Monday, September 30, 2013

Article: Varentec Raises $8M From Bill Gates And Khosla To Reinvent Industrial And Utility Power Grid Management

San Jose-based Varentec, a company that builds power management and monitoring solutions for the electric grid, today announced the close of an $8 million Series B round of funding from Bill Gates and Khosla Ventures. The new funding follows its $7.7 million Series A, which was led by Khosla, and...

http://techcrunch.com/2013/09/30/varentec-raises-8m-from-bill-gates-and-khosla-to-reinvent-industrial-and-utility-power-grid-management/

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Sharp's first Windows 8 tablet has 10.1-inch, 2,560 x 1,600 IGZO display and water resistance (hands-on)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/30/sharp-first-windows-8-tablet-10-1-inch-water-resistant/

Sharp's first Windows 8 tablet has 101inch, 2,560 x 1,600 IGZO display and water resistance

Kicking off this week's CEATEC show in Japan, Sharp has played to its strengths with its new Windows 8 tablet, the Mebius Pad, factoring in a 2,560 x 1,600 resolution display. That puts it pretty far ahead of the current crowd of 1080p Windows 8 tablets, including Microsoft's incoming Surface 2, although we admit, we'd have loved to have seen another incredible 4K tablet. Regardless, that's the highest resolution Windows 8 tablet we've seen yet. Alongside the company's 10.1-inch IGZO panel (known for their low-power credentials), the Mebius Pad runs on a slightly less-exciting Intel quad-core Atom processor (the Z3370), which we've had mixed feelings on when it comes to the Windows tablets its powered in the past. The basic Windows 8.1 model will arrive with Office for free, although you'll have to pay extra if you want it for the Pro edition. Also, following Japanese trends for practically any device, the slab is both water and dust-proof (it's in the midst of being certified for IPX5, IPX7, IP5X), while you'll be able to buy it with LTE radios on board, at least for Nippon, as the device is unlikely to leave Japanese shores once it launches in early 2014.

Unsurprisingly, in the flesh the screen looked good -- Sharp even provided a magnifying glass so we could get up close to those pixels. The 10.1-inch display is also satisfyingly bright -- if we're honest, it's unusual to see such a capable screen powered by an Atom processor. The tablet is headed towards business use (which explains the optional stylus) and the extra resolution found on Sharp's first Windows 8 tablet means there's more space for your spreadsheets and documents. The hardware itself is suitably thin and light, with the rear of the device bearing a passing resemblance to recent Sony hardware -- possibly due to the understated camera lens in the corner. We'll let you know if Sharp has plans to offer the tablet to global business types. %Gallery-slideshow99502%

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Sunday, September 29, 2013

Article: Swiftype closes $7.5M in less time than it takes to break a habit

Usually startups take a little break between raising their seed rounds and their Series A, but not Swiftype.

This "search-as-a-service" company has closed $7.5 million, just 6 weeks after announcing a $1.7 million seed round.

Y Combinator-backed Swiftype provides solutions that help companies...

http://venturebeat.com/2013/09/27/swiftype-closes-7-5m-in-less-time-than-it-takes-to-break-a-habit/

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Article: Advancing the state of the art for in-ear headphones, at a lower price

The 1964 Ears V6-Stage is a tour de force of in-ear headphone design, and they're hand-crafted in Portland, Ore.

When I first reviewed the 1964 Ears V6 custom in-ear headphones earlier this year I not only loved the sound, I got the distinct feeling the company tries harder to please its custom...

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13645_3-57604982-47/advancing-the-state-of-the-art-for-in-ear-headphones-at-a-lower-price/

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Article: NSA’s Targeting Prowess Doesn’t Extend To Ads

If the NSA only invited TechCrunch to its birthday party, it'd have to eat its cake alone. While we aren't big fans of the NSA, it appears to fancy our readers, as it consistently advertises on our site.

This makes me slightly uncomfortable, as I have spent a good portion of my time these past ...

http://techcrunch.com/2013/09/28/nsas-targeting-prowess-doesnt-extend-to-ads/

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