Six tech stars have banded together to create the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, rewarding scientists “who think big, take risks and have made a significant impact on our lives,” said Anne Wojcicki, founder of genetics company 23andMe and married to Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google. 

Wojcicki along with Brin, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan, Russian entrepreneur Yuri Milner and Art Levinson, chairman of Apple and former CEO of Genentech created the foundation in an effort to bring scientists and researchers to the forefront. “I think that our society needs more heroes who are scientists and researchers and engineers," said Zuckerberg. 

The foundation plans to reward five individuals or teams every year, however in its inaugural effort this year, 11 recipients were awarded the honor. 

The 11 scientists, most of them American, will each receive $3 million—more than twice the amount of a Nobel Prize—making it the world’s richest academic prize for medicine and biology.Continue reading...

Tens of millions of Americans tuned in to President Obama’s State of the Union speech Tuesday night and a few brands benefited from getting a mention. Caterpillar, Ford and Apple were all named for bringing jobs back to America. Apple CEO Tim Cook even got a few seconds of airtime since he was sitting with First Lady Michelle Obama. Siemens America got a few sentences dedicated to its CEO saying that, “if we upgrade our infrastructure, they'll bring even more jobs.”

IBM snuck in there, too, as it has partnered with the City University of New York to create P-Tech, the Pathways in Technology early college high school in Brooklyn that serves grades 9-14 with a focus on technology and innovation. As Bloomberg Businessweek reports, "The 18-month-old experiment has caught not only the president’s eye but the attention of companies, politicians, and educators across the nation."

Students graduate with both a high school diploma and an associate’s degree in engineering or computers. The school, which opened in September 2011, has already inspired five more similar programs to start up in Chicago, Obama’s adopted hometown. Idaho has announced plans to open a similar school as well.Continue reading...

The decisive winner in the latest technology branding battle is fittingly symbolic of the rising fortunes of Asia. At the close of 2012, Samsung, a South Korean company, will unseat Finland's Nokia as the world's largest cellphone maker, according to a global market analysis by IHS iSuppli.

It's not even close: Samsung will account for 29% of worldwide cellphone shipments in 2012, up from 24% in 2011, while Nokia will drop from 30% last year to 24% this year.

Samsung's fortunes and Nokia's troubles are tied largely to smartphones, said Wayne Lam, senior analyst for wireless communications at IHS.

"Smartphones represent the fastest-growing segment of the cellphone market — and will account for nearly half of all wireless handset shipments for all of 2012. Samsung's successes and Nokia's struggles in the cellphone market this year were determined entirely by the two companies' divergent fortunes in the smartphone sector."Continue reading...

Dell has announced its #Inspire 100 list of leading influencers in entrepreneurship, philanthropy, education and media who use technology to empower and inspire others. The list launched on Dell’s Facebook page, and the #inspire hashtag on Twitter is tied to Dell’s “Inspired Giving” holiday campaign.

Curators of the list along with Dell include Elliott Bisnow, founder of Summit Series; Josh Kopelman, founder, First Round Capital; Ingrid Vanderveldt, Dell Entrepreneur in Residence; Shauna Robertson, partner, Crowdrise; and Tina Wells, member of Dell Women Entrepreneur Network (DWEN) and Founder and CEO of Buzz Marketing Group.

The four categories of risk takers are: World Changers, Entrepreneurs, Creatives and Tastemakers and one-minute video highlights, interviews and vignettes of those honored are featured on Facebook.Continue reading...

Apple is roaring into the holiday season, reporting earnings for the company's fiscal fourth quarter ending Sept. 30th that show how last month's iPhone 5 launch boosted business, while iPad demand is still high.

The company posted quarterly revenue of $36.0 billion and quarterly net profit of $8.2 billion, or $8.67 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $28.3 billion and net profit of $6.6 billion, or $7.05 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 40.0 percent compared to 40.3 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 60 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

Apple sold 26.9 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 58 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 14.0 million iPads during the quarter, a 26 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. On the more tepid side of its product offering, it sold 4.9 million Macs during the quarter, a 1 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter; and 5.3 million iPods, a 19 percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter.

“We’re very proud to end a fantastic fiscal year with record September quarter results,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We’re entering this holiday season with the best iPhone, iPad, Mac and iPod products ever, and we remain very confident in our new product pipeline.” Analysts will be very curious, no doubt, how many iPad mini sales Apple projects for the upcoming holiday season, given that 14 million units of the full-size iPad were just sold.Continue reading...

Apple's App Store is closing in on the 25 billion download mark, which the brand is celebrating with a contest that doesn't require actually downloading anything despite the invitation to “Download the 25 billionth app and you could win a US$10,000 App Store Gift Card.” At the very least, the online app counter on the Apple homepage is as fascinating to watch as those old flip-style airport flight information signs.

The triumphant sub-headline on Apple's quarterly earnings report press release says it all: "Highest Quarterly Revenue and Earnings Ever All-Time Record iPhone, iPad and Mac Sales."

Its profits more than doubled, with record quarterly revenue of $46.33 billion and record quarterly net profit of $13.06 billion, and it now boasts a whopping $97.6 billion in the bank — more than the market capitalization of all but 52 companies. “We’re thrilled with our outstanding results and record-breaking sales of iPhones, iPads and Macs,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “Apple’s momentum is incredibly strong, and we have some amazing new products in the pipeline.”

Covering the all-important holiday selling period through Dec. 31st, 2011, the company reported that international sales "accounted for 58 percent of the quarter’s revenue. The Company sold 37.04 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 128 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 15.43 million iPads during the quarter — beatimg the number of PC's that HP sold in the quarter, and a 111 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter — xxx. The Company sold 5.2 million Macs during the quarter, a 26 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter."

The only flat note: Apple sold 15.4 million iPods in the quarter, "a 21 percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter" — as the Los Angeles Times commented, "which is not terrible, because Apple did not upgrade most of the iPods available last Christmas."Continue reading...

The Googleplex is buzzing, as Google Ventures, the company’s two-year-old independent venture capital arm is doubling its start-up investment budget to $200 million, doubling it office space, and adding new team members.

Its latest: Laura Melahn, Google Ventures' new head of marketing, whose hiring is a sign that Google is ready to get serious about promoting its VC activities.

With three major successes so far — Ngmoco, acquired by Japanese gaming company, DeNA, for around $400 million; HomeAway, went public in June; and Silver Spring Networks, a smart-grid company, which filed for an IPO — the search behemoth is searching for the next Zynga or Facebook.Continue reading...