Former VP and Apple Director Al Gore on Steve Jobs and More: The Full AsiaD Interview (Video)

A man who needs no introduction.
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News Byte

Following Google, Microsoft Kills Its Energy Monitoring Service

Days after Google announced plans to kill its PowerMeter service, Microsoft said Thursday it plans to discontinue its similar Hohm energy monitoring service as of May 31, 2012. In a blog post, Microsoft cited slow adoption for the service, for which hopes were high at launch in 2009.

IBM Offers Its Cloud To Watch The UK's Electrical Grid

Big Blue teams up with the British telecom giant Cable & Wireless to join the race to provide UK homes and businesses with smart electrical meters.

Transphorm Nabs $20 Million From Google Ventures, Kleiner

Yet another “stealth” start-up came out of hiding today with a big Silicon Valley funding. That would be Transphorm, a power conversion technology company, that has raised $20 million more in a Series C financing led by Google Ventures and including Kleiner Perkins, Foundation Capital and Lux Capital. That adds to $18 million already raised.

Oil Firms Hit by Hackers From China, Report Says

Hackers who appear to be based in China have conducted a “coordinated, covert and targeted” campaign of cyber espionage against major Western energy firms, according to a report expected to be issued today by cybersecurity firm McAfee Inc.

Google Puts More Cash Toward Capital Clout

“I’ve never seen a tech company ramp up faster than they have in the last year or two,” tech lobbyist Ralph Hellmann once said of Google. “They’re using all the tools in the lobbying tool kit.” And evidently buying some new ones as well.

Help! I'm Addicted to CityVille

Among the early adopter types I know in the tech industry, there’s a sense that casual gaming on Facebook serves an entirely different demographic from their own. The thinking is that games from Zynga and the like replace relatively mindless activities like soap opera watching. But as someone who has just reorganized her virtual retail shops to be surrounded by virtual trees so as to accumulate more virtual bonus points, I see how social gaming–especially as it gets more social–might appeal to the desire for mindless diversions in all of us.

A Device Does Everything But Sing

Katie reviews HP’s Photosmart eStation e-All-in-one, with its detachable Zeen tablet.

Viral Graphic: What If Solar Power Grew as Fast as Facebook? (Also Its Places Video!)

In a slight switcheroo from viral video, here is a cool infographic from the One Block Off the Grid solar energy blog. As 1BOG notes: “Facebook recently passed 500 million users. If the growth rate of the world’s largest and fastest growing social network could be applied to solar, it would only take 4.7 years to power the entire world with solar energy.” Hot stuff.

Liveblogging Microsoft’s Financial Analyst Meeting (Afternoon Session): Hey, Steve Ballmer is All In!

BoomTown is in Redmond, Wash. today to attend Microsoft’s annual Financial Analyst Meeeting, where top execs from the software giant have been taking the stage to talk about All Things Microsoft. I liveblogged this morning’s sessions here, and now the afternoon confab, which opened with CEO Steve Ballmer, who seemed was confidently strutting around after delivering record results last week for the fourth quarter. But can we turn around its lackluster stock?

Ford CEO Alan Mulally Live at D8

Google’s Ad Platform Update

Mac Attack

Google: Beyond Thunderdome

MicroHoo: Anticipation …

Smartestphone?