Webware

Google to close Motorola Mobility deal by Wednesday

Google's $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility will finally close by Wednesday.

Motorola Mobility announced in a Form-8K filed today with the Securities and Exchange Commission that now that the Bureau of the Ministry of the Commerce of China has cleared Google's acquisition, the companies will finalize the transaction "within two business days."

China announced on Saturday that it had approved the acquisition, making it the last major regulator to give the deal the green light. Both the U.S. Justice Department and European Union regulators approved the acquisition in February.

Google announced plans to acquire Motorola Mobility in August for $12.5 billion, more

Another day, another board ex-Yahoo CEO Thompson leaves

Former Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson has left another board of directors seat.

Splunk, a provider of real-time operational intelligence software, announced today that Thompson has resigned from his post as director on the company's board. Splunk chairman and CEO Godfrey Sullivan thanked Thompson for his "contributions to the company."

Thompson's Splunk resignation, which was effective May 18, came the same day F5 Networks announced that Thompson had also left its board.

Although neither company said why Thompson was leaving, it likely was due to the recent revelation that Thompson's resume incorrectly indicated that he had earned computer more

Internet Explorer 9

With Internet Explorer 9, you can pin websites to your Windows 7 Taskbar so they are one-click away. Just drag the tab down to the taskbar to pin

Get to your favorite sites faster

Facebook stock opens with a thud, ends down 11 percent

Last update: 1:38 p.m. PT

So, it looks like investors are not too happy with Facebook today.

The company's shares plummeted in early trading, hitting a low of $33, down some 13 percent, shortly after the opening bell. By the end of the day, they had recovered slightly to close out at $34.03, down 11 percent for the first full day of post-IPO trading.

The poor performance puts Facebook much lower than its $38 initial offering price and its Friday close at $38.23. The humongous social network made its attention-grabbing stock market debut Friday.

The

Facebook shares drop below IPO price in pre-market

Facebook's shares are trading lower on their second day on Nasdaq.

In pre-market trading this morning, the company's shares dropped 4.37 percent to $36.56, leaving them below their initial $38 offering price and their first-day close of $38.23.

Facebook's shares rose to a high of $45 on Monday before flirting with falling below their initial price. It was believed that the stock was buoyed by underwriters to ensure it didn't slip below $38.

Aside from Facebook finally going public, the big story on Friday was Nasdaq delaying its opening due to a technical glitch. more

EU competition chief: We'll settle with Google over antitrust

The European Union's competition commissioner says he's open to settling his antitrust investigation into Google's search practices.

Joaquin Almunia held a news briefing today, saying that his office would be willing to come to a "quick resolution on the competition issues" that Google is facing, so competition can be restored across the continent.

"Google has repeatedly expressed to me its willingness to discuss any concerns that the Commission might have without having to engage in adversarial proceedings," Almunia said. "This is why today I'm giving Google an opportunity to offer remedies to address concerns that we more

Internet Explorer 9

With Internet Explorer 9, you can pin websites to your Windows 7 Taskbar so they are one-click away. Just drag the tab down to the taskbar to pin

Get to your favorite sites faster

Nasdaq hitch mars Facebook's big day

Updated at 2:33 p.m. PT

In the end, all of Facebook's major shareholders and insiders who cashed out today got their big payday. It just took a little bit longer for the company to celebrate than initially anticipated.

Facebook this morning was expected to go public at about 8 a.m. PT. However, the shares didn't start trading until approximately 8:30 a.m. PT, causing some to wonder what might have caused the hiccup. During that period, Bloomberg reported that it had received an e-mailed statement from Nasdaq, saying only that it was "experiencing a delay."more

Americans watched 37 billion online videos last month

How much online video did you watch last month?

Across the U.S., 181 million Internet users tracked by ComScore caught a total of 37 billion videos in April. That means 84.5 percent of the U.S. Internet audience viewed an online video, and the average person spent 21.8 hours doing so for the month.

Grabbing 157.7 million viewers, Google was the top site for video watching, thanks mostly to YouTube. Yahoo came in second place with 53.6 million viewers, followed by Vevo with 49.5 million, Facebook with 44.3 million, and Microsoft with 42.more

Facebook shares jump, then fall, then close flat

Last update: 1:37 p.m. PT.

The world's largest social network is now a public company, and though it got off to a good start, the share price story for the day wasn't terribly inspiring.

Facebook today kicked off its IPO day at $38 a share, and in early trading, the company's stock jumped 12 percent to $42.50, and touched a high of $43.20.

But the shares took a startling plunge soon thereafter back to about the starting price before trending upward once again to just over $41 by early afternoon Eastern time. The more

Facebook sued for $15 billion over alleged privacy infractions

As Facebook prepares to start trading on the Nasdaq, a class-action lawsuit has been brought against it.

Law firm Stewarts Law US announced today that it has combined 21 privacy lawsuits against the social network into a single, class-action suit, charging the world's largest social network with violating user privacy by allegedly tracking their Web usage.

Stewarts Law is asking for $15 billion -- a sum it arrived at by calling on the U.S. Wiretap Act, which "provides statutory damages of the greater of $100 per violation per day, up to $10,000, per Facebook user," the law more

Facebook's IPO: A cautionary tale for the company

Over the last several years since Facebook grew out of a college-focused idea into the hang-out spot for the world, the company's growth has exploded. It now has 901 million active users, making it the world's largest social network. And with $1.06 billion in revenue during the first quarter alone, it's quickly becoming a financial giant as well.

But even a massive IPO and a ton of hype isn't enough to ensure long-term success. Sure, analysts expect the company to grow, but its domination of the tech world is by no means assured. In fact, more