Yahoo agreed to buy the blogging service Tumblr for around $1.1 billion in cash, reports The New York Times. If the deal is approved, it would be the biggest yet under the tenure of new Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer and a major move into social media for the Internet company. (It would also top Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram for $1 billion last year.) Founded in 2007, Tumblr has a young, active user base, with over 108 million blogs, that Yahoo will likely want to tap into.
Tag: Tech (1-10 of 163)
Facebook announces Graph Search
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the social network’s beta tool — Graph Search — is available today in limited release. It’s a bigger search bar, within Facebook, that allows members to type in natural language queries and access people, photos, places, and interests embedded within 1 trillion connections. For example, users could search who among their friends have recently bought shoes or eaten dinner in a certain city — the theory being that Graph Search could disrupt the business models of platforms like Yelp, Foursquare, or Google Local.
For now, Graph Search isn’t capable of tracking Facebook posts or Open Graph actions like song listens, which means that the few hundred thousand people who have it will be able to only partially use it. Already, analysts and experts are questioning why Facebook is treating this announcement like a big deal. Predicting that Graph Search could become a major threat to Google and Amazon, for example, seems premature. More skepticism over at CNET.
Graph Search is in limited beta for now; you can sign up to get on the list here.
SAG nominees leaked online
Taye Diggs and Busy Philipps announced the 2013 SAG Award nominees this morning at 6 a.m. PT. But if you knew where to look, you could have learned the news hours earlier.
According to the Los Angeles Times, readers of the Awards Daily blog discovered that a glitch in the SAG website allowed readers to see the nominees by typing in the actor or movie’s name in a simple search. Though there was no comprehensive list posted on the site, the database snafu revealed the eventual nominations several hours before the official announcement.
“We are aware of this matter,” a SAG spokesperson said in a statement. “There appears to have been a technical glitch with the website uploading process and we are working with our vendor to resolve the problem.”
Read more:
SAG Award nominations
SAG Awards: Movies analysis
Dish Network on top for now in ad-skipping lawsuit
Dish Network has won the first round of litigation concerning its ad-skipping DVR technology, reports the L.A. Times. The Big Four — CBS, NBC, Fox and ABC — filed suit against the cable company soon after it introduced a new DVR feature called AutoHop that allows viewers to breeze past commercials.
A federal court judge in New York ruled yesterday in favor of Dish’s request for a temporary restraining order against the networks’ California-based litigation. “We’re pleased that the New York federal court has entered a [temporary restraining order] against Fox until the New York court decides whether the suits filed by Fox, CBS, and NBC in California should be enjoined in favor of Dish’s suit in New York,” said Dish General Counsel R. Stanton Dodge in a statement. “Dish looks forward to presenting its case and prevailing on the merits.”
Fox was the first broadcast company to file suit on the West Coast. However, Dish filed its own suit in New York on May 24, before the networks, in hopes that a prior ruling on the East would set a precedent in its favor.
Both Dish and the broadcast networks have much at stake, as the outcome of the lawsuits — for copyright infringement and breach of contract on Fox’s end — could influence not only what features will be available to viewers on their TV devices but also the price for monthly service.
Read more:
Dish Network’s new DVR system eliminates commercials
Hulu might restrict access to those with cable subscriptions — eventually
Netflix beware! Blockbuster and Dish Network unveil Blockbuster Movie Pass
Facebook lawsuits add to IPO troubles
Facebook’s initial public offering is the subject of two congressional inquiries and mounting lawsuits as the social network enters its fifth day of public trading. The shares regained some ground Wednesday, rising $1, or 3.2 percent, to close at $32. They were up another 50 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $32.50 in early premarket trading Thursday. But they are still more than 14 percent below their $38 per share IPO price last week.
The stock’s rocky inaugural trading day last Friday was followed by a two-day decline. The launch was held up by a half-hour delay, caused by glitches on the Nasdaq Stock Market. It was marred further this week as investors began accusing the banks that arranged the IPO of sharing important information about Facebook’s business prospects with some clients and not others.
Several shareholders who bought stock in the IPO have filed lawsuits against Facebook, its executives and Morgan Stanley, the IPO’s lead underwriter. At question is whether analysts at the big underwriter investment banks cut their second-quarter and full-year forecasts for Facebook just before the IPO, and told only a handful of clients about it.
One lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in New York, claims Facebook’s IPO documents contained untrue statements and omitted important facts, such as a “severe reduction in revenue growth” that Facebook was experiencing at the time of the offering. The suit’s three plaintiffs, who bought Facebook stock on its first day of trading May 18, claim they were damaged in the process.
Morgan Stanley declined to comment. Facebook said the lawsuit is without merit.
Another lawsuit, filed in San Mateo County Superior Court in California, claims Facebook and underwriters misled investors in Facebook’s IPO documents. Both lawsuits seek class action status on behalf of investors who bought Facebook stock and lost money on Friday. “No one gets it perfect, as far as saying what the financial results are,” said Anthony Michael Sabino, professor at St. John’s University’s Peter J. Tobin College of Business. The bottom line, he added, is whether Facebook or the underwriter had material information about Facebook’s finances that was not disclosed publicly. “At this moment, it’s still too early to say,” Sabino said. “We don’t know enough, but this could turn out to be an issue.”
What is known is that, in March, Facebook began meeting with analysts at the underwriting firms. The gatherings are a customary part of the IPO process and are designed to help analysts understand the company’s business so they can make accurate financial projections. On May 9, the third day of Facebook’s pre-IPO roadshow to meet with prospective investors, the company filed an amended IPO document that said its number of mobile users was growing faster than its revenue. According to a person familiar with the matter, Facebook then had another meeting with analysts and told them that based on the new information in the filings, the analysts’ forecasts should be at the low end of the range that the company gave them in April. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not publicly authorized to discuss the matter.
Adding to Wednesday’s events, Facebook was in talks with the New York Stock Exchange to move its stock from the Nasdaq Stock Market after the botched offering, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The news of the talks was first reported by Reuters.
NYSE spokesman Rich Adamonis said: “There have been no discussions with Facebook regarding switching their listing in light of the events of the last week, nor do we think a discussion along those lines would be appropriate at this time.”
A Nasdaq spokesman declined to comment.
Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, said late Wednesday that his panel wants to learn more about the social network’s initial offering. The committee seeks briefings with Facebook representatives, regulatory agencies and others. After the briefings, Johnson said, he will determine whether a hearing should be held.
Also gathering information about Facebook’s IPO is the House Financial Services Committee. An aide to that panel said its staff is getting briefings. The subject is likely to be raised in hearings by the committee in the coming weeks, even though no hearings are planned specifically on the Facebook IPO, the aide said. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because the House committee’s planned inquiry hasn’t been publicly announced.
Inventor of TV remote control dead
Image Credit: LG Electronics/AP
Couch potatoes everywhere can pause and thank Eugene Polley for hours of feet-up channel surfing. His invention, the first wireless TV remote, began as a luxury, but with the introduction of hundreds of channels and viewing technologies it has become a necessity. Just ask anyone who’s lost a remote.
Polley died of natural causes Sunday at a suburban Chicago hospital, said Zenith Electronics spokesman John Taylor. The former Zenith engineer was 96. READ FULL STORY »
Ousted Yahoo CEO has thyroid cancer: Report
Yahoo’s Scott Thompson, who was pressured to give up his CEO post because his official biography included a college degree he never received, reportedly has thyroid cancer.
The Wall Street Journal, citing people it did not identify, says that Thompson told Yahoo’s board and several colleagues of his condition before resigning from his role with the company.
The newspaper says it was told by one source that Thompson’s decision to resign was partly influenced by his cancer diagnosis.
Thompson was hired as Yahoo’s CEO in January to fill a void created by Carol Bartz’s firing.
Yahoo Inc. has named Ross Levinsohn as its interim CEO. Levinsohn had a successful stint running Internet services within Rupert Murdoch’s media empire at News Corp. before Bartz hired him in November 2010
Yahoo’s stock gained 33 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $15.52 in premarket trading Monday.
Report: Facebook IPO set for May 18
The proof is in the pudding and on May 18, the world will learn what social networking is really worth. Facebook, which has a valuation of $100 billion, has set its IPO date for May 18, according to The Wall Street Journal. The company expects to raise over $10 billion.
Early investors like Bono’s Elevation Partners and other bold-faced names will be in the black, and still more in the inner circle will be able to invest outright. But what does Facebook’s going public mean for users? For a basic outline and understanding of just how big Facebook is and what the IPO could mean on a larger scale, check out this video from Kapitall, first picked up by Mashable, below: READ FULL STORY »
'This American Life' retracts Apple factory story
Image Credit: Joan Marcus
NPR is retracting a story about Apple factories in China that ran on This American Life Jan. 6, reports Poynter. Per a press release, this week’s edition of Life will be dedicated to detailing how monologuist Mike Daisey “partially fabricated” his story — including dramatic incidents involving underage workers and the poisoning of factory workers. READ FULL STORY »
Man charged in hacking attack on Gene Simmons site
A man affiliated with a hacking group was arrested Tuesday on federal charges for an attack on a website belonging to Kiss bassist Gene Simmons, authorities said.
Kevin Poe was indicted in Los Angeles on two counts: conspiracy and unauthorized impairment of a protected computer. Poe made his initial appearance in court in Hartford, Connecticut and was released on $10,000 bond.
If convicted of both charges, the Manchester man faces up to 15 years in prison. An email message left for deputy federal public defender Deirdre Murray was not immediately returned.
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