Dodgeball founder pegs Google in the face with Foursquare

Dodgeball founder pegs Google in the face with Foursquare

Each year, around the time of the SXSW festival people start wondering out loud what the “next Twitter” will be. You see, the quickly spreading micro-messaging service really got its start at the Austin,Texas-based festival two years ago, and has been growing ever since. Of course, last year’s Twitter was, well, Twitter. But this year there may be another service that catches on — if it can get approval in Apple’s App Store.

The service, called… Continue Reading

Google’s new year’s revolution: Six products slashed or maimed

Google’s new year’s revolution: Six products slashed or maimed

Well, Google picked a good day to announce layoffs and kill a bunch of products. While everyone is busy reading about Apple chief executive Steve Jobs’ leave of absence for health related issues, Google has more or less killed six of its products. Let’s survey the damage, shall we?

Dodgeball

First up, Dodgeball, a service close to the hearts of many of San Francisco’s tech elites (but few others) is being shut down. Dodgeball is a mobile… Continue Reading

Roundup: Google’s deals, Google’s staff exodus, Silverlight, SunPower and more

Roundup: Google’s deals, Google’s staff exodus, Silverlight, SunPower and more

Giant radio station company Clear Channel signs with Google — The two companies announced a multi-year agreement that enables Google to sell a guaranteed portion of 30-second advertising inventory available on more than 675 of Clear Channel’s AM/FM stations.

Want to be acquired by Google? Don’t call them — Google takes deal-making seriously, responding to every e-mail pitch, but responding to only about 10 percent of phone calls, according to an interview with one of its dealmakers…. Continue Reading

Google integrates Dodgeball, but you still have say where you are

Google integrates Dodgeball, but you still have say where you are

Google has started asking users of its mobile social networking site, Dodgeball, to start using a Google account sign-on, Web designer Chris Messina noticed.

Dodgeball, you’ll recall, is the company that lets you send friends a text message telling them which bar or restaurant you are crashing, so you can meet up if they are close.

However, that’s a lot of hassle — to message Google with your whereabouts every time you move, only to have Google… Continue Reading