Geoffrey Fowler

Coming to a Gadget Near You: A Movie for All Your Screens

Geoffrey A. Fowler in Personal Technology on October 19, 2011 at 7:04 pm PT

A new service called UltraViolet lets users buy a movie once and then watch it on any of their gadgets.

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Facebook Gets New Friends

Emily Steel and Geoffrey Fowler, Reporters, The Wall Street Journal in News on April 4, 2011 at 12:00 am PT

A new generation of agencies is trying to crack the code for placing ads on Facebook Inc. in a bid to lure more big-ticket marketers to the website. In February, more than a third of all online-display ads in the U.S. appeared on Facebook, according to comScore Inc. That’s more than three times as many as its closest rival, Yahoo Inc., had.

No Signal: Homes Often Baffle Wi-Fi From Routers

Geoffrey A. Fowler in Personal Technology on December 22, 2010 at 3:55 pm PT

Geoffrey Fowler tests home routers to see which one best delivers a consistent wireless experience. Most are found wanting.

Note: Walt Mossberg will return on December 29th.

Weekend Update 5.29.10–The Countdown to Weekend Update D8 Edition

Drake Martinet in News on May 29, 2010 at 8:06 pm PT

We’re in the final countdown for the D8 conference, which kicks off this Tuesday with Steve Jobs, live and unscripted. The pillows are being fluffed, the furniture arranged and the festive D8 crew bowling shirts distributed. You do not want to miss this. But before we can bring you all the D8 awesomeness, we should, as always, do a little wrap up of what was a fairly wild week in tech news, Weekend Update-style.

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A Billion-Dollar Question for Zappos and Amazon

Geoffrey Fowler, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on July 28, 2009 at 8:25 am PT

When Amazon.com agreed to buy Zappos last week for $847 million in cash and stock, most reports said that the online shoe and clothing store had over $1 billion in sales last year.

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Costco Pairs With Gazelle for Old Tech Trade-Ins

Geoffrey Fowler, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on July 17, 2009 at 3:37 pm PT

Last week, Costco quietly rolled out a new partnership with Web site Gazelle to encourage its legions of discount shoppers to trade in their old technology for credit they can spend on new gadgets. The Costco customer program works pretty much like the one that startup Gazelle has offered to everyone for about a year.

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Buffett EBay Auction Was Won by Canadian Firm

Geoffrey Fowler, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on July 9, 2009 at 5:02 am PT

When Warren Buffett auctioned off lunch with himself for charity last month, the winning bidder remained anonymous. It turns out that the person who spent $1,680,300 for lunch with the investment guru wasn’t a person at all: it was Canadian wealth-management firm Salida Capital.

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Tony La Russa Drops Suit Over Fake Twitter Account

Geoffrey Fowler, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on July 7, 2009 at 6:00 pm PT

Score one for Twitter in the legal battle over who is responsible for stopping social media imposters. In May, St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa sued Twitter after someone created a bogus account in his name that featured his photo and what he called “derogatory and demeaning” remarks.

Only One Beyoncé: Services Pick Up After Your Music

Geoffrey A. Fowler in Personal Technology on July 1, 2009 at 6:08 pm PT

by Geoffrey Fowler

TuneUp Media and MusicBrainz Picard aim to clean up and properly label personal digital-music collections.

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Bidding for Buffett Heats Up on eBay

Geoffrey Fowler, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on June 25, 2009 at 2:58 pm PT

Even in a recession, lunch with Warren Buffett turns out to be a hot commodity. The investment guru and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway has an annual ritual of auctioning a steak lunch with himself on eBay to raise money for San Francisco’s Glide Foundation. Last year’s winning auction tally of $2.1 million broke all previous records.