Web TV startup Boxee is reportedly ready to raise a lot of money, or sell the farm to a willing buyer. “Boxee wants some help,” AllThingsD reports. “It has been looking for cash or an exit since February, when it hired media banker Allen & Co., according to people familiar with the company.” To date, the company has raised roughly $30 million since 2008. 

Embracing brick and mortar like never before, Microsoft plans to open 500 “special stores” within existing U.S. Best Buy locations. As Reuters reports: “The world's largest software company, which already has a chain of 70 or so of its own Microsoft Stores and kiosks within shopping malls, said … the initiative would add more than 1,200 Best Buy Microsoft-trained sales associates to help customers.” 

Months before Google agreed to buy Waze, the CEO of the social mapping service gave an indepth interview to Forbes about Google, and why the companies would make such a good fit. Forbes, however, didn’t publish the interview until this week. Tellingly, CEO Noam Bardin said back in January that Google was the best company positioned for a mobile world. 

New York City is embracing Nextdoor in a big way. Yes, the Big Apple plans to use the San Francisco-based social network for neighbors to “push” notices into -- and pull information from -- roughly 1,800 individual neighborhoods. “Nextdoor … will be fully integrated with New York government departments, to be used by police, fire, utility, and other agencies,” Wired reports. 

Microsoft debuted a new ad this week that is designed to reflect the company’s increasingly focus on devices and services. “Called ‘Windows Everywhere,’ the spot shows off how devices and services, including Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, Skype, Office 365, Surface, Bing, Internet Explorer and Xbox Music & Video,” ZDNet reports. Said a company spokesperson, the spot shows how the services, "give consumers one experience across devices for everything in their lives.” 

Continuing its acquisition spree, Yahoo just picked up two separate startups in the span of about 24 hours. “Yes, Yahoo followed this morning’s purchase of iOS photo app maker, GhostBird Software, by making a play into the enterprise conference calling space,” TechCrunch reports. “Yep, users of 6-year-old free conference calling service, Rondee, were tonight informed via email that the startup has been acquired by Yahoo.” 

Twitter is slowing rolling out its analytics services to the public, The Next Web reports. “Until now, the advertising dashboard for Twitter has been aimed primarily at businesses who want to pay to display their tweets in front of a specific audience,” it writes. “Coupled with the ability to promote the user’s account, it’s an obvious and lucrative way for Twitter to monetize its service.” 

Facing ever more competition in the mobile arena, Apple is reportedly considering iPhones with larger screens, along with cheaper models in various colors. “The moves, which are still under discussion, underscore how the California-based firm that once ruled the smartphone market is increasingly under threat from [Samsung],” Reuters writes. 

The Washington Post this week is rolling out “Sponsored Views” -- a new ad format that will let “organizations” post commentary related to, or in response to, content from the paper’s Opinion section. “Washington Post president and General Manager Steve Hills says the ads’ placement ‘enables participants to provide their perspectives with unparalleled contextual relevance, while still keeping the lines between news and sponsored messages crystal clear.’” Poynter reports. 

The Wall Street Journal investigates the spread of "stickers" -- cartoonish images that young smartphone users are increasingly relying on to share their sentiments with others. “The trend has set off a stickers arms race,” WSJ writes. “Startups such as Path Inc., a San Francisco social network, compete with Silicon Valley giants [including Facebook] to deploy sticker arsenals.”