Amazon's Kindle 3 gets a sleek new look

The market leading e-reader gets refreshed with a Wi-Fi only option and a zippier screen.

Amazon today introduced a new version of the Kindle eReader -- Kindle 3 -- that shows it's not backing down from selling dedicated electronic reading devices.

The new Kindle, code-named Shasta, doesn't have a color display or a touch screen, both long-rumored to be in the works, but it is smaller and lighter, and has a longer battery life MORE

Winners of the Rice Business Plan Competition

BiologicsMD took first place and over $350,000 in winnings. To find out who took home the rest of the $1 million in prize money, click here.

Live blogging the finals of Rice Business Plan Competition in Houston

Final round of Rice Competition starting now. Six Teams have 15 minutes to present; 10 minutes for questions. Finalists include three medical companies, two from the microchip industries, and one with optical technology: BiologicsMD, Ambiq Micro, GlucaGo, Rebellion Photonics, Reveal Design Automation, OrthoIntrinsics --Jessica Shambora

First up: BiologicsMD

Developing OsteoFlor, a new prescription medication for treatment for Osteoporosis.

"You're not looking at a hip fracture, you're looking at a death sentence." --Jerry MORE

A peek inside the halls of Rice Business School

Rice is ranked No.5 among graduate entrepreneurship programs in the U.S. by Princeton Review. Wonder if it has anything to do with these fancy lockers? What do they keep in there? --Jessica Shambora

Five pointers from the judges

by Jessica Shambora

During the first round of competition at Rice on Friday, one audience saw business plans ranging from a Netflix for maternity wear, to a better tool for identifying bugs in semiconductor chips. The assembled judges, including investors, attorneys and past winners, asked questions and offered feedback. Here are some key lessons that emerged:

1. Action speaks louder than words: Even if it's very basic, do an alpha test to MORE

What's your elevator pitch?

by Jessica Shambora

The Rice Business Plan Competition kicked off in Houston Thursday night with an elevator pitch contest. All 43 teams had one minute to pitch their plans. Each asked for a specific dollar amount; some suggested a valuation and exit strategy; a few even promised 40x returns!

While there were designated judges for the competition (including VCs and high school students), audience members with the event's iPhone app got to MORE

The Facebook of dieting

SparkPeople helps millions of dieters lose weight --  but not from their wallets.

Today people turn to social networks for help with everything from finding a job to landing a date. So it's only natural that virtual communities would crop up around another of life's big challenges: losing weight.

But the usual suspects aren't the ones leading the way in convening calorie counters online. That title belongs to SparkPeople.com, a free website MORE

3D plays a practice round at Masters

The Masters golf tournament in Augusta, GA, is one of the hottest tickets in sports. Unless you know someone on the inside, plan on paying thousands for entry onto the hallowed grounds.

Or, you could spend that money on a 3D-ready television and let Augusta National's famous azaleas and manicured fairways come to you. Starting today, 3D coverage of the tournament will be broadcast live on Comcast (CMCSA), which is also MORE

Starz goes from second-tier movie channel to Hollywood power broker

In the battle over home video distribution, the Hollywood studios may finally be realizing they have to give up some control, or risk losing millions.

Earlier this month, Disney (DIS) announced that it is renewing its licensing agreement with Starz Entertainment, giving the premium movie provider behind the Starz and Encore movie channels exclusive pay-TV rights to show content from Walt Disney Studios.

But this deal was a little different than MORE

Thought Equity Motion and the NCAA give old highlights new life on the Web

The NCAA and digital video partner Thought Equity Motion are testing whether March Madness fans will want to watch old highlights on the web.

Most people are glad to see March arrive. For some it's the start of spring and warmer weather; for others, it's the month-long celebration of college basketball called March Madness.

The NCAA has little control over the temperature, but it did turn up the heat for basketball fans MORE