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<title>Haaze.com / Nundalkadia / Published News</title>
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<pubDate>Mon, 10 Jan 2011 08:10:44 +0000</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Meyer axed as AMD's chip strategy founders]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=meyer-axed-as-amds-chip-strategy-founders</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=meyer-axed-as-amds-chip-strategy-founders</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 10 Jan 2011 08:10:44 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Nundalkadia</dc:creator>
<category>Business &amp; Finance</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=meyer-axed-as-amds-chip-strategy-founders</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Advanced Micro Devices' chip strategy over the past several years had some flaws that if not fatal, at least cast some doubt on how the chipmaker would fare in a quickly changing competitive landscape. AMD&amp;39's smartphone-centric Imageon chip technology was sold to Qualcomm.(Credit:AMD)Though no one outside of AMD's board may ever fully know why CEO Dirk Meyer was fired today, there were important markets the chipmaker had essentially abdicated. The most salient beingtablets and high-end smartphones. In 2008, AMD appeared well situated to make a foray into smartphones and later tablets (and seemed ahead of Intel and Nvidia in this market segment). But AMD sold that Imageon technology--which it got with the purchase of graphic chips supplier ATI--to cell phone chip giant Qualcomm in January 2009. And Meyer made some high-profile comments in October of last year, stating in no uncertain terms that the tablet market was not a priority. &quot;Frankly, we're still so small in the notebook market that it doesn't make sense for us to turn R&amp;D dollar spending toward the tablet market yet. We'll start doing that when the market is big enough,&quot; he said during an earnings call.His point was ostensibly a rational one: the tablet market isn't big enough today to justify AMD's focus. But this thinking could have dire consequences going forward if there's a rush to tablets, hybrid devices (e.g., tablets with slider keyboards), and large, high-end smartphones. In short, AMD's strategy has been too centered on PCs, a mature market where Intel controls the most lucrative segments. Its biggest rival, Nvidia, on the other hand, has set it sights squarely on tablets and high-end smartphones for the last couple of years and had a strong presence atCES. Some of Motorola's highest-profile smartphone and tablet products this year, for example, will use Nvidia's ARM processors. Though AMD's Fusion, aka &quot;Brazos,&quot; chips could be used in larger tablets, they're not optimized for that segment like Nvidia's ARM chips are. Even Intel, which is facing its own challenges in smartphones and tablets, has two Atom chip variants (Oak Trail and Moorestown) that can be used in tablets today. At CES, AMD did gain some traction in the market segment just above Netbooks--mostly small laptops with 11-inch and 12-inch screens. Sony stated at CES that it was quitting the Intel-Atom-based Netbook market in favor of small laptops based on AMD's Fusion processors, and Hewlett-Packard announced Fusion-based designs. Again, there may be other reasons that Meyer was fired, but it's nevertheless worth noting that AMD was not a force in two promising chip markets. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Playdom co-founder starts Wild Needle to focus on social mobile games (exclusive)]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=playdom-co-founder-starts-wild-needle-to-focus-on-social-mobile-games-exclusive</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=playdom-co-founder-starts-wild-needle-to-focus-on-social-mobile-games-exclusive</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Nundalkadia</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=playdom-co-founder-starts-wild-needle-to-focus-on-social-mobile-games-exclusive</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Rick Thompson is hoping that lightning strikes another time. Thompson was the chairman and co-founder of Playdom, the social game company that Disney bought last year for as much as $763 million. Now he has started a new game company, Wild Needle, focused on social games with a location twist.&amp;''Wild Needle represents a shift in the way smart money is thinking of social games,&amp;'' Thompson said in an interview.It used to be smart to invest in a game company making social games for Facebook. But Thompson is putting money on the idea that mobile is becoming a larger opportunity. His six-person company will focus on making games for the iPhone and then expand to other mobile platforms. Japan&amp;'s DeNA validated this &amp;''mobile first&amp;'' strategy when it bought iPhone game publisher Ngmoco earlier this year for $403 million.Thompson said he isn&amp;'t looking for a similar transaction anytime soon. But because of Zynga&amp;'s dominance and Facebook&amp;'s crackdown on viral distribution, he doubts that small startups can make an impact on Facebook.Mountain View, Calif.-based Wild Needle has raised $2.5 million in funding from Thompson and Shasta Ventures. Thompson said that he didn&amp;'t need the money to start the company, but he did want access to Shasta&amp;'s managing director, Robert Coneybeer, who is joining Wild Needle&amp;'s board. Wild Needle&amp;'s other top executives include Heidi Carson (vice president of product), Chris Kirmse (vice president of engineering), and Minglei Xu (software architect). Thompson also was founding chairman of online ad networks Flycast and Adify. Kirmse is a veteran game developer who worked at Xfire and was the co-creator of Meridian 59, the world&amp;'s first 3D massively multiplayer online game.Thompson said that there is enormous untapped potential in mobile games that use a device&amp;'s location awareness and its always-on connectivity to a social network. Mobile games have lower distribution costs and potentially new kinds of game play around location awareness. Smartphones are also likely to be ubiquitous.&amp;''Things go in cycles,&amp;'' Thompson said. &amp;''Facebook is very challenging for startups now because of high-distribution costs and lack of virality. He said he has investments in a couple of Facebook game companies, one of which is Funzio.Thompson said Wild Needle is aggressively hiring now. Dan Yue, co-founder of Playdom, and John Pleasants, who was CEO of Playdom, remain at Disney. Thompson said the company&amp;'s first game will be targeted at women and feature cool game play. He said he doesn&amp;'t think he has direct rivals, but other location-based game companies include Foursquare, Gowalla and Booyah.Next Story: Media frenzy about Verizon iPhone fails to move the needle on stocks Previous Story: Live at Verizon&amp;'s iPhone event: iPhone 4 will be available early next monthPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: mobile games, social gamesCompanies: Booyah, Facebook, Foursquare, Gowalla, Playdom, Wild NeedlePeople: Chris Kirmse, Dan Yue, Heidi Carson, John Pleasants, Minglei Xu, Rick Thompson          Tags: mobile games, social gamesCompanies: Booyah, Facebook, Foursquare, Gowalla, Playdom, Wild NeedlePeople: Chris Kirmse, Dan Yue, Heidi Carson, John Pleasants, Minglei Xu, Rick ThompsonDean 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[My Hummer isna4a4t electric IRS details false tax credit claims]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=my-hummer-isnâÂ€Â™t-electric-irs-details-false-tax-credit-claims</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=my-hummer-isnâÂ€Â™t-electric-irs-details-false-tax-credit-claims</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Nundalkadia</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=my-hummer-isnâÂ€Â™t-electric-irs-details-false-tax-credit-claims</guid>
<description><![CDATA[During the first half of 2010, nearly 13,000 U.S. taxpayers wrongly claimed a staggering $33 million under the electric tax credit incentive scheme, a Treasury Department inspector general report has revealed.The credits, designed to encourage the uptake of plug-in hybrid and electric-only vehicles under the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, rewards taxpayers who purchased a qualifying vehicle during the year with a $7,500 federal tax rebate cheque.Hummers, Cadillacs, Dodges: Are they ElectricAmong the claimants filing for the $7,500 credit were owners trying to claim the tax credit for the purchase of some of the most hungry gas-guzzlers on the road: A Hummer H3, a Dodge Durango and a Cadillac Escalade.Many people claiming the $7,500 credit for the purchase of a golf cart will be disappointed too, since they fail to meet the requirements outlined in the ACES Act as being eligible for the grant.Prisoners, Even IRS EmployeesErroneous claim, or malicious fraud Among those who claimed the tax credits were 29 prisoners, claiming a total of $49,926 in vehicle credits &amp;8212' more than enough to buy a 2011 Nissan Leaf and 2011 Brammo Empulse electric motorbike outright.More shockingly, the inspector general report mentions IRS employees had even claimed for purchases of electric cars they had not made. They are now under investigation by internal departments within the Treasury, although no details have been released to the press.Changes Will be Made, Claimants ChasedIn an attempt to prevent such a large number of erroneous claims to be filed, the IRS is planning a revamp of its manuals and software systems to reduce the number of genuine erroneous claims made by owners of non plug-in hybrids such as the 2011 Toyota Prius.Regardless of genuine confusion or malicious fraud, the IRS will be contacting everyone who filed an incorrect claim in the near future.The IRS said in a statement that it was taking  a4Aaggressive steps to recapture the credits people erroneously claimed.a4 Genuine BuyersThose who are buying an eligible electric vehicle need not worry, of being accused of foul play, however. Genuine claimants are still entitled to up to $7,500 of federal tax credits during 2010 and 2011 for the purchase of cars like the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, 2011 Tesla Roadster and 2011 Nissan Leaf.Those wishing to have their hybrid cars converted to a plug-in hybrid using one of the many conversion kits or companies now available have until the end of 2011 to convert their car for up to $4,000 in federal tax credits.Written by Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield, this article originally appeared on AllCarsElectric.com, one of VentureBeat&amp;'s editorial partners.Previous Story: Sony Ericssona4a4s Xperia Playstation Phone to launch on Feb. 13PrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: electric cars, electric vehicles, Empluse, Leaf, Prius, Roadster, VoltCompanies: Cadillac, Chevrolet, Dodge, GM, Hummer, IRS, Nissan          Tags: electric cars, electric vehicles, Empluse, Leaf, Prius, Roadster, VoltCompanies: Cadillac, Chevrolet, Dodge, GM, Hummer, IRS, Nissan 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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