The Information

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos unveiling the Kindle Fire tablet and a new Kindle e-reader in 2012. Photo by Bloomberg.

Google Hires Amazon’s Former Kindle Hardware Chief

By Kevin McLaughlin · Oct 3, 2016 5:55pm PDT

David Foster, who helped develop the Amazon Kindle and Kindle Fire tablet, joined Google on Monday as vice president of product engineering in its hardware group, Google said. A person familiar with the hiring said Mr. Foster would lead hardware development for Google’s new branded line of smartphones. The position hadn't previously... David Foster, who helped develop the Amazon Kindle and Kindle Fire tablet, joined Google on...

Why Snap’s Spectacles Will Be Elusive

By Tom Dotan · Sep 29, 2016 7:01am PDT · 3 comments

If you were counting on Snap’s new camera-mounted Spectacles to be this year’s big Christmas gift for millennials, you may want to reconsider.The company has considered an unusual “closed” rollout of the product, meaning it wouldn’t be released to the public at large in the near term—according to two people... If you were counting on Snap’s new camera-mounted Spectacles to be this year’s big...

Facebook at Work's director Julien Codorniou. Photo by Bloomberg.

Facebook’s Rival to Slack, Yammer Coming Next Month

By Cory Weinberg · Sep 27, 2016 10:01am PDT · 7 comments

Facebook is nearing a commercial launch of Facebook at Work, its business-focused social network, and now plans to charge companies based on the number of employees who use the service monthly, a Facebook executive said. That’s a change from Facebook’s earlier plans to offer the software for free but to charge companies based on... Facebook is nearing a commercial launch of Facebook at Work, its business-focused social network,...

August Home co-founder Yves Behar. Photo by Flickr/Eirik Solheim.

How Amazon Might Get Through Front Door

By Steve Nellis and Reed Albergotti · Sep 27, 2016 7:01am PDT

August Home co-founder Yves Behar. Photo by Flickr/Eirik Solheim.

How Amazon Might Get Through Front Door

By Steve Nellis and Reed Albergotti · Sep 27, 2016 7:01am PDT

The days of having your Amazon packages stolen from outside your front door soon could be a thing of the past.Two companies with ties to Amazon.com, smart lock maker August Home and web-connected garage door opener Garageio, are working on a way for delivery people to leave products inside the home when residents aren’t there. As Garageio... The days of having your Amazon packages stolen from outside your front door soon could be a thing...

Google cloud chief Diane Greene. Photo by Flickr/TechCrunch.

AWS, Google Gearing Up For Data Center Battle

By Kevin McLaughlin · Sep 21, 2016 11:00am PDT · 6 comments

Amazon Web Services and Google are developing storage software for companies to use in their own data centers, a reversal of the cloud providers’ usual efforts to get companies to put all their data in the clouds run by AWS and Google, according to people who have been briefed on the products.The targets are companies like banks that... Amazon Web Services and Google are developing storage software for companies to use in their own...

Google cloud chief Diane Greene. Photo by Bloomberg.

Google Ditching ‘Google For Work’ Branding

By Kevin McLaughlin · Sep 16, 2016 12:59pm PDT · 2 comments

Google is discontinuing the Google For Work branding it uses for its business-focused products, replacing it with “Google Cloud,” said two people who’ve been briefed on the change. Google For Work includes Google's business-focused productivity apps, cloud services, maps, Chromebooks and Android devices, search, and... Google is discontinuing the Google For Work branding it uses for its business-focused products,...

VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger. Photo by Bloomberg.

Michael Dell Calls Gelsinger VMware’s Long-Term CEO

By Kevin McLaughlin · Sep 15, 2016 1:54pm PDT

Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell says VMware chief Pat Gelsinger will stay on at the helm of the company, putting to rest speculation that Mr. Gelsinger would leave in the wake of Dell’s $67 billion takeover of VMware and its majority owner EMC.“Pat is the long-term CEO of VMware. No question,” Mr. Dell said in a text message... Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell says VMware chief Pat Gelsinger will stay on at the helm of...

Dropbox co-founder and CEO Drew Houston. Photo by Bloomberg.

How Dropbox Doubled Down on Business Market

By Steve Nellis · Sep 15, 2016 7:01am PDT

Dropbox co-founder and CEO Drew Houston. Photo by Bloomberg.

How Dropbox Doubled Down on Business Market

By Steve Nellis · Sep 15, 2016 7:01am PDT

Last November, Dropbox’s leaders were preparing for Dropbox Open, a star-studded event in San Francisco where the company would rebrand its workplace offerings as Dropbox Business and then unveil Dropbox Enterprise, a new top tier of the company’s file-sharing and collaboration tools geared toward the largest corporate users. To... Last November, Dropbox’s leaders were preparing for Dropbox Open, a star-studded event in...

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. Photo by Bloomberg.

Facebook Video Leaves a Small Window for Advertisers

By Tom Dotan · Sep 14, 2016 7:02am PDT · 1 comment

Most video ads on Facebook are seen for only a second or two, according to a new study, well below the average for video ads on YouTube and other websites. It suggests few people on Facebook are clicking on video ads as they scroll past them in their News Feed.The data provides further evidence to advertisers who want to use Facebook that they... Most video ads on Facebook are seen for only a second or two, according to a new study, well...

Uber's app open in Japan. Photo by Bloomberg.

Uber Hires Tesla Mapping Leader

By Amir Efrati and Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 9, 2016 3:59pm PDT · 1 comment

The engineering manager who led digital mapping for Tesla Motors’ self-driving car system, Bill Chen, is moving to Uber.Mr. Chen, a former Apple Maps engineer, left Tesla last month after a two year stint, The Information previously reported. At Uber, he joins a sizable mapping team led by the former head of Google Maps, Brian McClendon.... The engineering manager who led digital mapping for Tesla Motors’ self-driving car system,...

Amazon's senior vice president for devices, David Limp. Photo by AP.

Amazon Preps Push Notifications for Alexa

By Steve Nellis · Sep 8, 2016 7:01am PDT · 7 comments

Amazon.com is planning to give its Alexa voice-activated assistant the ability to speak up— unprompted—with alerts from apps and gadgets, possibly this fall. It’s a change that could make the service much more useful and a feature developers long have asked for.Right now, users have to start conversations with Alexa, which... Amazon.com is planning to give its Alexa voice-activated assistant the ability to speak up—...

Snapchat CEO and co-founder Evan Spiegel, left, with co-founder and CTO Bobby Murphy. Photo by AP.

Snapchat Discussing IPO Filing with Bankers

By Jessica E. Lessin and Tom Dotan · Sep 7, 2016 10:52am PDT

Snapchat CEO and co-founder Evan Spiegel, left, with co-founder and CTO Bobby Murphy. Photo by AP.

Snapchat Discussing IPO Filing with Bankers

By Jessica E. Lessin and Tom Dotan · Sep 7, 2016 10:52am PDT

Snapchat has been talking to investment bankers about filing for an IPO towards the end of this year or early in 2017, according to people the company has spoken to. That could put the company on track for a public offering next year, coming out ahead of other hotly anticipated private tech startups. Snapchat doesn't appear to have hired a... Snapchat has been talking to investment bankers about filing for an IPO towards the end of this...

Venture capitalist Davidi Gilo. Photo by J Street.

Investor Alleges Startup Faked Its Own Death

By Reed Albergotti · Sep 6, 2016 7:00am PDT · 4 comments

Venture capitalist Davidi Gilo had given up on the $6.5 million his firm invested in the enterprise software company BackFlip, which shut down in early 2011. But seven months later, he alleged in a lawsuit, he discovered that BackFlip’s software and customers had been subsumed by Cisco Systems, with the help of BackFlip’s co-founder,... Venture capitalist Davidi Gilo had given up on the $6.5 million his firm invested in the...

AWS CEO Andy Jassy. Photo by AP.

AWS’ Latest Proposal to Woo Major Banks

By Kevin McLaughlin · Sep 1, 2016 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

Amazon Web Services has come up with a new strategy to lure banks to use its cloud computing service. AWS has discussed with financial institutions the idea of hosting their data on isolated “safe zones” across AWS’ data centers that would be walled off from other customers and the public internet, according to two people close... Amazon Web Services has come up with a new strategy to lure banks to use its cloud computing...

Alphabet's head of corporate development David Drummond. Photo by Bloomberg.

Uber Shuts Out Alphabet Execs From Board Meetings

By Amir Efrati · Aug 29, 2016 1:45pm PDT · 2 comments

UPDATE: Uber says Alphabet executive David Drummond has stepped down from Uber’s board. The move follows a report by The Information about Mr. Drummond being sidelined from the board for a significant period of time.Uber has shut out an Uber board member and senior Alphabet executive, David Drummond, from attending board meetings,... UPDATE: Uber says Alphabet executive David Drummond has stepped down from Uber’s board. The...

GM CEO Mary Barra. Photo by Bloomberg.

GM Expressed Interest in Lyft at $6 Billion

By Amir Efrati · Aug 29, 2016 11:47am PDT

GM CEO Mary Barra. Photo by Bloomberg.

GM Expressed Interest in Lyft at $6 Billion

By Amir Efrati · Aug 29, 2016 11:47am PDT

One of the unresolved questions surrounding General Motors’ interest in acquiring Lyft is what price the automaker was willing to pay. Now we have part of the answer: Lyft’s leaders informed the company’s board of directors this summer that GM expressed interest in a $6 billion deal, according to two people with knowledge of... One of the unresolved questions surrounding General Motors’ interest in acquiring Lyft is...

Access Chief Craig Barratt. Photo by Bloomberg.

Inside the Battle Over Google Fiber

By Kevin McLaughlin · Aug 25, 2016 7:00am PDT · 7 comments

When Google was planning to launch its Fiber broadband and TV service, Fiber executives had ambitious hopes of signing up around 5 million subscribers in five years, said a person close to Google's parent, Alphabet. But by the end of 2014, more than two years after service began, Google had only signed up around 200,000 broadband... When Google was planning to launch its Fiber broadband and TV service, Fiber executives had...

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. Photo by Bloomberg.

Facebook’s New Plan to Expand Ad Network

By Cory Weinberg · Aug 24, 2016 7:01am PDT · 7 comments

Facebook’s mobile ad network is looking to sell more ads on a broader number of websites, diversifying beyond the game and utility apps that dominate its client base. Some of its new targets for mobile ad sales are large publishers such as USA Today and Hearst, which have started selling ads through Facebook Audience Network after plugging... Facebook’s mobile ad network is looking to sell more ads on a broader number of websites,...

BAMTech CEO Bob Bowman. Photo by Flickr/TechCrunch.

BAMTech Deal a Model, Concern for Media Firms

By Tom Dotan · Aug 23, 2016 7:00am PDT · 6 comments

Big media companies are all rushing to stream more video. And as it becomes central to their business the media firms are increasingly trying to wrest control of the video technology.Take Walt Disney’s acquisition of a 33% stake in BAMTech, the company that powers streaming video owned by Major League Baseball as well as video services for... Big media companies are all rushing to stream more video. And as it becomes central to their...

WeWork CEO Adam Neumann. Photo by Bloomberg.

In Shift, WeWork Pushes for Longer Leases

By Alfred Lee and Cory Weinberg · Aug 18, 2016 7:02am PDT · 2 comments

WeWork CEO Adam Neumann. Photo by Bloomberg.

In Shift, WeWork Pushes for Longer Leases

By Alfred Lee and Cory Weinberg · Aug 18, 2016 7:02am PDT · 2 comments

WeWork, which built its business on luring freelancers and startups with no-strings-attached office space, may now be looking to protect itself against drops in demand by going after bigger tenants that commit to longer stays. The company has begun pushing to lock some companies into year-long rental agreements rather than month-to-month.The New... WeWork, which built its business on luring freelancers and startups with no-strings-attached...