Editor Choice: Skype popular with hip hop artists

Kid Lucky, a unique hip hop artist who specializes in beatboxing, is one of over 400 million users of the internet calling service Skype. The Brooklyn, New York native, whose influences include beatboxer Doug E Fresh and singer Bobby McFerrin, combines the rhymes and rhythmic sound effects of beatboxing with spoken word and scatting as he regularly uses Skype in  jam sessions with fellow artists  from around the world.  Skype, a division of Ebay, has recently emerged as the most popular service for international calling because of its affordable rates.

Skype's popularity is spreading. The Luxembourg-based company will make its free software available to Apple's iPhone and iPod tomorrow. In May, Blackberry phones made by Research in Motion will also incorporate the software. 

Until recently, Skype's service was limited to computers. With its push into the mobile phone arena, cell phones can now make calls and text other Skype users free. They also pay lower rates than traditional phone companies charge when they use Skype to call landlines or other mobile phones. 

Earlier this year, phones running Google's Android  and Microsoft's Windows Mobile operating systems, along with Nokia phones, added the Skype software.

Apple is limiting Skype's use on the iPhone to Wi-Fi networks. Cellular operators are opposed to Skype because it is far less profitable.

Editor's Choice: Popular YouTube video explores worldwide growth of information technology

The worldwide explosion of information technology and the impact of the digital divide in China and India is the subject of a popular YouTube video Did You Know. Over three-and-a-half million people so far have viewed the video, which was created by educators Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod. Click here for a link to the original 2007 video and watch the  recent sequel below:

Editor's Choice: Silicon Valley Reading List

• Six years in the Valley - The Economist
  
• [video] Silicon Valley non-profit uses technology to save lives - abc7news.com
  
• Codexis wields Silicon Valley savvy in biofuel battle - MartketWatch
  
• Pink Slip 2.0: Tough Silicon Valley economy - San Jose Mercury News
  

Editor's Choice: Tesla unveils sleek new electric car

Tesla Motors hopes to boost the market for electric cars with its unveiling yesterday of the prototype of the much-anticipated Model S sedan. The new four-door vehicle will cost $49,000, far less than Tesla's original $109,000 roadster.  

The Silicon Valley company is now accepting orders for the Model S, even though production isn't expected to begin until late 2011. Tesla hopes to receive a $350 million federal loan to build an assembly plant in Southern California. Last year, the federal government made $25 billion in low-interest loans available to automakers to develop new technologies like electric cars.

Chief executive Elon Musk introduced the sleek Model S, which gets about 160 miles on a single charge. Another version of the car will get up to 300 miles. The car battery has a life expectancy of seven to 10 years, said Musk, who co-founded PayPal and is also CEO of rocket-ship maker SpaceX. Only about 300 of the current two-seat roadsters have been delivered to date. Tesla hopes to ramp up production to 20,000 per year of the new sedan by 2012.

The Model S has a top speed of more than 130 miles per hour, Musk said, and can sprint 60 miles an hour from a standing start in less than six seconds. The roadster can reach 60 miles per hour in four seconds.

Tesla had originally planned to build the Model S in New Mexico, lured by incentives offered by Governor Bill Richardson which included tax credits and a promise to buy 100 vehicles. That plan changed, however, when California Arnold Schwarzenegger, who owns a Tesla Roadster, wooed the automaker. In September, Tesla said that it would instead build the factory in San Jose, where incentives included tax credits and a free 10-year lease. 

Though the current plan is to relocate to Southern California, San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed still hopes to keep some of the business of the Silicon Valley company. He's encouraging Tesla to keep its research-and-development division and headquarters in San Jose. 

"The plan was to do everything in one location," said Reed. "But that plan fell apart when the credit markets collapsed." Musk has invested $55 million of his own money. He amassed  his fortune when he sold PayPal to Ebay. Other investors include Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

Tesla applied for a federal loan when sufficient venture funding didn't materialize. Federal programs favor projects located on unused industrial sites rather than new construction. Southern California has a large number of abandoned aircraft factories and other such spaces.

iGriot: Anatomy of a recession-proof stock fund

A stock fund focused on companies with the largest cash reserves and little relative debt is outperforming the S&P 500 by a wide margin. BIG, a Marketocracy virtual fund composed of such stocks managed by yours truly, has outperformed all U.S. large cap growth and value funds tracked by Morningstar over the past three months.

During a recession, cash reserves are "ultimately a strategic weapon," Google (GOOG) CEO Eric Schmidt recently declared. The software giant is BIG's largest holding. "You'll continue to see us long on cash," notes Microsoft (MSFT) chief executive Steve Ballmer. "In this environment ... cash is king."

The tech industry's strong cash position has set it apart. According to Fitch Ratings analyst Nick Nilarp, the U.S. tech industry has some $260 billion in cash, making it one of the richest sectors. "There's a strong emphasis on preservation of liquidity," said Nilarp. "We think the largest players will use their balance sheets and use their cash balances to ignite mergers and acquisition activity."

BIG's five largest positions include Google, Apple (AAPL), Canon (CAJ), Applied Materials (AMAT) and ABB LTD (ABB). Seven of the top nine holdings are based in Silicon Valley, including Cisco (CSCO). The networking giant, whose $29.5 billion in cash is the largest reserve of all the tech titans,  represents 4.32 percent of the fund. Since its inception on October 10 last year, BIG has outperformed the S&P 500 by some 42 percent. 

BIG is a large cap blend fund, which invests in both growth and value stocks. Over the last three months, the virtual fund has a 6.02 percent return. Click here for a link to charts, graphs and a fund profile. Compare to U.S. large cap blend funds tracked by Morningstar.

Editor's Choice: Facebook adds popular Twitter app

Seesmic's video blogging application is now compatible with Facebook. Seesmic is a popular Twitter app because it allows users to better organize and view tweets. A new version of the Seesmic desktop client for Facebook, the world's largest social network, was announced at the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, Texas. 

This marks the first time Facebook has opened up its feeds to a desktop app. 

Following Twitter's lead, Facebook has recently increased its use of news feeds in a developing turf war with the popular microblogging service. Later this month, the Seesmic program will be modified to combine Twitter and Facebook updates. A Seesmic app for the iPhone will be released in the near future.


Loic Le Meur, Seesmic from Doug MacMillan on Vimeo.

Editor's Choice: Facebook and Twitter faceoff

A turf war between Silicon Valley social networking pioneers Facebook and Twitter is heating up, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. Facebook was recently redesigned to add features that imitate Twitter's microblogging service. Twitter's skyrocketing popularity is forcing Facebook is reinvent itself, including opening up its more restricted network. Read more