THE BUSINESS OF TECHNOLOGY
Amazon and Google can breathe a sigh of relief. Apple unveiled its iPad Mini, a 7.9 miniature version of the iPad, for $329, a bit more expensive than the $250 analysts had expected. About 65 percent of the cost of a full size iPad, the new iPad is well above mini tablet competitors such as Amazon Kindle Fire and Google Inc's Nexus 7, priced … [Read more...]
Microsoft is seeing its Skype acquisition pay off in terms of usage increase, though it remains to be seen if that actually adds up to bona fide revenue. In its quarterly earnings report, the company announced that Skype's usage had grown to over 280 million users, adding more than 30 million users since late May. Microsoft did not mention, … [Read more...]
Facebook is proposing to settle a class action lawsuit related to its “Sponsored Stories” lawsuit for $20 million, offering up to $10 each for any of the 125 million affected users that apply, or 2 cents per user if everyone files a claim, Reuters recently reported. The proposal suggests that some of the funds go to charity, but only after … [Read more...]
by MATT GALLAGHER, Red Herring Everyone has that little voice inside them that wonders in the middle of the night whether or not the front door is locked. Do you get up to check or stay in bed as the worries seep into bad dreams? When it comes to SSH keys, however, most companies don't even realize that up to 10,000 unlocked back doors may be … [Read more...]
Striving to provide a developer friendly platform for mobile payments, Braintree has raised $35 million in Series B financing to give Paypal a run for its money. The funding was led by New Enterprise Associates, with existing investors Accel Partners, RRE Ventures and Greycroft also participating. The round brings the startup's total funding to … [Read more...]
At the ad conference IAB MIXX this week, Facebook laid out its argument to advertisers, based on a recent study it conducted with Datalogix: Clicks are meaningless. The value of online advertising comes from the impression a brand makes, not whether somebody chose to interact with it online. The social network compared Internet ads to television … [Read more...]
Setting its competition scopes directly on Square, Groupon launched a credit card scanning service that boasts lower fees and an ability to track transaction activity. The service goes head to head against Square and PayPal. Dubbed Groupon Payments, the service accepts Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express cards. It offers a free … [Read more...]
Growing 401 percent year over year, China's smartphone market is the fastest growing market in the world, according to new analytics by Flurry, the mobile analytics firm. Though currently second behind the US, China has set a pace to likely overtake the US market by Christmas. The US adds about 30 million new active devices to the stream … [Read more...]
Propelled by the upcoming release of the iPhone 5 and a potentially smaller and more affordable iPad, Apple's stock hit $664.74 this week, raising the company's value to $623 billion, the highest ever in Wall St.'s history. The company beat out Microsoft's high of $620.58 billion on Dec. 30, 1999. Granted, that's not adjusted for inflation, … [Read more...]
Getty Images, the mega stock photo site, has been sold for $3.3 billion to the Carlyle Group, the Getty family and key management figures. The Carlyle Group will partner with the photo conglomerate’s co-founders Mark Getty and Jonathan Klein and the Getty family to acquire the business from private equity firm Hellman & Friedman. 50 … [Read more...]