square

Wednesday's top headlines are served with a low-fat triple shot of mobile news:

You may wonder why it matters that Square partnered with Starbucks. Customers could already pay for coffee by using the Starbucks app and show their phone screen to the barista. And how much time does that really save compared to taking out your wallet?

This deal is all about awareness. Seeing the Square logo in stores will help people get more comfortable with the idea of phones being a wallet replacement. Apple will also be pushing this concept in iOS 6 with the Passbook app that … Read more

With the announcement that Starbucks is going to use Square for all credit- and debit-card payments (see this CNET News post by Steven Musil, @StevenMusil), the mobile payments startup is finally ready for prime time.

Yes, Square has been in the news for a while now, and it's gotten a valuation estimated to be between $1 billion and $4 billion, and has millions of dollars in transactions per day. But it's this deal with Starbucks that is going to give Square truly wide exposure and make it more commonplace.

I thought this would be a good moment to … Read more

The partnership between Starbucks and Square may accomplish what even tech giant Google hasn't been able to pull off: taking mobile payments into the mainstream.

With Starbucks, Square has a large and visible pulpit from which to tout its fledgling "pay with Square" mobile payment service. Best known for its small mag-stripe reader and ability to quickly handle transactions for small businesses, the company is pushing to get consumers to use Square as a digital wallet.

"The ubiquitous nature of Starbucks' national footprint can do a lot to raise awareness," Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said … Read more

Mobile payments startup Square has formed an extensive partnership with Starbucks that includes a $25 million investment from the coffeehouse giant.

Under the terms of the deal announced this evening, Square will process credit and debit card transactions at U.S. stores. Also, Starbucks customers will be able to make purchases with Pay with Square -- Square's payer app -- at Starbucks locations later this fall.

In addition to investing $25 million in Square's fourth round of funding, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz will join Square's board of directors. In June 2011, the company raised $100 million in … Read more

Nobody wants to admit it, but building a personal brand is essential if you want to thrive in a business world dominated by social media. This is especially true for entrepreneurs and even venture capitalists who have only recently stepped out from the shadows and into the spotlight.

I became intrigued by the rising role of personal branding in the VC world by a New York Times article last week that discussed how more VC firms are hiring PR specialists to help brand their firms.

Here's a quick excerpt from that article:

"Now, Sand Hill Road in Silicon … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

On this day in 1992, "Jeremy" premiered on MTV.

Great collection of what Olympic divers look like mid-jump.

NASA to air Mars landing in Times Square.

Digg unveils revamped home page.

FCC to Verizon: You don't have a right to block tethering apps.

Direction of Justin Bieber documentary to reboot He-Man movie.… Read more

Square has once again raised a ton of money, closing a $200 million round of funding that will make CEO Jack Dorsey a certified paper billionaire, according to those watching the industry.

Although neither the company nor its lead investor -- little-known private equity firm Rizvi Traverse of Michigan -- would confirm the matter, news of the dollar figure has been swirling around today.

Rizvi Traverse other investments include Playboy, Facebook and Twitter, according to the company's Web site.

The funding, which is twice the amount the company raised last year, puts a valuation of $3.25 billion, an … Read more

I've been working the device torture beat here for a while, but this video of an iPad and Google Nexus 7 going head-to-head in drop and submersion tests almost gave me a full-blown case of DTSD (device trauma stress disorder).

Once again, the device warranty folks at SquareTrade subjected two devices to some low-level maiming to see which survives with the least damage and the iPad suffered the most battle scars, at least from the drops. … Read more

Square, the mobile-payments startup that has made a big splash around the U.S., is looking to go overseas.

The company's chief executive, Jack Dorsey, told reporters yesterday at the Allen & Co. media conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, that Square is "going outside the U.S. soon." According to Bloomberg, which was first to report on the news, Dorsey didn't say where his company would be expanding. He also wouldn't say when it would happen.

Even without help from international efforts, Square has been growing quite rapidly and announced in March that it was … Read more