THE BUSINESS OF TECHNOLOGY
Gigya, the provider of social infrastructure, announced it has reached 1.5 billion unique monthly users, up from the billion it reported a year ago. That's nearly 2/3's of the global Internet population. It took some sizable companies to attain that kind of reach. The company surpassed 650 clients with 300 leading online businesses. Customers … [Read more...]
Foursquare took the excuse to celebrate the company recently crossing the 3 billion checkins threshold with its release of “The Best of Foursquare.” Rather than a guide curated by editors, travel writers or critics, Foursquare's approach is all based on user experience data. Taking all that checkin data as well as tens of millions of user tips, … [Read more...]
by MATT GALLAGHER, Red Herring Though plenty of Q&A service sites sleep contentedly in the graveyard, ChaCha is thriving alive and strong. The company recently raised a new round of $14 million. The company will use the new funding to expand its mobile and online experience as well as enhance its advertising potential. The round was led … [Read more...]
Though it won't market a product until 2014, DataGravity has already landed some pretty serious capital. The stealth mode startup recently raised $30 million in a round led by with existing investors Charles River Ventures and General Catalyst Partners participating. It brings the company's total capital to $42 million. The company specializes … [Read more...]
Google broke another record, earning its first $50 billion in annual revenue in 2012, thanks in a large part to strong fourth quarter earnings that generated $14.62 billion, an increase of 26 percent over the same period the year before. Outpacing analyst estimates of $12.36 billion for the December quarter, Google's fourth quarter was about three … [Read more...]
Baidu, the Chinese search giant, has signed an exclusive deal with France Telecom and its subsidiary Orange to co-brand and pre-load its Baidu mobile browser on Android smartphones in Africa and the Middle East. It is the first time Baidu has signed such an agreement with a global provider and extends the company to 19 countries in a move that … [Read more...]
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...]
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...]
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 isn’t … [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...]