The Information

Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel. Photo by Associated Press.

Snapchat’s Real Business Plan is Platform, Not Ads

By Tom Dotan · Oct 14, 2014 7:01am PDT · 3 comments

Evan Spiegel was chatting on stage with Michael Bloomberg last week at a Vanity Fair summit in San Francisco when the topic turned to monetization. And the CEO of Snapchat, whose lips are near hermetically sealed when it comes to most plans around the ephemeral messaging app, finally dropped a clue. Ads, the 24-year-old revealed. Untargeted... Evan Spiegel was chatting on stage with Michael Bloomberg last week at a Vanity Fair summit in...

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in India this week. Photo by Bloomberg.

Facebook in Talks with Peer-to-Peer Lending Sites

By Tom Dotan · Oct 10, 2014 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

As murmurs about Facebook’s plans to offer payment services grow louder, the company has also been setting its sights in a different direction: lending. Facebook has been in talks with peer-to-peer lending services, including Lending Club and Prosper, about integrating a way for Facebook users to get loans into the social network,... As murmurs about Facebook’s plans to offer payment services grow louder, the company has...

Google vice president Jamie Rosenberg. Photo by Bloomberg.

Google Considers New App Trial Technology For Android

By Amir Efrati · Oct 8, 2014 7:00am PDT

Google spends enormous resources every year to improve the features of its Android mobile operating software. But one of Android’s key services, the Google Play app store, hasn’t kept up. It looks much the same as it did more than a year ago and faces challenges in helping people find the right apps and getting them to spend money on... Google spends enormous resources every year to improve the features of its Android mobile...

Cyanogen co-founders Steve Kondik, left, and Kirt McMaster. Photo by Cyanogen.

Cyanogen Spurns Google Acquisition Interest, Seeks $1 Billion Valuation

By Amir Efrati · Oct 2, 2014 11:23am PDT

Cyanogen co-founders Steve Kondik, left, and Kirt McMaster. Photo by Cyanogen.

Cyanogen Spurns Google Acquisition Interest, Seeks $1 Billion Valuation

By Amir Efrati · Oct 2, 2014 11:23am PDT

A startup that distributes smartphone software based on Google’s Android mobile operating system recently drew attention from Google’s rivals, including Microsoft, Amazon and Yahoo. Now it’s gotten Google’s attention, too. The Palo Alto- and Seattle-based company, called Cyanogen, is discussing a Series C round of... A startup that distributes smartphone software based on Google’s Android mobile operating...

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo. Photo by Bloomberg.

With ‘Fabric,’ Twitter Aims to Win Back Developers

By Amir Efrati · Sep 30, 2014 10:09am PDT · 2 comments

Twitter is preparing a push to mend fences with app developers, with the hopes of embedding itself into more mobile apps and collecting deeper data on mobile users. The company plans to unveil a new app development platform called “Twitter Fabric” that contains tools for developers to help people sign up for their apps more easily,... Twitter is preparing a push to mend fences with app developers, with the hopes of embedding...

Illustration by Matt Vascellaro

Google’s Confidential Android Contracts Show Rising Requirements

By Amir Efrati · Sep 26, 2014 7:25am PDT · 1 comment

Google for years has tweaked its search engine to promote other revenue-generating Google Web services in the search results, much to the dismay of some rival Web companies. Now, there is new evidence Google is following the same playbook with its Android mobile operating system, which has become a key vehicle to distribute its... Google for years has tweaked its search engine to promote other revenue-generating Google Web...

The Apple Watch. Photo by Bloomberg.

Apple Employees, Partners Expected Watch This Year

By Amir Efrati and Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 24, 2014 7:07am PDT

In the weeks since Apple’s big watch announcement, Apple executives have shed some light on the product’s development, discussing its conception three years ago and the bevy of watch and design experts they consulted. One fact they’ve omitted: Employees and partners were, until recently, expecting it to launch this year. ... In the weeks since Apple’s big watch announcement, Apple executives have shed some light on...

Ron Johnson in an Apple Store. Photo by Associated Press.

Former Apple Exec, J.C. Penney CEO to Launch Delivery Startup

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 23, 2014 12:45pm PDT · 1 comment

Ron Johnson in an Apple Store. Photo by Associated Press.

Former Apple Exec, J.C. Penney CEO to Launch Delivery Startup

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 23, 2014 12:45pm PDT · 1 comment

The godfather of Apple’s retail stores is trying to reinvent shopping again, this time by getting rid of stores. Ron Johnson, who left Apple in 2011 for a controversial stint as the CEO of J.C. Penney, is launching a high-end, on-demand delivery service for gadgets, according to several people who have talked to him about it. And he has... The godfather of Apple’s retail stores is trying to reinvent shopping again, this time by...

Google CEO Larry Page. Photo by Bloomberg.

At Google, Larry Page’s Dreams Keep Getting Bigger

By Amir Efrati · Sep 17, 2014 11:36am PDT · 2 comments

A little over a year ago, Google CEO Larry Page convened his direct reports, the company’s dozen or so senior vice presidents, for a project that would take up two days a week for a couple of months. About 100 other employees below the SVP rank also participated in the effort, dubbed Google 2.0. The aim was to come up with goals for the company... A little over a year ago, Google CEO Larry Page convened his direct reports, the company’s dozen...

Former Google executive Joe Britt shows a prototype of Nexus Q in 2011. Photo by Associated Press.

Google & Hardware: A Complicated Love Story

By Amir Efrati · Sep 15, 2014 7:59am PDT

Last week, some software developers received a white box from Google containing a small TV console and video game controller. It wasn’t a Google product exactly—there was no branding on the machine—but rather represented the last remnants of a struggling project that had consumed part of Google’s Android team for more... Last week, some software developers received a white box from Google containing a small TV...

Cher Wang, chairwoman of HTC Corp. Photo by Bloomberg.

Why a Secret Amazon-HTC Phone Pact Fizzled

By Amir Efrati · Sep 9, 2014 7:46am PDT

When Amazon.com and HTC last fall struck a confidential agreement to launch smartphones together, the alliance seemed to make a lot of sense. Amazon lacked expertise in phone hardware and relationships with wireless carriers. HTC, which had both of those things, had fallen on hard times and needed a boost. Yet by this spring the deal was dead,... When Amazon.com and HTC last fall struck a confidential agreement to launch smartphones together,...

Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman. Courtesy Photo.

Enthusiasm for Low-Cost TV Gaming Puts Ouya in Play

By Amir Efrati · Sep 2, 2014 7:30am PDT

Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman. Courtesy Photo.

Enthusiasm for Low-Cost TV Gaming Puts Ouya in Play

By Amir Efrati · Sep 2, 2014 7:30am PDT

As the high-stakes race among technology companies for control of living-room entertainment continues to heat up, a new generation of low-cost hardware and software for viewing Web video and playing video games on TV sets has emerged as a major battleground. As the scrum takes shape, Ouya, a high-profile startup that makes an inexpensive TV... As the high-stakes race among technology companies for control of living-room entertainment...

Cyanogen co-founders Steve Kondik, left, and Kirt McMaster. Photo by Cyanogen

Obscure Android Software Firm Attracts Google Rivals

By Amir Efrati · Aug 28, 2014 2:18pm PDT · 3 comments

A little-known software startup called Cyanogen is gaining attention from a long list of big-name companies that want to sell smartphones and applications based on Google’s Android operating system—but don’t want to be under the thumb of Google. Amazon.com, Microsoft, Samsung Electronics and Yahoo are among the companies... A little-known software startup called Cyanogen is gaining attention from a long list of big-name...

YouTube chief Susan Wojcicki. Photo by TechCrunch.

Why the Google-Twitch Deal Fell Apart

By Amir Efrati · Aug 25, 2014 4:04pm PDT

Top executives at Google’s YouTube video unit saw Twitch, the online video-game broadcaster, as the ESPN of the future. When longtime Google executive Susan Wojcicki became chief of YouTube in February, those executives convinced her to pursue an acquisition. By May of this year, Twitch had signed a term sheet agreeing to be acquired by... Top executives at Google’s YouTube video unit saw Twitch, the online video-game...

Twitch CEO Emmett Shear. Photo by Bloomberg.

Amazon to Acquire Twitch for $970 Million

By Eric Newcomer and Amir Efrati · Aug 25, 2014 10:00am PDT · 1 comment

Amazon.com announced Monday that it had agreed to acquire video site Twitch for $970 million in cash, the latest sign of the e-commerce giant's expansive ambitions in video entertainment. The deal came just months after numerous reports that Google had a deal to acquire Twitch. News of the Amazon deal was first reported Monday morning by The... Amazon.com announced Monday that it had agreed to acquire video site Twitch for $970 million in...

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Photo by Bloomberg.

Facebook Assault on Google’s DoubleClick Coming This Fall

By Tom Dotan and Amir Efrati · Aug 25, 2014 7:23am PDT

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Photo by Bloomberg.

Facebook Assault on Google’s DoubleClick Coming This Fall

By Tom Dotan and Amir Efrati · Aug 25, 2014 7:23am PDT

Few people thought much of Atlas when Facebook acquired the advertising technology company from Microsoft last year. Microsoft had bought Atlas in 2007 as part of its ill-fated $6 billion acquisition of aQuantive, and sold it to the social network for pennies on the dollar. But a revitalized Atlas with new capabilities and new leadership has... Few people thought much of Atlas when Facebook acquired the advertising technology company from...

Verizon Communications CEO Lowell McAdam. Photo by Bloomberg.

Verizon Preps Challenge to Google’s App Store

By Amir Efrati · Aug 20, 2014 7:03am PDT · 2 comments

After years of watching Google and Apple dominate the business of selling smartphone software to consumers, Verizon Communications is aiming to alter the playing field by building an industry coalition to launch a new, global online store for mobile applications. The company hopes to create a different kind of app store, one that would... After years of watching Google and Apple dominate the business of selling smartphone software to...

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick with DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg. Photo by Bloomberg.

Video Game Leader Plots Foray into Movies

By Tom Dotan · Aug 18, 2014 1:48pm PDT

Activision Blizzard has been famously averse to adapting its hit video games for the big screen, but that could soon change. The publisher of blockbuster games including “Call of Duty” and “Skylanders” is currently mulling a plan to launch an entertainment studio, where it would produce its own movies and TV shows rather... Activision Blizzard has been famously averse to adapting its hit video games for the big screen,...

Google CEO Larry Page. Photo by Bloomberg.

Google Seeks New Customers: Kids

By Amir Efrati · Aug 18, 2014 7:40am PDT · 3 comments

Google has been working to overhaul its Web services so it can legally allow children to use them, as it becomes more willing to tolerate hairy legal requirements in exchange for growth. The contemplated features include a dashboard for parents to oversee their kids’ activities, a child-safe version of YouTube and requiring people who... Google has been working to overhaul its Web services so it can legally allow children to use...

Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman. Photo by Bloomberg.

Google, H-P Discuss Android Assistant for the Workplace

By Amir Efrati and Jessica E. Lessin · Aug 13, 2014 6:57am PDT

Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman. Photo by Bloomberg.

Google, H-P Discuss Android Assistant for the Workplace

By Amir Efrati and Jessica E. Lessin · Aug 13, 2014 6:57am PDT

As the smartphone battle between Google and Apple moves into the corporate world, Google’s Android unit has been talking to Hewlett-Packard and others about enabling the Google Now “virtual assistant” to be used as a new type of search tool for corporate data, according to three people who have been involved or briefed on... As the smartphone battle between Google and Apple moves into the corporate world, Google’s...