Iran is apparently proactively censoring selected Internet sites. Reports out of that country claim that the government there is blocking access to Google, Yahoo, and Gmail, It is also preventing access to sites using the secure Https protocol, effectively preventing any online banking services.
Eolas' attempt to patent the "interactive web" may have been dealt a permanent blow after a jury in the normally patent lawsuit-friendly town of Tyler, Texas ruled that the patent was invalid. The decision negated both any attempts at claiming damages and also negated three future trials. The rejection came in part after testimony from the spiritual creator of the web, Tim Berners-Lee, as well as individual creators whose work predated that of Eolas owner Michael Doyle.
A Texas court is finally ready to hear arguments in a high-profile patent lawsuit that names tech giants Google, Amazon and Yahoo among a list of defendants. The companies are attempting to defend themselves against a suit filed by a patent holding company, Eolas Technologies, that accuses the group of violating several patents related to "interactive web" technology.
Yahoo on Tuesday orchestrated one of its biggest board shifts in recent memory. Long-serving chairman Roy Bostock said he wouldn't stand for reelection at the next shareholder meeting, effectively resigning this year. Three others, Vyomesh Joshi, Arthur Kern, and Gary Wilson, were also stepping down.
Yahoo has launched an app filtering tool to its search engine. Yahoo's main page now gives a user a tab for Apps as well as the traditional Web, Images, Video, Local and More. With it, users can get app only search results and filter them for either iOS or Android apps.
Vizio has quietly updated the product page for its flagship TV of the year, the CinemaWide, to give it a price. The middle tier 58-inch set should cost $3,499. Smaller 50- and high-end 71-inch sets are still coming, but didn't immediately get prices.
Hulu chief Jason Kilar used careful language in an interview at the D: Dive Into Media conference when discussing major content deals. He wouldn't confirm or deny any talks to bring Hulu Plus to the Apple TV. The executive was aware it was a potentially loaded question and denied it twice when pressed.
Samsung has released successors for its entry-level Star II handsets with the Star 3 and Star 3 Duos. Both handsets are virtually identical, with the Duos adding a dual SIM slot. They have three-inch, 240x320 displays, and are 11.5mm (0.45in) thick.
(Update: more to come?) Yahoo on Tuesday said that its co-founder Jerry Yang was leaving the company. He had immediately resigned both from the Board of Directors and "all other positions" at the search giant, including a board spot at Alibaba. He sought to "pursue other interests" beyond the company but cast it as an amicable leap, putting his confidence in new CEO Scott Thompson.
The IPv6 Internet addressing standard will get a more formal launch by its backers on June 6, which is being devoted World IPv6 Day. Seven global ISPs will back the new standard then, including AT&T, Comcast and Time Warner. Also onboard are heavily trafficked websites, including Facebook, Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft's Bing, as well as hardware makers Cisco and D-Link.
Yahoo has lined up Tom Hanks to help it launch its foray into original scripted programming. Hanks will be creating Electric City, a 90-minute animated science fiction series for the digital media company. The premium content will be viewable on both Internet connected TVs and tablets.
Following the appointment of this week of Scott Thompson as the new CEO of Yahoo, the company is said to be on the lookout for new board members. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Yahoo has hired Heidrick & Struggles International to lead the executive search. The latest shakeup at the top of the embattled Internet giant is apparently the result of some board members having been on the board for a long time, and the recent heavy time commitments required following the firing of former CEO Carol Bartz.
Yahoo confirmed rumors Wednesday and picked PayPal president Scott Thompson as its new CEO. The nomination of the eBay division head followed months of uncertainty at the company following the firing of Carol Bartz in September. Thompson takes the position January 9.
Alibaba continues to show strong interest in acquiring Yahoo by hiring a lobbying firm according to Reuters. Alibaba, one of China’s largest e-commerce companies already has a complex financial interconnection with Yahoo. Yahoo owns a 40 percent stake in Alibaba that is worth around $17 billion, which will need to be resolved before any proposed buyout can go ahead.
When Google and Mozilla renewed their search royalty deal earlier this week, they didn't reveal that Google will pay $300 million per year, AllThingsD learned. For this amount of money, Google will be the default search engine in Mozilla's Firefox browser. The numbers are a sharp increase from the previous arrangement because of the new competition from Yahoo and Microsoft.
Sonos has quietly put out an update for its Play and Bridge devices last week that unusually strips out features. The 3.6 update pulls support for copy-protected Windows Media files, leaving Zune Pass users and those still tied to mostly inactive PlaysForSure DRM stores without a way to stream their music to Sonos boxes. The company hasn't given an explanation for the switch but has been asked for a comment.
Since September, Yahoo has been searching for potential buyers for itself. Although there have been many potential suitors, with no apparent deal close at hand, the company is now refocusing itself on permanently filling the CEO slot, which has been vacant since Carol Bartz was fired abruptly three months ago. All Things D, citing its sources, claims that Yahoo's board is looking at Hulu's CEO Jason Kilar.
Google's tablet reader software, previously referred to by the Propeller codename, will officially be called Currents, from current events. It may also launch as soon as Friday, AllThingsD reported. The product will compete with the likes of Flipboard, Zite, and Yahoo's Livestand.
"iPhone" was the top search term on Yahoo during 2011, the company has announced. Most of the top 10 list consists of celebrities, the second- and third-place spots in fact belonging to Casey Anthony and Kim Kardashian. Yahoo remarks that a piece of electronics hasn't dominated the list since 2002, when Sony's PlayStation 2 occupied the top spot. The last technology-related term to peak was filesharing service KaZaA in 2003.
Alibaba is said to be involved in ongoing negotiations with Japanese cellular carrier Softbank in an attempt to establish a group that is financially capable of buying Yahoo outright. Unnamed sources familiar with the matter have told Bloomberg that Blackstone Group and Bain Capital are also participating in the talks.
The latest bidder in the potential Yahoo takeover is Thomas H. Lee Partners, Reuters learned. THL is said to be looking at a leveraged buyout of Yahoo's US business, which could be worth between $5 and $6 billion. THL has run other media companies such as Nielsen Co, Clear Channel, and Univision.
Microsoft's rumored new attempt at buying Yahoo might just be a minority, non-exclusive stake, insiders reportedly slipped out Monday night. The Windows developer would be just one of multiple companies, including financial backers at Silver Lake and Andreessen Horowitz, aiming to buy a 20 percent stake in Yahoo. The New York Times in leaking details understood that offers had to be in by the end of Monday and could be discussed this week.
Microsoft has signed a non-disclosure agreement with Yahoo that signals it's considering buying the search engine outright again, a source slipped out on Wednesday. The pact outlined by the New York Times would let it examine Yahoo's financials to see if a buyout would make sense. As Yahoo's conditions in the NDA would prevent collaborating on deals, it's possible Microsoft would go it alone on a takeover or wait until later to arrange financing.
Apple is on a hiring spree to get "senior-level" officials for a bigger push into web apps, insiders reportedly divulged Tuesday night. It has been hiring generally hard to get managers, the Wall Street Journal heard, and might put them in upper echelons if they're a match with Apple's corporate culture. The company is said to have been aggressive, including chasing a "prominent Internet entrepreneur" this year.
Software giant Microsoft has purchased VideoSurf, a company that developed a way to search for video clips online. The deal is believed to be worth tens of millions of dollars, though the exact number isn't revealed. VideoSurf did raise $28 million from former US President Al Gore, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Verizon Investment Fund, Pitango Venture Capital, Orbotech, founder Hanan Gilutz, and SurveyMonkey CEO David Goldberg.
(Update: Yahoo response) Third Point, Yahoo's second largest shareholder, has called for Jerry Yang, the Internet giant's co-founder, to resign from the company's board of directors. This comes amid reports that Yang has been trying to get several private equity firms to back a plan that would keep him and current management in charge of the company. Daniel Loeb, Third Point's CEO, has also strongly suggested that Yahoo's chairman, Roy Bostock, also vacate his board position.
Yahoo swung out a full-scale mobile push on Wednesday with multiple apps for the iPad and a lone app for Android. Its long-promised Livestand (free, App Store) leads the group and hopes to provide a constantly updating, tablet-optimized magazine layout similar to Flipboard. As we saw first-hand earlier, it runs on an HTML5 framework and filters content into channels such as finances, news, entertainment, and weather.
Microsoft may have blackballed Apple's choice of datacenter head in the moves that ultimately led to Apple hiring from Yahoo, according an unusually detailed rumor. After fighting opposition from his immediate management on his way out, Kevin Timmons was supposedly met by CEO Steve Ballmer, SAI heard. Timmons may have had an "attitude" during the meeting that led to Ballmer reaching Apple directly, threatening legal action if Apple completed the hire.
Two tablet-oriented web readers, Google Propeller and Yahoo Newsstand, could launch within days of each other. New leaks pointed to Yahoo's offering coming November 2, with Google coming either that week or shortly afterwards. The AllThingsD tip added that Propeller will have a "plethora" of media deals and expected both to equally support Android and the iPad.
Yahoo is reportedly exploring options that may enable the company to shed its stake in Alibaba Group without paying taxes on proceeds from the sale, according to a Wall Street Journal report (sub. required). Successfully avoiding a tax payout could bring a savings of approximately $5 billion, as Yahoo holds a 40 percent stake—worth approximately $14 billion—in the Chinese company.
A catch on Sunday has revealed that Apple has hired way Yahoo's Head of Global Data Center Infrastructure, Scott Noteboom. The GigaOM finding of his LinkedIn page showed him having taken on the unusual position of "distinguished gentleman" at the iPhone maker as of October. He may primarily be a replacement for Kevin Timmons, who Apple hired away from Microsoft in April but appears to have left for CyrusOne just this month.
Google might be backing a third-party buyout of Yahoo. A source talking to the Wall Street Journal had Google in early talks where it would help fund two or more private equity firms that would buy Yahoo's main business. No formal plan had been outlined, and it wasn't clear if it would go ahead.
Hulu in a brief note said it had decided to stop its attempted selloff. The statement, which had the support of Disney, investor Providence Equity Partners, and Fox's parent company News Corp., claimed that each of the owners though there was too much of a "unique and compelling strategic value" for each of them to sell. It would instead center on existing plans.
AOL's CEO Tim Armstrong has been meeting with top Yahoo shareholders in an effort to convince them that a merger between the two companies is in the best interest of shareholders, tipsters claimed Wednesday. The Reuters source said Armstrong believed that if his company were to be sold to Yahoo, up to $1.5 billion in costs could be saved by the combined company. It came despite Yahoo's focus on putting itself up for sale.
Yahoo is reportedly out of the increasingly uncertain bidding process for Hulu, a claimed leak said late Sunday. The search engine has allegedly been identified by the WSJ sources as the original mystery bidder but also to have exited entirely. The internal turmoil following Carol Bartz' firing and the possibility of a sell-off were attributed to the departure.
(Update: possibly no) Fresh leaks have hinted that Microsoft is entertaining the idea of buying Yahoo again. Tipsters told Reuters that Microsoft was taking advantage of the disruption at Yahoo to take over the early search pioneer. It might get a partner to help out, such as an equity partner.
InterBrand's new rankings have seen Apple enter into the top 10 for the first time. The company leapt on the global ranks of its image's value from 17th to eighth, passing BMW, HP, Mercedes-Benz, and even its frequent ally Disney. Symbolically, it took over the former position from Nokia, whose rapid decline in sales and public perception dropped it to 14th.
While it's no secret that Yahoo is looking for buyers, the latest unofficial update has its long-time advisers, Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Allen & Co, readying to give out financial information to potential buyers. An unnamed source for Reuters said various types of companies have been making various creative offers for Yahoo and its various businesses. Just this past weekend, Alibaba's CEO said he was interested in buying all of Yahoo.
The US Supreme Court late Monday rejected ASCAP's attempt to claim that song downloads are public performances. Its verdict upheld an earlier appeal ruling without added comment. The earlier, federal-level judge pointed to basic logic for support, contending that a digital recording isn't necessarily being played live to a wide audience just because it had been transferred over the Internet.
Alibaba chief Jack Ma has told an audience at Stanford University that his company is interested in buying ‘all’ of Yahoo. Currently, Yahoo retains a 40 percent stake in Alibaba, an online commerce company, that is valued in the billions of dollars. However, All Things D reports that Ma has clearly signaled his intent for Alibaba to be a principal player in a takeover bid for Yahoo, and not part of a consortium.
The confusing management situation at Yahoo appears to have taken a new turn, sources said Wednesday. Co-founder and former CEO was reported by SAI as having re-assumed leadership over at the beleaguered search engine provider. This comes in the aftermath of former CEO, Carol Bartz, being fired abruptly last month.
Sources say that Dish Network is the frontrunner in the bid to buy Hulu, beating out Google, Amazon, and Yahoo. Its offer is reportedly in the range $1.9 billion. Other bidders may have been put off by Hulu's plans to move away from its free, ad-supported model or the lack of certainty about the availability of content. For instance Google's bid was in the $4 billion range according to sources, but came with the demand that the networks continue to provide programming after their current contracts expire in a few years.
Fusion Garage's Grid 4 smartphone has been spotted undergoing testing at the FCC. The $400 contract-free device is expected to launch sometime this fall, and its appearance at the FCC backs this timeline. The handset will run on Fusion's own Android-derived Grid OS and sports a dual-core Qualcomm processor along with 16GB of storage space.
Yahoo! co-founder Jerry Yang has admitted that the company is up for sale. A leaked internal memo has obtained by Business Insider reveals that Yahoo’s board has engaged Allen & Company to field enquiries from ‘multiple parties that have already expressed interest in a number of potential options.’ Yang also advised that the company was also now deep in the process of hiring a permanent CEO to replace Carol Bartz, following her recent sacking.
Apple and Dropbox took rare political stances Thursday by joining Digital Due Process. The coalition, which includes technology firms like Comcast and eBay as well as the American Civil Liberties Union and Electronic Frontier Foundation, is primarily interested in toughening laws barring law enforcement from snooping on computers and mobile devices without a warrant. Recent campaigns have focused on modernizing the ECPA (Electronic Communications Privacy Act), a 1986 bill that doesn't account for many modern Internet components.
Facebook continued its string of news at f8 by detailing its media sharing. Part of a new system of verbs that replace the generic Like, it focuses most on music: users can spot someone listening to a song in the live ticker and start listening to the same track. Services will still need to launch the separate app if it exists, but the method will let anyone listen to similar content if it exists in a subscription service.
Microsoft complaints against Google have led the FTC to launch an investigation into Google's practices, says an unnamed person as he's not authorized to comment publicly. Google allegedly illegally raised Microsoft's advertising rates by a factor of 50, AdAge reported. Other allegations against Google regarding advertising will also be looked into and are part of a larger antitrust Google probe.
AOL and Yahoo are considering merging in the wake of Carol Bartz' ouster from Yahoo's CEO spot, according to leaks. AOL chief Tim Armstrong purportedly believes uniting the two would strengthen them and was in talks with Yahoo advisors. He may have wanted a deal as early as last year, Bloomberg's Emily Chang said, but was shot down as long as Bartz was in the lead.
In the wake of Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz’s sacking, a report has suggested that Yahoo is still open to a sell-off, but also remains interested in bidding on Hulu. Citing people ‘familiar with the matter,’ the Wall Street Journal reports that the ousting of Bartz came after a review of Yahoo’s performance by independent directors. A change in leadership was considered to be the only way forward. The same review also kept the option of selling the company on the table as well.
Yahoo chief executive Carol Bartz today said she had been fired from the top spot. Using her iPad to send the news, she told staff that the Chairman of the Board Roy Bostock had dropped her "over the phone." A copy gleaned by TechCrunch showed a terse note without indications of who would take over or the reasons why.
