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<title>Haaze.com / fanclubmib / Published News</title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com</link>
<description>Test Web 2.0 Content Management System</description>
<pubDate>Sat, 18 Dec 2010 08:10:52 +0000</pubDate>
<language>en</language>
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<title><![CDATA[Google sued for showing underwear on Street View]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-sued-for-showing-underwear-on-street-view</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-sued-for-showing-underwear-on-street-view</comments>
<pubDate>Sat, 18 Dec 2010 08:10:52 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>fanclubmib</dc:creator>
<category>Marketing and advertising</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-sued-for-showing-underwear-on-street-view</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Some people are very sensitive about showing their underwear.These do not necessarily include people who wear extremely short skirts, droopy jeans, or minuscule tank tops. Lady Gaga is not included either.However, a Japanese woman is reportedly so incensed by seeing private items on her washing line appear on the very public Google Street View that she has decided to sue the company.The Telegraph references Japan's Mainichi newspaper, which quoted the woman from district court proceedings: &quot;I was overwhelmed with anxiety that I might be the target of a sex crime. It caused me to lose my job, and I had to change my residence.&quot; While this reaction might seem slightly drastic, the woman claims that she suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder. She claims that the exposure of this underwear forced her to consider that Google was actually following her everywhere she went.Will this case be left hanging(Credit:CC L-Plate Big Cheese/Filckr)This is an emotion that I know is shared by some who may not have OCD. For in Germany--which does, to be fair, have something of a reputation for order and neatness--almost 3 percent of the population took the opportunity to have their underwear (and, indeed, their homes) obscured on Google Street View.Although one gentleman may have accidentally appeared without any underwear at all.The woman in this case isn't of the view that her home should have been blurred, merely that Google should have been more sensitive toward her undergarments.&quot;I could understand if it was just a picture of the outside of the apartment, but showing a person's underwear hanging outside is absolutely wrong,&quot; the woman reportedly told the court.For myself, I am astonished that Google has allowed this landmark case to be hung in a courtroom. The plaintiff is seeking a mere 600,000 Yen, which might, if a following wind attached itself to the currency exchange rate, amount to a little more than $7,000. The woman claims that Google did remove her underwear around the time that she filed suit, while Google reportedly says it is now looking into the whole thing.Surely Google might understand the lady's distress and pay up. It is a small price to offer for such a wanton and gratuitous display of smalls. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[iTunes Ping comes to Twitter]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=itunes-ping-comes-to-twitter</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=itunes-ping-comes-to-twitter</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 11 Nov 2010 08:10:09 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>fanclubmib</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=itunes-ping-comes-to-twitter</guid>
<description><![CDATA[iTunes previews are integrated right into the Twitter interface, thanks to a new partnership between Twitter and Apple.(Credit:Twitter)There's a crucial new partnership for Ping, the social music service that Apple launched as part of its iTunes 10 unveiling this summer: Twitter users can now link up their accounts.&quot;Once you've linked the accounts, whenever you post, like, review, or tell your friends why you purchased a song or album on Ping, this activity will also be tweeted to your Twitter followers--complete with playable song previews and links to purchase and download music from iTunes,&quot; a post on the Twitter blog explained.This is big, because Ping was one of those rare Apple product launches that legitimately underwhelmed, largely because the long-rumored iTunes social-networking initiative did not sync up to either Facebook or Twitter. Apple said at launch that Ping users would be able to sync up with their Facebook friends, something that never came to fruition. Apple CEO Steve Jobs hinted that negotiations with Facebook had soured, citing &quot;onerous terms&quot; on behalf of the massive social network. It's not like Facebook and Apple have never partnered before: Facebook Connect is available for iPhoto uploads, and there's a separate version of the universal log-in tool just for theiPhone.But Twitter's terms are apparently more flexible, and they're even integrating an iTunes song preview into the Twitter.com interface, adding yet another feature to the &quot;New Twitter&quot; redesign that the company launched several months ago.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Yes, insults on Facebook can still get you fired]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=yes-insults-on-facebook-can-still-get-you-fired</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=yes-insults-on-facebook-can-still-get-you-fired</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 09 Nov 2010 08:10:37 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>fanclubmib</dc:creator>
<category>Politics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=yes-insults-on-facebook-can-still-get-you-fired</guid>
<description><![CDATA[A federal agency recently brought a complaint against a Connecticut medical-services company for allegedly firing an employee over a Facebook post.But it may not be wise to take that as carte blanche to go online and type in exactly what you think of your boss.The general rule is that employers can still fire workers for off-color or unsavory things they say when blogging (or facebooking or tweeting) on the job or about their job.&quot;It would be a mistake for people to say that, 'Just because I'm on Facebook, I can say whatever I want,'&quot; said Charles Cohen, senior counsel at the Morgan Lewis law firm in Washington, D.C. &quot;That's the main point.&quot;There are exceptions to that rule. Union employees with a contract are often protected from being fired without &quot;just cause.&quot; Being fired because you disclosed your religion or sexual orientation on a blog is likely illegal.Finally, organizing a union has long been protected under federal law--which is the right that the National Labor Relations Board is seeking to expand to social-media sites in its new complaint filed against American Medical Response.The complaint says (PDF) that AMR employee Dawnmarie Souza &quot;engaged in concerted activities with other employees by criticizing respondent's supervisor...on her Facebook page&quot; on November 8, 2009. Souza was fired on December 1, 2009. (An administrative-law judge will hear the NLRB's allegations on January 25, 2011.)Note the key phrase &quot;concerted activities.&quot; That's a reference to a 1935 federal law called the National Labor Relations Act. Section 7 of the law says employees have the right to organize labor unions and &quot;to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.&quot;CNET has obtained copies of Souza's Facebook posts. In one, she called her supervisor a &quot;dick.&quot; Another said &quot;he's a scumbag as usual.&quot; One reply said: &quot;I am sorry, hon! Chin up!&quot;Invoking scatological language when describing the relative merits of your job is, of course, a time-honored American tradition. So is firing employees who do it to your face. But is a Facebook post calling a supervisor a &quot;scumbag&quot; necessarily done &quot;for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection&quot; Perhaps not. Or, at the very least, it may not be exactly what the drafters of that 1935 federal law--billed as promoting &quot;the flow of commerce by removing certain recognized sources of industrial strife and unrest&quot;--had in mind.A 1978 Supreme Court case, Eastex v. NLRB (PDF), said employees could distribute a union newsletter (during nonwork hours) that took explicitly political positions. Federal law, a majority of the justices said, encompasses that newspaper distribution as a type of &quot;concerted activity.&quot;But the majority also acknowledge that &quot;some concerted activity bears a less immediate relationship to employees' interests as employees than other such activity.&quot; That kind of activity, the justices said, &quot;cannot fairly be deemed to come within the 'mutual aid or protection' clause&quot; and could be legally punished by an employer.&quot;We're trying to adapt that law to the modern workplace,&quot; Tony Wagner, a representative of the NLRB for new media, told CNET. &quot;This is really the first case we're aware of that directly involves a social-media component.&quot;Complicating the complaint that the NLRB filed against the Connecticut company is that it's not just about a few Facebook posts: Souza allegedly requested union representation during an internal AMR disciplinary process and was refused. That dispute apparently is what led her to vent online.The NLRB's complaint against the company stresses that point, alleging that AMR &quot;has been discriminating in regard to the hire or tenure, or terms and conditions of employment, of its employees, thereby discouraging membership in a labor organization,&quot; in violation of the law.For its part, AMR says the case is really unrelated to Facebook.&quot;The real issue here doesn't have anything to do with Facebook,&quot; said John Barr, a partner at the Jackson Lewis law firm who represents AMR.Even in the absence of the Facebook posts, &quot;the employee most likely would have been fired,&quot; anyway, because of repeated complaints about her &quot;rude and discourteous behavior.&quot;AMR doesn't monitor Facebook posts, Barr said. Instead, &quot;the way AMR finds out about it is that one day, the supervisor has personnel from the fire department call him up and say, 'What's this on Facebook'&quot; Moreover, he added, AMR has not disciplined other employees for their out-of-school Facebook conversations.&quot;It's the company's position that the Facebook posting was not protected activity&quot; under Section 7, Barr said.While this appears to be the first time that the NLRB has taken action against an employer based on social media, it has addressed the topic before. In a memorandum sent to Sears in December 2009 (PDF), the agency said the company's Internet policy did not violate the law.Sears' policy prohibited the &quot;disparagement of company's or competitors' products, services, executive leadership, employees, strategy, and business prospects&quot; through social media.That's remarkably similar to AMR's Internet policy, which says: &quot;Employees are prohibited from making disparaging, discriminatory, or defamatory comments when discussing the company or the employee's superiors, co-workers, and/or competitors.&quot;This is hardly the first time someone was fired for Facebook comments made at work (or about the employer), and it won't be the last.Last year, a U.K. employee was fired for saying her job was boring. So was a Swiss insurance worker who was fired after claiming that she was so sick, she couldn't use a computer but was caught logging on to Facebook from home. &quot;We don't have the contours yet, vis-a-vis, this medium,&quot; said Cohen, the employment lawyer in Washington, D.C. &quot;We have a lot of analogies from the past.&quot;<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Did Apple buy voice recognition company Nuance, or is Wozniak off his rocker]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=did-apple-buy-voice-recognition-company-nuance-or-is-wozniak-off-his-rocker</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=did-apple-buy-voice-recognition-company-nuance-or-is-wozniak-off-his-rocker</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>fanclubmib</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=did-apple-buy-voice-recognition-company-nuance-or-is-wozniak-off-his-rocker</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Apple may have bought the voice recognition company Nuance, the creator of the popular Dragon Naturally Speaking software, according to a brief statement by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak in a video by Romil Patel of TVDeck.Wozniak briefly mentions that Apple bought Nuance when speaking about the importance of voice recognition technology for mobile devices. He mentioned that natural speech will allow users to &amp;''get normal human things done&amp;'' with your computer, and it will become a common mode of input. The news was first reported by 9to5Mac.Now Wozniak could be talking about Siri, creators of a personal assistant app for the iPhone that Apple bought in April, but he was also clear to mention Siri separately as a service that uses Nuance&amp;'s technology.We&amp;'ve asked both Nuance and Apple for comment on the matter and will update when we hear back.For now, I consider this news to be very speculative &amp;8212' but I honestly don&amp;'t think it&amp;'s all that crazy. Valued at over $5 billion, Nuance would be an easy purchase for Apple, which has over $50 billion in cash on hand. Buying Nuance, provider of the most well-known and fully featured consumer voice recognition software on the market, is also much easier for Apple than developing voice recognition technology of its own (for use with Siri&amp;'s software, and elsewhere).But as likely as the Nuance buy may be, we should probably take Wozniak&amp;'s comments with a grain of salt at this point. He made news last week when he reportedly said that Google&amp;'s Android platform would win the smartphone wars. He later clarified his statements, but didn&amp;'t fully renege the original remarks. And in the height of the Toyota sudden acceleration frenzy, Wozniak also said publicly that he saw the problem with his 2010 Prius &amp;8212' even though he was most likely referring to the car&amp;'s adaptive cruise control.Previous Story: Badgeville raises $2.5M to spread game mechanics across the webPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: Dragon Naturally Speaking, iPhone, voice recognitionCompanies: Apple, NuancePeople: Steve Wozniak          Tags: Dragon Naturally Speaking, iPhone, voice recognitionCompanies: Apple, NuancePeople: Steve WozniakDevindra Hardawar is VentureBeat's lead mobile writer and East Coast correspondent. He studied philosophy at Amherst College, worked in IT support for several years, and has been writing about technology since 2004. He now lives in Brooklyn, New York. You can reach him at devindra@venturebeat.com (all story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com), and on Twitter at @Devindra.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[For planned websites, a 'coming soon' page in 1 minute - Springwise]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=for-planned-websites-a-coming-soon-page-in-1-minute---springwise</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=for-planned-websites-a-coming-soon-page-in-1-minute---springwise</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>fanclubmib</dc:creator>
<category>Marketing and advertising</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=for-planned-websites-a-coming-soon-page-in-1-minute---springwise</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Anyone who''s ever launched a website knows how much trouble it can be to create a simple a4Acoming soona4 page. Templates can be expensive, and it hardly seems worthwhile setting up a server for just a single page. Enter Capturely, a new online service that lets domain registrants create a custom a4Acoming soona4 page in about a minute.Users of California-based Capturely begin by entering a headline and body copy for their page, along with which analytics service they plan to use. They can then either pick a template for the site''s appearance, or they can style their page in real time with CSS. Either way, once the page goes live, it can be used not just for publicity but also to collect the email addresses of potential customers and supporters.  Soon, Capturely will also make it possible to export that email list to providers like MailChimp. Using Capturely is free for up to 20 collected email addresses' after that, it''s USD 0.25 per email.Have you registered a domain, but not yet launched your website If so, Capturely could help you out. Otherwise, it''s yet another nice illustration of one of the key principles of Marketing 101: Find an unmet need a4&quot; however niche a4&quot; address it well, and customers will follow! '-) (Related: Crowdsourced marketing ideas, 10 for $99 a4&quot; An instant storefront for any website or blog a4&quot; Custom presentation designs in 48 hours for $99.)Website: www.capturely.comContact: contact@capturely.com<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Entrepreneur Corner: Finding mentors and the new golden age of startups]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=entrepreneur-corner-finding-mentors-and-the-new-golden-age-of-startups</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=entrepreneur-corner-finding-mentors-and-the-new-golden-age-of-startups</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>fanclubmib</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=entrepreneur-corner-finding-mentors-and-the-new-golden-age-of-startups</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Herea4a4s the latest from VentureBeata4a4s Entrepreneur Corner.4 tips for buying a bankrupt competitor a4&quot; The economy is still struggling, which is causing plenty of companies to call it quits. For some entrepreneurs, that presents an opportunity to buy valuable assets, but Attorney Scott Edward Walker notes that ita4a4s a complicated process. Here are four things to keep in mind as you consider buying failed IP and assets.6 tips on finding the right mentor a4&quot; Finding someone to advise you as you launch your startup isna4a4t always easy, but ita4a4s often worth it. Duke Chung and his mentor Ching-Ho Fung, who now both lead help-desk software maker Parature, offer advice on finding the right person and forging a strong relationship.The ABCs of pitching investors a4&quot; Always Be Credible a4&quot; While the idea youa4a4re pitching is important when you go in front of angel investors and venture capitalists, the first thing you have to nail is pitching yourself. Jeff Bussgang, General Partner at Flybridge Capital Partners, lists three pieces of advice and three things to avoid in the opening minutes of a pitch.Start-ups are entering a new golden age a4&quot; As todaya4a4s start-up owners generate ideas, build products and scale their businesses better and faster than they ever have before, the entrepreneur world is moving towards a new golden age, says Scott Albro. The CEO of Focus.com gives five drivers for this momentum.A lean startup isn&amp;'t necessarily a small one &amp;8211' Lean startups aren&amp;'t always small ones. In fact, eBay, Apple and Microsoft started using variations of the lean philosophy, says Ann Miura-Ko, co-founding partner at Floodgate. Ultimately, business models and vision should steer the way.Previous Story: Kineto Wireless gets $3M to improve mobile phone coveragePrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: entrepreneur corner          Tags: entrepreneur cornerChris Morris is editor of the Entrepreneur Corner on VentureBeat, helping start-up business owners launch and grow their companies. He previously worked at Yahoo! Finance, where he was managing editor, and as director of content development at CNNMoney.com. He is also a widely respected journalist in the video game and technology fields, whose work has appeared in Variety, CNBC.com, AOL and Forbes.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MorrisatLargeVentureBeat 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[The Resumator scores $100K to make hiring less of a chore]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-resumator-scores-100k-to-make-hiring-less-of-a-chore</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-resumator-scores-100k-to-make-hiring-less-of-a-chore</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>fanclubmib</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-resumator-scores-100k-to-make-hiring-less-of-a-chore</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The Resumator, a startup dedicated to simplifying the hiring process for businesses, has landed $100,000 in seed funding, the company told VentureBeat.The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania company has developed web-based social recruiting and applicant tracking tools that let you do everything required to attract and select new hires. The Resumator lets you easily advertise open positions via social networks, post positions to free job aggregators (potentially saving money by avoiding expensive job board sites) and create branded sites for applicants.Best of all, the site compiles submitted resumes to a single secure location that lets you discuss, rank and track job candidates. You can search the text of every submitted resume, and filtering tools effectively allow you to create a searchable database from resumes.For businesses, a service like The Resumator means the end of having a single person manage the onslaught of information around the hiring process. The company says it&amp;'s specifically targeting &amp;''deputized hiring managers&amp;'', people who are tasked with recruiting even though they may not have the training or time to do so. Instead of having a monstrous spreadsheet of applicant data, or a messy collection of email submissions, the Resumator gives you everything you need to compare and keep track of applicants.The company offers a variety of pricing options: At the low-end, you can spend $29 a month for managing 3 jobs at a time, and at the high-end you can spend $299 a month for 40 jobs at a time. There&amp;'s also an &amp;''Infinity Plan&amp;'' for big companies that need to hire for more than 40 jobs at once.Competitors like Jobvite and Sendouts have been around longer, but The Resumator stands out with its low-cost monthly fees and useful web-based tools.The Resumator officially launched in January 2009, and since then it has gathered over 200 customers across a wide variety of industries, including companies like Evernote, ThinkGeek, Posterous and Disqus. In 2011, the company says that it will roll out new features that offer deeper social network connections.The new round of seed funding came from Innovation Works, creator of the AlphaLab program for startups, of which The Resumator is a graduate. The company previously raised $75,000 through Innovation Works and the AlphaLab program.Next Story: Projects in 2010 took aim at cleantech&amp;'s chicken-and-egg dilemma Previous Story: Xpert Financial offers an SEC-approved way to sell startup shares &amp;8212' and raise fundingPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: hiring, recruiting, resumesCompanies: Innovation Works, The Resumator          Tags: hiring, recruiting, resumesCompanies: Innovation Works, The ResumatorDevindra Hardawar is VentureBeat's lead mobile writer and East Coast correspondent. He studied philosophy at Amherst College, worked in IT support for several years, and has been writing about technology since 2004. He now lives in Brooklyn, New York. You can reach him at devindra@venturebeat.com (all story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com), and on Twitter at @Devindra.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[Gevo slashes biofuels IPO goal to $100 million, potential boost from Total, United Airlines]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=gevo-slashes-biofuels-ipo-goal-to-100-million-potential-boost-from-total-united-airlines</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=gevo-slashes-biofuels-ipo-goal-to-100-million-potential-boost-from-total-united-airlines</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>fanclubmib</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=gevo-slashes-biofuels-ipo-goal-to-100-million-potential-boost-from-total-united-airlines</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Biofuels company Gevo is seeking a roughly $100 million IPO by selling over seven million shares priced between $13 and $15 each, a pared-down goal from its $150 million public offering hopes announced last August.At $13 to $15 a share, Gevo could raise $93 million to $107 million, but the total may actually come out to $89 million after fees, according to VentureWire/Earth2Tech.Looks like Gevo&amp;'s prospectus to potential investors doesn&amp;'t quite market it as a 100 percent biofuels company though, instead joining the trend we&amp;'ve seen recently of biofuels companies backing away from the costly and difficult process of scaling up biofuel plants, instead using their technology to make chemicals or food additives.In Gevo&amp;'s case, the company is planning to move forward by first commercializing its isobutanol, a versatile alcohol compound that can be used as an ethanol substitute' Gevo in fact wants to retrofit ethanol facilities to produce isobutanol, with commercial production starting in 2012. Its SEC filing placed heavy emphasis on isobutanol&amp;'s potential as a building block in raw materials, pointing to opportunities in rubber, lubricants and polyester. Isobutanol can be used as a fuel in existing gas tanks, as a fuel blend with gasoline like ethanol, or as a component in plastics and other polymers.Still, it&amp;'s a hefty ambition on Gevo&amp;'s part. Its better-known biofuels rivals, Codexis and Amyris, IPO&amp;'d last year for smaller amounts' Codexis for $78 million and Amyris for $85 million. Amyris, like Gevo, was backed by Vinod Khosla&amp;'s cleantech fund. Gevo also drew investment from Richard Branson&amp;'s Virgin Fuels fund.In its SEC filing, Gevo also discloses it has received letters of intent with future customers for its chemicals and fuels. The list included chemicals company Lanxess, the U.S. arm of oil and gas giant Total and United Airlines.Both Codexis and Amyris were boosted in part by their deals with companies like Shell and Total &amp;8212' but Gevo doesn&amp;'t appear to have inked contracts yet with any of the above, although its website lists agriculture and food companies Cargill and ICM as partners. Still, the letters of intent should give some boost to Gevo, which clearly needs to raise cash and has never been profitable, a fact it acknowledged in its S-1:&amp;''While we are a development stage company that has generated minimal revenue and has experienced net losses since inception, we believe that our cost-efficient production route will enable rapid deployment of our technology platform and allow our isobutanol and the products produced from it to be economically competitive with many of the petroleum-derived products used in the chemicals and fuels markets today.&amp;''The IPO&amp;'s underwriters will be UBS, Citi and Piper Jaffray.[Image via Flickr/chicagokoz]Next Story: Facebooka4a4s mobile dominance grows with new feature phone app Previous Story: PayPal keeps on rolling as eBay posts solid fourth quarterPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: biofuelsCompanies: Citi, Gevo, Khosla Ventures, Piper Jaffray, UBS, Virgin FuelsPeople: Richard Branson, Vinod Khosla          Tags: biofuelsCompanies: Citi, Gevo, Khosla Ventures, Piper Jaffray, UBS, Virgin FuelsPeople: Richard Branson, Vinod KhoslaIris 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[Sony throws the kitchen sink of gaming technology into NGP]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sony-throws-the-kitchen-sink-of-gaming-technology-into-ngp</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sony-throws-the-kitchen-sink-of-gaming-technology-into-ngp</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>fanclubmib</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sony-throws-the-kitchen-sink-of-gaming-technology-into-ngp</guid>
<description><![CDATA[With its new NGP portable entertainment gadget, Sony has stuck to its tried-and-true strategy of packing as much technology as it possibly can into a device.From a quad-core processor to multiple motion sensors, the NGP, which Sony announced today, has more technology packed into it than any other gadget out there. That tells us a few things about its chances for success, its likely pricing, and where it&amp;'s going to fit in the market among the competitors.The device will likely cost around $299 at debut. By comparison, Nintendo&amp;'s new 3DS will start selling for $250 in March, and Apple&amp;'s iPod Touch models start at $229. This kind of Sony device will appeal to the company&amp;'s core crowd of hardcore gamers. But that may not be the winning bet.All-out technology for technology&amp;'s sake hasn&amp;'t won lately. In recent years, gimmicks such as motion-sensing have ruled the video game market. Nintendo went with the cheaper Wii system and its motion-sensing controller, undercutting Sony and Microsoft on pricing and taking the No. 1 position. The DS also took the No. 1 spot, even though it didn&amp;'t have fancy technology compared to the PSP. That&amp;'s because Nintendo had cool games such as Nintendogs.The good thing for Sony is that it has also made some smart bets. It has gone with flash memory technology for storing games, not its earlier spinning-disk media format (the universal memory disk) that it used in the PSP. That will allow content to be downloaded directly on the device. Unfortunately, this is only a partly good decision, as the flash memory format looks like it will be proprietary. That choice appears to be an attempt to head off piracy, but users won&amp;'t like the lock-in.And there was another good decision: Sony has introduced PlayStation Suite, a way to publish NGP games on Android phones and a way to bring Android games to the NGP. That&amp;'s perhaps the wisest thing Sony has done, since it will keep gamers from feeling like they&amp;'re locked into a Sony-only solution for games. Sony will also let users enjoy non-gaming apps through the Android connection.But everything else is a big bet on technology. For processing power, Sony has gone over the top with a quad-core ARM Cortex A9 processor at a time when many other mobile devices are starting to use their first dual-core devices. The graphics processor comes from Imagination Technologies, which designed the PowerVR SGX543MP4+, a beefed up version of earlier graphics components. Sony says that the performance will be a lot like the PlayStation 3&amp;'s visual rendering powers, which are considerable. The previous PlayStation Portable was more like PS 2.5 in terms of graphics capability. The graphics sound cool, but will likely make the device more expensive.With motion-sensing, the NGP has tossed in the kitchen sink. It has added a compass, three-axis gyroscope, and a three-axis accelerometer. That&amp;'s pretty much what Sony included in the PlayStation Move, a motion-sensing wand introduced in September for the PlayStation 3. The only thing missing is some kind of 3D depth camera, as Microsoft uses in Kinect. But you can expect the NGP to have very precise motion control with this device.The device also has front and rear-facing cameras, which can be used for video phone calls when used with the device&amp;'s 3G and Wi-Fi wireless technology. The wireless capability will allow people to download games directly into the device' the inability to do so with the previously launched PSPgo device was a sore point with users, who had to get its games via a PS 3 or PC connection. Sony has clarified that not all the devices will have 3G' some models will be Wi-Fi only.The rear touch pad, which allows you to touch objects on the screen from the back, has been used in some smartphones. But it hasn&amp;'t been used in a gaming device yet. The benefit is that you can have a touch-controlled game on a relatively small screen, since your fingers won&amp;'t block the view of the action.And the screen is a 5-inch capacitive touch screen with 16 million colors. Since it&amp;'s an organic light emitting diode (OLED), it&amp;'s going to be both thin and incredible to look at. But it may draw a lot of power. Sony says the device will get four or five hours use on a battery charge.The company hasn&amp;'t said if the device will be used as a phone, but clearly it has the technology for that.The only technology that Sony chose not to put in the device is stereoscopic 3D, which Nintendo is using in the 3DS. Kaz Hirai, overall chief of Sony&amp;'s networked products group, said that game developers asked Sony not to go down that road. That&amp;'s a rare act of restraint on Sony&amp;'s part, since the rest of Sony is busy making 3D TVs and Blu-ray players.Sony&amp;'s NGP is likely coming out this holiday season.Next Story: As Egypt cracks down on protests, it shuts off the internet Previous Story: Verizon picks up a bunch of buildings for $1.4B a4&quot;oh, and Terremark tooPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: NGP, PS 3, PSPCompanies: Apple, nintendo, SonyPeople: Kaz Hirai          Tags: NGP, PS 3, PSPCompanies: Apple, nintendo, SonyPeople: Kaz HiraiDean 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. 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[Motorola&'s Xoom the most iPad-like Android tablet yet, reviewers say]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=motorolarsquos-xoom-the-most-ipad-like-android-tablet-yet-reviewers-say</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=motorolarsquos-xoom-the-most-ipad-like-android-tablet-yet-reviewers-say</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>fanclubmib</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=motorolarsquos-xoom-the-most-ipad-like-android-tablet-yet-reviewers-say</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Motorola&amp;'s Xoom Android tablet is now available at Best Buy and Verizon stores, and reviewers have weighed in with mostly positive impressions.Overall, the Xoom appears to be the most iPad-like Android tablet on the market, thanks to its impressive hardware and slick Android 3.0 &amp;''Honeycomb&amp;'' operating system. But it&amp;'s much more expensive than the iPad ($599 with a two-year Verizon contract, $799 off contract), there aren&amp;'t many tablet-specific Android apps available, and certain hardware and software elements feel rushed, and all of those disadvantages keep it from being an ideal option for general consumers.Engadget editor-in-chief Joshua Topolsky caps off his review by saying, &amp;''Honeycomb and the Xoom are spectacular &amp;8212' unfortunately they&amp;'re a spectacular work in progress.&amp;'' That seems to be the overall sentiment among reviewers.The Wall Street Journal and All Things Digital&amp;'s Walt Mossberg praised the Xoom, but concludes that its high price will pose a significant problem for the tablet. Motorola has said that a cheaper $599 WiFi-only version of the Xoom is in the works, but it&amp;'s unclear when it will be available. For now, the iPad has a more attractive $499 entry price, although at that price it offers half the memory and fewer features than the Xoom.GigaOm&amp;'s Kevin Tofel offers up his first impressions on the Xoom in a video. Tofel praises the Gmail and Google Maps apps &amp;8212' both newly redesigned for Android 3.0 &amp;8212' but points out that video chat over Google Talk isn&amp;'t as high-quality as Apple&amp;'s FaceTime on the iPhone.Tech personality Robert Scoble, a self-proclaimed iPad lover, points out that the lack of tablet apps will be a big problem for the Xoom. Apple has over 30,000 tablet apps available for the iPad, but at the moment there are only a handful of Android tablet apps available for the Xoom. Motorola has mentioned that it&amp;'s working on developing an Android app store of its own that can highlight tablet apps.The Xoom won&amp;'t hold the limelight for too long. Apple is hosting an iPad 2 event next Thursday, which is expected to offer cameras and better hardware to compete with the Xoom and other upcoming Android tablets.Previous Story: Lockify locks up information in a secure linkPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: Android, iPad, tablets, XoomCompanies: Apple, Google, motorola          Tags: Android, iPad, tablets, XoomCompanies: Apple, Google, motorolaDevindra Hardawar is VentureBeat's lead mobile writer and East Coast correspondent. He studied philosophy at Amherst College, worked in IT support for several years, and has been writing about technology since 2004. He now lives in Brooklyn, New York. You can reach him at devindra@venturebeat.com (all story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com), and on Twitter at @Devindra. 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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