After limited beta testing, Google is rolling out Hangouts On Air to all Google+ users. Now members of the social network can broadcast video live to their friends and your followers anywhere around the world. “Just think of the possibilities,” writes WebProNews. “Host an improv comedy collab show that invites fans to participate over the Web, broadcast a live concert to your fans, or host a live gaming session to show off the new features coming to a tabletop game.” Along with the broader launch, Google is introducing several new features to Hangouts On Air, including a running audience tally, …

In the wake of accusations that Scott Thompson padded his resume, Web watchers are counting the days before Yahoo’s latest CEO becomes Yahoo’s last CEO. “At this point, it seems unlikely that Thompson can regain the confidence of many at Yahoo --- even though a company spokeswoman said he received a lot of incoming support too, both externally and internally -- until he can render some cogent explanation about how the borked bio got into both Yahoo’s public site and also its more critical regulatory filings,” writes to AllThingsD’s Kara Swisher. According to comments on internal Yahoo message boards -- …

Things are moving pretty fast for social media management platform HootSuite. Just the other month, it raised $20 million in a second investment round, which valued the company at $200 million. Now, the startup is reportedly in the process of raising $50 million at a $500 million valuation. “And what’s making this even more interesting are the investors that are being mentioned in connection with the round: HootSuite is looking to have discussions with Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google -- a sign of how the surge in social media investments is also giving a lift to companies that are figuring out …

Poor Yahoo. Whenever you think it can’t worse for the once-reigning Web portal, it does. The latest issue comes courtesy of CEO Scott Thompson, who has reportedly come up under fire for telling the SEC -- and Yahoo's board -- that he had a computer science degree from Stonehill College. Unfortunately, according to Business Insider, “He does not have one.” Yahoo says it was “an inadvertent mistake.” That, according to BI, “is an outrageous and insufficient response.” Leading the charge against Thompson is Dan Loeb, a Yahoo shareholder and hedge fund manager of Third Point who is also in the …

When AOL bought the Huffington Post last year for $315 million, it gave founder Arianna Huffington editorial reign over its portfolio properties, including TechCrunch, Patch.com, MovieFone and MapQuest. What’s more, more than 30 AOL properties, including Politics Daily, were aligned up the Huffington Post umbrella. Apparently, though, that didn’t work out, as Huffington told The Wall Street Journal on Thursday that her portfolio at AOL is being reduced back to Huffington Post alone. “The management structure created tensions with staff at some of the properties,” WSJ reports. “Patch management, for instance, differed with Ms. Huffington over strategy for the local …

Mobile in-app ad company LifeStreet Media has raised $66 million in financing from Nautic Partners. Founded in 2005, Lifestreet embeds ads in applications across social media sites and mobile. “LifeStreet provides in-app advertisements on Facebook and for iOS as well as Android, meaning app developers looking to make money off their apps can tap into LifeStreet to make money,” according to VatorNews. Since its inception, the company has paid out $100 million to app developers, according to Mitchell Weisman, founder and CEO of LifeStreet. “Because of LifeStreet's reach, the company has been able to drive 200 million app installs for …

Some people are taking issues with the latest findings from NPD, which shows that Android was the best-selling smartphone operating system in the first quarter -- grabbing 61% of the market -- while Apple's iOS was in second, with 29% of the market. There's a big problem with this data,” claims Business Insider. “It runs contrary to what the carriers themselves are actually reporting.” At AT&T, Apple activated 4.3 million iPhones, or 78% of all AT&T smartphones for the quarter. At Verizon, it activated 3.2 million iPhones, or 51% of all Verizon smartphones for the quarter. At Sprint, it activated 1.5 million …

Another day, another startup gets its first $1 billion valuation. The latest honor goes to note-taking and digital archiving app Evernote, which just closed a $70 million Series D round of funding led by Meritech Capital and CBC Capital. And it’s a good thing, because “they’re the firms that can help Evernote prepare for an eventual IPO,” suggests TechCrunch. Not that Evernote needs the money. “It still has much of the $96 million that it’s raised to date in the bank plus over 1 million paying customers out of its 25 million+ users,” according to TechCrunch. Yet, the new funds could …

Putting Western audiences well within its reach, Japanese gaming giant GREE has plunked down $210 million in cash for mobile game developer Funzio. Funzio, if you’re not familiar, is the company behind popular RPGs (role-playing games) like Crime City, Modern War and Kingdom Age, which together account for more than 20 million downloads on Apple’s iOS, Android or Facebook platforms. “I had heard a few weeks back that Funzio was in a fundraising process at a $350 million post-money valuation and had also been loosely talking to various buyers in an auction-style process,” writes TechCrunch’s Kim-Mai Cutler. “Apparently, the fundraising …

For a small verification fee, any business can now claim its place within Foursquare’s social grid. “Until now, claiming your venue was pretty easy, but required you to wait for involvement from foursquare’s side,” The Next Web notes. “Basically, this was put in place so that normal folks couldn’t just take over your venue.” For legitimate businesses, however, “It also slowed you down from reaching [Foursquare’s] 20M users.” In exchange for $10, businesses can now instantly verify their venues within Foursquare. They can also verify by mail at no cost, although the process is expected to take from three to …