Roundup: Intel cuts estimates, iPhone games taking off and more

Here’s the latest action:

Intel cuts fourth quarter estimates — The chip maker says sales could fall by as much as 19 percent, and things look similarly bleak for chip companies Applied Materials and National Semiconductor.

IPhone takes on Nintendo and Sony in portable gaming — Among other things, the iPhone tempts developers with lowered distribution costs. There are almost 2,000 games already available in Apple’s App Store.

Google joins smart grid group — The group, called the Demand Response and Smart Grid Coalition, includes companies that make electricity meters and software for sharing information between utilities and their customers.

Game designer Richard Garriott leaves NCSoft after his successful journey into space — Garriott, who made his name with the famed Ultima series of roleplaying games, says going into space has sparked new interests that he wants to pursue.

Larry Shapiro, former creative chief at Brash, becomes president of Oddworld Inhabitants — Prior to leading Brash, Shapiro represented the makers of the “Oddworld” game series as an agent at CAA.

Technorati founder Dave Sifry launches OffBeatGuides — The site lets you build your own guidebook, then buy a physical copy or download it as a PDF.

Cyber thieves are making a killing stealing corporate data — Tech security experts tell USA Today that most corporations aren’t doing enough to control how employees use the web, leaving them vulnerable to these attacks.

Check how Zoho’s applications are doing using Zoho Status — This new transparency should give customers more confidence in Zoho’s online business software.

Harmonix founders get $300 million-plus pay day from Viacom — Almost half that money is a bonus for the Rock Band game’s stellar sales.

Is Twitterank a scam? — The web application, which measures your popularity on micro-messaging service Twitter, drew criticism for asking users for their passwords, but the app’s creator says he’s not trying to steal people’s passwords.

Java startup SpringSource acquires G2One — G2One is the company behind scripting language Groovy. Now SpringSource says it will offer support for Groovy and the related programming framework Grails.