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EchoSign, the web-based electronic signatures and signature automation service, has surpassed one million users. The startup, which launched back in 2006, has also helped sign and close more than $200,000,000 worth of contracts in one month.  Read more...

Apple sold about 45 million iPhones and iPod touch devices after two years on the market. How does that compare against some other top gadgets?

It’s nowhere near the number of RAZRs that Motorola sold in its first two years — about 75 million, RBC estimates. But it’s on par with Nintendo’s Wii, and ahead of Sony’s PSP and PS2.  Read more...

• RSS isn’t dead [ReadWriteWeb]
• Caution on Disney-Marvel deal at Citi [AP]
• Just a quarter of women say social media influences purchases [ClickZ]
• EU to investigate Oracle-Sun deal [CNet]
• One in four Facebook users — or 65 million users — connects via mobile  [Facebook Blog]

Earlier this week we pointed out how the almost $4 billion in smart grid stimulus funds would provide a way for young startups to do deals with utilities, and a potential way for a startup to leapfrog the competition. Well, here’s another example of that: On Wednesday Tucson utility Tucson Electric Power (TEP) announced it has requested $25 million under a smart grid grant program that’s part of the stimulus package, and it plans to use the funds for a project that would include a residential demand response program from energy management startup Tendril.  Read more...

As of this week, pretty much anyone can tell you–”Skank” blogging just doesn’t pay. Unless your $15 million privacy lawsuit against Google ends up going your way, that is. Rosemary Port–the person who used Blogger to anonymously insult former model Liskula Cohen–was unmasked last week after months of speculation, and promptly sued Google (GOOG) for turning over her information. Hilarity ensued, complete with duelling morning TV appearances. More details on MediaMemo, though Peter doesn’t usually follow that kind of stuff. Looks like Amazon’s Kindle has a couple of new competitors. Sony’s (SNE) “Reader Daily Edition” and Barnes & Noble’s (BKS) and Irex’s as-yet-unnamed Kindle-like device will join Barnes & Noble and Plastic Logic’s as-yet-unnamed Kindle-like device on the playing field. Apple (AAPL) approved at least one app this week–the one for Spotify, which is rumored to be “the best streaming music service in the world.” But as MediaMemo points out, that’s worthless without any deals with big music companies.  Read more...

Apple (AAPL) will release a $30 upgrade to its Leopard operating system this Friday called Snow Leopard.

It’s supposed to be an “under-the-hood” improvement and introduces almost zero new features.

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The week ending August 21 began August 17 with another round of digital musical chairs—BoomTown reported that David Dickman, VP of West Coast sales for Yahoo (YHOO), will be leaving the company at the end of the month for Warner Bros., to work in digital sales. Also, after a five month tour of Europe and its finer Web establishments, Yahoo seems poised to name a new international head. MySpace made a move this week to fix its ad sales operation by bringing in Media Link and Wenda Millard, with whom BoomTown chatted Thursday from somewhere near Slovenia.  Read more...

Apple beat analysts’ expectations Tuesday, reporting a nearly 15 percent jump in profits for its fiscal third quarter. The company reported a profit of $1.23 billion versus $1.07 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Earnings per share were $1.35, up from $1.19 a year ago. Revenue for the quarter rose to $8.34 billion versus $7.46 billion in the third fiscal quarter of 2008.  Read more...

Google received some unfortunate news today, with the U.S. Department of Justice formally announcing the investigation of the $125 million settlement Google made with the Author’s Guild to pay authors a nominal fee for copyrighted works it has scanned and made available on the Web. The settlement has drawn its fair share of critics, including Jeff Bezos. But Google keeps on plugging away, making its book search better and better.  Read more...