Microsoft’s Ballmer: MSFT will acquire 20 companies a year

Microsoft’s Ballmer: MSFT will acquire 20 companies a year

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer just said at the Web 2.0 conference here in San Francisco that the software giant will acquire 20 companies a year for the next five years, ranging from $50 million to $1 billion.

This steals from the playbook of News Corp,… Continue Reading

Web 2.0 Summit: MadeIt, Nokia’s new phone, and Zennstrom’s disappearance

Web 2.0 Summit: MadeIt, Nokia’s new phone, and Zennstrom’s disappearance

Web 2.0 Summit, co-hosted by O’Reilly Media and CMP, kicks off this Wednesday at San Francisco’s Palace Hotel. A who’s who list of Web 2.0 digerati will converge for three days of deal making, partying and more deal making.

If you didn’t have the budget to… Continue Reading

Compendia Bioscience, cancer-genomics data miner, leverages the Web for biodata analysis

Compendia Bioscience, cancer-genomics data miner, leverages the Web for biodata analysis

A number of startups are starting to bring the power of the Web to bear on complex masses of biological data. One of the latest is Compendia Bioscience, an Ann Arbor, Mich., computational biotech that’s focused on mining cancer-genomics data. The company just received a… Continue Reading

Has smart money abandoned U.S. Web 2.0 companies?

Has smart money abandoned U.S. Web 2.0 companies?

Venture capitalists invested about six percent more into Web 2.0 companies in the first half of 2007, but the increase was attributable to more deals in Europe and Israel.

Notably, early investors in Web 2.0 slowed their pace. For example, Silicon Valley’s Benchmark Capital backed just… Continue Reading

IBM’s QEDwiki — Web 2.0 widgets for big businesses

IBM’s QEDwiki — Web 2.0 widgets for big businesses

For years, web-based software has promised to radically transform the software industry. Cheap, simpler Web tools are much more attractive to corporate customers, compared to antiquated, expensive subscription software.

Large, incumbent business software providers are jumping on bandwagon to provide these tools — even as they… Continue Reading

Inpowr creates a social network for ME

Inpowr creates a social network for ME

There’s a social networking site for nearly every person, animal, and interest – but what about a social network for the person who matters most? That’s right, a social network for YOU, the proud recipient of Time Magazine’s Person of the Year.

Look in the mirror…. Continue Reading

Ignite lights up Web 2.0 Expo

Ignite lights up Web 2.0 Expo

O’Reilly Media’s Web 2.0 Expo kicked off yesterday in San Francisco, with 10,000 attendees from 59 countries. VentureBeat’s Mark Coker took notes from the day.

The highlight was the evening’s Ignite event: Imagine packing a large conference room with about 600 geeks, giving ‘em all the… Continue Reading

Is Web 2.0 over and out?

Is Web 2.0 over and out?

Updated

New Internet technologies, defined vaguely as “Web 2.0,” have gone mainstream, but the cycle of innovation may be slowing, suggests a venture capitalist.

Separately, data shows that venture investments in Web 2.0 companies last year increased strongly, but that valuations actually dropped.

Peter Rip, of Crosslink Capital,… Continue Reading

Web 2.0 bubble bursting: Peerflix cuts workforce, carnage mounting elsewhere

Web 2.0 bubble bursting: Peerflix cuts workforce, carnage mounting elsewhere

This year has become the “show-me” year. Internet start-ups showing no traction are getting shut down, or trimmed — abandoned by once wide-eyed investors.

The Web 2.0 bubble is bursting, but VentureBeat agrees with others that this is more like an “oozing.” New, innovative companies… Continue Reading