Report: Internet Economy Set to Nearly Double to $4.2T by 2016

The Internet economy of G-20 nations will nearly double in value to $4.2 trillion by 2016, according to a new projection by the Boston Consulting Group.
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Pulling Back Apple’s Magic Curtain: Fortune’s Lashinsky Talks About New Book (Video)

And you’ll be interested to see what he found.
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Marc Benioff Is All Over This Social Enterprise Thing

A quick look at what Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff will talk about in his Dreamforce keynote Wednesday. A hint: It will have something to do with the social enterprise.
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You've Got Arianna: AOL Buys Huffington Post for $315 Million in Cash and Stock, Appoints Huffington Editor in Chief

In a bold and definitive move, AOL is paying $315 million, mostly in cash, to buy the Huffington Post, one of the Web’s most prominent news and opinion sites. As part of the deal, Huffington Post co-founder Arianna Huffington–who was derided by some when she co-founded the left-leaning site in 2005 with investor and well-known communications exec Kenneth Lerer–will become editor in chief of a new unit that has purview over all of AOL content properties. The deal was signed just this afternoon.

Michael Dell Thinks HP Paid "Way Too Much" for 3Par

Michael Dell now says that after three weeks of grappling over storage company 3Par last fall–a bidding war he ultimately lost–his rival, Hewlett-Packard, overpaid with its $2.4 billion offer.

From U.S. to Germany to China–BoomTown Goes Around the (Digital) World in a Week

It’s a big, wide and very digital world out there and that’s why I’m headed around the globe–quite literally–for the next week to see some non-Silicon Valley tech trends and more.

Exclusive: Brandee "No Comment" Barker Finally Comments–Longtime PR Honcho Is Leaving Facebook

BoomTown usually does not get all weepy over the departure of public relations folks at Internet companies, in that cynical I’ve-seen-’em-come-and-I’ve-seen-’em-go kind of way. But the leaving of Brandee Barker from Facebook most certainly elicited a small single tear of sadness this morning, when she called into All Things Digital Global HQ to say she would no longer be tossing me her patented–and very endearing–hand-in-the-face “no comment” for the powerful social networking site. After four long and tumultuous years, she leaves Facebook Dec. 10.

Google CEO: Ask Not What Google Can Do for China–Ask What China Can Do for Google

Google doesn’t want to leave China. It just wants to fix China. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, today, CEO Eric Schmidt said he really doesn’t want to shutter Google’s Chinese operations, he would just like the company to have more of a role in shaping its domestic policy.

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WSJ.com Video: Microsoft's Bill Gates Pushes "Creative Capitalism" in Davos

In his speech yesterday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates talked about a new form of capitalism, which he called “creative capitalism.” By that, one of the world’s richest men said the market had to find a way to help poorer countries in new and more benevolent ways. Obviously, [...]