THE BUSINESS OF TECHNOLOGY
Acquisitions for gaming companies broke a new record last year, raking in $4 billion, an 18 percent increase from the $3.4 billion earned in 2011, according to recent research from Digi-Capital, the global investment bank. Gaming investments, however, had a difficult year, tumbling 57 percent to $853 million. Transactional volume dropped 27 … [Read more...]
Testing “extreme price points” in a potential paid messaging service, Facebook offered to send messages directly to CEO Mark Zuckerberg's inbox for $100, Mashable was the first to notice. The company is considering allowing users to pay to send messages to people who are not their friends that would go directly to the inbox, with the high fee … [Read more...]
Janrain, which provides a social log-in management platform for developers that allows for easy signup through Facebook and other social media services, has raised $33 million. The round included contributions from new investors including salesforce.com, Millennium Technology Value Partners, Split Rock Partners, and Epic Ventures, as well as … [Read more...]
While making his second trip to China as Apple's CEO, Tim Cook told China's state-run Xinhua news agency that China will one day become the company's largest customer. Currently, China ranks as Apple's biggest market. "China is currently our second largest market. I believe it will become our first. I believe strongly that it will," Cook told … [Read more...]
Though there was an increase in number of Israeli startups that managed to raise money last year, there was less money raised. Last year, 575 Israeli high tech companies raised $1.92 billion from the investment community, a 10 percent decrease over 2011 when 545 raised $2.14 billion, according to a recent report from the IVC Research Center. VC … [Read more...]
Sina Weibo, a social microblogger that has sometimes been referred to as China's “Twitter,” has rolled out an English language interface, widening marketing possibilities that could extend the service to more international markets. A Sina representative told Tech in Asia, "Countries in Southeast Asia [can] pick English or Chinese – this … [Read more...]
Google closed a $200 million investment in the Spinning Spur Wind Project, a 161 megawatt West Texas wind farm that will generate enough electricity to power 60,000 homes. Each of the farm's 70 Siemens wind turbines carries a 2.3 megawatt capacity. The project will bring the bulk of Google's renewable energy assets to an impressive 2 gigawatts, … [Read more...]
Hanergy Holding Group, China's largest clean energy company, finalized its purchase of MiaSole, the world's largest thin film-PV company, in an agreement that gives it a 100 percent stake, the AP reported. The group's financial backing will help MiaSole invest in research and development as it rides out a downturn in the global solar market that … [Read more...]
by MATT GALLAGHER, Red Herring Providing a one-stop shop for music soundtracks for TV and film producers, konsonant/ is rewriting the rules for how soundtracks are produced. The company's database features music that is unique and written by real film composers, artists and real bands from around the world. “We pride ourselves as the boutique … [Read more...]
LinkedIn has reached another milestone. The professional social network now has a user base of over 200 million users from over 200 countries. The site is used in 19 different languages. More than half of its users live outside the US. It's a ranking that Deep Nishar, LinkedIn's Senior Vice-president, described as “an important and exciting … [Read more...]