Digital Media

Foursquare gets $50M to 'make the world easier to use'

Foursquare has raised $50 million, mostly from its existing investors, the company announced today.

The round was expected, and comes in a week when Foursquare hit a significant milestone of 10 million registered users.

It was led by Andreessen Horowitz and included O'Reilly AlphaTech Ventures and Union Square Ventures, as well as new investor Spark Capital.

TechCrunch reports the valuation is $600 million.

Foursquare is often maligned for not being a serious company, so for the occasion of the funding, founders Dennis Crowley and Naveen Seldurai wrote on their blog a sort of long-form mission statement about their future:more

Google's enemy list, a primer

In its rise to Web dominance, Google has displaced plenty of companies, upended several industries, and made a slew of enemies along the way. Some of the adversaries are industry giants in their own right, such as Microsoft and Apple. Others are little-known start-ups that get publicity for raising concerns about Google but often fade back to obscurity when the news cycle ends.

For some rivals, the enmity runs deep. They accuse Google of poaching employees and infringing on copyrights. And still there are others whose complaints about Google's dominance seems more strategic, an effort to put a hurdle

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Google feels the antitrust heat (roundup)

Like Microsoft and IBM before it, Google clearly looms large over a technological domain--in this case, the Web. The question many in government are now asking is, does it have too much power?

Regulatory scrutiny alone is a test for Google

Trustbusters are ratcheting up the pressure on Google, and the Web giant may be challenged to pursue as aggressive a corporate strategy as it historically has.
(Posted in Digital Media by Jay Greene)
June 24, 2011 4:47 p.m. PT

On Capitol Hill, it's all about beating down Google

commentary A recent discussion in Washington, D.C., more

Four-tuner TiVo coming soon to retail?

A couple of weeks ago, TiVo announced the Premiere Q, a quad-tuner DVR available only through cable service providers. According to a recent FCC filing by TiVo, though, it might be headed to retail soon, too.

Gleaned from the filing is a new retail name, the Premiere Elite, and that it'll have "increased recording capability, increased capacity (300 HD hours), reduced power consumption, and a space-saving design."

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On Capitol Hill, it's all about beating down Google

commentary WASHINGTON--It was inevitable that Google, one of the world's largest technology companies, would find itself in the crosshairs of the Washington antitrust establishment. But what is, or should be, a little surprising is how enthusiastic the establishment became about pulling the trigger.

Take an event I moderated last week in the U.S. Capitol building organized by the free-market group TechFreedom, a nonpartisan think tank.

In theory, members of Congress and their staff carefully craft public policies that encourage the development of new technologies and benefit the entire nation. But the reality of the questions asked was less more

VCs to Congress: Antipiracy bill will 'chill' tech investment

The people who are instrumental in getting technology start-ups off the ground are imploring Congress not to support a bill designed to give the government more freedom in combating Internet piracy and counterfeiting.

About 50 of some of tech's best-known venture capitalists, including Marc Andreessen, Fred Wilson, and Vinod Khosla, wrote an open letter to members of the U.S. Congress yesterday and outlined how the Protect IP Act would not only fail to achieve its goal of protecting intellectual property but would also "stifle investment in Internet services, throttle innovation, and hurt American competitiveness."

The Protect IP Act

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Google says trustbuster concerns are 'unclear'

Google has posted a response to the U.S. government's antitrust inquiry into the company, somewhat defiantly suggesting that the investigation is misguided.

"It's still unclear exactly what the FTC's concerns are, but we're clear about where we stand," Google Fellow Amit Singhal wrote in the blog post. "Since the beginning, we have been guided by the idea that, if we focus on the user, all else will follow."

Singhal laid out a handful of principles that guide Google, everything from doing what's best for the user to being transparent.

"These are the principles that more

GoDaddy nearing deal to be acquired for $2.5 billion?

GoDaddy, the world's largest registrar of domain names, might be acquired soon, according to a report today.

Private-equity firms KKR & Co., Silver Lake Partners, and Technology Crossover Ventures are currently nearing a deal to buy GoDaddy Group for between $2 billion and $2.5 billion, The Wall Street Journal is reporting, citing people with knowledge of the proceedings.

The Journal said the deal between the companies could be announced next week, but so far, GoDaddy has not signed a definitive agreement to sell its business to the firms.

GoDaddy has reportedly been seeking potential buyers for months. In September, more

Team Fortress 2 game to be free 'forever'

Team Fortress 2 has gone free, and it's staying that way forever.

Valve, the game's developer, announced the news on its Web site yesterday. The company said that users can play as much of the game as they'd like for as long as they like at no charge.

Team Fortress 2 was first released in 2007. The game is an online action title, allowing users to form teams and take on other players. It is also one of the most critically acclaimed games ever released, earning a score of 92 out of 100 on CNET sister site more