Word in the Valley is that Yahoo is desperate for a "transformative" acquisition to revive the reeling company. But don't look at AOL or Demand Media, sources tell BoomTown's Kara Swisher. Rather, the once reigning Web portal has its heart set on ecommerce, and group buying site Groupon in particular. "Sources said Yahoo has been eying it for possible acquisition, which would put it smack dab in the hot space around local purchasing and consumer information," Swisher reports. Still, Groupon investors would like to stay independent, according to sources, and few could argue that any affiliation with …

URL shortener Bit.ly just announced a $10 million Series B round led by RRE Ventures, along with AOL Ventures, O'Reilly AlphaTech Ventures, Betaworks, Ron Conway's SV Angel and a host of others. By Mashable's estimate, this latest round brings Bit.ly's total funding to $15 million -- including $1.5 million of debt financing. But how's Bit.ly doing following Twitter's entrance into the URL shortening market? Pretty good, as it is currently decoding about 200 million URLs a day. The startup also claims to be the 69th largest website by traffic volume, citing Google stats. This year, meanwhile, Bit.ly …

Likely in an effort to loosen Apple's stranglehold on the tablet market, some top news organizations are throwing their considerable weight behind a new Samsung-made, Google-powered tablet. None other than The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Gannett Co.'s USA Today plan to offer software applications for Samsung's Galaxy Tab, which is, er, slated to hit shelves later this year. "The device ... is one of the most highly anticipated tablet launches since the iPad in part because it is built on Google's Android operating system," reports The Wall Street Journal. Meanwhile, Some news organizations …

Fact: Heads from both Microsoft and Adobe recently met in a closed meeting. Rumor: Microsoft is about to acquire the Flash media player maker. The meeting covered "a number of topics, but one of the main thrusts of the discussion was Apple and its control of the mobile phone market and how the two companies could team up in the battle against Apple," according to The New York Times, citing sources. "A possible acquisition of Adobe by Microsoft were among the options." What would such a deal mean? First, Microsoft would essentially be …

When will U.S. consumers get access to streaming music service Spotify? Well, having already missed two promised launch dates, the Stockholm-based company is promising to finally debut by late December. By then, company managers swear they'll have licensing deals with the four top record labels, including Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and EMI Music. Yet, music industry sources tell CNet that Spotify's latest self-imposed launch deadline could come and go without so much as a drumbeat. "Some of the labels are unconvinced of Spotify's business model and its ability to get people to …

Premium video hub Hulu is ready to raise $200 million to $300 million in an initial public offering, Reuters is reporting, citing sources. Likely to be led by Morgan Stanley, the deal would value Hulu at about $2 billion. One source tells Reuters that Hulu could file a prospectus with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission before the end of the year. Why so soon? Netflix and Google, and their encroachment on Hulu's territory, i.e., premium streaming video. Of note, the offering is contingent on the renewal of rights to carry shows, some of which expire in …

Facebook on Wednesday outlined some fundamental network changes, which, in a nutshell, give users more control over the stuff they share, and how they share it. As All Facebook explains, Facebook will now offer "a more structured way of defining our affiliation groups or our personal social networks," and, critically, let users walk away with any personal information and content they've uploaded to the site. Paradoxically, industry watchers attributed the changes to a new confidence on the part of Facebook (having more than half-a-billion users will do that to a company), as well …

Google reportedly wants to name its forthcoming tablet PC "Speedbook." Unfortunately, software firm CollegeNET claims it already owns the trademark for the catchy brand name. In CollegeNET's world, "Speedbook" is event scheduling and management software used by such august institutions such as Stanford and Princeton. According to the lawsuit, filed in federal court and reported by MediaPost, Google in August filed a patent and trademark application in the U.S. to use the Speedbook moniker for a "computer hardware" product. As San Jose Business Journal writes, "The term Speedbook has since been used by bloggers and other …

Forget Iowa and New Hampshire. Political heavyweights had better book a flight to Silicon Valley if they want to keep their seats in power. At least according to Politico, "A trek to Silicon Valley has become a must-do for D.C. lawmakers seeking to stress their business and tech bona fides while developing relationships that could lead to big campaign donations down the road." According to Politico, six Democratic senators joined the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee for a recent fundraiser featuring Google and Facebook. On the other side of the aisle, Republicans on the House Ways and Means …

In other search-related news, Yahoo has unveiled some changes to its search engine. As CNet explains, when users search for popular movies, celebrities, and other topical items, a new "intelligent shortcuts" feature will deliver the latest articles, photos, videos, event listings, and Twitter tweets on their topic of choice. Meanwhile, if Yahoo knows a searcher's location, it will also display the closest listings for movies and concerts. "The various search results are organized by type all in one spot at the top of the page, letting you easily tab back and forth between photos, videos, tweets, and …