GrandCentral

Smart Entrepreneurs Still Think What’s Needed Is Help Figuring Out What Food to Order

Liz Gannes in Social on July 14, 2011 at 9:27 am PT

Craig Walker’s new mobile application company Firespotter Labs is out with its first launch: Nosh, an app for iPhone and Android that helps users figure out what to eat at restaurants.

GrandCentral's Craig Walker Raises $3M for Firespotter Labs

Liz Gannes in Social on May 4, 2011 at 9:00 pm PT

GrandCentral (aka Google Voice) co-founder Craig Walker has emerged from being an entrepreneur in residence at Google Ventures to start working on a specific project. Well, make that projects, plural: Walker is today launching a company called Firespotter Labs that will develop various companies, three of them at the start.

How Google Killed GDrive and Spiked Its Skype Acquisition

Liz Gannes in Social on April 25, 2011 at 4:00 am PT

This weekend I spent some time reading Steven Levy’s “In the Plex,” an account of the history of Google based on Levy’s deep embedding within the company. The book as a whole is captivating, so I thought it might be worth highlighting a couple anecdotes about internal Google conflicts that previously never saw the light of day.

Google Ventures Sows Seed Funding With New Start-Up Lab (Video Tour)

Liz Gannes in Social on February 12, 2011 at 7:00 am PT

As incoming CEO Larry Page seeks to recapture Google’s entrepreneurial spirit, Google Ventures thinks it’s in for a year of expansion and support from its corporate parent.

Google Deal for SayNow to Make Google Voice More Interesting

Arik Hesseldahl in Enterprise on January 25, 2011 at 2:02 pm PT

Ever since GrandCentral became Google Voice, it’s been a lot less fun to use. Maybe that’s one of the reasons behind today’s acquisition by Google of SayNow, which made its name connecting celebrities with fans.

Weekend Update, 3.14.09–Special Roman "Ides of March" Edition

Beth Callaghan in Social on March 14, 2009 at 11:54 am PT

In Silicon Valley, it’s hard to believe that not everyone follows each shiny new thing on the Web, tracks OS versions as intently as the storyline for “Battlestar Galactica” and remains jacked-in pretty much 24/7. But it’s been known to happen. For instance, BoomTown was in Rome earlier this week attending a conference on business, brand and innovation that happens only once every seven years–and one of the biggest takeaways? Hardly any Italians have heard of Twitter, and those who have don’t really use it.

Weekend Update, 3.14.09–Special Roman “Ides of March” Edition

Beth Callaghan in Social on March 14, 2009 at 11:54 am PT

In Silicon Valley, it’s hard to believe that not everyone follows each shiny new thing on the Web, tracks OS versions as intently as the storyline for “Battlestar Galactica” and remains jacked-in pretty much 24/7. But it’s been known to happen. For instance, BoomTown was in Rome earlier this week attending a conference on business, brand and innovation that happens only once every seven years–and one of the biggest takeaways? Hardly any Italians have heard of Twitter, and those who have don’t really use it.

Ma Google

John Paczkowski in News on March 12, 2009 at 7:13 am PT

Google’s finally gone and done something with GrandCentral, the voice communications start-up the company acquired some 21 months ago. After migrating it over to its infrastructure and enhancing it with some new features, Google relaunched it this morning as Google Voice. And at first glance, the service is impressive.