The Information

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts. Photo by Bloomberg.

Comcast Plots Big Push in Web Video Ads

By Amir Efrati · May 8, 2014 7:49am PDT

As debate over Comcast’s control of Internet and TV in American households plays out in front of regulators reviewing its bid for Time Warner Cable, the cable industry leader is quietly planning a major foray into the Web advertising business. Comcast will aim to help “premium” video producers such as Disney, FOX, Viacom and... As debate over Comcast’s control of Internet and TV in American households plays out in...

Sundar Pichai, head of Android. Photo by Bloomberg.

Google Takes Aim at the iPhone with Android “Silver” Program

By Amir Efrati · Apr 29, 2014 7:47am PDT

Google is gearing up for a major effort to spur development of premium Android smartphones and re-assert control over the Android ecosystem as it seeks to better compete with the Apple iPhone and blunt the growing power of Samsung, the leading maker of Android phones. The expensive effort involves dumping the four-year-old Google Nexus phone... Google is gearing up for a major effort to spur development of premium Android smartphones and...

Nancy Tellem, Microsoft's president of entertainment and digital media. Art by Matthew Vascellaro.

Xbox TV Effort Hits Snag Over Global Rights

By Tom Dotan · Apr 22, 2014 10:00am PDT

After several years of development, Microsoft is finally pulling back the wraps on its plans for original, television-style programming for the Xbox console. But the latest entry in the now-crowded field of Internet companies buying TV shows is meeting resistance from Hollywood producers because its licensing terms cut off the opportunity to... After several years of development, Microsoft is finally pulling back the wraps on its plans for...

Photo by Reuters/ Carlos Allegri

Hollywood Questions Hulu as Video Landscape Shifts

By Tom Dotan · Apr 16, 2014 10:10am PDT

Photo by Reuters/ Carlos Allegri

Hollywood Questions Hulu as Video Landscape Shifts

By Tom Dotan · Apr 16, 2014 10:10am PDT

When the owners of the online video site Hulu pulled the company off the auction block for the second time last summer, they agreed to inject $750 million into the company to help it compete with big-spenders like Netflix and Amazon in the increasingly cutthroat online video business. A big priority was creating original programming, with some... When the owners of the online video site Hulu pulled the company off the auction block for the...

Matthew Vascellaro

Comcast Quietly Preps Challenge to Wireless Carriers

By Amir Efrati · Apr 8, 2014 7:22am PDT

Google isn’t the only technology giant thinking of offering new mobile phone plans to unseat wireless giants. The country’s largest cable operator, Comcast, is laying the groundwork for Wi-Fi-based wireless services just a few years after it abandoned plans to launch conventional mobile phone services over cellular airwaves.... Google isn’t the only technology giant thinking of offering new mobile phone plans to...

Matthew Vascellaro

Google Weighs a Plunge into Mobile Phone Services

By Amir Efrati · Apr 3, 2014 8:04am PDT

After thrusting itself into competition with U.S. cable operators, Google is inching closer to competing with wireless carriers, too. Google executives in recent months discussed their hope to offer a full-fledged wireless service in markets where it offers Google Fiber Internet and TV service, according to two people who have discussed the... After thrusting itself into competition with U.S. cable operators, Google is inching closer to...

Matthew Vascellaro

Yahoo Struggles in Push for Mobile Deals

By Amir Efrati · Mar 28, 2014 9:55am PDT

As CEO Marissa Mayer labors to revive Yahoo, the inability to get Yahoo apps onto more smartphones has become one of her biggest problems. After revamping the company’s suite of mobile apps, from Web search and email to weather, sports and Flickr, Ms. Mayer has focused on striking deals with handset manufacturers and wireless carriers to... As CEO Marissa Mayer labors to revive Yahoo, the inability to get Yahoo apps onto more...

Matthew Vascellaro

Uber Mulls a Move to Android

By Katie Benner and Jessica E. Lessin · Mar 25, 2014 12:29pm PDT

Matthew Vascellaro

Uber Mulls a Move to Android

By Katie Benner and Jessica E. Lessin · Mar 25, 2014 12:29pm PDT

Uber, which has purchased tens of thousands of iPhones for its drivers, has been talking to Samsung and other Android hardware manufacturers about equipping drivers with Android phones, according to people involved in the discussions. It’s unclear whether the discussions are part of a broader strategic shift by the red-hot... Uber, which has purchased tens of thousands of iPhones for its drivers, has been talking to...

Matthew Vascellaro

Parrying Apple, Google Pushes Android into the Office

By Amir Efrati · Mar 25, 2014 6:58am PDT

Behind the glitzy ad campaigns and massive product development efforts that dominate the consumer smartphone business, Apple and Google are quietly squaring off in a battle for BlackBerry’s old turf. Google is now embarking on a major effort to make its Android software more attractive to businesses and blunt Apple’s growing success among... Behind the glitzy ad campaigns and massive product development efforts that dominate the consumer...

Art: Matt Vascellaro

YouTube Sets Sights on Kids

By Amir Efrati · Mar 17, 2014 3:32pm PDT

YouTube is going younger. Google’s online video destination, long a haven for teens, is now developing a version of the site for kids under 10 that would wall off racier videos and comments and be deemed a safe place by parents, according to three people who have been briefed about the move. YouTube is going younger. Google’s online video destination, long a haven for teens, is now...

Google CEO Larry Page (Art: Matt Vascellaro)

Google & Motorola: A Match Made in Purgatory

By Amir Efrati · Mar 14, 2014 7:07am PDT

During much of last year, Motorola’s top executives had one message for Google CEO Larry Page: If he didn’t go “all in” on Motorola, the Google-owned handset maker would barely make a dent against industry leaders Samsung Electronics and Apple. In monthly operating meetings with Mr. Page at Motorola’s Silicon Valley office, numerous Motorola... During much of last year, Motorola’s top executives had one message for Google CEO Larry Page: If...

Matt Vascellaro

Comcast Prepares New Fight Against YouTube

By Amir Efrati and Jessica E. Lessin · Mar 3, 2014 7:23am PST

Matt Vascellaro

Comcast Prepares New Fight Against YouTube

By Amir Efrati and Jessica E. Lessin · Mar 3, 2014 7:23am PST

In recent months, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and his father, Comcast co-founder Ralph Roberts, saw a demonstration of a new Comcast video service that aims to outflank Internet video rivals like Google’s YouTube. The offering combines the type of shorter Web video programming that YouTube is known for with live and on-demand... In recent months, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and his father, Comcast co-founder Ralph Roberts, saw...

Square CEO Jack Dorsey. Credit: TechCrunch.

In Crunch Time, Square Considers Giving Capital to Businesses

By Jessica E. Lessin · Feb 25, 2014 12:55pm PST

Square is moving further beyond the swipe. The payments company has begun testing a way to give Square merchants thousands of dollars to help them grow, according to three people familiar with the effort. The early-stage test is part of the startup’s push to diversify beyond processing credit cards for small businesses, a competitive and... Square is moving further beyond the swipe. The payments company has begun testing a way to give...

Google’s Unusual Offer to WhatsApp

By Amir Efrati · Feb 19, 2014 7:43pm PST

More than six months ago, Google approached WhatsApp with an odd offer: It would pay the mobile messaging startup in exchange for the right to be notified if the messaging app entered into acquisition talks with other companies, according to a person involved in the process and two people briefed on it. WhatsApp rebuffed the offer, which could... More than six months ago, Google approached WhatsApp with an odd offer: It would pay the mobile...

Matt Vascellaro

Software Saps Samsung’s Might

By Jessica E. Lessin · Feb 10, 2014 1:37pm PST

The last week in January, Google chief executive Larry Page met with Samsung Electronics vice chairman and heir apparent Jay Y. Lee at Google's Mountain View campus to discuss the relationship between the technology giants, according to several people briefed on the meeting. The agenda for the conversations, which included other... The last week in January, Google chief executive Larry Page met with Samsung...

TechCrunch

Google Looks to Ads Executive Susan Wojcicki as Next YouTube Chief

By Jessica E. Lessin and Amir Efrati · Feb 4, 2014 11:27pm PST

TechCrunch

Google Looks to Ads Executive Susan Wojcicki as Next YouTube Chief

By Jessica E. Lessin and Amir Efrati · Feb 4, 2014 11:27pm PST

Google is likely to tap longtime ad products head Susan Wojcicki as the new head of YouTube, according to two people briefed on the discussions, a surprising move that would place one of the company’s earliest employees at the helm of the video unit. The move would send a clear signal that Google CEO Larry Page wants to zero in on the site... Google is likely to tap longtime ad products head Susan Wojcicki as the new head of YouTube,...

NSA headquarters in Fort Meade, Md.

When Silicon Valley Met the NSA

By Amir Efrati · Feb 3, 2014 12:58pm PST

In recent years, top executives from U.S. technology giants such as Google, Microsoft and Intel routinely filed into a secured room deep inside the bowels of the National Security Agency’s headquarters in Fort Meade, Md. During the visits, which continue today, the NSA and other U.S. government agencies provide classified, “top secret”... In recent years, top executives from U.S. technology giants such as Google, Microsoft and Intel...

Credit: Bill Grado via Flickr

Next on Google’s Shopping List: Wearables

By Jessica E. Lessin and Amir Efrati · Jan 30, 2014 4:02pm PST

Nest Labs for $3.2 billion. DeepMind Technologies for $550 million. Which company will Google buy next? The tech giant has been studying wearable technology companies to acquire, according to three people briefed on the internal discussions. It isn't clear whether the studying has led to formal talks and which companies Google is... Nest Labs for $3.2 billion. DeepMind Technologies for $550 million. Which company will Google buy...

Kampala, Uganda Credit: Todd Huffman

Google Goes Wireless in Race to Connect Africa

By Amir Efrati · Jan 15, 2014 5:11pm PST

Google is upping the ante in the race to deliver Internet to the developing world. In the process, it is vying with Facebook, Microsoft and others to strike partnerships with local telecom companies to try to bring new populations and revenue online. In a previously undisclosed move, Google has discussed plans to launch a wireless Internet... Google is upping the ante in the race to deliver Internet to the developing world. In the...

Bumps in the Road for Apple's iWatch

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jan 7, 2014 1:04pm PST

Bumps in the Road for Apple's iWatch

By Jessica E. Lessin · Jan 7, 2014 1:04pm PST

There’s been a parade of new smart TVs, toys and washing machines at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. But this year’s most anticipated gadget is still MIA. That’s Apple’s iWatch. When Apple plans to start selling the device remains unclear. But a look behind the scenes shows a few apparent... There’s been a parade of new smart TVs, toys and washing machines at this week’s...