Versus IO pulls in $2.8M from Earlybird VC, Dave McClure to compare things

Berlin-based Versus IO has closed its first round of $2.8 million. The comparison engine represents McClure's first investment in a German startup.

Would you give up half your company for $250K?

If that sounds bad, how about half of your company for $90K? Crazy? No. This is the reality in many places outside of Silicon Valley (and especially outside the US). And it isn't good.

Germany fines Google a tiny $190,000 over its Street View Wi-Fi snooping ‘mistake’

Google's Street View Wi-Fi data snooping has cost it $190,000 in Germany. Some, however, aren't quite convinced that that's enough money.

Evernote continues global crusade, offers 60M Germans Premium services for free

The king of digital note-taking services partners with Deutsche Telekom to make its subscribers eligible for a free year of Evernote Premium.

Google brings Chromebooks to the world (or at least more of it)

After being Amazon.com's best-selling laptop for 149 days straight, Google is taking its Chromebook show on the road, both internationally and at home.

Google wins! Publishers win! No one wins, in German news copyright decision

Google and news publishers in Germany are going to have more problems before this all gets figured out, and this recent legislation is a complete waste of time.

Real names on Facebook safe for now, as German court says Irish law applies to its citizens

"The decisions are more than amazing," Thilo Weichert, a German privacy commission, said in a statement.

European VC spreads startup excitement from Berlin to beyond

Point Nine Capital closed its second fund, dedicated to supporting and nurturing European startups.

Greentech state of the union boost: Obama proposes using oil and gas money to fund green energy

President Barack Obama's state of the union address focused on innovation, jobs, education, health-care ... and green technology.

German judge: Internet is so essential, you can claim compensation for interruptions

A judge rules that Internet access was basic enough to plaintiff's existence that the ISP should compensate him for his loss to the tune of €50 ($67) per day for the duration of the outage.

Dollars for dongles: European version of Square closes round

German payments startup payleven raises an undisclosed amount from an undisclosed investor to turn smart phones into point-of-sale terminals.

Dave McClure adds first German startup into his growing international portfolio

Dave McClure makes his first ever investment in a German startup as he continues to spread 500 startups presence around the world.

With $15M, Berlin-based Trademob takes its mobile ad platform to the Big Apple

German mobile marketing platform Trademob raises $15 million in its second round of funding.

Twitter now censoring tweets on a per-country basis (for the first time)

We already live in our own personal social media reality bubbles. Now Twitter is providing entire countries with their own reality bubbles.