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Art: Matt Vascellaro

Facebook’s Path to China

By Amir Efrati · Dec 24, 2014 7:01am PST

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg intends to develop a consumer business in China. In 2015, we’ll learn more about how he might do so. For political reasons, the core Facebook service has been blocked by the Chinese government for the past six years or so, and that doesn’t seem likely to end in the near term. But current and former... Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg intends to develop a consumer business in China. In 2015,...

Russian-born Sergey Brin, a Google co-founder. Photo by Bloomberg.

Google Shuts Down Russia Engineering Office

By Amir Efrati · Dec 11, 2014 2:47pm PST · 1 comment

Google plans to shut down its engineering operations in Russia, following similar recent departures by other Western and Russian software companies and engineers, according to people informed of the decision. Google plans to shut down its engineering operations in Russia, following similar recent...

Google CEO Larry Page. Photo by Bloomberg.

The Hole in Google’s Mobile Strategy

By Amir Efrati · Dec 9, 2014 7:01am PST · 3 comments

This article is part one of a series. Part two is here. Google has a mobile problem, and it goes beyond the fact that people are searching differently on phones than on computers. Fast-growing smartphone apps from Snapchat to Yik Yak are being born every day, occupying bigger slices of people’s time. Google hasn’t built or acquired... This article is part one of a series. Part two is here. Google has a mobile problem, and it goes...

Photo by Associated Press.

Netflix Reverses Stock Option Policy in Hunt for Talent

By Martin Peers · Dec 8, 2014 7:01am PST

Photo by Associated Press.

Netflix Reverses Stock Option Policy in Hunt for Talent

By Martin Peers · Dec 8, 2014 7:01am PST

Question: Who in Silicon Valley would choose to work for a company that didn’t pay bonuses and only gave employees stock options if they were willing to forgo part of their salary in exchange? Apparently, not too many, if Netflix’s experience is anything to go by. That unusual stock-for-salary allocation approach has been a central... Question: Who in Silicon Valley would choose to work for a company that didn’t pay bonuses...

Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo, with colleagues earlier this year. Photo by Max Morse.

All Eyes on Apple as Google Search Deal Expires Next Year

By Amir Efrati · Nov 25, 2014 7:01am PST · 4 comments

Mozilla’s decision last week to replace Google with Yahoo as the default search engine for the Firefox browser in the U.S. was a nice little score for Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer. But among companies still wringing billions of dollars a year from search ads, all eyes are on the upcoming expiration of the only search distribution deal that... Mozilla’s decision last week to replace Google with Yahoo as the default search engine for...

Steve Jobs announcing iCloud in 2011. Photo by Bloomberg.

What’s Holding Back iCloud

By Jessica E. Lessin · Nov 24, 2014 10:39am PST · 2 comments

In June 2011, Steve Jobs took the stage before Apple developers to announce a project close to his heart. It was iCloud, a system for syncing files across Apple devices. Mr. Jobs was particularly excited about the potential to sync photos, one of the most widely used media types, say people who work at Apple. Yet today, the photo vision,... In June 2011, Steve Jobs took the stage before Apple developers to announce a project close to...

Google co-founder Sergey Brin pushed for an anti-censorship stance in China. Credit: Steve Jurvetson

Google’s China App Store Talks Heat Up

By Amir Efrati · Nov 19, 2014 7:01am PST · 3 comments

Google intends to launch a version of its Google Play app store in China, hoping to exercise greater influence over a market that accounts for roughly half the people who use its Android mobile operating system, say several people with knowledge of the company’s plans. In recent months, the company has indicated its intention to reverse a... Google intends to launch a version of its Google Play app store in China, hoping to exercise...

John Pleasants, executive vice president of Samsung Media Solutions Center .

Samsung Preps New Mobile Video Service

By Jessica E. Lessin · Nov 13, 2014 11:07am PST

John Pleasants, executive vice president of Samsung Media Solutions Center .

Samsung Preps New Mobile Video Service

By Jessica E. Lessin · Nov 13, 2014 11:07am PST

Samsung Electronics is rebooting its mobile video strategy in a test of whether short-form video content can drive mobile revenues just as games have. The South Korean company has earmarked several tens of millions of dollars to invest in short-form video for a new mobile product, according to people Samsung talked to about the effort.... Samsung Electronics is rebooting its mobile video strategy in a test of whether short-form video...

NBC folded its one-time digital gem iVillage into Today.com. Photo by Bloomberg.

Media Sells Off Digital Assets, For Now

By Tom Dotan · Nov 5, 2014 7:00am PST · 2 comments

Call it the great digital housecleaning of digital media. Six or seven years ago, media companies were scrambling to buy digital assets. Properties like MySpace, IGN, Fandango, iVillage and DailyCandy were gobbled up by media conglomerates who wanted to stake an online claim and appear, at least to their shareholders, like they had a read on the... Call it the great digital housecleaning of digital media. Six or seven years ago, media companies...

Apple CEO Tim Cook announcing Apple Pay. Photo by Bloomberg.

Apple Eyes New Uses for NFC Beyond iPhone Payments

By Amir Efrati · Oct 27, 2014 7:01am PDT · 2 comments

Consumers are just starting to use Apple Pay to make purchases at cash registers and online stores. But Apple representatives have also talked to potential partners about using the technology behind Apple Pay for other sorts of transactions, including building security access and accepting tickets at public transit turnstiles. The Apple... Consumers are just starting to use Apple Pay to make purchases at cash registers and online...

Google's infrastructure chief, Urs Holzle.

Google Accelerates Cloud Offensive

By Amir Efrati and Steve Nellis · Oct 23, 2014 7:00am PDT · 2 comments

Google is getting serious about cloud services. For the past two years, the business of running applications for other customers in Google data centers appeared to be a low-priority hobby for the tech giant. But now, as Microsoft and Amazon race ahead, Google executives are prodding their engineers to make its public cloud as fast and powerful... Google is getting serious about cloud services. For the past two years, the business of running...

A phone running Android One. Photo by Bloomberg.

Google Combats Open-Source Android Smartphones

By Amir Efrati · Oct 21, 2014 7:01am PDT · 1 comment

A phone running Android One. Photo by Bloomberg.

Google Combats Open-Source Android Smartphones

By Amir Efrati · Oct 21, 2014 7:01am PDT · 1 comment

Google is taking steps to curtail the proliferation of smartphones powered by open-source Android, which left unchecked could threaten Google’s revenue from the mobile operating system. New data show that open-source Android devices, once thought to be prevalent only in China, may represent more than 30% of total Android smartphones in... Google is taking steps to curtail the proliferation of smartphones powered by open-source...

Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel. Photo by Associated Press.

Snapchat’s Real Business Plan is Platform, Not Ads

By Tom Dotan · Oct 14, 2014 7:01am PDT · 3 comments

Evan Spiegel was chatting on stage with Michael Bloomberg last week at a Vanity Fair summit in San Francisco when the topic turned to monetization. And the CEO of Snapchat, whose lips are near hermetically sealed when it comes to most plans around the ephemeral messaging app, finally dropped a clue. Ads, the 24-year-old revealed. Untargeted... Evan Spiegel was chatting on stage with Michael Bloomberg last week at a Vanity Fair summit in...

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in India this week. Photo by Bloomberg.

Facebook in Talks with Peer-to-Peer Lending Sites

By Tom Dotan · Oct 10, 2014 7:00am PDT · 1 comment

As murmurs about Facebook’s plans to offer payment services grow louder, the company has also been setting its sights in a different direction: lending. Facebook has been in talks with peer-to-peer lending services, including Lending Club and Prosper, about integrating a way for Facebook users to get loans into the social network,... As murmurs about Facebook’s plans to offer payment services grow louder, the company has...

Google vice president Jamie Rosenberg. Photo by Bloomberg.

Google Considers New App Trial Technology For Android

By Amir Efrati · Oct 8, 2014 7:00am PDT

Google spends enormous resources every year to improve the features of its Android mobile operating software. But one of Android’s key services, the Google Play app store, hasn’t kept up. It looks much the same as it did more than a year ago and faces challenges in helping people find the right apps and getting them to spend money on... Google spends enormous resources every year to improve the features of its Android mobile...

Cyanogen co-founders Steve Kondik, left, and Kirt McMaster. Photo by Cyanogen.

Cyanogen Spurns Google Acquisition Interest, Seeks $1 Billion Valuation

By Amir Efrati · Oct 2, 2014 11:23am PDT

Cyanogen co-founders Steve Kondik, left, and Kirt McMaster. Photo by Cyanogen.

Cyanogen Spurns Google Acquisition Interest, Seeks $1 Billion Valuation

By Amir Efrati · Oct 2, 2014 11:23am PDT

A startup that distributes smartphone software based on Google’s Android mobile operating system recently drew attention from Google’s rivals, including Microsoft, Amazon and Yahoo. Now it’s gotten Google’s attention, too. The Palo Alto- and Seattle-based company, called Cyanogen, is discussing a Series C round of... A startup that distributes smartphone software based on Google’s Android mobile operating...

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo. Photo by Bloomberg.

With ‘Fabric,’ Twitter Aims to Win Back Developers

By Amir Efrati · Sep 30, 2014 10:09am PDT · 2 comments

Twitter is preparing a push to mend fences with app developers, with the hopes of embedding itself into more mobile apps and collecting deeper data on mobile users. The company plans to unveil a new app development platform called “Twitter Fabric” that contains tools for developers to help people sign up for their apps more easily,... Twitter is preparing a push to mend fences with app developers, with the hopes of embedding...

Illustration by Matt Vascellaro

Google’s Confidential Android Contracts Show Rising Requirements

By Amir Efrati · Sep 26, 2014 7:25am PDT · 1 comment

Google for years has tweaked its search engine to promote other revenue-generating Google Web services in the search results, much to the dismay of some rival Web companies. Now, there is new evidence Google is following the same playbook with its Android mobile operating system, which has become a key vehicle to distribute its... Google for years has tweaked its search engine to promote other revenue-generating Google Web...

The Apple Watch. Photo by Bloomberg.

Apple Employees, Partners Expected Watch This Year

By Amir Efrati and Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 24, 2014 7:07am PDT

In the weeks since Apple’s big watch announcement, Apple executives have shed some light on the product’s development, discussing its conception three years ago and the bevy of watch and design experts they consulted. One fact they’ve omitted: Employees and partners were, until recently, expecting it to launch this year. ... In the weeks since Apple’s big watch announcement, Apple executives have shed some light on...

Ron Johnson in an Apple Store. Photo by Associated Press.

Former Apple Exec, J.C. Penney CEO to Launch Delivery Startup

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 23, 2014 12:45pm PDT · 1 comment

Ron Johnson in an Apple Store. Photo by Associated Press.

Former Apple Exec, J.C. Penney CEO to Launch Delivery Startup

By Jessica E. Lessin · Sep 23, 2014 12:45pm PDT · 1 comment

The godfather of Apple’s retail stores is trying to reinvent shopping again, this time by getting rid of stores. Ron Johnson, who left Apple in 2011 for a controversial stint as the CEO of J.C. Penney, is launching a high-end, on-demand delivery service for gadgets, according to several people who have talked to him about it. And he has... The godfather of Apple’s retail stores is trying to reinvent shopping again, this time by...