Denny's

Foursquare CEO: Yes, actually, we are generating revenue

NEW YORK -- Foursquare's CEO wants to dismiss worries that the startup isn't growing, saying that all important metrics are rising about 10 percent to 30 percent from month to month.

Dennis Crowley, who also is a co-founder of the check-in and local search app, noted that Foursquare "doesn't talk about growth numbers that much," but the company pays attention to the number of active users, signups, check-ins, people using search and other metrics. All are rising, he said.

"There's a little perception we're not growing, which is false," Crowley said … Read more

Foursquare updates Android app with locale advice

Looking more and more like a local search and reviews site, Foursquare is launching a few brand new features with its Android update today.

The central new feature is popular places recommendations.

"When you're in a new city or neighborhood, Foursquare will show you popular places, sites, and must-see attractions," Foursquare wrote in a blog post today. "When you're on your home turf, we'll tell what spots are 'new and notable' -- places that have recently opened in your area."

This feature pops up in Android devices as soon as users open the … Read more

Foursquare gunning for Yelp

AUSTIN, Texas--Make no mistake: Foursquare, the New York-based social network centered around places, is chucking the check-in to take over local search, a move that pits the 4-year-old company directly against Yelp.

When asked whether Foursquare was now gunning for Yelp, co-founder and CEO Dennis Crowley said during an interview with CNET at South by Southwest Interactive that "if we keep doing what we're doing, we make the previous generation of local search products irrelevant."

The shorter answer would have been, "yes."

The underlying message is clear: The future of Foursquare depends on the company … Read more

Watch Kim Jong-un throw nuclear bomb, hoops in video game

Perhaps Kobe Bryant's teammates feel the same way.

They stand back and watch their supreme leader perform as no other man can. Or no other man thinks he can.

In this case, on one team is North Korea's "Supreme Leader" Kim Jong-un, partnered by his new bosom chum, Dennis Rodman.

On the other team are two Americans -- one of whom, curiously, isn't an American.

The genesis of this sparkling video game is the recent visit of Rodman, the former Chicago Bull great and "Celebrity Apprentice" not-so-great to North Korea. … Read more

North Korea: First Eric Schmidt; then... Dennis Rodman?

I fear that North Korea is about to learn what the rest of us have been forced to swallow for the last few years.

Once technology gets its hooks into you, you have no idea how much you'll change.

Not a few weeks ago, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt made what was then termed a private visit to Kim-Jong-un's unusual fiefdom.

Perhaps he was allowed in because the powers-that-be thought they could get a fine price on a few Chromebook Pixel laptops.

Perhaps the "Supreme Leader" himself wanted to improve his Google results and attempt to confirm … Read more

First space tourist plans to make trip to Mars in 2018

Earth's first space tourist won't be outdone by a few fancy NASA rovers with their cutesy names, sky cranes, and whatnot. So like the saying goes, if you can't beat 'em, make the unprecedented 500-day round-trip journey to Mars to join 'em.

That's the insanely ambitious plan that Dennis Tito, who was the first private space traveler a little less than 12 years ago, will announce in more detail next week.

A release from Tito's newly formed Inspiration Mars Foundation teases "plans to take advantage of a unique window of opportunity to launch an historic journey to Mars and back in 501 days, starting in January 2018."… Read more

Music machine gets sound from everyday objects

What does a cardboard box sound like? A lot like a weird clown head, it turns out.

Actually, most of the items that get sonified by designer Dennis Paul's "Instrument for the Sonification of Everyday Things" end up sounding pretty similar, but that's not really the point. The point is that Paul squeezes sound out of cardboard boxes and weird clown heads! … Read more

Motorola gets new direction, lease on life under Google

Say hello to the new Motorola Mobility.

Motorola, which struggled as a standalone company competing in the cutthroat smartphone business, gets a second chance under Google, a parent with loads of cash and even more patience.

The changes start with Dennis Woodside, an ex-Googler who now runs Motorola. Under Woodside, the company reshuffled and brought on new key managers, shifted resources away from its basic phone business, and focused more on the smartphones it believes resonates with power users.

Today's announcement of not one, but three different Droid Razr smartphones -- Motorola's first as a part of Google … Read more

Before move to AMD, Intel engineer stole documents

A former Intel engineer has pleaded guilty to stealing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of data from the chip giant before leaving the company, according to a Bloomberg report.

The worker, Biswamohan Pani, 36, of Chelmsford, Mass., stole the sensitive chip-related information "to advance his career with a competitor," according to Bloomberg. He worked at an Intel chip-manufacturing plant in Hudson, Mass.

Pani gave notice to Intel on May 29, 2008, with his last day set for June 11 and began work at Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) on June 2, "while retaining access to Intel's … Read more