphone is scheduled to launch on February 10, and could pelt Verizon's network with heavy calling and data usage.However, Verizon isn't so quick to admit that. A company spokesperson told CNET in an e-mail that Verizon doesn't &quot;add cell sites based on any one factor, but on overall great engineering, planning, and forecasting.&quot; He went on to say that &quot;new cell sites add both coverage and capacity, and ensure we are always ahead of the network needs of our current and future customers.&quot;Even if the cell site additions have nothing to do with the iPhone, the Verizon spokesperson did bring up criticism about AT&amp;T's network.&quot;I would note, though, that AT&amp;T has had the loudest waves of protests from their customers in two specific areas of the country: New York and San Francisco,&quot; the spokesperson said.Verizon added several new cell sites in San Francisco last month.As Verizon points out, AT&amp;T had been taking heavy criticism from customers for poor service, including dropped calls and lagging 3G speeds in New York and San Francisco, as well as other areas around the U.S. But those complaints didn't fall on deaf ears, and prompted the company to invest heavily in its network in 2010.During its fourth-quarter 2009 earnings call last January, AT&amp;T said that it planned to spend between $18 billion and $19 billion in 2010 to improve wireless service around the country. The carrier followed that up with an announcement in June, saying that it had completed its 3G upgrade in New York City.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[CES: Mouse and keyboard control coming to Xbox 360]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ces-mouse-and-keyboard-control-coming-to-xbox-360</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ces-mouse-and-keyboard-control-coming-to-xbox-360</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 07 Jan 2011 08:10:25 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>joeysyjeoy</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ces-mouse-and-keyboard-control-coming-to-xbox-360</guid>
<description><![CDATA[(Credit:Penguin United)LAS VEGAS--Ask any hardened PC gamer and they'll tell you there's no better way to control a first-person shooter than a mouse-and-keyboard combination. We completely agree, and with the Eagle Eye 360 from Penguin United,Xbox 360 gamers can do just that. While the company has already had aPlayStation 3 offering that provides the same functionality, the Xbox 360 version is new forCES. The device can bind all of the Xbox 360 controller commands to mouse and keyboard buttons and store up to two key-mapping schemes. You'll need a wired Xbox 360 controller for the initial setup though it isn't required thereafter. A 13-foot USB cable connects the device to the console, which should provide ample room for any gaming environment. We're hoping to get fragging with the Eagle Eye 360 when it's available soon for $60. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[A unique GPS app and an arcade golf game: iPhone apps of the week]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=a-unique-gps-app-and-an-arcade-golf-game-iphone-apps-of-the-week</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=a-unique-gps-app-and-an-arcade-golf-game-iphone-apps-of-the-week</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 10 Dec 2010 08:15:48 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>joeysyjeoy</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=a-unique-gps-app-and-an-arcade-golf-game-iphone-apps-of-the-week</guid>
<description><![CDATA[(Credit:CNET)A news item this week over at AppleInsider uncovered a troubling practice by a developer at the iTunes App Store. Apparently, users who downloaded a free massive multiplayer online game from a Chinese developer complained of unauthorized in-app purchases, running up the bills on their iTunes accounts. One user reported the situation to Apple resulting in him getting a refund for the fraudulent purchases and Apple promising to investigate the claims.Even with a closed system like iTunes, apparently it is still possible for dishonest people to find a way to steal our money. Let's hope that Apple gets to the bottom of this case and finds a way to prevent these unauthorized purchases in the future. Until there's more news about this problem, be sure to regularly check your iTunes receipts (sent to the e-mail address attached to your iTunes account) for strange charges and report the issue to Apple if you have any problems.This week's apps include a unique location-based social network app and an arcade golf game where you flick to win.Locate Wi-Fi hot spots and view a map to find the nearest location.(Credit:Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)GeoGroups (Free) is a location-based social network service (like popular app Foursquare) but adds a few new wrinkles to make it both unique and useful. Like other apps in this genre, GeoGroups uses youriPhone's GPS capabilities to locate both commercial- and user-entered stores, cafes, pubs, and landmarks relative to your current location. You also can create your own group based around anything--not just stores and coffee shops, but the popular bench by the lake in your favorite park, for example. In other words, you can create a location anywhere for other users to discover so they can join the group and add their own content.GeoGroups has all the features of similar location-based social network apps such as map views, directions to locations, and the ability to &quot;check in&quot; once you arrive. You also can snap pictures of locations to add to a post, send the post to Facebook, or send location info to another GeoGroups user or friend via e-mail. Particularly handy is the ability to create a private group (with friends or family members, for example) that tracks your locations in real time. You can even set up the real-time tracking to turn off after a specified amount of time so it's OK if you forget to turn it off.GeoGroups offers 500 public groups (and counting) so you can get started right away and check out popular fishing spots, Wi-Fi hot spots, lighthouses, and waterfalls, as examples. With the ability to create your own locations, the possibilities are truly endless. Overall, if you've been thinking about diving into the world of location-based social network services, GeoGroups offers tons of content and lots of flexibility that will make it useful to just about anyone.During Quickshot games, you really need to hit that middle circle because you get an extra time bonus.(Credit:Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)Flick Golf ($2.99) is a unique arcadelike take on golf, focusing on single shots and ball control to score points at one-stroke holes. Those looking for a complete golf game should look elsewhere, but Flick Golf has plenty to offer as a quick pick-up-and-play arcade game. Beautiful graphics make the courses of one-shot holes a joy to behold, and you'll be playing in landscapes from sunny California to wind-swept Scotland. Choose between two game types including World Tour, where you play nine-shot tournaments to try to advance to the next course' or Quickshot, where you'll try to score as many points as you can in 90 seconds.True to its name, Flick Golf requires that you flick or swipe the screen upward through the ball to send your ball to the green. While in the air, you can swipe to add spin and actually change the direction of the ball before it hits the ground. Scoring is measured by where you land the ball in the target (a scoring area with concentric circles around the hole). You also get bonus points for how much spin you used to get the ball to your target and whether you hit the pin with your shot.As you progress through the game, you'll be challenged by difficult courses with gail-force winds you'll need to account for every time you take a shot. Fortunately, the ability to spin the ball while it's in the air will save your less than perfect shots, but a good shot makes it easier to get high-scoring hole-in-one shots. So far I have only hit one perfect shot (a &quot;swish&quot; shot directly into the hole) so even with all the ball control, there is plenty of challenge in this game.Overall, Flick Golf is a great pick-up-and-play arcade golf game with beautiful graphics, precise controls, and plenty of challenge when you just want to waste a little time. You can also buy Flick Golf for iPad ($4.99).What's your favorite iPhone app Do you like the added flexibility for locations in GeoGroups Have you hit a perfect shot in Flick Golf Let me know in the comments!<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Security researcher: I keep getting detained by feds]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=security-researcher-i-keep-getting-detained-by-feds</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=security-researcher-i-keep-getting-detained-by-feds</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 18 Nov 2010 08:10:21 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>joeysyjeoy</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=security-researcher-i-keep-getting-detained-by-feds</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Moxie Marlinspike at the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas last year after presenting research on security flaws with browser implementations of SSL (Secure Sockets Layer). (Credit:Elinor Mills/CNET)A security researcher who specializes in online privacy had his laptop and cell phones temporarily seized after returning to the U.S. on an international flight last night. Moxie Marlinspike told CNET in an interview today that he had been detained and questioned after an international flight last week and appears to be on a federal &quot;watch list&quot; for domestic flights too but doesn't know why.  Asked if he is a volunteer with WikiLeaks, a whistleblower Web site that the U.S. government is seeking to shut down for publishing classified Afghan war files, Marlinspike said: &quot;Definitely not. If anything, I'm slightly critical of WikiLeaks. I question the efficacy of that project.&quot; A WikiLeaks volunteer and security researcher, Jacob Appelbaum, was detained by U.S. agents after arriving in the U.S. on an international flight in July, as first reported by CNET. His laptop was searched and his cell phones were confiscated permanently.  &quot;I'm friends with Jake, and his equipment was seized,&quot; said Marlinspike, who uses that name as an alias and does not divulge his legal name. &quot;My name was in his contacts on his phone.&quot; Other people who appeared in the address book of Appelbaum's seized cell phones also have encountered trouble at borders or in airports, Appelbaum told CNET today, declining to elaborate. (An MIT researcher friend of an Army Intelligence analyst arrested and charged with leaking classified files to WikiLeaks was detained and had equipment searched by border officials at Chicago's airport two weeks ago.)  &quot;I'm very sorry he was in my phone book,&quot; Appelbaum said, referring to Marlinspike. Another connection between the two that might have sparked official interest: Appelbaum mentioned Marlinspike during a speech about WikiLeaks at the Hackers on Planet Earth conference in New York in July. &quot;I quoted him because I admire him, not because he's done something wrong,&quot; Appelbaum said. Marlinspike said his troubles started a few months ago. Before taking domestic flights, he found he was unable to print out his boarding pass and was locked out of the self check-in kiosks until an airline representative made a phone call to get approval to override the lock, he said. He also said he is subject to secondary screenings.  Last week, while he had fallen asleep waiting at an airport gate in Frankfurt airport on a layover, a man who said he was from the U.S. consulate and who had a photo of Marlinspike on his cell phone approached him and asked him where he had been, Marlinspike said. Marlinspike told him that he had given a presentation at the Black Hat security show in Abu Dhabi and the man said he had to make a phone call to Washington, D.C. and then let him go a few minutes later, according to Marlinspike.  On Monday, Marlinspike had gone through the security check point and secondary screening and was seated on a plane at John F. Kennedy International Airport for the flight to the Dominican Republic, he said. As airline workers were preparing to shut the plane door, a TSA agent ran onto the plane and escorted Marlinspike off, he said. In the walkway that leads to the plane, two agents patted him down before allowing him to get back on the plane, he said.  Returning from that trip yesterday, Marlinspike said he was met by two Customs and Border Patrol agents at JFK. With a photo of him in hand, they escorted him into a detention area and took his computer and phones away for inspection before returning them and letting him go nearly five hours later, he said.  His laptop is encrypted and the text messages and call history on his phones are encrypted. He declined to provide his password when agents asked him for it.  The agents did not say what they were looking for or why he was being detained, according to Marlinspike, who writes encryption apps for mobile devices at his San Francisco-based company Whisper Systems.  &quot;I have no idea what's going on, why this is happening to me,&quot; Marlinspike said. &quot;From the questions I've had to field it seems like this is part of some larger fishing expedition. There is someone somewhere who wants access to something on my laptop or my phone and they can't just come and ask me for it. And they can't get a warrant without suspicion. So, they wait for me to travel internationally because at the border they can do anything they want.&quot; He said he has talked to a TSA supervisor who gave him a phone number to call to inquire about his case and find out how to appeal it, but the number led to a voice mail box that was full. A TSA spokesman said he could not access records in the computer system late today in order to comment on the matter. Customs and Border Patrol spokesman Jaime Ruiz told CNET that he could not comment on any specific case, citing the Privacy Act that protects federal government records related to individuals. &quot;We have the authority to search on a case-by-case basis,&quot; he said, before referring the reporter to the policy information on the agency Web site.  Such border seizures of electronic equipment have been going on for years. Famed hacker Kevin Mitnick, who served five years in prison for wire and computer fraud charges, was subjected to it after a trip to Colombia two years ago. &quot;At this point, the DHS (Department of Homeland Security) has almost destroyed my ability to run a business with international customers,&quot; Marlinspike said. &quot;It's impossible to travel internationally frequently when this is going to be your experience because every time you may miss your connection because you're detained, and you might lose your laptop.&quot; Marlinspike also can't trust his equipment now that it has been in the hands of the agents, because it might have keyloggers on it or be otherwise compromised, he said. He has already replaced the working cell phone he had (the other was a test device for his application development), and he said he plans to get rid of the netbook that was inspected. The severity of the situation was acknowledged by one of the Customs and Border Patrol agents who detained him for about an hour and a half in San Francisco after a flight last week. Marlinspike asked the agent if he knew why he was being targeted. Marlinspike said the agent said no and added: &quot;We're the equivalent of postal agents with guns...When my boss' boss tells me to pick someone up then I know something big is going on.&quot; CNET's Declan McCullagh contributed to this report.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Report: 40,000 Windows Phone 7 devices sold]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=report-40000-windows-phone-7-devices-sold</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=report-40000-windows-phone-7-devices-sold</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 10 Nov 2010 08:10:25 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>joeysyjeoy</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=report-40000-windows-phone-7-devices-sold</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Microsoft's new smartphone platform is off to what could be considered a slower start than expected in North America. That's according to The Street, which has released a report saying that the company sold some 40,000 units on its first day on the market. That number does not come from Microsoft, which has not yet released sales numbers and refused to comment to both The Street and CNET, but rather a source in a market research firm. Windows Phone 7, which is the follow-up to Microsoft's Windows Mobile 6.5 platform, hit shelves in the U.S. and Canada on Monday. Before that, WP7 devices had come to stores in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand in late October.CNET hoofed it to two major carrier stores in San Francisco on launch day and came back with the impression that both the inventory and sales of the launch devices had been quite low, though the scene had been different in other cities and retail locations, where some stores were selling out. Early sales numbers from other phone platform launches include Apple's estimated 500,000 iPhones being snatched up during its launch weekend in 2007, and a million and a half G1 Android phones (the first Android device on the market) being bought up by T-Mobile subscribers in the phone's first six months. Those numbers have since improved with later device launches on the same platform such as theiPhone 3G and 3GS which both hit a million units in their first weekend on sale, as well as the iPhone 4, which sold 1.7 million units in its first weekend. Google too recently pegged Android activations as being north of 200,000 a day.Despite the reported low sales, reviews of many of the launch devices, as well as theWindows Phone 7 OS itself have been quite positive. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Google Zeitgeist 2010: iPhone Beats Android, Twitter Beats Facebook, Chatroulette Beats&nbsp'All]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-zeitgeist-2010-iphone-beats-android-twitter-beats-facebook-chatroulette-beatsnbspall</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-zeitgeist-2010-iphone-beats-android-twitter-beats-facebook-chatroulette-beatsnbspall</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>joeysyjeoy</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-zeitgeist-2010-iphone-beats-android-twitter-beats-facebook-chatroulette-beatsnbspall</guid>
<description><![CDATA[It&amp;'s now nearly the end of the year, and you know what that means: end-of-the-year lists. Apple has just released a bunch, and now Google has too. As they do every year, Google has unveiled their &amp;''Zeitgeist 2010&amp;''. And they have some nifty interactive data visualizations once again a4&quot; and now they&amp;'re in HTML5.Google singles out the Olympics, the World Cup, earthquakes, the oil spill, and Lady Gaga among others in their post on the matter. But their charts focus mainly on the fastest-rising queries. Of note in the top queries, the top iPhone (iPhone 4) beat the top Android phone (Evo 4G), Twitter beat Facebook, and Chatroulette beat everyone. In fact, the service (which no one seems to talk about anymore) was far ahead of every other fast-rising query expect for the iPad, which was a close second.It&amp;'s worth noting again that these lists are just for the fastest-rising queries of the year. While Twitter beat Facebook in that area, Facebook is far ahead of Twitter in terms of overall queries, for example.Below, the top 10 fastest-rising queries of 2010:chatrouletteipadjustin biebernicki minajfrivmyxerkaty perrytwittergamezerfacebookAnd here were the fastest-rising queries in consumer electronics in 2010:ipadiphone 4nokia 5530htc evo 4gnokia n900blackberry appsduracell mygridAAa4za4zotterboxpdanetInterestingly enough &amp;8212' we&amp;'re told that number 8 is &amp;''Twitter&amp;'' in Korean.Also cool, Google&amp;'s &amp;''Strangest Searches Of The Year&amp;'':can a horse have ocdam i bipolar or overachieverwhy are americans afraid of dragonsninjas are better than pirateswhy is a raven like a writing deskwhy does brian wilson dye his beardshould i marry himi wish i could speak whalewhy couldn&amp;'t you stand on the sun&amp;'s surfacewhy does my baby gruntCrunchBase InformationGoogleInformation provided by CrunchBase<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[On the GreenBeat: GE&'s electric bus of the future' MiaSol bests its solar efficiency record]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=on-the-greenbeat-gersquos-electric-bus-of-the-future-miasolã©-bests-its-solar-efficiency-record</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=on-the-greenbeat-gersquos-electric-bus-of-the-future-miasolã©-bests-its-solar-efficiency-record</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>joeysyjeoy</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=on-the-greenbeat-gersquos-electric-bus-of-the-future-miasolã©-bests-its-solar-efficiency-record</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Here are some of the stories we&amp;'re reading on the GreenBeat today:GE debuts a dual-battery electric bus &amp;8212' Some trucks come with dual tanks, and, well, some electric buses come with dual batteries. At least that&amp;'s the idea behind GE&amp;'s announcement of a dual-battery hybrid bus (pictured) that pairs a high-energy density sodium battery, which is well-suited for storing energy, with a high-power lithium battery, which is well-suited for driving. The company&amp;'s researchers say the dual system gets the best of both worlds &amp;8212' and could reduce battery costs by 20 percent.Solar startup MiaSol&amp;'s thin-film photovoltaic modules have reached an all-time high &amp;8212' The company&amp;'s CIGS (copper, indium, gallium, diselenide) modules have reached an efficiency rate of 15.7 percent, besting its rate last year of 14.3 percent. The results were verified by the Department of Energy&amp;'s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, CNET reports, noting that this is a nice boost for MiaSol given that CIGS modules have had to struggle against the cheapening and predominant crystalline silicon.Solar energy capacity could reach 980 gigawatts worldwide by 2020 &amp;8212' The development in photovoltaic and solar thermal projects could result in carbon emission reductions equal to taking 110 million cars off the road, according to a new report from the Solar Energy Industries Association. The report was released against the backdrop of a United Nations conference in Cancun this week to discuss the extension of the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement to cut carbon dioxide emissions, Bloomberg BusinessWeek reports.China to offer new subsidies for solar developers &amp;8212' The country&amp;'s existing solar subsidies are already under fire from the U.S. for possibly violating free trade agreements. The new incentives proposed by China would have the government pay for up to half of the costs of solar projects, Bloomberg reports. Consultancy Ernst &amp;amp' Young recently declared China the clear leader in clean energy policy and development. Meanwhile the U.S. is still struggling to set federal clean energy policies and will probably not renew a key solar investment grant program that expires at the end of this year.Next Story: Is Twitter worth $10 billion Previous Story: Blizzard secures dominance of online games with World of Warcraft: Cataclysm (review)PrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: China, crystalline silicon, photovoltaic, Solar, solar thermal, thin-film          Tags: China, crystalline silicon, photovoltaic, Solar, solar thermal, thin-filmIris 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[OPower raises $50 million from Kleiner, Accel &8212' cash it says it doesn&'t need]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=opower-raises-50-million-from-kleiner-accel-8212-cash-it-says-it-doesnrsquot-need</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=opower-raises-50-million-from-kleiner-accel-8212-cash-it-says-it-doesnrsquot-need</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>joeysyjeoy</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=opower-raises-50-million-from-kleiner-accel-8212-cash-it-says-it-doesnrsquot-need</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Energy efficiency company OPower has raised $50 million in third-round financing, but CEO and cofounder Dan Yates says the company &amp;''didn&amp;'t need to raise the cash&amp;'' &amp;8212' the company is already breaking even, and will use the cash to accelerate its growth.The funding round was jointly led by Accel Partners and Kleiner Perkins Caulfield &amp;amp' Byers. While some industry watchers say that Kleiner Perkins has been moving away from cleantech and back to investing in Internet companies, this deal seems to illustrate a lot of the green investing trends of the moment, like a move towards capital-efficient investments &amp;8212' a sentiment that Yates echoed.&amp;''A lot of these guys now have scars on their back and have learned the lesson that these massive infrastructure projects are not a great place to spend venture dollars,&amp;'' Yates said. &amp;''&amp;''Efficiency is a low-hanging fruit. This is all less expensive than wind and solar and biofuels. It has no partisan politics associated with it.&amp;''Investors are searching for more capital-efficient investments (OPower is a software-as-a-service company) and there&amp;'s a rising interest in energy efficiency. In fact, it was the hottest segment in green investing last quarter, with 17 deals worth a combined $162 million.Yates said, the funding round will be used to accelerate the company&amp;'s growth as the energy efficiency sector continues to grow. For example, the company now plans to hire about 50 workers next year.&amp;''We otherwise would have waited another year or two years to make those hires,&amp;'' Yates said. &amp;''It&amp;'s a huge market. There&amp;'s really no incumbent in this space.&amp;''The company has risen to become something of a darling in its field. It is best-known for using a behavioral science-based method of printing energy bills that compare your energy use to that of your closest neighbors, and using human competitiveness and targeted energy-saving tips to get an average of 1.5 to 3.5 percent in energy savings off each bill. OPower also makes several other customer engagement, energy efficiency and demand response solutions, and utilities buy into a mix of its offerings.Traditionally, it has beenhard to get consumers engaged in saving energy, as well as the different techniques that are out there, like automation.Part of OPower&amp;'s value proposition to utilities, Yates says, is that it helps them get it smart meter rate cases approved because it can demonstrate better consumer engagement and payback on investment. It&amp;'s especially relevant given some of the uproar over smart meter deployments lately, such as PG&amp;amp'E&amp;'s struggles in California.&amp;''This stuff is super boring,&amp;'' Yates said. &amp;''We&amp;'re always reminded how lame the energy efficiency is compared to the Xbox.&amp;''So OPower&amp;'s angle, Yates said, is to not inundate consumers with information about &amp;''lame&amp;'' energy usage data, which doesn&amp;'t work anyway, and focus on an approach to the customer that requires less effort on their side.&amp;''Peoplewant to be checked in with once a month with this stuff. They don&amp;'t want to check in all the time,&amp;'' Yates said, saying that&amp;'s why home energy displays don&amp;'t work. Bills like the ones OPower produces are a &amp;''much more comprehensible platform.&amp;''Next Story: Google-backed satellite provider O3b raises $1.2B to bring the world online Previous Story: Screach takes social TV beyond check insPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: energy efficiency, Smart GridCompanies: Accel Partners, Kleiner Perkins, OPOWERPeople: Dan Yates          Tags: energy efficiency, Smart GridCompanies: Accel Partners, Kleiner Perkins, OPOWERPeople: Dan YatesIris 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[Inevitable! Google Chrome Extension Exports Your Facebook&nbsp'Contacts]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=inevitable-google-chrome-extension-exports-your-facebooknbspcontacts</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=inevitable-google-chrome-extension-exports-your-facebooknbspcontacts</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>joeysyjeoy</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=inevitable-google-chrome-extension-exports-your-facebooknbspcontacts</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Well look what we have here &amp;8230' Last time we checked in on the Facebook/Google slapfight, Facebook had removed the option to import your contacts from Gmail and was still holding strong on the whole &amp;''denying contact info access to Google&amp;'' rigamarole that started the fight in the first place. Up until now many no other choice but to use Yahoo Mail if they wanted to mass export their Friends data from Facebook into Google. Well Happy Thanksgiving data reciprocity fans! A third party developer has decided to build &amp;''Facebook Doesn&amp;'t Own My Friends,&amp;'' a Chrome extension that lets you easily export your Facebook Friends&amp;' contact information.Whoever built this is pretty vehement about whose side they&amp;'re playing on. Take a look at the sarcastic tone of the &amp;''About&amp;'' description.&amp;''Despite what Facebook says, if someone is your &amp;''friend&amp;'' and you can see his/her email address on his/her Facebook info, they are probably OK with you emailing them.Facebook doesn&amp;'t let you export this data, so they expect you to click on each of your friends&amp;' pages, copy their email address (or other contact information), and paste it into your email client. Kind of ridiculous Yes.&amp;''I just tried it and it works, scraping and exporting your contacts into both Gmail and CSV files even though it might take awhile and multiple tries if you&amp;'ve got hundreds of friends. And while the extension is not officially affiliated with Google (or Facebook), it going to be exciting to see what happens to it after this post.Since this is a Chrome extension it might be harder for Facebook to block, as browser extensions can make scraping seem indistinguishable from actual users clicking in their browsers. It looks like the Berlin Wall of data portability has started to crumble so hurry up and export those Friends contacts while you still can.Update: No confirmation on whether this is an intentional block from Facebook&amp;'s side but users are reporting that the extension stopped scraping about 10 minutes after this post went up. I&amp;'ve contacted both Facebook and Google for more information and will update the post if I hear back.CrunchBase InformationGoogleFacebookInformation provided by CrunchBase<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Google Trumps Facebook On List Of In Demand Employers Among College&nbsp'Students]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-trumps-facebook-on-list-of-in-demand-employers-among-collegenbspstudents</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-trumps-facebook-on-list-of-in-demand-employers-among-collegenbspstudents</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>joeysyjeoy</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-trumps-facebook-on-list-of-in-demand-employers-among-collegenbspstudents</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Google has had a tough time in the past couple months or so, being more or less being positioned by the media as a company that is in danger of losing its top talent to Facebook. Especially when the news of its 10% across the board raises comes off as reeking of desperation during one of the worst talent crunches Silicon Valley has ever seen. Wait a minute, since when is a company giving raises to employees something to disparageBrian Heifferon, COO of Aftercollege (a site that helps connect students with the companies they want to work with after college) has shared with us some insight into how the rest of the country views Silicon Valley&amp;'s current talent arms race.Despite the fact that over 12% of Facebook is currently comprised of former Googlers, popular assumption is wrong Heiffernon asserts. According to the Aftercollege dataset of students who want to be matched up with certain companies, Google still tops the list of requests for employer connections, especially among engineering majors at the top 50 schools.&amp;''Two months ago my company rolled out a new feature for our users (college students looking to start their careers) that allows them to request companies that theya4a4d like to work for. We then go out on their behalf and pursue opportunities from those companies. Anyway, although ita4a4s only been two months, wea4a4re seeing some pretty clear sentiments when it comes to who students would prefer to work for. Google is 1, by a wide margin. Facebook is currently ranked 7.&amp;''While it does not jive with the current media hypestorm, Heifferon show that interest in being employed by Google has not waned. And while that 1 vs. 7 margin is pretty shocking, the results show an even wider gulf when narrowed down to students who majored in engineering at top schools. Facebook is at number 12 vs. Google at 1 when the data is sorted by student requests through top engineering programs like Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, Georgia Tech, Michigan, etc. So maybe Google HR can take a deep breath and relax, at least for the moment. Full data set below.Image:a4shung-truong    View this document on Scribd    View this document on ScribdCrunchBase InformationAfterCollegeGoogleInformation provided by CrunchBaseTipTweet<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Building a smarter planet Look at James Cameron&'s Avatar]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=building-a-smarter-planet-look-at-james-cameronrsquos-avatar</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=building-a-smarter-planet-look-at-james-cameronrsquos-avatar</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>joeysyjeoy</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=building-a-smarter-planet-look-at-james-cameronrsquos-avatar</guid>
<description><![CDATA[This post is brought to you by IBM. As always, VentureBeat is adamant about maintaining editorial objectivity. IBM had no involvement in the content of this or other posts. For more information on how IBM can help create a Smarter Planet, go here.If you&amp;'re looking for ideas on how to create a smarter and sustainable planet, James Cameron&amp;'s Avatar film is a logical place to look. In crafting the moon of Pandora and the story for the film, Cameron built in an obvious ecological message. He&amp;'ll likely expand on that message in the next two Avatar movies, according to a talk Cameron held with Google CEO Eric Schmidt last week at the Churchill Club in San Jose, California.In the film, a technological society goes to war with an indigenous one that supports a sustainable, planet-wide ecosystem. The results of the clash are grim, but Cameron said that on our planet, we will have to make the two different kinds of societies live in harmony.Cameron has a lot of street cred on technology, Schmidt said, because he&amp;'s one of the few Hollywood filmmakers who is a super geek, having designed everything from stereoscopic 3D cameras to submarines that can go to the bottom of the ocean. As such, Cameron has had a lot of time to think about the problems of technology as it clashes with the environment.He argued that technologists should be part of the solution. They don&amp;'t have to be part of the society that simply keeps consuming things without regard to their environmental effects. During the 12 years it took to make Avatar, Cameron wondered deeply about the environmental impact of his film. Humans, Cameron said, have to evolve into &amp;''techno indigenous people, not of the state, not of the nation, but of the planet.&amp;''He added, &amp;''That hasn&amp;'t been done before and I don&amp;'t know how to do it. Maybe it&amp;'s one of the tipping point things in a good way. You notice now that solar energy is slowly starting to accelerate. I have to think that people of good conscience will prevail. Education is important. We have to challenge our leaders to be leaders, getting the public to buy into it. Right now, they are in denial mode because of the economy. That is natural. People have to pay mortgages.&amp;''Reaching the balance of technology and the environment means tough choices. Cameron was a big fan of undersea ocean exploration, a passion that led him to film the Titanic and build sophisticated submarines for that film. But he decided that &amp;''exploration wasn&amp;'t as important as conservation.&amp;''Cameron said he will weave his message about taking care of the planet into the next two Avatar films. He will also continue to make documentaries about threats to the planet. He is currently designing a submarine that can go 37,000 feet below the surface to the bottom of the ocean and withstand pressure of 16,000 pounds per square inch. But he also intends to bring to light problems such as the fact that the coral reefs can be killed off in the next 20 years, simply by a 2-degree increase in the temperature of the ocean on a global level.People have to realize that everything is connected, he said. People in Minnesota might actually like it if the temperature of the planet rises five degrees. But they wona4a4t like it if they have to send their  children to fight wars that arise because the temperature rise elsewhere  causes droughts, mass migrations, dislocations and conflict. Cameron said that humans have to acknowledge a debt to the natural and that we are on a precipice.&amp;''If we don&amp;'t take control of our role and stewardship of the planet,&amp;'' he said. &amp;''Then the world we bequeath to our children and grandchildren is not going to be a livable place.&amp;''Schmidt said that Camerona4a4s genius wasna4a4t reflected in his passion for  filmmaking, technology, or environmentalism. Rather, he said that the  genius of Cameron was in his deep knowledge of all three fields.Cameron said he was also concerned that 70 percent of all species could be wiped out by global warming and other environmental impacts of mankind by the end of the century. He said that is as bad as the loss of species that occurred when the comet wiped out the dinosaurs.&amp;''This time, we are the comet,&amp;'' he said.Cameron said he believes he can finish the second Avatar movie by 2014 and the third movie by 2015. In both films, you&amp;'ll see some of his evolving thoughts on ecology and you may also see documentaries about how to save the planet. That&amp;'s Cameron&amp;'s way of balancing out the need to continue his craft as a blockbuster filmmaker without sacrificing his vision for a better planet. More technologists might have a big impact if they pursued their passion in technology at the same time they pursue a vision for reducing their carbon footprints. Eventually, Schmidt said, the jobs created by the sustainability effort will outweigh the jobs lost by reducing carbon footprints.What Cameron and Schmidt are doing makes a lot of common sense and business sense. If they can win over the top thinkers of Silicon Valley, then we might just get the smartest minds on the planet to work on saving it.Here are videos of Cameron and Schmidt from the event:Next Story: Rise of the machines: Machine to machine communications market booms Previous Story: Are venture capitalists sheep Why cleantech investing is downPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: AvatarCompanies: GooglePeople: Eric Schmidt, James Cameron          Tags: AvatarCompanies: GooglePeople: Eric Schmidt, James CameronDean 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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