Report: Yahoo acquires Xoopit; will Yahoo Mail get even more social?
Yahoo is about to acquire Xoopit, a startup that brings social tools into email programs like Yahoo Mail and Gmail, for $20 million, according to multiple press reports.
The Wall Street Journal and BoomTown (both owned by Dow Jones, incidentally) have reported on the deal — the WSJ says talks are in their final stages, but BoomTown says the deal is done. I’ve emailed Yahoo, Xoopit, and Xoopit investor Accel Partners; Yahoo and Accel say they’re… Continue Reading
Tech sector flying low but gunning for takeoff
Valley companies’ quarterly results have made it hard to plot a trend this week. Apple reported a quarter that the company’s PR pros have dubbed “the best non-holiday quarter in Apple’s history.” By contrast, Yahoo’s revenue headed down for the third straight quarter. Google hung in there with a 3 percent increase over 2008.
What’s happening right now is the Great Tech Sector Shakeout of 2009, as the Internet economy shifts its feet to get its balance… Continue Reading
Yahoo revenue continues to plunge for third straight quarter
Yahoo announced another steep drop in net revenue today, citing the limping online advertising market for search and display ads as the cause for losses spanning three consecutive quarters. On a (dimly) positive note, the company did see second-quarter earnings per share that beat analysts’ expectations — but mostly due to severe cutbacks (its net income increased by almost 8 percent to $141.4 million for the same reasons).
Not only did revenue decline yet again (hitting… Continue Reading
Yahoo will launch new homepage months early on Tuesday
The Wall Street Journal has obtained reliably-sourced insider information that Yahoo’s overhaul of its flagship site, a project code-named “Metro,” will go live tomorrow. The new site will encourage users to customize Yahoo with links to other sites, says the Journal:
The biggest change in the new design is a left-hand menu users can customize with links to dozens of potential third-party software, such as micro-blogging service Twitter and Google Inc.’s Gmail, said the people briefed… Continue Reading
Yahoo shelving Maven Networks’ video platform
Updated with comments from Yahoo
Yahoo reportedly plans to shut down the video platform built by Maven Networks, the video startup Yahoo acquired for $160 million at the beginning of 2008, according to TechCrunch.
Maven offers video hosting and ad insertion to large media companies. Before the acquisition, the company said it was growing quickly and could deliver its services at a tenth of the cost of the competition. There were, however, reasons to be skeptical about… Continue Reading
Taptu app searches for “iPhone-friendly content”
Search applications for mobile phones don’t need to emulate their computer-desktop counterparts. Yahoo oneSearch deliberately returns results different from the company’s website, based on Yahoo’s research that found customers searching from a phone tended to be looking for a narrow set of items — phone numbers, directions, flight info — and that creating phone-centric results tested better than trying to build another Googlephone.
Now startup Taptu has launched a free search app for the iPhone. The… Continue Reading
Roundup: Building43 launches for net enthusiasts, Twitter verifies accounts and more
Here’s the latest action:
Nintendo fends off patent trolls — The game industry leader just won yet another patent suit, this one falsely claiming that the Wii can play DVD movies.
Rambus settles with EU — The memory chip designer has agreed to cut some of its royalty rates to settle antitrust charges in Europe. Bloomberg has the story.
Building43 launches, inspires glee in internet groupies — Robert Scoble’s latest project, an online community for internet news junkies has gone live…. Continue Reading
Roundup: Yahoo’s Bartz slams Bing, solar brightens chip market and more
Here’s the latest action:
Intuit picks up PayCycle — The software company paid $170 million for the payroll services provider to strengthen that division of its business, reports Reuters.
Miles unveils electric Coda — Miles Electric Vehicles, known for its low-speed electric vehicles, has launched Coda Automotive, maker of a $45,000 electric sedan, as a new brand. Earth2Tech has more.
YouTube in your living room — YouTube has launched a new interface that makes it easy to watch shows via any… Continue Reading
Justice Dept. investigates possible hiring pact between Google, Apple, Yahoo, others
The Justice Department is reportedly investigating major tech companies for possibly violating antitrust laws with their hiring practices. The department sent “civil investigative demands” (written requests for documents and information) to at least a dozen tech companies, including Google, Apple, Yahoo, and biotech company Genentech. The question is, have some of these companies agreed not to recruit each other’s employees?
Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney, who was confirmed to head the Justice Department’s antitrust division in… Continue Reading
The battle for your address book: Will souped up contact apps monetize the data explosion?
[Editor's Note: Below, MobileBeat advisory board member Jason Devitt explains why we should care about new innovative address books. Not only are they key to a much better user experience, but they may greatly impact the way we pay to use our phones. He also looks at how different parties, from carriers to mobile startups, are approaching new address book services from opposing angles.]
There’s a battle brewing for control of your mobile phone’s address book…. Continue Reading
Carol Bartz fires some zingers from the hot seat, still awaits boat loads of Microsoft money
Yahoo chief executive Carol Bartz sat on the hot seat in an interview with Kara Swisher at the AllThingsD conference. Bartz managed to deflect and disarm tough questions with her sense of humor.
She said that she was open to talking to Microsoft about an acquisition if the deal came with “boatloads of money,” “good data” and “good technology.”
Right off the bat, Swisher asked Bartz what Yahoo was about. It was easy to say what Google… Continue Reading
Roundup: YouTube must pay songwriters, Queen Rania loves Twitter, and more
Here’s the latest action:
YouTube ordered to pay $1.6M to US songwriters — The fees are only temporary as YouTube and the ASCAP songwriters association go to court to reach a more long-term settlement.
Queen Rania of Jordan believes Twitter can change the world — TechCrunch has a full interview.
Project Playlist buys Total Music — However, Total Music still hasn’t resolved its lawsuits from Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group.
Air-filled battery could generate 10 times more power — The idea… Continue Reading
Yahoo’s new mobile search bundles info, guesses intent
Yahoo search gurus gave a presentation at the offices of OutCast PR today titled, “End of the 10 Blue Links.” You can read TechCrunch’s liveblog of the event, but here’s the shorter takeaway.
Yahoo, like Google, is moving away from returning Web pages that match keywords. Instead, it’s trying to automatically determine what it calls the “intent” of the user. What is the user trying to find, or find out? And instead of returning a singular… Continue Reading
Roundup: Street View blinded, curtain to rise on new PS3 and more
Here’s the latest action:
It’s a pirate’s life for Asia — A new study indicates that software piracy is growing rapidly in Asia where the number of computer owners continues to skyrocket.
Street View’s prying eyes — Google must reshoot footage for its maps Street View tool in Japan after receiving complaints that the cameras were mounted high enough to see over residents’ fences. Earlier this week, the search company was banned from collecting images in Greece, also due… Continue Reading
Roundup: Windows 7 nearing launch, Facebook phished, Dean’s upcoming Seattle speech
Here’s the latest action:
Windows 7 readying for birth — Microsoft’s new operating system is entering its final stages of testing and the company has a “release candidate” ready, possibly for launch on May 5. It will be interesting to see if it lifts computer sales in the midst of the recession.
Walt Disney takes nearly 30 percent stake in Hulu — News of the Disney relationship with the Web video aggregator is here.
Anyone remember the Razr? — Motorola posts… Continue Reading
Yahoo shutters GeoCities — my eyeballs are grateful
Yahoo has announced that it plans to shut down free web-hosting service GeoCities, which it acquired for $3.6 billion a decade ago.
My first response to the news was, “Wait, GeoCities is still around?” The service has fallen far from its heyday in the late ’90s. I don’t know anyone with a GeoCities site anymore, and the name has become shorthand for ugly websites (featuring animated GIF files like the one below). Just in the last… Continue Reading
More loss, more layoffs for Yahoo under Bartz
Yahoo reported that revenue and profit fell during the first quarter — the first full quarter under new chief executive Carol Bartz. In response, the company plans to trim its workforce again, this time by 5 percent to cut down on expenses.
The search giant’s net income for the first three months was $118 million, down $542 million from last year at this time, representing a 78 percent decline. If you subtract the $401 boost it… Continue Reading
Roundup: Apple patents surface, Second Life grows, Rosetta Stone IPO takes off
Here’s the latest action:
New Apple patent filings raise eyebrows — The next versions of the iPhone could make use of a motion-aware user interface, based on some recent patent filings. MacRumors has more.
Nokia’s net income takes a dive — Phone maker’s net income falls 90 percent in the first quarter. CNET has more.
Bartz unlikely to sell Yahoo? — A profile in Fortune of Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz cites unnamed sources as saying that Bartz doesn’t want to sell… Continue Reading
Yahoo and Microsoft said they might talk about a partnership and now they are
This might be big, at some point in the future. New Yahoo chief executive Carol Bartz and Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer have had some preliminary, face-to-face meetings over the last few weeks about a potential search and advertising partnership, according to BoomTown.
In case such discussions sound familiar, it’s because — after a tortured attempt by Microsoft to buy Yahoo last year — the two companies have already been sending signals that they’re willing to… Continue Reading
Roundup: Apple gets busted, original Rickroller feels played and more
Here’s the latest action:
Apple slapped with touchscreen suit — Taiwanese touchscreen maker Elan Microelectronics has filed suit against Apple for violating patents to produce its beloved multi-touch iPhone and iPod Touch.
TheFunded strikes again with Founders Institute — Adeo Ressi, the controversial founder of TheFunded, is offering four-month training sessions for startup founders.
Tesla nabs European toehold — The electric car company will open its first dealership across the pond in London’s central, swanky Knightsbridge area, home of Harrods and… Continue Reading