Menlo Park

FaceTagram? InstaBook? Whatever You Call It, All Your Mobile Photo Are Belong to Facebook (for $1 Billion)!

Kara Swisher in Media on April 9 at 12:20 pm PT

Actually, it’s pretty simple: Photos. Photos. And, oh yes, mobile photos — lots and lots and lots of them.

Clicking on a Fortune: Facebook to Acquire Photo-Sharing Start-Up Instagram for $1 Billion

Kara Swisher in News on April 9 at 10:03 am PT

A blockbuster exit for the popular and elegant mobile photo-sharing service.

Lytro Comes Into Focus (AsiaD Demo)

Drake Martinet in AsiaD on October 19, 2011 at 5:54 pm PT

After shrouding its digital camera in secrecy for the last many months, Lytro has made its big reveal, and showed up at AsiaD to give a hands-on demo.

Voices

Yahoo Executive Talks Acquisitions, Slams YouTube Buy

Amir Efrati, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on March 28, 2011 at 10:26 am PT

Yahoo is “gearing up for a very big year” of acquisitions, said a senior director of corporate development at the Internet company.

Inside Facebook's Big Move to Menlo Park

Liz Gannes in Social on February 8, 2011 at 1:00 am PT

Facebook is holding a press conference later today to announce it will move to a campus in Menlo Park, Calif., that the company expects to become its long-term home.

Retailers Sing the Merits of Social, Local and Mobile in 2010

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on December 29, 2010 at 9:20 am PT

Three trends accelerated in 2010 that may redefine the way we shop for good: Social, local and mobile. And, in case that’s hard to remember, for short we will refer to it as “so-lo-mo,” like do-re-mi from the “Sound of Music,” except without much “Glee” for retailers.

Shopkick Checks In With Target–CEO Cyriac Roeding Talks About Social Shopping

Kara Swisher in News on November 16, 2010 at 10:28 am PT

The idea of being rewarded for being a consumer is getting a lot of heat of late, as retailers seek to take advantage of the fast-moving social phenom among consumers, especially young ones. Thus, a wide range of efforts to combine location-based mobile apps with purchasing, both online and offline. Today, another company in the space, shopkick, announced it had added another store–Minneapolis-based Target–to its list of retailers deploying its platform and mobile app that gives you points for simply walking in a store.

Exclusive: Boku to Be Added as Option to Facebook Credits, Setting Up Face-Off With Rival Zong

Kara Swisher in News on November 9, 2010 at 2:32 pm PT

For the past 18 months, mobile payments start-up Zong has had the enviable prime spot on Facebook Credits as its sole option for users wanting to use their cell phone number to buy virtual goods for social gaming and other services. But, according to multiple sources, that’s about to change later this week, when the social networking giant starts A/B testing its rival, Boku, as an alternate payment method to Zong. The face-off on Facebook is part of a larger battle for dominance in the fast-growing arena.

Voices

Start-Ups Are Drawn to Pulse of Downtown

Pui-Wing Tam, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on November 4, 2010 at 5:00 am PT

Many Silicon Valley start-ups are increasingly hankering for downtown, urban offices. The shift can be seen in Redwood City, where many tech companies long have made their homes–but primarily in the Redwood Shores office parks where Oracle Corp. and Electronic Arts Inc. are headquartered. This year, a trickle of start-ups has moved into downtown Redwood City, with digital ad companies Turn Inc., YuMe Inc. and compensation research firm Equilar Inc., among others, relocating to the area since January.