Federated Media's buying spree continues with Foodbuzz
I guess online advertising company Federated Media is in a spending mood. Less than two weeks after its last acquisition, the company has announced that it’s purchased Foodbuzz, a network of 4,400 independent food bloggers.
This seems pretty similar to Federated’s last deal, where it acquired BigTent, a company that helps parents build online communities on the Web. Both companies built a sizable audience without directly employing a large team of writers and editors. Foodbuzz … Continue Reading
Co-founder says Twitter is still exploring business models
In the past few months, Twitter appears to have finally found a business model, and that model is advertising — chief executive Dick Costolo said in September that the company had “cracked the code” on ads. But Twitter co-founder Ev Williams said today that the company isn’t settling on ads.
“There’s a million ways to make money with Twitter,” he said. “We’ll probably try a few more.”
Williams did talk a bit more about Twitter’s … Continue Reading
Gaikai kicks off its beta for cloud-based game streaming
Gaikai chief executive David Perry said his company has finally launched the long-awaited beta test of its cloud-based gaming technology that promises to stream video games to any computer.
Perry (pictured) said in a blog post today that the company has sent out more than 11,000 invitations this week so that users can play games that are stored and computed on servers, not desktop computers or laptops. Much like rivals OnLive and Otoy, Gaikai has … Continue Reading
Amazon.com starts movie studio to fund budding filmmakers
Good news, aspiring film auteurs: Online retail giant Amazon.com has announced its plans to start Amazon Studios. The venture, part contest and part investment fund, is inviting filmmakers and scriptwriters to submit their movies and screenplays.
The studio will give away $2.7 million in cash prizes, in addition to developing a top project as a full commercial film through a deal with Warner Bros.
From filmmakers, the studio is looking for submissions of “test movies” … Continue Reading
Meebo closes $25M in funding as content sharing gets hotter
Online-chat and content-sharing provider Meebo is closing a $25 million round of funding led by Khosla Ventures, the company confirmed, as investors try to muscle in on every aspect of the burgeoning social networking space.
Mountain View, Calif.-based Meebo currently reaches 180 million unique users monthly through its “one-stop” hub of social networking and chatting network.
It has also created a “Meebo Bar,” which appears at the bottom of websites searched and then routes users … Continue Reading
Yakaz brings location to social classified ads
Ever wish you could get all the eBay, Craigslist and Autotrader.com ads from your area in one location? Then here’s Yakaz, a social network for classified ads that is announcing the release of its latest version available in 190 countries and 50 languages.
Yakaz is a pretty simple concept in that it allows users to choice their location and then aggregates ads from a host of outside classified and auction sites, like eBay and Craigslist. … Continue Reading
Cloud gurus say Oracle just doesn't get the cloud
Flash back to just about two months ago. Larry Ellison, Oracle’s CEO, walked on stage on the first evening of Oracle OpenWorld 2010 and unveiled the Exadata server. It was about three times the size of his speaking podium.
“This is the cloud,” Ellison said. “You can have it for a million bucks.”
Not really. According to a number of heavy players in the cloud computing space, Oracle, a new player in the computer-hardware world … Continue Reading
GM to raise whopping $20 billion in IPO as Chevy Volt rides high
General Motors, maker of the upcoming electric-powered Chevrolet Volt, has priced its initial public offering at $33 per share, a good chunk higher than its previously announced range of $26 to $29.
It also bumped its overall valuation to $20.1 billion, up from $13 billion. The IPO marks the divestiture of shares owned by the U.S. Treasury, which bailed out the company during the recession. The company appears to be doing much better since posting … Continue Reading
Tech banker Frank Quattrone foresees lots of cross-industry mergers
Apple taught the tech world that going vertical — where a company owns many of the critical technology ingredients that it uses in its products — can result in big payoffs. Products like the iPhone and iPad are made with Apple software, chips, and hardware.
Because Apple succeeded so well with that vertical business model, other companies are following suit. Add to the fact that big tech companies are sitting on a lot of cash … Continue Reading
Twitter confirms analytics test, says there's no release date
Twitter is testing an analytics dashboard that will help users, especially corporate users, figure out what’s is and isn’t working in their usage of the microblogging service.
Mashable first reported the test and published a couple of screenshots (I’ve reproduced one below). The screenshots show one section for tracking general activity on your account, including how many times you have been mentioned, followed, and un-followed. It also shows which of your messages posted to Twitter … Continue Reading
LinkedIn CEO: "Keg stands" will protect us from Facebook invasion
LinkedIn chief executive Jeff Weiner said today that two words — keg stands — will protect his company’s professional social network from any possible encroachment by übernetwork Facebook.
For those who don’t know, Weiner explained that keg stands are the fraternity-like drinking gags where someone holds you upside down and you proceed to drink from a beer keg. These are not the kind of photos you want your potential employer to see and they are … Continue Reading
AT&T finally gets a MiFi wireless hotspot of its own for $50
AT&T finally has a MiFi, a device which lets you share mobile internet to multiple wireless devices, of its own. The company announced today that it will offer the Novatel MiFi 2372 starting November 21 for $49.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate.
Thus far, consumers who wanted a MiFi device had to get one from Sprint or Verizon. AT&T’s MiFi comes with some features its competitors don’t have — like the ability to plug in … Continue Reading
Developers: Get ready for your closeup in VentureBeat's Mobile App Spotlight
Are you an app developer with a creation that’s ready for the klieg lights? VentureBeat has partnered with Intel to provide a new showcase for your mobile app: VentureBeat’s Mobile App Spotlight.
Why did we create this program? Fundamentally, we want to help connect our readers with the latest innovations in the mobile and app worlds, and boost the efforts of entrepreneurs and inventors who are coming up with great new ideas. There’s been an … Continue Reading
Rumors swirl over Twitter funding — but who's getting a piece of the pie?
White-hot microblogging startup Twitter has tongues wagging again, as rumors continue to swirl that the startup will soon lead a new round of financing with an estimated valuation of around $3 billion.
TechCrunch first reported the story. A Twitter spokesperson told VentureBeat, “We don’t comment on rumors.”
Perhaps Twitter founder Evan Williams, who is slated to speak around 4:45 Pacific time today at the industry’s Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, will shed some light … Continue Reading
FCC chief less than thrilled with Google-Verizon proposal on net neutrality
Julius Genachowski, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, today defended the government’s delays in implementing a net neutrality policy. He also offered mixes comments regarding a recent Google-Verizon proposal.
Back when President Barack Obama was campaigning for office, he made net neutrality (the idea that all Web traffic should be treated equally by Internet service providers) a big part of his tech policy platform. So why are we still in the proposal phase? Genachowski … Continue Reading
Here's the slide deck from our webinar on the cloud
Below are the slides from the VentureBeat webinar we just co-hosted with collaboration company Huddle about the cloud.
As you’ll see, today’s webinar was an introduction to the unbelievably mystifying issue of the cloud. We first defined the cloud and then made things simple, by focusing on the best cloud applications leading the way for things like customer relations management, accounting, email, collaboration, file management, billing accounting, project collaboration, personal productivity and much more.
In … Continue Reading
HP unveils its own brand of video conferencing software and hardware
First it was Microsoft and Google. Now it’s Hewlett-Packard. It seems the cool thing to do now is trying to take on Cisco’s video conferencing market while the company is down.
HP announced today that it is launching a suite of video conferencing tools geared toward businesses that have tons of employees strewn across the country and are in dire need of collaboration tools.
HP is offering a number of options that are similar to … Continue Reading
Lessons for innovators from building a Rube Goldberg machine
Believe it or not, the making of a video for the song This Too Shall Pass by the band OK Go has lessons for would-be innovators. The creator of the video, Adam Sadowsky, said the process of creating the complex machine for the video was a lot like what entrepreneurs go through when developing a new product or service.
He gave the talk today at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco. The video for … Continue Reading
Google Docs editing finally comes to mobile browsers — but how useful is it?
Dear Google: If you keep this up, I won’t have any more excuses to be unproductive on my phone in transit.
Google announced today that Google Docs users can now edit their files in mobile browsers on iPhones and devices running Google’s Android operating system.
Google Docs users could already access their files and view them. They can now select a new edit function and add or remove information as they see fit. The functionality … Continue Reading
Anobit raises $32M for flash memory that's harder, better, faster, stronger
Anobit, a producer of flash memory technology, announced today that it has picked up $32 million in its most recent round of fundraising led by Intel Capital. It will use the funds to help meet surging demand for its products.
Flash Memory is usually better than traditional memory because it uses less power and is more reliable because it does not have any moving parts. It is also faster than most spin-up hard drives and … Continue Reading
