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SearchMe Calls Out Yahoo On BOSS Screenshot
Michael Arrington Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:41:41 -0000
SearchMe, a new Sequoia-backed search engine that launched in March, isn't happy with some of the screen shots that have been seen around the Internet promoting Yahoo's new BOSS (“Build Your Own Search Service”) product. In particular, this shot, which was included in a CNET article, shows what appears to be SearchMe's search interface (itself borrowed from Apple's iTunes album browser) with the logo cut off (compare it to this). CNET describes the screen shot as "One idea Yahoo showed for BOSS: show miniature versions of the Web pages returned by search results." To be fair to Yahoo, the screen shot was included in a press briefing document (the slide, which I also received, is shown below) and Yahoo was using it only as an example to show how the service worked. Yahoo has also said that they reached out to SearchMe to discuss a partnership, as they've done with scores of other companies. In the briefing, Yahoo didn't specifically call attention to the slide, and it was made clear to journalists (or at least me) that the product wasn't made for front end design, just as a search web service.
RIM to Launch BlackBerry “Application Center”
John Biggs Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:48:51 -0000
You're looking at the BlackBerry Application Center, RIM's answer to Apple's App Store and Google's Android Market. Same basic concept as the other two—you browse and buy applications that enhance your BlackBerry experience. The Application Center—we're running out of variants of the term “application store!”—is set to debut with the BlackBerry Storm software version 4.7. All application data will be stored at the carriers' locale; RIM is totally out of the loop as far as that goes. It's supposed to differentiate the Application Center from the App Store in that regard—carriers can put the applications they want on their own little store.
AOL-Yahoo Merger Details Emerge; Deal Could Happen This Month
Michael Arrington Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:16:18 -0000
Yahoo is continuing its marathon merger discussions with AOL, sources close to the negotiations have whispered to us, and a deal could happen as early as this month. Is this just a rehash of the reported discussions in February and then again in April? Yes and no. It's clear that AOL's parent company, Time Warner, wants this deal more than ever. What isn't clear is whether AOL's assets will fix any of Yahoo's problems. The deal structure that is currently being discussed is Yahoo's acquisition of AOL (content, services and advertising), minus their subscription dial up business. That plus a couple of billion dollars in cash from Time Warner gets them approximately a third of the combined entity. Time Warner's AOL headache is gone, and they have a stake in the world's most valuable chess piece in the Google/Microsoft search and advertising war.
Tech Stocks Take It On The Chin As Market Continues To Freefall
Erick Schonfeld Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:01:08 -0000
It's a blood bath out there this morning. The S&P 500 is at a four-year low as the credit crisis keeps getting worse, despite the passage of the government's $700 billion bailout plan. The market is taking tech stocks down with it. Google is down 4 percent to $368, its lowest point since 2006. Apple is down 6 percent to $91. Microsoft is down nearly 5 percent to $25. Amazon, Yahoo, eBay—all down. Already as I write this, there seems to be somewhat of a rally going on in some of these stocks (particularly Google). But if the economy falters, tech stocks won't be a safe haven for investors, even if they are cash-rich and not as exposed to the credit debacle as companies in other sectors.
Ebay Spends More Than $1.2 Billion To Buy BillMeLater And DBA.dk, And Lays Off 10% Of Employees
Michael Arrington Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:00:41 -0000
It's a big day for eBay and CEO Jon Donahoe. The company is laying off 10% of its workforce, or about 1,000 employees plus several hundred temporary positions. They will take a $70 million to $80 million restructuring charge around the layoffs, they said. And they've made two acquisitions: Denmark's DBA for $380 million and Amazon-funded BillMeLater for $820 million in cash and approximately $125 million in outstanding options. Regarding the two acquisitions: We covered dba.dk, Denmarks' leading classifieds site, earlier this morning. BillMeLater, the larger acquisition, is a service that let's ecommerce partners issue instant credit to buyers. You enter your birth date and last four digits of your social security number online, and it does a credit check on you in three seconds to determine whether you are worth the risk. Bill Me Later pays the merchant, and sends you a bill. The company has raised a ton of cash - at least $272 million - from Amazon, Azure Capital Partners, Chase Paymentech, Crosspoint Venture Partners, First Data Corp., and others. eBay stock is at a 52 week low, we'll see how it does in the market today.
GigaOm Ignores My Advice, Raises Another $4.5 Million
Michael Arrington Mon, 06 Oct 2008 14:00:09 -0000
Om Malik's GigaOm has raised another round of financing - $4.5 million - bringing the total amount the blog network has raised to $5.3 million. This round was led by Alloy Ventures. Previous investor True Ventures joined the round as well. GigaOm, one of the first blog networks to raise money, has joined b5Media, Silicon Alley Insider, VentureBeat and Paid Content (acquired), among others, in raising capital. Holdout ReadWriteWeb is said to be testing the waters and looking for a round of funding as well. This is something I've recommended against, and we are one of the last large blog networks to remain independent.
ENN Investing and Corporate Social Responsibility
Study Suggests Carbon Market Encourages Chopping Forests
The current carbon market actually encourages cutting down some of the world's biggest forests, which would unleash tons of climate-warming carbon into the atmosphere, a new study reported Monday.
Technology Companies Tout Greener Credentials, but Significant Improvements Are Distant
With energy costs high and environmental friendliness making for good public relations, more tech companies are touting ways they are "greening" data centers, which serve up Web pages, swap Internet traffic, and process and store business information.
Westinghouse Seals Mega China Nuclear Deal
U.S.-based Westinghouse Electric signed on Tuesday a multi-billion-dollar deal with Chinese partners to build four nuclear reactors in eastern China, finalising a pact agreed between Beijing and Washington seven months ago.
The Financial Page
James Surowiecki: What drives market volatility?
James Surowiecki Mon, 25 Aug 2008 04:00:00 -0000
American investors are frazzled. True, oil prices have fallen from their most vertiginous highs, the dollar is a bit stronger, and the stock market has actually risen over the past month. But none of those things have happened in a smooth and steady fashion. The stock market’s “ascent,” in particular . . .
James Surowiecki: Too many stakeholders can be a deal-breaker.
James Surowiecki Mon, 04 Aug 2008 04:00:00 -0000
In the second decade of the twentieth century, it was almost impossible to build an airplane in the United States. That was the result of a chaotic legal battle among the dozens of companies--including one owned by Orville Wright--that held patents on the various components that made a . . .
James Surowiecki: Sponsoring Recklessness
James Surowiecki Mon, 21 Jul 2008 04:00:00 -0000
When do the words “not guaranteed” actually mean “guaranteed”? Whenever the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are involved. The two companies have long been required to tell investors that their securities are not guaranteed by the federal government. But in the financial markets everyone has always assumed that . . .
NYT > Your Money
Full of Doubts, U.S. Shoppers Cut Spending
Mon, 06 Oct 2008 05:19:46 -0000
American consumers are pulling back on their spending, all but guaranteeing that the economic situation will get worse before it gets better.
Your Money: Where’s It All Going? Find Out Online
Sun, 05 Oct 2008 21:58:41 -0000
Although you don’t have control of the stock market, you do have control over your personal budget.
Your Money: Navigating Troubled Times: Answers for Readers
Sat, 04 Oct 2008 19:58:19 -0000
Hundreds of readers responded to an invitation to submit questions about the effects on their personal finances.
The Economist: The World Bank and the IMF
Chad: Breaking the bank
Thu, 25 Sep 2008 12:08:08 -0000
A vaunted model development project goes awryWHEN the World Bank agreed to help finance a controversial pipeline from oilfields in Chad to a port in Cameroon, it claimed to be raising the bar for transparency and good government in the extractive industries. It insisted that the government of Chad spend almost all its revenue from the project on development; to make sure it did so, the oil firms involved were to pay royalties into an escrow account monitored by an independent agency. Eight years later, the bar has fallen with a thud. Rather than comply with the bank’s strictures, the government of Chad has repaid its loans in full. It will now do as it pleases with its oil money.The project did not get off to an auspicious start: the government spent a chunk of its $25m signing bonus on arms. As local rebel movements grew stronger, and the conflict in neighbouring Darfur began to spill over into Chad, the government’s urge to funnel cash to the army only grew. It bickered frequently with the bank and the oil firms about the terms of the deal. The lockbox for revenue proved insecure, since the government simply took the money disbursed for education and health care and diverted it to less worthy causes. “Ultimately,” says a World Banker, “these projects depend on the political will of the governments involved.” ...
Poverty: The bottom 1.4 billion
Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:35:37 -0000
The world is poorer than we thought, the World Bank discoversCorrection to this articleIN APRIL 2007 the World Bank announced that 986m people worldwide suffered from extreme poverty—the first time its count had dropped below 1 billion. On August 26th it had grim news to report. According to two of its leading researchers, Shaohua Chen and Martin Ravallion, the “developing world is poorer than we thought”. The number of poor was almost 1.4 billion in 2005. ...
Who runs the world?: Wrestling for influence
Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:02:45 -0000
The post-war global institutions have largely worked well. But rising countries and growing threats are challenging their pre-eminence THE powerful, like the victorious, do not just write history. They grab the seats at the top tables, from the United Nations Security Council to the boards of the big international economic and financial institutions. They collude behind closed doors. They decide who can join their cosy clubs and expect the rest of the world to obey the instructions they hand down. That is how many outsiders, not just in the poor world, will see the summit that takes place from July 7th to 9th of the G8, the closest the world has to an informal (ie, self-appointed) steering group. Leaders of seven of the world’s richest democracies, plus oil-and gas-fired Russia, gather this year in Toyako, on Hokkaido in northern Japan, to ruminate on climate change, rising food and energy prices, and the best way to combat global scourges from disease to nuclear proliferation. ...
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