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Google Takes Another Step Toward Omniscience April 16, 2013 
Google has engaged the Behavio team in a "hiring exercise." The startup uses mobile sensors to collect data and predict behavior. Its technology recognizes data such as location, contacts, nearby destinations, recent phone activity, daily movement, and surrounding physical information. Data can be analyzed to let consumers know anything from whether their morning coffee stop is unusually crowded to which traffic routes are clear.
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Google, EU Reach Meeting of the Minds April 15, 2013 
In an effort to appease European regulators, Google for the first time has agreed to make legally binding changes to its search results. The changes stem from a two-year investigation into whether Google abused its online search dominance in Europe. The changes will not force Google to amend its algorithm, but instead will require it to clearly label search results from its own properties.
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VCs Throw Foursquare a Hail Mary Pass April 13, 2013 
Foursquare, the poster child for check-in tech when the trend was hot, announced this week that it has raised $41 million in a new financing round. The funding was provided by private-equity firm Silver Lake and existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, O'Reilly AlphaTech Ventures, Spark Capital, and Union Square Ventures. What is striking about this transaction is that the funding was debt -- specifically convertible debt -- rather than equity.
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Microsoft Signals Laser Focus on Xbox With Mediaroom Sale April 08, 2013 
Microsoft confirmed on Monday that it has agreed to sell its Mediaroom IPTV platform business to Ericsson. Mediaroom is currently used to power many of the leading Internet television services. With this acquisition, Ericsson will reportedly become the leading provider of IPTV and multiscreen offerings. This move will allow Microsoft to focus its TV efforts on the Xbox platform.
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Samsung to Hang Its Shingle Inside Best Buys April 04, 2013 
The latest consumer electronics manufacturer to follow the store-within-a-store trend is Samsung, which announced Thursday that Best Buy will dedicate space within its U.S. showrooms and specialty stores for the Samsung Experience Shop, an area dedicated to the company's products and demonstrations. Best Buy will rollout the Samsung Experience Shop in more than 1,400 Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile stores.
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Apple Apologizes to Chinese Customers Following Media Beatdown April 02, 2013 
Apple CEO Tim Cook apologized Monday to Chinese customers over the company's warranty policy, adding that he would improve customer service in China, which is now Apple's second-biggest market. The apology may be linked to a mid-March television special that aired on "Consumer Rights Day," claiming Apple's Chinese customers were treated worse than their Western counterparts.
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Yahoo and Summly: CliffsNotes for the Mobile Era? April 02, 2013 
The IT industry is no stranger to youth worship, but Yahoo's multimillion-dollar deal for Summly pushes that notion into cradle-robbing -- well, high school-robbing, anyway -- territory. That's because the punchline beneath the headlines is the age of Summly founder. Nick D'Aloisio, 17, appears to have qualified as the world's youngest VC-backed entrepreneur.
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Michael Dell Goes Into Safe Mode April 01, 2013 
Michael Dell, CEO of the PC maker that bears his name, may be considering a buyout offer from the Blackstone Group -- a bid that competes with a deal he put together himself -- but only with some serious strings attached. Apparently he not only wants the company to retain the Dell moniker, but also wants to remain in charge.
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Amazon Adds Goodreads to Its Library of Social Networks March 29, 2013 
Amazon announced Thursday that it had acquired Goodreads, the social networking site for bibliophiles. Goodreads will join Amazon's other online book communities, Shelfari and LibraryThing, as the retailer looks to expand its social insight into what book lovers are buying and sharing. Since its launch seven years ago, Goodreads has grown to include more than 16 million worldwide users.
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Apple Takes the Maps Fight Inside March 27, 2013 
Apple has slammed the door on WiFiSLAM after acquiring the Android indoor location positioning developer. However, even though it has closed the startup's shop, Apple will likely use its technology to get mapping again. After last fall's humiliation over its bungled outdoor maps app, Apple's acquisition of WiFiSLAM could be an important step in the right direction.
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Yahoo Pays Big for Teen Coding Whiz and His App March 26, 2013 
Yahoo has paid a reported $30 million for Summly, a newsreader app founded by 17-year-old programming prodigy Nick D'Aloisio. The move makes D'Aloisio, based in London, both an instant multimillionaire and Yahoo's youngest employee. The Summly app, which delivers 400-character summaries of news stories, will be shut down, but the technology will soon appear in Yahoo's mobile products.
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US Judge Tosses Censorship Claims Against Baidu, China March 26, 2013 
At long last, China and the United States are on the same cyberpage. A U.S. district judge in Manhattan dismissed a lawsuit brought by activists who claimed that Baidu, China's largest search engine, should be punished -- along with China itself -- for censoring them on the Web.
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Dropbox Sends a Message to Google With Mailbox Buy March 18, 2013 
Dropbox announced Friday it has inked a deal to acquire Orchestra, owner of the popular Mailbox iOS email app that aims to help users with crowded in-boxes simplify their lives. The Mailbox app's 14-person team will join Dropbox, but will continue to develop separately as its own app.
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T-Mobile Deal's Fate Now in MetroPCS Investors' Hands March 13, 2013 
Following Tuesday's final approval by the Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice, the focus now shifts to some MetroPCS shareholders who have raised last-minute objections to their proposed merger with T-Mobile. The wireless carriers announced the deal in October, claiming it would create a "bigger, better, bolder" network that would keep the T-Mobile name.
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Yahoo Could Take Zynga Under Its Wing March 13, 2013 
It appears Yahoo may be interested in acquiring Zynga. Both companies have been through rough patches in recent times, but Zynga's stock actually spiked 10 percent following speculation in an analyst's research note. While some things have been looking up at Yahoo since Marissa Mayer took over as CEO, the same can't be said of Zynga, which seems caught in a downward spiral.
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Lenovo Exec Floats BlackBerry Buyout Trial Balloon March 12, 2013 
Lenovo's CEO told a French newspaper this week that the computer maker would be open to exploring a BlackBerry buyout. It is not the first time a Lenovo executive has publicly stated interest in the struggling smartphone company. In January, Chief Financial Officer Won Wai Ming said that his company was exploring a variety of opportunities, including a BlackBerry buyout deal.
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Bringing Icahn Into Dell's Henhouse Could Be Foxy Move March 11, 2013 
Carl Icahn has been pushing back against Dell's proposal to go private in a $24.4 billion deal. Dell finally gave way -- a little -- and is allowing Icahn to examine the company's confidential information. Dell has been battling shareholders about the proposed leveraged buyout almost since it was unveiled in February.
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T-Mobile, MetroPCS Merger Gets More Wind in Its Sails March 07, 2013 
The T-Mobile-MetroPCS merger has moved one step closer to the finish line now that the Department of Justice has signaled it doesn't oppose the deal. The department allowed a required waiting period to pass without objection, Deutsche Telekom said Wednesday, bringing the deal to an "important staging post."
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Dell's Q4 Earnings Beat Estimates, Stoke Buyout Debate February 20, 2013 
Dell reported another quarter with a drop in sales and profits, but its Q4 earnings Tuesday did beat analyst expectations, thereby putting a hotter spotlight on the computer maker's proposed $24.4 billion leveraged buyout deal. The company reported a net income of $530 million, or 30 cents per share, a 31 percent drop from the same time a year ago.
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Yahoo Picks Up Speed With Alike Acquisition February 14, 2013 
In case investors have any doubts that Yahoo sees its future in mobile, events of the past few days should dispel them once and for all. News surfaced Tuesday that Yahoo has acquired Alike, a mobile app that guides users to find nearby venues and places to visit. Also on Tuesday, CEO Marissa Mayer sketched out her vision for Yahoo at an investors conference hosted by Goldman Sachs.
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