engineers

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

Mazda tweet hints the rotary engine is not dead

After it killed off the RX-8, we thought that Mazda had called off its love affair with the Wankel rotary engine. If the Mazda_PR twitter account is to be believed, perhaps the rumors of the rotary's death have been exaggerated.

The tweet comes out of the other side of Google Translate's tubes as:

To support a lot of RX-8 rotary engine, the message, thank you very much! We are excited together. Mazda "SKYACTIV" said aims to achieve technological breakthroughs, new models are being developed intensively with the next generation of rotary engines. Continued support thank you! … Read more

Apple has 1,000 engineers working on chips, report says

Some 5 percent of Apple's workforce is reportedly working on improving the company's mobile processors.

The company has 1,000 engineers working to refine its processors, Steve Jobs had told a "veteran Silicon Valley CEO," according to TechCrunch report. (The company has about 20,000 non-retail employees.)

"Getting low power and smaller is the key to everything," the unidentified executive said, adding that "form factor no longer becomes an issue."

Improving battery life without sacrificing speed is key for mobile devices. Apple's A5 processor, which will be used in the new … Read more

Google crowned world's most attractive employer

Google may have to prepare itself for a flood of even more resumes.

The search giant has been dubbed the most attractive employer by more than 160,000 people looking for the right place to work, according to a study released yesterday by employer branding company Universum.

Analyzing the choices from job seekers across the world's 12 largest economies, the study "The World's Most Attractive Employers 2011" (PDF) found Google tops among professionals with a business degree as well as those with an engineering background. This marks the third consecutive year that the search giant has … Read more

Solar dish maker Stirling files for bankruptcy

Solar company Stirling Energy Systems has filed for bankruptcy, another casualty of a brutal global price war that is favoring commodity photovoltaic panels.

The Scottsdale, Arizona-based company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy late last week. The utility-scale solar company's largest investor is renewable energy developer NTR of Dublin, Ireland.

Founded in 1996, Stirling Energy Systems makes a large, 38-foot-high reflective dish which concentrates sunlight onto a Stirling engine to generate electricity. The 25-kilowatt SunCatcher dishes are designed to be used as building blocks for utility-scale solar farms in desert areas with sufficient sunlight.

After decades of development including a … Read more

Bing brings Action Buttons to search results

Bing is now trying to direct you toward specific actions with a new search feature appropriately dubbed Action Buttons.

Designed to appear among certain types of search results, the Action Buttons can link you to pages where you can complete a specific task. For example, searching for airline flights may pop up a result for an airline with Action Buttons that you can click on to book a flight, view a flight status, and check in with the airline. Searching for hotel rooms may display different hotels with links to find their locations and reserve a room.

The goal, as … Read more

Rearden Commerce scores $133 million in funding

E-commerce firm Rearden Commerce is looking to expand both the company and its Deem platform through a round of funding and a new acquisition.

The e-commerce developer announced today that it has picked up $133 million in financing from its current partners American Express and JPMorgan Chase and from new investor Citi. The company is looking to spend the influx of cash on paying off debt, generating working capital, and setting up some acquisitions.

In line with that third goal, Rearden also said that it has bought social-buying service HomeRun.com and its OfferEngine platform, an acquisition that will be … Read more

Altair ProductDesign joins Studio X-Gene on Avant GT concept

Altair ProductDesign announced a partnership with Studio X-Gene to develop a new electric concept vehicle, the Avant GT.

The Avant GT is the brainchild of Taiwan-based Studio X-Gene along with partners Delta Electronics, Wistron, and Qisda.

Altair ProductDesign joined the project to offer engineering development of the vehicle. "Altair was given responsibility for providing a simulation driven design approach for the vehicle's crash, durability, vibration, vehicle dynamics, and computational fluid dynamics drag evaluation along with supporting Studio X-Gene during the architectural design phase," an Altair spokesman said in a press release.

The Avant GT, described as "… Read more

GM opens new state-of-the-art diesel engine plant in Rayong, Thailand

General Motors just opened a new $200 million, diesel engine plant in Rayong, Thailand.

The new engine plant, which is adjacent to the GM's vehicle manufacturing plant, will employ 500 workers and have the capability to manufacture about 120,000 engines per year.

GM expects to source $94 million worth of Thai-built components for the production of engines at its Rayong facility by 2012, the company said in a press release.

The first engines to be manufactured at the facility are for the new Chevy Colorado pickup. GM revealed the Colorado Show pickup at the Bangkok International Motor Show … Read more

Google offers peek behind its search results

Recognizing that it's no longer the only search engine in town, Google recently shed some light on how it keeps tweaking its algorithms to improve its search results.

Last year, Google made more than 500 improvements to its search algorithms. In a blog published yesterday, Google Fellow Amit Singhal explained how each new change may be based on a clever idea. But if it doesn't pass the company's rigorous testing, it doesn't get added to the mix.

A video posted with the blog and displayed below tapped into comments from Google engineers, each offering their thoughts … Read more