TellMe

2012: Siri Is a Stunner, Amazon Is Amazin’ and Security Gets Spendy

Arik Hesseldahl in News on December 8, 2011 at 8:59 pm PT

Tech prognosticator Mark Anderson is back in New York with his annual predictions for the world of tech in 2012.

Laryngitis Aside, Why Siri Is a Voice to Be Reckoned With

Ina Fried in Mobile on November 7, 2011 at 4:00 am PT

Siri may still be working to find her voice, but Apple’s young assistant shows a ton of promise.

Exclusive: Flipboard Confirms $50 Million Funding at $200 Million Valuation

Kara Swisher in News on April 14, 2011 at 1:23 pm PT

Late last month, BoomTown posted about a huge venture funding effort by the high-profile and even more highly designed social media reading app for the Apple iPad, Flipboard. Today, its co-founder and CEO Mike McCue confirmed a $50 million round at an eye-popping $200 million valuation, in a wide-ranging interview at the start-up’s Palo Alto, Calif., HQ.

Flipping Through Digital Pages With Mike McCue (Video)

Ina Fried in Mobile on December 7, 2010 at 5:19 pm PT

Flipboard’s Mike McCue sees his latest venture as just another type of browser, this time optimized for reading. Here are the video highlights from his talk at D: Dive Into Mobile.

Meet Flipboard: Mike McCue Talks About Stealth "Social Magazine" Start-Up That Just Nabbed $10.5 Million in Funding

Kara Swisher in News on July 20, 2010 at 8:56 pm PT

Say hello to an innovative new social magazine concept called Flipboard, which is attempting to make the social networking universe more accessible, consumable and, perhaps most importantly, visually arresting via a rich app on the Apple iPad. Co-founded by longtime Silicon Valley entrepreneur Mike McCue and former Apple iPhone engineer Evan Doll in January, Flipboard decloaked itself tonight, announcing both a $10.5 million funding from top Silicon Valley power players and also the acquisition of Ellerdale, a relevancy search engine for the real-time Web.

Swipely Nabs $7.5 Million in Series A Funding for Social Spending (And to Attack Blippy!)

Kara Swisher in News on May 11, 2010 at 1:59 am PT

Oh, joy: More venture bucks for more socializing of credit card information. Today, it is Swipely’s turn to grab the spotlight in the ever-crowded space to, as its press release so aptly says, “turn purchases into conversations.” BoomTown excitedly awaits the next big thing to be intrusively socialized, such as: Wipely (it records and shares every time you clean your bathroom), Diaply (don’t let your friends miss every diaper change!), and, of course, Hypely (every time a social category is overfunded by VCs, you get a poke).

As BoomTown Said: Partovi Brothers Finally Leave MySpace (Here Are the Internal Memos)

Kara Swisher in News on April 20, 2010 at 5:22 pm PT

Well-known tech entrepreneurs and twin brothers Ali and Hadi Partovi are leaving MySpace, in a high-profile departure for the struggling social networking company. Internal memos were sent around to staff this afternoon about the departure, said sources, which you can see after the jump. The fate of the well-known tech wunderkinds has been one of the more interesting guessing games of late at MySpace. MySpace execs have been keenly interested in avoiding the appearance that the company is in the grip of a talent drain, especially related to such high-profile innovators.

MySpace Musical Chairs: Will the Partovis Stay or Will They Go Now?

Kara Swisher in News on March 11, 2010 at 11:11 pm PT

While there have surely been a lot of departures of talent at MySpace over the last year–including two major shifts in top management–one of the more interesting guessing games of late concerning the social networking company has been over the fate of well-known tech wunderkinds Hadi and Ali Partovi. According to many sources inside and outside MySpace, that’s just the discussion the pair of serial entrepreneurs has been having with the company’s newest leaders. How it turns out, though, is unclear.

New Tellme Mobile Product to Try to Help Microsoft Fight the iPhone With Voice Power

Kara Swisher in News on April 28, 2009 at 9:01 pm PT

Tellme, the voice services subsidiary of Microsoft, is announcing “one-button” voice access for Windows-enabled mobile phones, as well as some new technologies to improve call automation for customer service centers. Aiming at smartphone users who might prefer to use voice commands over the Apple iPhone’s popular touch, tap and swoosh features, Microsoft is trying to differentiate its mobile offerings.

Microsoft's Man in Silicon Valley, Dan'l Lewin, Speaks!

Kara Swisher in News on March 12, 2009 at 10:07 am PT

A few weeks ago, BoomTown had lunch at Microsoft’s Silicon Valley campus in Mountain View with Dan’l Lewin, the software giant’s corporate VP for strategic and emerging business development. In other words, Microsoft’s friendly face in the Valley, in charge of its operations there, which has about 2,000 employees. Most of them work for other Microsoft divisions, leaving Lewin primarily responsible for the company’s relationships with start-ups, venture capitalists and industry partners. In other words, hoping that Google now seems scarier than Microsoft used to be. Here’s a video interview with him about all that and more.