Fun fact: Most of the research funded in this round doesn’t actually involve embryonic stem cells, because not much research in general involves embryonic stem cells. SFGate runs down the long, long list of recipients.
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":138244,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"business,mobile,","session":"A"}']Will it sell? The Wall Street Journal reports that China has an estimated 710 million mobile-phone subscribers, according to government figures. But the average customer pays less than $15 for monthly service and only 7.5% of the handsets sold in the country last year were smart phones. Analysts told the Journal that China Unicom, which will carry the iPhone exclusively at first, is a less savvy marketer than most wireless carriers.
AI Weekly
The must-read newsletter for AI and Big Data industry written by Khari Johnson, Kyle Wiggers, and Seth Colaner.
Included with VentureBeat Insider and VentureBeat VIP memberships.
Here’s the 100-word version of each review:
“Don’t rush a product to market just because it’s the holiday season. That’s what R.I.M. did last year, and the Storm was a mess. You’d tap one menu item, and a different one would highlight. The Storm 2 fixes all of that.”
“Motorola has built an ingenious, if initially overwhelming, archipelago of social-networking widgets. the address book fills itself with information and headshots from those online worlds. When someone calls — your brother, say — you see not only his photo, but also his latest status broadcasts from Twitter and Facebook.”
“HTC must have gotten sick of hearing how homely and bulky its first Google Android phone was. The HTC Hero is thin, sleek and a pleasure to hold. Far narrower than the Storm 2 and far thinner than the Motorola Cliq.” (It conspicuously matches iPhone dimensions.)
[Illustration: Stuart Goldenberg/The New York Times]
Kodak reports fourth straight quarterly loss on sales — The company is a lesson: The once premier film brand has been left behind by Americans’ faster-than-expected switch to digital cameras and Internet content. “They don’t have a significant recurring revenue base,” one analyst said, “so they’re very transaction-oriented and transactions just aren’t happening as much right now.” Sales fell all around, to a net loss of $111 million compared to last year’s $96 million in profit. Kodak won’t give out the numbers for its new inkjet printer and ink business, but it claims sales more than doubled in the quarter.
Nokia used to be a manufacturer of auto tires and rubber boots. So there’s hope for Kodak yet.
[aditude-amp id="medium1" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":138244,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"business,mobile,","session":"A"}']
The big design change in Apple TV 3.0 software is a new main menu borne of customer feedback: “Recently rented or purchased movies, as well as other content including TV shows, music, podcasts, photos and YouTube, are accessible directly from the new main menu,” Apple wrote in a press release. I spend way too much time clicking through my iTunes library while trying to relax with some TV after work. So I grok how these changes will make watching Apple TV more of a joy and less of a brand loyalty test.
VentureBeat's mission is to be a digital town square for technical decision-makers to gain knowledge about transformative enterprise technology and transact. Learn More