Amazon.com to Acquire Goodreads
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire Goodreads, a leading site for readers and book recommendations that helps people find and share books they lo...
OUYA available at retail on June 4 for $99
The Android-powered $99 OUYA game console becomes available at retail on June 4th — a date which was revealed this week during the Game Developers Conference. OUYA's calling June 4th its “official la...
Taking a stand on open source and patents
At Google we believe that open systems win. Open-source software has been at the root of many innovations in cloud computing, the mobile web, and the Internet generally. And while open platforms hav...
Bitcoin May Be the Global Economy's Last Safe Haven
One of the oddest bits of news to emerge from the economic collapse of Cyprus is a corresponding rise in the value of Bitcoin, the Internet's favorite, media-friendly, anarchist crypto-currency. In S...
Facebook To Reveal “Home On Android” Sources Say Is A Modified OS On HTC At 4/4 Event
Facebook just invited press to an event at its headquarters on April 4th to “Come See Our New Home On Android”. Sources tell us it will be a modified version of the Android operating system …
When Things Don't Work Out
I have said many times that early stage VC is a lot like baseball, if you get a hit one out of every three times, you are headed to the hall of fame. And if I look back over my career, and also over ...
Best Buy adding Samsung Stores in time for Galaxy S4 launch
Over the last two years, Best Buy stores have dramatically increased the number of smartphones and tablets they carry. Starting next month, you may find that Best Buy employees are much more inclined...
Microsoft debuts Web site to search all its patents
The Web giant and frequent target of intellectual property litigation says the move is designed to create greater transparency. It hopes other patent holders will follow suit. — No stranger to inte...
Biz Stone Is Poised to Launch New Mobile Startup Called Jelly
According to sources, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone is close to launching a new startup called Jelly, which one person called a “native mobile” effort. — While it's not clear exactly what that means,...
Why Google's 'We Won't Sue' Patent Pledge May Actually Suggest A Greater Proclivity To Sue Over Patents
Google is getting some attention today for taking an official pledge that it won't initiate patent lawsuits over open source software on certain patents:
EBay Says It Is ‘Now Playing Offense’
SAN JOSE, Calif.—EBay Inc. is aiming to nearly double the active-user count on its eBay.com marketplace over the next three years, as well as the volume of payments processed by its PayPal unit. — T...
BlackBerry Posts Promising Q4 Results After BB10 Launch: EPS Of $0.22, Revenue Of $2.7B, ~1M Z10s Shipped
For the past year BlackBerry has been trying to prove to the world that it's not a mobile has-been just yet, and that all came to a head earlier this year when the company finally released …
How Samsung Became the World's No. 1 Smartphone Maker
I'm in a black Mercedes-Benz (DAI) van with three Samsung Electronics PR people heading toward Yongin, a city about 45 minutes south of Seoul. Yongin is South Korea's Orlando: a nondescript, fast-gro...
Samsung Galaxy S4 preorders start at AT&T on April 16th for $249.99
AT&T has announced availability and pricing for the new Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone. Customers will be able to preorder the Galaxy S4 starting on April 16th for $249.99 with a new two-year agreement...
Why Developers Shouldn't Use iCloud Syncing, Even If It Worked
Yesterday the Verge posted Apple's broken promise: why doesn't iCloud ‘just work’? — It's not the first article on the topic — bits and pieces of this issue have come up before. But The Verge did a...
A Driving Force Behind Wikipedia Will Step Down
Sue Gardner, who oversaw a period of rapid growth and evolution at Wikipedia, said Wednesday that she would step down as executive director of the nonprofit organization that runs the free encyclopedi...
“First do no harm”: My interview with Amazon and Goodreads on the future of Goodreads
Amazon announced Thursday afternoon that it has acquired the popular book-related social networking site Goodreads for an undisclosed sum. I spoke with Goodreads CEO Otis Chandler and Amazon's VP …
DOJ Emails Show Feds Were Less Than “Explicit” With Judges On Cell Phone Tracking Tool
A Justice Department document obtained by the ACLU of Northern California shows that federal investigators were routinely using a sophisticated cell phone tracking tool known as a “stingray,” …
Sony dives deep into the PS4's hardware power, controller features at GDC
At a presentation at the Game Developers Conference today, Sony Senior Staff Engineer Chris Norden went into greater technical detail on some of the PlayStation 4's underlying hardware, including the ...
PC game sales hit $20 billion last year, no signs of slowing
Despite declining desktop shipments as well as an increased interest in mobile and social games, the PC gaming market is still holding strong with a growth of 8% last year according DFC analyst David ...
Undersea cable cut near Egypt slows down Internet in Africa, Middle East, South Asia
It is like Groundhog Day! Once again an undersea cable has been cut — the South East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 4 (aka SEA-ME-WE 4) cable and that is causing an internet (and communications) …
US government agencies are advertising on accused pirate sites
USC to report that US government is helping to fund intellectual property theft — The US president and vice president have come out against the theft of intellectual property; dozens of congresspeop...
China Worries Arise in Sprint Deal
The U.S. government is seeking oversight of network-equipment purchases as a condition for approving Softbank Corp.'s $20 billion acquisition of U.S. phone carrier Sprint Nextel Corp., a move that app...
Why Google's 'We Won't Sue' Patent Pledge May Actually Suggest A Greater Proclivity To Sue Over Patents
Google is getting some attention today for taking an official pledge that it won't initiate patent lawsuits over open source software on certain patents:
Google Starts Testing Google Shopping Express In SF, With Free Delivery From Target, Walgreens, Staples And More
Google is finally opening up its Google Shopping Express service to the public today, with the same day delivery service being made available as a test to select users …