• Fred Wilson On Mobile Bubbles, Blogging & Billionaires
    Is the industry setting itself up for a mobile bubble? "Not yet," Fred Wilson, a partner in VC firm Union Square Ventures, tells The New York Times' Bits blog. "I don't think we're getting to see a mobile bubble thus far because I don't see really stupid things happening, yet." What about Apple and Google (arguably) overpaying for mobile startups? "Apple and Google can absorb overpayments in the mobile market, like their acquisitions of Quattro and AdMob, but we haven't seen major risky mobile investments, yet." That said, Wilson does believe that a mobile bubble is inevitable. …
  • Wennmachers Joins Andreessen Horowitz
    Margit Wennmachers -- who BoomTown describes as "one of Silicon Valley's leading public relations and communications execs -- is joining Andreessen and Ben Horowitz's VC firm Andreessen Horowitz as partner. Wennmachers, co-founded OutCast Communications, whose clients include Yahoo, and, Facebook, as well as Andreessen Horowitz. "The move will make her one of a handful of women at high-profile venture outfits," notes BoomTown's Kara Swisher. Starting in September, Wennmachers will be expected to bring marketing expertise to Andreessen Horowitz, and its portfolio of companies. "It's a chance to build a top-notch VC firm and work with talented entrepreneurs," …
  • Rumors Rampant Over Google Music
    Google continues to build its own music service, which could launch as early as the fall, CNet reports, citing multiple unnamed music industry sources. "Google has already signaled that it wishes to give users of phones equipped with Google's Android operating system a better music offering," writes CNet. Last month, the search giant gave attendees to its I/O conference a demonstration of a Web-based iTunes competitor. Meanwhile, two weeks ago, TechCrunch reported the discovery of a "Google Music" logo hosted on Google's domain. "But Google's plans go beyond Android," reports CNet, citing "music sector insiders." According to …
  • Yahoo Finally Gets Flicker.com Domain
    Yahoo can finally call the Flicker.com domain name its own. "But this wasn't your typical domain name sale," notes Domain Name Wire. "It was actually the culmination of year long anti-cybersquatting lawsuit brought against the Flicker.com owner AshantiPLC, which is owned in part by domain investor Sahar Sarid." Yahoo's lawsuit against the Ashanti was filed last July in which the Web portal alleged that the defendants purchased the domain name for $55,000 on eBay in July 2006. The suit chronicles what the defendants did with the name after they bought it, including showing traffic stats and citing …
  • Is Chatroulette Short On Spins?
    Could the end be near for Chatroulette -- the video chat forum that randomly connects users with strangers? For the first time, US unique visitors to the site declined -- from 1.56 million in April to 1.33 million in May -- according to comScore. "Till now Chatroulette's growth has been explosive," writes Business Insider. "It was the site's first down month since launching late last fall." According to comScore's Andrew Lipsman: It's "too early to say whether it's a fad or not, but some of the initial buzz seems to have died down ... (It) will be interesting to …
  • Starbucks To Serve Free Wi-Fi, Premium Content
    Praise the Lord, and pass the Sweet'N Low! Starbucks says it will begin offering free Wi-Fi nationwide beginning July 1. No registration or account will be required to access the service, nor will it be time limited. As Mashable notes, Starbucks is not the first major food chain to roll out free Wi-Fi, as McDonald's made the move last December. Still, the coffee seller's huge national footprint will no doubt help to accelerate the adoption of mobile devices. Like McDonald's, Starbucks is relying on AT&T support what will surely be an explosion in usership. Whether AT&T, while is often …
  • Is News Corp. Eying IPad-less Future?
    News Corp. on Monday said it bought e-reader software company Skiff, and made a strategic investment in Journalism Online, which promotes paid news models. "So in one fell swoop, News Corp just announced to the world that it is going to take on the Kindle, iBooks and all feed reader apps out there," concludes The Next Web. "There is no other way to look at this." Got it?! Not sure of the broader implications, however, The Next Web asks: "Is this just to support the WSJ subscription service or is this also a sideways attack on blogging as well? …
  • WSJ.com Adding "Add to Foursquare" Button
    Expect to start seeming "Add to Foursquare" buttons attached to all manner of online content. According to TechCrunch, the "buttons aren't designed to be as ubiquitous as some of the other sharing buttons around the web," like Facebook's 'Like' and Twitter's 'Retweet.' "Instead, this button allows content providers to give readers one-click access to add venues to their Foursquare to-do list." The Wall Street Journal is the first partner to test out the buttons by featuring them next to venues featured in articles like restaurant reviews and other cultural coverage. Along with the venue being added to a to-do …
  • Who's Winning Mobile OS War?
    Apple's iOS mobile operating system is presently dominating its rival with a whopping 60% market share, according to new data from online tracking firm Quantcast. "But don't let these numbers fool you," writes ReadWriteWeb. "It's not how much or how little of the mobile landscape each OS has claim to, but how fast this picture has changed over the preceding months." As such, according to ReadWriteWeb, "The real winner here is Android, the OS whose rapid gains have come at Apple's expense." Android now has a 20% market share, according to Quantcast, which might seem small given that there …
  • Hulu Exec's Skip Open For Interpretation
    Late Friday, Hulu said that its founding CTO and SVP of audience Eric Feng was leaving the company. Feng is expected to take a partnership position at venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and will serve as a technical adviser to former Vice President Al Gore. The move is "the first big leadership change in Hulu's young career," writes paidContent. "It is a bit odd that he's leaving Hulu now, as the company's growth has flattened and it begins an interesting second phase -- working on initiatives like streaming its …
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