By Yi-Wyn Yen
These days, getting a large handout from venture capitalists is rare. It’s even tougher when your startup needs a lot of cash to compete with Google.
Kosmix, however, has defied the odds. In late October, the plucky startup raised $20 million, led by Fortune’s parent company Time Warner (TWX), by assuring investors that Google is not the only way to search on the Web. Kosmix says it takes a new approach to searching by categorizing everything by broad topics for those times when you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for.
“This reflects the fact that Kosmix has a unique technology that’s working well,” said Jonathan Miller, the former chief executive of AOL who is on Kosmix’s board. “No question it’s a difficult period to raise significant amounts of money in a late-stage round.”
A powerhouse of investors are banking on a future where search will evolve beyond typing in specific [...]
Original post by and software by
The Wii Fit game is one of Nintendo’s biggest sellers with 697,000 sold in the U.S. in November. Courtesy of Nintendo
By Yi-Wyn Yen
Nintendo seems to have bucked the recession. The Japanese video game manufacturer has doubled November sales of the Wii in the U.S. from a year ago, according to NPD’s latest release on gaming sales.
The demand for the Wii remains strong since the game console’s debut two years ago. The company sold a record 2 million Wiis last month, higher than the previous 23 months. Nintendo (NTDOY) has significantly increased shipments of the red-hot Wii for this holiday season after dealing with a shortage last year. Last November Nintendo sold 981,000 Wiis.
Analysts were taken by surprise by how well the $249 console has performed in a flagging economy. “Two million? You sure? This is mind-boggling,” said Michael Pachter, a top industry analyst for Wedbush Morgan Securities. Pachter had predicted sales of [...]
Original post by and software by
Recent Comments