The Social

Facebook's recent investment round, led by investment bank Goldman Sachs, has been one of the most-talked-about news events that the social network has gotten itself involved in--and arguably the one about which it's been the most secretive. This afternoon, Facebook broke the silence by issuing a press release in which it confirmed, finally, that it has raised $1.5 billion ($1 billion from Goldman Sachs and $500 million in a round that also includes existing investor Digital Sky Technologies) at a $50 billion valuation.

"DST and Goldman Sachs approached Facebook to express their interest in making an … Read more

Arriving on New York's streets with a backpack and a dream has long been a narrative emulated by the young, ambitious, and eager to "make it." But for one San Francisco company looking to bring its change-the-world voracity to Gotham, it may be even more of an uphill battle than the average striver's tale implies.

The central question: can a tiny start-up go up against New York's army of taxicabs?

Young and tech-savvy San Franciscans are likely familiar with Uber, a limousine-booking start-up that launched last year to rave reviews, interest from high-profile angel investors, … Read more

Much of Facebook's projected growth over the next few years is in regions of the world where an iPhone or Android device is a novelty rather than a staple. Consequently, the company has been making some strategic moves: On Wednesday, Facebook announced a new mobile app optimized for lower-end cell phones and a plan to make it available in many countries without data fees.

"The app provides a better Facebook experience for our most popular features, including an easier-to-navigate home screen, contact synchronization, and fast scrolling of photos and friend updates," explained a blog post by Mark … Read more

High activity during last month's holiday season, as well as continued strong growth from PayPal, meant that e-commerce giant eBay had some rather nice numbers to report in its 2010 fourth-quarter earnings on today. Revenue was up 10 percent year-over-year if you don't count Skype, which eBay spun off late in 2009, and profits were up 24 percent. Analysts were expecting a profit of 47 cents a share; eBay posted 52 cents.

The company reported "strong holiday shopping momentum" as the year drew to a close, propelled in part by its focus on mobile commerce and … Read more

YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, N.Y.--The first words publicly spoken by a talking computer named Watson were, "WHAT IS JERICHO?"

Watson was following the rules. Like any contestant on game show "Jeopardy," the IBM Research-built machine was required to phrase his answer in the form of a question. And Watson was playing "Jeopardy." More specifically, it was a test run this morning at IBM Research's headquarters in preparation for a televised weekend challenge against famed "Jeopardy" champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, and Watson nearly shut out those champions in a category … Read more

It goes without saying that News Corp. is familiar with the process of cancellation--it's the parent company of the network that controversially axed "Firefly" and "Arrested Development," after all.

But when it comes to getting rid of a social-networking site, things seem to be a little bit more complicated: After this week laying off nearly half the people who work at MySpace, News Corp. seems to be in limbo over what to do about once-cool social network. Rumor has it that the Rupert Murdoch-helmed media company is shopping it to potential buyers, and at least one analyst is speculating … Read more

It's been a volatile year for Formspring, a question-and-answer service that saw lightning-fast growth in the wake of its November 2009 launch but also controversy and scorn as it was criticized for harboring high levels of spam and nasty anonymous bullying. Slightly over a year later, it was unclear whether Formspring would be able to turn this traffic and interest into something positive, sustainable, and eventually profitable.

The company, predictably, says that it can. On Tuesday night, Formspring made a set of announcements that collectively spell out a desire to grow up: the company has raised $11.5 million … Read more

MySpace CEO Mike Jones today announced a "significant organizational restructuring that will result in a 47 percent staff reduction across all divisions globally and impact about 500 employees," confirming many rumors that the News Corp.-owned social network would be going through heavy layoffs before possibly seeking a new buyer.

Formerly a social-networking sensation, MySpace lost more and more ground to Facebook over the past few years until it finally underwent a massive redesign that focuses on pop culture media-sharing for young users rather than attempting to be a universally appealing social network.

"Today's tough but … Read more

The likelihood that Google may acquire travel search technology company ITA Software has been causing waves of nervousness across companies in the existing travel search market--many of whom count themselves among ITA's existing clients.

Now it appears the heat has been turned up a notch at one of those companies, Kayak: According to a source with knowledge of the situation, the company may have quietly laid off as much 25 percent of its workforce last Thursday as it forges toward an IPO.

Kayak representatives did not respond to multiple requests for comment. A news outlet called Tnooz reported on … Read more