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A great week for Google challengers

For companies that would take on Google's near-monopoly in the search business, being big is a challenge. There is, in fact, only one truly big Google rival left: Microsoft's Bing. And while it's a worthy opponent in terms of features and raw ingenuity, it's still a hugely pricey, money-losing venture.

Being a smaller, more specialized Google competitor, however, can work. And good things happened for two of my favorites this week.

Favorite #1 is  DuckDuckGo. Despite the wacky name, it's a traditional search engine. In fact, part of its appeal is that it feels … Read more

Google threat? Search engine DuckDuckGo scores funding

Another little-known search engine--with the tall order of snagging users from Google--has landed financial backing.

Union Square Ventures today wrote in a blog post today that it invested an undisclosed amount in a search engine called DuckDuckGo, which promises super-fast search results with far less spam and clutter than you get on the biggies. (A number of angel investors also participated in the round).

The biggies, of course, is really just one biggie--Google. For all its forays into areas beside search, search is where it consistently crushes all competitors. Data released yesterday shows Google's market share stood at more than 66 percent in September… Read more

Roku announces $50 LT box, adds HBO Go

Just a few months after Roku introduced a $59.99 entry-level streaming video player, the company has lowered the bar further with a new $49.99 player, the Roku LT. That's half of the price of an Apple TV, which retails for $99.99.

The new player offers the same 720p high-definition video and built-in wireless of the $59.99 Roku 2 HD but leaves out the Bluetooth and microSD card slot (meaning that you can't add the Wii-like remote to play games).

Roku also offers the Roku 2 XD ($79.99) and Roku 2 XS ($99.99). … Read more

TomTom Top Gear Edition quotes Jeremy Clarkson, so you don't have to

It would seem that you couldn't swing a cat these days without hitting something with the "Top Gear" logo on it. Assets from the madly popular automotive show--including the colorful commentary of the show's most popular presenter, Jeremy "Jezza" Clarkson--are featured in both Gran Turismo 5 and the upcoming Forza Motorsport 4 racing games for the PS3 and Xbox 360, respectively, and even in an iOS game. Today brings the news that you can now put ol' Jezza on your dashboard with the announcement of the TomTom Go Live Top Gear Edition, the first &… Read more

Dragon Go iPhone app expands its search options

Nuance has beefed up its Dragon Go iPhone app to let you search for information across a wider array of Web sites and services.

Available for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch since July, this free search-by-voice app is unique compared with the Google and Bing iOS apps. Dragon Go can find results and run commands across dozens of different Web sites, including Twitter, YouTube, Wikipedia, Craiglist, Amazon, eBay, CNN, Reuters, and even CNET.

The latest update adds even more sites to the mix, notably Netflix, Spotify, Wolfram Alpha, Ask.com, and Google+. And when you tap the app's … Read more

In green tech, debate over singles versus home runs

SAN FRANCISCO--Venture capitalists have become bipolar when it comes to green-technology investing in a debate affecting the pace of innovation.

The core question is whether it's better financially and environmentally to bet on technology breakthroughs or to play it safer by developing incremental improvements over existing products. It's an undercurrent to the AlwaysOn GoingGreen conference here this week and reflection of how green-tech investing has changed over the past three years.

"It's a huge debate, but we're in the second inning of an extra-inning game," said Andrew Chung, who recently joined Khosla Ventures as … Read more

Intel finds a way to let go of MeeGo

Here we go again. Like the Moblin operating system before it, Linux-based MeeGo will be merged out of existence.

MeeGo will become Tizen, Intel announced today.

"Intel joined Linux Foundation and LiMo Foundation in support of Tizen, a new Linux-based open source software platform for multiple device categories," the company said in a statement. "Tizen builds upon the strengths of both LiMo and MeeGo and Intel will be working with our MeeGo partners to help them transition to Tizen."

The initial release of Tizen is expected in the first quarter of 2012, enabling the first devices … Read more

Nokia N9 starts shipping; U.S. customers out of luck

Nokia has finally started shipping its flagship N9 smartphone. But customers in the U.S. won't be able to get their hands on the device.

The Nokia N9 comes with a curved design and 3.9-inch AMOLED display. The device comes in three colors--black, cyan, and magenta--and offers storage of 16GB or 64GB. The handset also boasts an 8-megapixel camera and the ability to capture "HD-quality video."

However, it's the operating system that might deserve the most attention. Rather than Symbian or Windows Phone 7, the Nokia N9 ships with MeeGo. That operating system, which is … Read more

AT&T's Z221 GoPhone

The AT&T Z221 is the latest prepaid flip phone to enter AT&T's GoPhone portfolio. A quad-band world phone, the ZTE-made Z221 has a 2-inch internal screen with a QVGA display (320x240 pixels) and a basic camera. The Z221 is a petite thing, just 3.8 inches tall, 2 inches wide, and .7-inch thick. It weighs 3.2 ounces.

There's a little more than meets the eye, with support for AT&T Mobile Music, mobile e-mail, and a Web browser. The Z221's battery life is rated at 3 hours talk time and around … Read more