Roundup: Layoffs hit Flickr, Apple’s 3D desktop, and more
Here’s the latest action:
Yahoo troubles hit Flickr — George Oates, one of the Yahoo-owned photo site’s early employees, is among the latest layoffs.
Apple to build 3D desktop? — It’s exploring the possibility, according to patent filings published by MacRumors.
Palm may unveil new operating system at Consumer Electronics Show – The mobile device company isn’t commenting, but at least one analyst thinks this is likely.
Former chairman says Intel should power cars — Andrew Grove is urging chief executive Paul… Continue Reading
Roundup: Yahoo flushes its “poison pill,” Crain’s goes out of print, WordPress goes 2.7 and more
Here’s the latest action:
Yahoo flushes its “poison pill” — One of the reasons Microsoft decided not to go hostile in its bid to buy Yahoo was that the company had a so-called “poison pill” plan in place in which hundreds of millions of dollars would have likely been due to employees who left due to their unhappiness with any Microsoft/Yahoo merger. A few Yahoo shareholders decided to sue the company to remove this plan, and today… Continue Reading
Tech news site CNET gets a major redesign, to make our eyes bleed less
CNET, a large online tech news and reviews media company that we compete with, is getting a significantly altered new look. I’m happy about the changes, for the sake of my eyes. I read a lot of the publication’s articles, and until now I’ve had to look at the garish neon yellow background (below) that has been part of the brand since it launched as a TV channel in 1992.
Starting today, the company will be… Continue Reading
Semantic search startup TextDigger unearths a business model, and some venture funding
TextDigger, a semantic search startup that launched early last year at DEMO, has been much quieter in the interim than other companies in the space like Hakia, Powerset and Radar Networks / Twine. But now the company has come back to light, at least for us — a filing document reveals that the company has finally landed venture funding, raising $3.8 million so far.
A year or two ago, it wasn’t uncommon to hear the term… Continue Reading
Watch out folks, CBS Interactive is hungry for more
Vator.tv’s Bambi Francisco interviewed CBS Interactive mergers and acquisitions head Mike Marquez following the company’s $1.8 billion purchase of CNET. Marquez notes that this deal will open up the door to even more acquisitions as the company looks to expand its interactive empire.
So what is CBS looking at? Anything in the video, mobile and local space, according to Marquez. In fact, it didn’t sound like there was anything he didn’t like and wouldn’t look at. CBS… Continue Reading
CBS to buy CNET Networks for $1.8 billion
In a marriage between old media and new, CBS has agreed to buy online news site CNET Networks for $1.8 billion in a deal that should end the recent struggle to control the board of CNET.
The move comes after CNET’s management had come under attack by shareholders for not doing enough to increase its market value. CNET is one of the earliest movers to embrace an online only format, and is one of the largest… Continue Reading
Roundup: More earnings reports, accelerating emissions, Russian censorship and more
Here’s the latest action:
More earnings info — While we wrote earlier about Microsoft’s earnings, plenty of other companies are posting theirs, too. Motorola disclosed that its market share is down to 9.5 percent, while Qualcomm’s profit is up. Amazon’s Q1 profits rose 30 percent, Nintendo profits hit a record high on strong Wii and DS sales, and Juniper Network’s profits leaped 66 percent over last year’s.
Greenhouse gas emissions are accelerating — The rise in atmospheric… Continue Reading
Roundup: FCC turns down Skype appeal, PG&E asks for more renewables, and more
FCC chair rejects opening existing wireless networks — A petition from Skype failed to convince FCC chairman Kevin Martin to force wireless carriers to open up their existing networks to outside devices and software, leaving the newly-auctioned 700Mhz airwaves as the only network opened by regulation. More at the WSJ.
PG&E wants 800 – 1,200MW more renewable energy by 2015 — Energy utility PG&E, which supplies the Bay Area, just struck a deal for 900 megawatts… Continue Reading
Online publisher CNET lays off ten percent of workforce in face of hostile takeover
CNET, one of the largest and oldest publishers of online technology news, is laying off ten percent of its workforce, or 120 employees.
The move, announced this afternoon in an internal memo obtained by PaidContent, is most likely intended to show that the company is serious about operating more efficiently. It is facing an increasingly threatening hostile board takeover effort led by hedge fund firm Jana Partners.
San Francisco-based CNET, a public company, has been fighting back… Continue Reading
Roundup: Google moves ‘Sky’ into the browser, Harvard grad server gets hacked and more
Here’s the latest action:
Google moves ‘Sky’ into the browser — Google has a layer for Google Earth that is known as ‘Sky.’ Now the company has created a version for web browsers as well according to the Google Lat Long Blog. This browser-based ‘Sky’ features three separate optical sky surveys (microwave, ultraviolet and x-ray), has galleries of images from things such as the Hubble Space Telescope, and offers a search engine that lets you find thousands… Continue Reading
Court decides hedge fund can nominate CNET board
A Delaware court today ruled in favor of allowing Jana Partners, a hedge fund, to nominate candidates to replace current CNET board members. With this power, Jana can take the next steps to stage a takeover of the online media company.
Back in January, Jana led a group of investors including Spark Capital and Velocity Interactive Group in acquiring a large share of CNET (our coverage). Knowing their intention was to stage a hostile takeover, CNET… Continue Reading
Roundup: Farber takes over at CNET, Mozilla’s new email subsidiary, Scribd iPaper, and more
Here’s the latest action:
1) Dan Farber takes the helm at CNET
2) Mozilla launches email-focused subsidiary
3) Scribd creates iPaper, an Acrobat competitor
4) Hewlett-Packard has great first quarter
5) Tesla Motors pulls in another $40M
6) Verizon, AT&T unveil new unlimited wireless plans
7) Oligarchs, proletariat run amok in Silicon Valley
Scientists suck up CO2 to make alternative fuel
Dan Farber takes the helm at CNET — One familiar figure is stepping aside for another at CNET, where long-time editor-in-chief Jai Singh… Continue Reading
Roundup: Apple’s new ultra-portable notebook, Zynga launch, CNET’s poison pill, and more
Here’s the latest action:
1) Apple releases the Air, Twitter left gasping
2) Facebook-based gaming site Zynga launches
3) CNET defies Spark / Jana alliance with poison pill
4) Grayboxx rolls out local search nationally
5) Overlay.tv gets $4.5M for in-video ad links
6) Portfolio magazine cozies up to Open Social
7) Oversee draws $150M for domain auctions
A video primer on data portability
9) Notes on the upcoming 700mhz auctions
Apple releases the Air, Twitter left gasping — As usual, Steve Jobs used his keynote… Continue Reading
Roundup: CNET sells Webshots, Comcast not alone, fundings and more
Here’s the day’s action:
1) CNET sells its photo-sharing site Webshots at loss, may be ready to try again
2) Comcast isn’t the only ISP manipulating traffic
3) Apple may lose Warner Music, too
4) Yahoo’s Cammie Dunaway goes to Nintendo
5) Trusted Opinion, social recommendations, raises $1.3 million
6) JackBe, enterprise mashup software, raises $9.5 million
7) EchoSign, electronic signatures, takes $6 million
CNET sells Webshots to American Greeting for $45M – CNET bought Webshots, a photo-sharing site, for $70M in 2004, so the… Continue Reading
Roundup: Sprint’s WiMax bet, Twitku, VMware’s $750M mistake, Bolt-dead and more
Here’s the latest action:
Sprint doubles bet on WiMAX –- Sprint doubles its investment pledge on the untested WiMAX technology (WSJ, subscription required), which Sprint will use to provide widespread broadband over its network. It now plans to spend $5 billion by 2010.
Twitku, the Meebo for twittering — Twitku is a new service that lets you post a single message about what you’re doing simultaneously to Twitter and Jaiku. Those two services are rivals in letting people send… Continue Reading