Andrew Mason, CEO and founder of Groupon, has just been replaced by Executive Chairman Eric Lefkofsky and Vice Chairman Ted Leonisis, who will take over the new position of Office of the Chief Executive.
They will serve as interim co-CEOs while they hunt for a replacement to take over permanently. → Read More
Every week, Eric and Alexia update the TechCrunch editorial team on our performance, providing important stat breakdowns for the week, such as total number of posts and pageviews. They also provide updates on notable news within the team and organization — things like new hires, new roles, and important upcoming events and goals. This was my response to our fearless leaders this week. → Read More
You’re a new startup on the tech scene in Europe, perhaps you’re a brand new entrepreneur. One day you get an email saying you’ve been shortlisted as a finalist for a “prestigious” award, putting you in the “Top 200″ in Europe, out of “hundreds of applications”. Of course, hungry for exposure, you jump at the chance only to be told that you’ll be charged $3,820 (€2,900) to pitch to investors… → Read More
Ingrid Lunden began working for Techmeme in February of 2012, after an extensive career at paidContent.org and regular freelance work for publications such as the Financial Times. Today, she celebrates her one-year anniversary with Techmeme.
Ingrid is passionate about all new technology, but has specific interest in mobile, digital media, advertising. Her dedication to the intersection of… → Read More
Tesla Motors CEO and founder Elon Musk definitely isn’t the best guy to try to pull a fast one on. The visionary entrepreneur set Twitter a titter when he claimed earlier this week that New York Times writer John Broder had fudged details about the Tesla Models S car’s range in cold weather, resulting in what he termed a “fake” article. Musk promised evidence, and now he has delivered, via the… → Read More
CES today issued a press release announcing that DISH’s Hopper with Sling technology built-in is the “Best of Show” after all, an honor it will share with existing winner the Razer Edge for the 2013 show. The decision follows the revelation that CNET was ordered to remove the Hopper from consideration after CNET parent company CBS asked them to. CBS is currently involved in litigation with DISH… → Read More
Samsung has announced that it will drop all of its standard essential patent infringement cases against Apple in Europe, according to the manufacturer. Blooomberg reports that Samsung says it’s doing so “in the interest of protecting consumer choice” in a statement, saying it believes “it is better when companies compete fairly in the marketplace.” → Read More
Apple has suffered a loss in court today at the hands of a federal jury, over three patents held by MobileMedia Ideas, a patent-licensing firm owned by MPEG-LA and holding patents acquired from Sony and Nokia. The jury found that Apple had indeed violated the three patents, which were not determined to be invalid, after deliberating for four hours according to Bloomberg news. → Read More
The USPTO has issued a preliminary notice indicating that the famous ‘Steve Jobs’ patent, which describes basic multitouch technology including scrolling, might be invalid, according to a first Office action uncovered by FOSS Patents. The ruling is very early, however, and Apple still has two months to make an initial response and a number of appeals before the patent in question might finally be… → Read More
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal published last night, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt shared some interesting perspective on the various legal threats facing his company, as well as the relationship between Apple and Google. He offered that the picture often painted in the media of immature squabbling is off-base, suggesting instead that the two companies are more like… → Read More
A stock trader named David Miller with Rochdale Securities was arrested today on the grounds that he’d illegally purchased $1 billion in Apple stock, or 1.625 million shares on the day Apple released its quarter earnings in October. The idea was to do a quick sell-off when the stocks rose on Apple’s reported results, cash out and leave the firm’s cash reserves none the worse for wear. But that’s… → Read More
A Dutch court ruled today (via IDG) that Samsung Galaxy products running Android 2.2.1 and higher, which don’t use Samsung’s own proprietary image gallery software are banned from sale, for infringing on an Apple patent related to scrolling through images on a touchscreen. The ruling also states Samsung must report its profits from Galaxy device sales since June 27, 2011 to determine a penalty. → Read More
A report today from Bloomberg claims that Apple SVP Eddy Cue, who took over control of Maps from Scott Forstall when that senior executive and iOS architect departed the company, has fired Richard Williamson, a manager who oversaw the Maps team. The move is part of Apple’s continued efforts to right the faults consumers reacted negatively to in Maps. → Read More
In ongoing legal proceedings in California, Apple has added six new devices to its patent infringement claims against rival Samsung, getting them in late Friday evening ahead of a deadline on changes to the scope of the complaint. The new additions essentially cover just about every piece of Samsung hardware now available in the U.S. market, with modifications that also account for recent OS… → Read More
How young will the casualties become in the ongoing war against online piracy? You have to wonder, when you learn that a 9-year old girl’s laptop was seized by Finnish police in a raid on her home, following a complaint by the CIAPC anti-piracy group which had ISPs block The Pirate Bay in Finland. The raid followed a request that the girl’s father pay up around €600 to settle piracy accusations. → Read More
Last time we checked in with Apple’s ongoing court battle with Samsung in the upcoming Galaxy Nexus case, which will be tried by the same court that awarded Apple $1.05 billion in damages this past summer, Apple was adding the latest Samsung devices to the suit. Now Samsung has responded in kind, adding the iPad mini, 4th generation iPad and 5th generation iPod touch to the mix. → Read More
Intel today announced that CEO Paul Otellini will retire in May. In a press release, the company said that Otellini will take his leave at the company’s annual stockholder meeting in May, with the stated intent of easing the management transition during the next 6 months. Otellini has been CEO of Intel since mid 2005, and saw annual revenue grow from $38.8 billion to $54 billion through the end of… → Read More
In a court filing this week spotted by Bloomberg, Apple indicated that it is “interested in resolving its dispute with Motorola completely and agrees that arbitration may be the best vehicle to resolve the parties’ dispute.” Motorola Mobility had discussed the possibility of arbitration back on November 5, when a federal judge tossed a case Apple had filed saying Motorola was abusing… → Read More
In an ongoing California court case between Apple and Samsung, a judge on Thursday granted the requests of both companies to add recently released hardware to the suit. The iPhone 5 is now included, as well as Samsung’s U.S. Galaxy S III, the Galaxy Note 10.1 and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean (specifically as it pertains to the Galaxy Nexus, and not beyond). → Read More
Apple may not be getting squeezed by a Samsung pricing change as previously reported, according to new info from Seoul-based newspaper The Hankyoreh. The paper received word from an unnamed Samsung official who said that pricing is established at the outset of every year, and remains fairly inflexible throughout, meaning a sudden, dramatic rise isn’t even necessarily possible given the… → Read More
Samsung has “no intention” to follow the example of HTC and work out a settlement with legal and consumer tech rival Apple, according to Samsung Electronics Head of Mobile J.K. Shin. He said so to reporters today, the AFP reports, when asked if Samsung might pursue a settlement similar to the 10-year cross-licensing agreement announced by Apple and HTC this past weekend. → Read More
Apple and HTC today announced jointly a settlement of all ongoing patent litigation between the two, in a licensing agreement with a 10-year term, any further terms of which were not released. Many will be wondering if this is a sign that Apple’s hard-line stance with regards to its IP and patent litigation may be experiencing a general softening, but it’s much more complicated than that. → Read More
The Wall Street Journal has released a report with updated information about why Apple decided to part ways with two senior executives, including former iOS SVP Scott Forstall and former SVP of Retail John Browett. The WSJ says that both executives were in fact asked to leave by Apple, following “missteps and management tensions” in their roles at Apple. → Read More
The Hackathon never sleeps, and neither do the hackers. Just like the Disrupt NY 2012 Hackathon, and the San Francisco Hackathon before it, this year’s bunch of coders are up and at ‘em, ready to disrupt… well, anything.
Surveying the San Francisco Design Center, you’ll find a lot of empty red bull cans, beer bottles, and bags of chips. It’s not necessarily the most nutritional sustenance… → Read More
Once upon a time, in a land 3,000 miles away, Alexia wrote a post titled Arianna Wants To Put A Nap Room In TechCrunch HQ. Lol. It was in reference to NapQuest, a relatively awesome initiative at Aol/Huffington Post that includes a small room with a massage chair, a shelf full of books, complete with a full-fledged dentist-style reclining chair and a sleep sound machine.
Along with some other… → Read More
Warning: There’s no real tech news reason I’m writing this, other than the fact that it’s sort of ridiculous that humans are this way and maybe that’s an opportunity for some startup to tap into.
I arrived at the Aol 770 Broadway offices on Thursday and was met with the above glass situation at the TechCrunch NYC cubicle headquarters. After several moves, the TechCrunch team is on the six… → Read More
Independent reporter Guy Adams’ Twitter account was restored today. It was suspended after Adams tweeted NBC President of the Olympics Gary Zenkel’s email address.
Adams tweeted in two parts, “Twitter emails to tell me: “we have just received an update from the complainant retracting their original request…Therefore your account has been unsuspended.” No further explanation given, or… → Read More
Michael Morganella, a defender on the Swiss Olympic soccer squad, has been kicked off the team for an offensive tweet about South Koreans, hours after losing to the country’s team. Five days ago, Voula Papachristou, Greece’s triple-jump champion, was kicked off her team for an offensive tweet about West Nile virus.
Morganella’s Twitter account, @morgastoss, has been deleted, but Swiss… → Read More
Twitter shut down Independent reporter Guy Adams after he tweeted a top NBC executive’s email address. Adams has been a staunch critic of NBC’s Olympics coverage, tweeting up a storm about NBC’s factual inaccuracies and other broadcast shortcomings.
Adams tweeted the corporate email address of Gary Zenkel, President of the NBC Olympics. → Read More
Location-based note-sharing app Pinwheel has changed its name to Findery, after the U.S. District Court of New York granted Pinweel, a photo-sharing app, a preliminary injunction over the similar names.
In February, Caterina Fake (yep, last name Fake involved in a naming-rights lawsuit…I can’t make this stuff up) launched Pinwheel. The older Pinweel demanded that Pinwheel change its name… → Read More
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