It looks like Google is scaling back its support for Gears, the browser extension it launched in 2007 to add capabilities to web applications such as offline access to web applications.

The company is being a little vague about its exact plans. The Los Angeles Times reported that Google is “letting the sun set on its Gears project” — not because it isn’t interested web apps with additional capabilities, but because many of those features will be be including in HTML5, the next version of the standard web programming language. I asked Google for more information, and it sent the following statement (which repeats what it said for The Times):

As you know, we’ve been big supporters of HTML5 for a while now and we’re excited that a lot of the features that we launched with Gears a few years ago, are now making their way into the HTML5 spec in an open and standard way.

To be clear, we’re continuing to support Gears so that nothing breaks for sites that use it. But we expect developers to use HTML5 for these features moving forward as it’s a standards-based approach that will be available across all browsers.

So Gears users shouldn’t worry that the program will disappear in the next few months. After all, HTML5 isn’t even finalized yet. But as that programming language is rolled out, don’t be surprised if you hear less and less about new versions of Gears, and more about Google continuing to let Gears support slip, as it has (temporarily?) on Safari for Snow Leopard and Chrome for Mac.

Barely more than a few hours after Microsoft revealed the year’s top queries on its new search engine Bing, Yahoo followed suit with its own top 10. Unsurprisingly, Michael Jackson topped both lists, but Twitter fans will be disappointed to learn the microblogging service not only failed to capture the number two spot (where it placed on Bing’s list), it didn’t even make the top 10.

Perhaps that’s not surprising — Bing is a much newer service, and probably appealed to a more tech-aware audience. Yahoo, on the other hand, reaches more users (though it plans to replace its underlying search technology with Bing), and its list skews even more heavily towards celebrities and pop culture:

1. Michael Jackson
2. Twilight
3. WWE
4. Megan Fox
5. Britney Spears
6. Naruto
7. American Idol
8. Kim Kardashian
9. NASCAR
10. Runescape

Yahoo also released a list of the top 10 business success-related searches, and yep, there’s Twitter — and Bing!

1. Facebook
2. Twitter
3. Hulu
4. Bing
5. iPhone
6. LinkedIn
7. Dollar Stores
8. Palm Pre
9. Rosetta Stone
10. Kindle

While we’re on the subject of “year in review” lists, I’ll add that I’m baffled that these lists are coming out now. I understand why some publications feel comfortable doing a list of the best movies or books or whatever (since critics have often received advanced copies or screenings of what’s coming out before the end of the year), but search terms? Really? Don’t we have another month to go?

At least Yahoo has a Year in Review site which it will keep updated with new trends.

Broadcom Corp. said Monday it agreed to acquire Dune Networks Inc. , a semiconductor supplier of networking devices, for about $178 million.

Chip maker Broadcom said it has agreed to buy Dune Networks for $178 million in cash. The communications chip maker is pouncing on a startup that makes a scalable networking chip set for communications equipment that connects computers inside corporate data centers.

They may not be sexy, gut these are the chips that make the Internet go faster, as they can transfer data between corporate computers known as servers at high speeds.

Dune Networks has developed a chip set that can handle data transfer speeds of 100 gigabits per second per port. It would be used in switching equipment for data centers with thousands of servers. The startup claims its chips can connect 10,000 servers in a single deployment. Broadcom’s Martin Lund, general manager of the company’s network switching chip business, said Dune’s product will complement Broadcom’s own line of Ethernet switching chips.

The deal is expected to close by the end of March. Investors in Dune include Alta Berkeley Venture Partners, Aurum-SBC Ventures, Evergreen Venture Partners, Jerusalem Ventures Partners, Pitango Venture Capital and US Ventures Partners. Dune was founded in 2000 and is based in Yakum, Israel, with U.S. offices in Sunnyvale, Calif.

China isn’t going to be a proactive player at the climate talks in Copenhagen starting next week, according to a government representative. Because it won’t be seeking international funding, there’s no reason for China to enter into a binding global agreement to reduce carbon emissions — any changes it makes will be voluntary.

This news comes less than a week after Obama announced that he would be making the trip to Denmark to represent America’s interest in halting global warming. Most people had seen this as a promising sign that the U.S. government is finally getting serious about its environmental responsibilities. Obama says he will be pitching an 83 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and 30 percent by 2025. He will be accompanied by six or seven cabinet members.

At the same time, the president has only scheduled one day for the conference, Dec. 9, and he won’t have any solid climate legislation to point to, which could actually undermine his efforts. The Kerry-Boxer bill, which would establish a carbon cap and trade system and set renewable energy generation targets, is languishing in the Senate and will likely be postponed until the spring. And Congress still remains bitterly divided on the issue.

But none of this might matter if China is unwilling to participate meaningfully in treaty talks. Its government is arguing that the country has already done a tremendous amount on its own to decrease emissions and doesn’t need external help to hit its targets — namely a 40 to 45 percent reduction in emissions by 2020 (from 2005 levels). Its climate rep, Yu Qingtai said that China will rely on its own resources to slash greenhouse gases.

Without a globally-enforced carbon cap, China will have a competitive edge over the countries that do agree to a treaty. This could strongly dissuade other prospective signers. But China has always taken the position that it is unfair for it to be limited when other developed nations in North America and Europe didn’t have to work inside similar constraints during their industrial revolutions.

Even the loudest proponents for the cap and trade system in the U.S. say that it would be futile unless China and India — two of the biggest emitters in the world, and growing — agreed to something similar. For now, even asking them to commit to such an agreement doesn’t seem feasible. So maybe it makes sense that Obama’s just doing a quick flyby after all.

Game consoles flew off the shelves during Thanksgiving week thanks to discounts and marketing promotions that finally brought gamers into stores.

Nintendo said it sold more than 1.5 million hardware units in the U.S. during the week of Thanksgiving. That equates to 2.5 systems sold every second. The number includes sales of the Wii console as well as the DS and DSi handheld units.

During the week, Nintendo said it sold more than 550,000 Wii consoles at the new price of $199.99, down $50 from the end of September. More than a million handheld units also sold during the week (Sunday Nov. 22 to Saturday Nov. 28), a sales record that beat the company’s previous record of GameBoy Advance units sold during Thanksgiving week in 2002.

“Holiday shoppers are finding value in our products’ prices, and through a game-play experience that is unique to Nintendo,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of sales and marketing.

Meanwhile, Microsoft said it sold twice as many Xbox 360 consoles during Thanksgiving week compared to the week before. Spokesman David Dennis said Microsoft’s console sales took off a couple of weeks ago on two fronts. First, Walmart began selling bundles of the company’s Xbox 360 Arcade — the lowest priced unit at $199 — with $100 Walmart gift cards. Also, the $399 Xbox 360 Elite model based on the Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 game also sold very well starting on Nov. 10. Microsoft cut the price of its mainstay console by $100 on Aug. 27, but retailers have been aggressively bundling games with the consoles. On Black Friday, for instance, Best Buy bundled the most expensive consoles with a total of six free games.

Dennis said that games such as Halo 3: ODST and Forza Motorsport 2 are selling well, but he declined to provide specific numbers.

[Update: Sony spokesman Patrick Seybold said in a statement, "The 2009 holiday season got off to an amazing start for PlayStation, with all key retailers showing a significant increase for PS3, PSP and key holiday titles over Black Friday and the holiday weekend. PlayStation 3 demand was at an all time high with the system selling more than 440,000 units for the week ending 11/29/09.]

It’s every homeowner’s nightmare: being forced to sell for less than the purchasing price of their house. Still, whether it’s due to a career change, retirement or a growing family, many homeowners are facing this scenario every day.

Working Equity is here to help and it has just received $5 million in equity financing from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers to do it. WE’s product, called Equity Protection, works like insurance that pays off when you sell your home in a weakened market.

For example, if a couple buys a home at $250,000 and wants to protect it against a possible decline in the housing market, they would contact WE. The company then quotes them a Home Market Index based on the market covering the home’s zip code. We’ll use an HMI of 100 here.

Years later the couple decides to move and is only able to get $225,000, 10 percent less than their purchase price. The HMI had dropped 10 percent as well, to 90. Ordinarily, the couple would lose $25,000 on the transaction. In this case, the couple signed with WE, which will pay them $25,000 — the 10 percent that the HMI dropped multiplied by their purchase price.

The check that WE cuts is tied to the HMI, and thus the overall condition of the housing market. If a house is sold for more than its purchase price in a decreased HMI, WE still pays. This condition results in a big pay day for the seller. If the HMI at the time of sale is higher than at the time of purchase, though, WE pays nothing.

In theory, WE will be able to turn a profit because the overall trend in housing markets is “up.” If a homeowner sells in a better housing market than when the service was purchased, WE doesn’t pay out any money. Many homeowners are looking for security against another possible crash. If the housing market has hit its bottom, WE is launching at the perfect time. Few houses will be sold in a local market worse off than it is now, which means more fees are kept instead of paid out.

If a customer buys lifetime protection at the time of purchase, it costs 1 or 2 percent of the home’s value. On a flexible term basis, it costs 20 to 30 cents per $1,000 of home value, or about $50 to 75 dollars a month on a $250,000 house. In either case, the waiting period before payouts become available is 24 months.

Working Equity was represented by ClearCreek Partners in the deal with KPCB.

We’re excited to announce new speakers and program content for DiscoveryBeat, VentureBeat’s event exploring how to get apps noticed in an age of noise. The event takes place Dec. 8 at the Automattic Lounge on Pier 38 in San Francisco. We’ve got a maximum capacity of 200 and we expect the event will be sold out. Our newest speakers will be discussing app discovery, analytics, and monetization. Here they are:

Bill Mooney, vice president and general manager of FarmVille at Zynga, will talk about “Trusting the Numbers More Than Experience.” He will focus on how Zynga knows what is working and what isn’t and how it adjusts its apps accordingly. FarmVille is of course the most successful game on Facebook, with an audience of 68.6 million monthly active users, according to Facebook metrics firm AppData. Mooney also previously ran Zynga’s Mafia Wars game and the Casino/Casual/iPhone studio. He joined Zynga after eight years in traditional gaming, including stints at Activision and Lucas Arts, and five years as a trial lawyer. Mooney has also written for television, including animation and live-action.

Simon Khalaf, president and chief executive officer of Flurry, will give a presentation entitled, “Should Driving App Discovery Require Hemorrhaging Money?” In Apple’s AppStore, only 100 apps are listed in the Top 50 and Featured categories at any given time. With over 118,000 available apps, this means that less than one tenth of one percent can be found easily by consumers. The other 99.9% are at a disadvantage when it comes to attracting downloads. Considering discovery options, the story gets worse. The main alternative, in-app advertising, delivers negative ROI. That’s because the cost-per-acquisition of advertising often exceeds what developers make per application download. Developers have a choice: spend at a loss or choose not to spend. Flurry will present its latest platform, AppCircle: an ROI-positive way to solve AppStore discovery.

Chris Dury, vice president of product at GetJar, will talk about “Super-sizing the app economy” by extending it beyond the iPhone. Giant app businesses grew on the Facebook platform, but so far the iPhone hasn’t produced a single Zynga-like success. So what is needed to super-size the mobile app economy? Dury will talk about the key ingredients of successful platforms in the app economy: scale, discovery, and payments. GetJar operates the world’s largest independent mobile app store.

Peter Relan, founder and chairman of incubator YouWeb, will talk about “Social Gaming: The Evolving Technology Platform & Monetization.” He will focus on discovery in the social gaming space, including current and future trends, monetization, business models and technology platform evolution. His talk will be interspersed with examples and real life stories from the successful growth of his companies in the social gaming space including CrowdStar, Aurora Feint/OpenFeint and Sibblingz. Open Feint has become one of the most popular platforms developers use to socialize their iPhone games with features such as leaderboards, challenges and cross-promotion.

Vijay Chattha, chief talker of AppLaunch PR and VSC Consulting, will talk about using publicity and social media to drive user discovery of apps. VSC has won 30 PR awards since its launch in 2002, and it has represented every kind of social media and mobile company, including Fortune 100 firms. Chattha will talk about the landscape of apps and reveal his techniques for getting apps noticed, from his “sniff test” to his list of do’s and don’ts on working with the media that covers apps.

Peter Farago, vice president of marketing at Flurry, will also appear on the DiscoveryBeat 1.0 panel on how to get started from scratch in getting your apps noticed. That panel will also include Jeff Smith, chief executive of iPhone music app maker Smule, and Julian Farrior, chief executive of iPhone app developer Backflip Studios.

To enter the DiscoveryBeat Apps Contest, click on this link.

To buy tickets to DiscoveryBeat, click here.

TechCrunch leader Michael Arrington was ready to debut a tablet computing device, the CrunchPad , two weeks ago.

SimpleGeo is a Boulder-based startup now beta-testing its line of software development tools, cloud storage, and other must-haves for mobile application developers who want to easily build location-based services into their apps. The firm has gathered a $1.5 million first round of investment from familiar names in the Valley VC world.

Co-founder and CEO Matt Galligan confirmed that bicoastal firm First Round Capital led the round. A total of $1.3M in seed funding came from Redpoint Ventures, Freestyle Capital, and a mostly well-known set of angels: Ron Conway, Kevin Rose, Chris Sacca, Joshua Schacter, Debbie Landa, Tim Ferriss, Shawn Fannning, Gary Vaynerchuk, David Lee, and David G. Cohen. Another $195,000 in debt funding came from Joanna Shields, David Liu, Ziv Navoth, Joanna Shields, David Liu, Ziv Navoth, Ravi Narasimhan, Jason Knapp, and Darius Contractor (yes, that’s his real name.)

Galligan says people unfamiliar with the details of location-based app development underestimate the value of software tools for developers. “We started the company in May to build location-based games,” he said in a phone interview. “It took three months to build a prototype.” The problem was lack of a location-centric developers’ kit with APIs and services. SimpleGeo’s programmers had to build their own. After re-examining the landscape, the company decided that buffing up and selling its in-house tools to other game makers would be a more profitable, more reliable business than making games. (I like to remind people about Portal, an Internet service provider from the first Web boom that got super-rich by changing course to sell its own billing system to its competitors.)

A typical layperson’s take on location-based apps is this comment on TechCrunch: “Does this have a future? It doesn’t seem that hard to include geo data in apps/sites, people seem to do it all the time.”

I asked Galligan to respond to that comment: “Location-based devices only provide a latitude and a longitude, sometimes an altitude,” he said. What they don’t provide is a ZIP Code, city, state, county, weather data, messages and photos posted near the site. They don’t provide business listings, Wikipedia entries, census data (for demographics), articles written or posted near the location,” all of which SimpleGeo does. For example, a location-based game set in San Francisco could accurately display its players gleaming in the California sun, or obscured by Golden Gate fog, based on the real-time weather data from around town.

Also, storage of geodata for an application requires lots of available, scalable space, the company learned. “It’s not just algebra, it’s geometry,  tracking a three-dimensional space plus all the info on what’s around me,” Galligan said. In English, he means location info is more complicated than most online data and thus eats more disk space faster. SimpleGeo offers a solution that promises to let developers not think about the details of storage for their apps.

The company is still testing its tools in a private test program. The big unwrapping is scheduled for the first quarter of 2010.