News Byte
Liz Gannes in News on May 24 at 5:59 pm PT
BetterWorks, the employee rewards start-up used by companies like Hulu, Tesla and Docstoc, is shutting down its site at the end of the month. The bad news from the Redpoint Ventures-backed start-up comes on the heels of significant layoffs last week. However, a spokeswoman said that the company itself is not shutting down entirely, but rather trying to use its remaining team and capital to reformulate itself.
Numbers
Beth Callaghan in Numbers on May 24 at 4:30 pm PT
A new study from Forrester Research on technology adoption by urban Chinese consumers illustrates the ubiquitousness of the mobile Internet in China.
Arik Hesseldahl in News on May 24 at 4:00 pm PT
Unlike a $3.4 billion acquisition, influence is its own reward.
John Paczkowski in News on May 24 at 3:30 pm PT
Pascal Cagni leaves Apple after a 12 year stint as VP and general manager of its European operations.
Kara Swisher in News on May 24 at 3:06 pm PT
Actually, it’s “Go to H-E-double-toothpicks.”
News Byte
Liz Gannes in News on May 24 at 2:59 pm PT
Pinterest has hired
Barry Schnitt as its new head of communications and public policy. Schnitt had been at Facebook for the past four years, and eight more before that at Google. He’ll start at Pinterest next month. (Excuse the inside baseball, but from a press perspective, Pinterest has been nearly impenetrable lately despite its wide usage and impact.)
Kara Swisher in News on May 24 at 2:34 pm PT
All the deets on the China share sale.
News Byte
Tricia Duryee in Commerce on May 24 at 1:56 pm PT
Austin-based
Bazaarvoice has agreed
to acquire its close competitor PowerReviews for roughly $151.9 million in cash and stock. According to the terms, Bazaarvoice will pay $31 million in cash and the remainder in stock. Both companies develop technology that help retailers interact with consumers. In particular, PowerReviews was focused on managing and hosting product review sections for e-commerce sites.
Ina Fried in Mobile on May 24 at 1:46 pm PT
Avoiding a trial in a lawsuit, Apple has taken a license to patents held by Texas-based SimpleAir. Naturally, all of the interesting terms and details are being kept confidential.
News Byte
Tricia Duryee in Social on May 24 at 1:16 pm PT
File this one under a small talent acquisition: Facebook has just acquired
Bolt Peters, a so-called research and design agency. Co-founder Nate Bolt says
it will officially close on June 22, after working on more than 200 projects for 90 clients, including Sony, HP, Electronic Arts and the Washington Post. Most of the company’s six employees will be joining Facebook and reporting to Design Director Kate Aronowitz.
Voices
Andy Pasztor, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on May 24 at 12:49 pm PT
A private unmanned spacecraft appeared to complete a series of maneuvers around the international space station flawlessly on Thursday, clearing the last major hurdle before a historic docking attempt planned for Friday.
Tricia Duryee in Commerce on May 24 at 12:08 pm PT
Microsoft is not saying when it will be unveiling a new Xbox console, but thanks to a lawsuit between Activision and some former employees, timing details are a little clearer.
Bonnie Cha in Product News on May 24 at 11:29 am PT
The Google+ app for Android finally gets an update, and it’s got a feature that might make iPhone users jealous.
