Verizon to acquire Yahoo core assets for $4.8 billion

Verizon will soon be announcing its acquisition of Yahoo’s core assets for a mere $4.8 billion, a sad amount that the iconic company, once valued at $125 billion, is happy to settle for.

The sale only covers Yahoo’s core assets, which means the company will retain its stake in Alibaba and Yahoo Japan Corp., which is still estimated by Bloomberg to be worth $40 billion, reports Gizmodo.

Yahoo has a had a long history of missed opportunities that may have contributed to its current predicament. Back in 1997, it turned down the chance to buy Google, now valued at $530 billion, for a mere $1 billion and again in 2002.

It also passed up on buying Facebook for yet another $1 billion back in 2006. Facebook is now valued at $350 billion.

Current CEO Marissa Mayer, who took seat in 2012, was also unable to stop the corrosion that had eaten away at the company. During her time, Yahoo acquired 53 different companies of which 41 were eventually shut down.

Mayer is now expected to resign but is said to be taking home a very hefty severance pay of $57 million.  Alfred Bayle

source: technology.inquirer.net

Mariah Carey, Nick Cannon headed for splitsville?

MANILA, Philippines – Singer Mariah Carey and husband Nick Cannon are living separately, Cannon himself said in an interview.

“There is trouble in paradise.  We have been living in separate houses for a few months,” Cannon told Yahoo’s The Insider.

Cannon, however, insisted that his infidelity was not the reason for their split. 


He said their utmost duty now was not to put their three-year-old twins in the middle of their personal issues.

Meanwhile, in a separate report by E! Online, Carey was reportedly devastated about the comments Cannon told Yahoo since they had agreed to work on a statement together.

“A joint statement was being prepared when he went and gave those quotes to The Insider,” The E! Online report said.

After Cannon went public about the state of their marriage, Carey posted in her Instagram account a photo of their three year-old twins hugging each other.

(Insert Instagram Photo saved in images folder)

The singer and former American idol judge, however, neither confirmed nor denied her husband’s statement and kept mum on the status of their relationship.

Carey and Cannon got married in 2008.

source: entertainment.inquirer.net

Yahoo buying binge continues with Vizify takeover

SAN FRANCISCO—Yahoo on Wednesday added Vizify to the long list of startups it has bought since former Google executive Marissa Mayer took the helm less than two years ago.

The company did not disclose how much it paid for Vizify, which specializes in letting people turn their social media data into videos, infograpics or other visual presentations.

“We have found in Vizify a company that shares our passion for visualization technology and the user experience,” Yahoo said.

Founded in 2011, Vizify is based in Portland, Oregon. Its five-member team will join Yahoo’s media product group in San Francisco.

“As for what’s next, we can’t talk specifics just yet, but we’re excited to bring a more visual approach to data at Yahoo,” the Vizify team said in a post on the company’s website.

“We have a lot more up our sleeves and can’t wait to get started.”

Over 2 dozen startups

Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo has bought more than two dozen startups as Mayer tries to pump new life into the aging Internet pioneer eclipsed by Silicon Valley neighbor Google.

Last month, Yahoo acquired Wander, which makes smartphone visual diary-app Days.

The Days app, launched a year ago, lets people weave images captured at various moments into “visual diaries” of any given days in their lives.

The Wander team will go to work in Yahoo offices in New York as the company adds more muscle to its efforts to be center stage on smartphones and tablet computers.

Since taking charge of Yahoo in July 2012, Mayer has made a priority of tailoring products and services for smartphones and tablets with an aim at becoming part of people’s daily habits in the mobile age.

She has also shown a penchant for buying startups to add talented members of their teams to the Yahoo workforce.

source: technology.inquirer.net

Yahoo buys smartphone diary-app maker Wander

SAN FRANCISCO—Yahoo on Tuesday added the startup behind smartphone visual diary-app Days to its list of acquisitions as CEO Marissa Mayer tries to pump new life into the aging Internet pioneer.

Financial terms of the deal to buy New York City-based Wander were not disclosed, but technology news website TechCrunch put the value at more than $10 million.

The Days app, launched in March of last year, lets people weave images captured at various moments into “visual diaries” of any given days in their lives.

The Wander team will go to work in Yahoo offices in New York City as the California-based company adds more muscle to its efforts to be center-stage on smartphones and tablet computers.

“The Days app will live on as a standalone entity, and we’ll also be working on some exciting new projects that we can’t talk about just yet,” the startup said in a blog post announcing the acquisition.

30 firms bought since mid-2012

Yahoo has bought nearly 30 companies since former Google executive Mayer took the helm in mid-2012.

She has made a priority of tailoring products and services for smartphones and tablets with an aim at becoming part of people’s daily habits in the mobile age.

Revitalizing Yahoo will take ‘multiple years” with the company now working to stabilize the business, Mayer said during an on-stage chat Tuesday at a Goldman Sachs technology and Internet conference here.

Mayer said that she is “happy” with its deal to let Microsoft search engine Bing handle the job of crawling and indexing the web for searches at Yahoo sites.

She sees opportunity in tapping into the power of mobile devices to tune search results that take into account where people are, what they may be doing and their habits.

“We are long on search; it should be no surprise,” Mayer said. “There is a lot we can offer in the search space beyond core search.”

Yahoo pioneered online search but set out to re-invent itself after being overshadowed by Silicon Valley rival Google.

source: technology.inquirer.net

Yahoo acquires ad-service, URL-shortner Bread

WASHINGTON – Yahoo said Saturday that it acquired tech company Bread, a URL shortener that allows users to design then target advertisements to readers who click on their links.

“Through this acquisition, we’re gaining a team of six engineers and product managers who will join our advertising technology organization in Sunnyvale,” a Yahoo spokesperson said.



Bread, which has already been shuttered, allowed users to make and insert ads that people clicking through to a shortened link’s webpage would have to view, according to media.

“When we launched Bread in 2011, our goal was to help social media influencers and publishers better monetize their online content,” the company said in a statement.

All Bread links will be viable until November 11, at which point the company says users should switch to another URL shortener, bit.ly.

Yahoo has been undergoing major changes since former Google executive Marissa Mayer became boss just over a year ago, notably acquiring what is now more than 20 startups including the billion-dollar buy of blog platform Tumblr.

source: technology.inquirer.net

Yahoo CEO says company now has 800 million users

SAN FRANCISCO — Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer says the Internet company now has about 800 million worldwide users, a 20 percent increase since she was lured away from Google 15 months ago to steer a turnaround.

The gain disclosed Wednesday at a technology conference in San Francisco is the latest evidence of the progress that Yahoo Inc. is making under Mayer’s leadership. The Sunnyvale, California, company’s stock has nearly doubled since Mayer came aboard, though she and analysts say that gain primarily stems from the value of Yahoo’s holdings in China’s rapidly growing Alibaba Group.

Mayer says the figure for the 800 million Yahoo users doesn’t include the traffic that the company has picked up from its $1.1 billion acquisition of Internet blogging service Tumblr earlier this year.

Despite the increased traffic, Yahoo is still struggling to boost its online advertising revenue — the main way that the company makes money. In recent quarters, Yahoo’s ad revenue has been barely rising while Google and another rival, Facebook Inc., have been thriving.

Mayer says she believes it her strategy for accelerating Yahoo’s revenue growth will require at least three years to unfold.

Yahoo’s stock shed 29 cents Wednesday to close at $29.19.

source: technology.inquirer.net

Yahoo says it backs privacy after dissident freed

BEIJING (AP) — Yahoo has issued a statement saying it supports free speech and privacy on the Internet, a day after the release of a Chinese dissident who was convicted on evidence supplied by the company.

Yahoo Inc. said it condemns political suppression "wherever and however it occurs."

The statement released Saturday did not directly address the case of Wang Xiaoning, who served 10 years in prison after Yahoo's wholly owned Hong Kong subsidiary gave Chinese police information linking him to anonymous emails and other pro-democracy writings he distributed through Yahoo Groups.

Yahoo drew strong criticism for cooperating with Chinese authorities. It later apologized and settled a lawsuit with the families involved for an undisclosed amount.

source: philstar.com

New email scam targets Yahoo users

A new email phishing scam is making the rounds of the Internet, targeting users of Yahoo Mail and seeking their online credentials.

Computer security firm BitDefender said the message bears the subject "E-Mail Account Exceeded" and urges the recipient to "revalidate" his or her Yahoo Mail address.

"If you receive this type of email in your inbox, it’s safe to assume that you’re being conned into giving away your Yahoo account, by using one of the internet’s oldest scams," it said.

Users who click on the re-validate link will be redirected to a Google Docs link that will display a small form asking them to input their email address, user name, and password.

They will even be asked to opt for a 500-GB storage upgrade to their accounts.

However, BitDefender also said the cybercriminals behind the latest scam appeared to be new at this, as there were telltale signs of trouble.

"Besides the poorly designed form, the fact that you can actually see the Google Docs link is an indication that the so-called hackers are pretty new at this and they’re targeting users not highly versed in Internet usage," it said.

BitDefender advised recipients of such - or similar - emails to "do a Google search with their content and see if some has reported the message as being a hoax." — TJD, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com

Facebook buys IBM patents

SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook confirmed Saturday that it has added a trove of IBM patents to its arsenal on an increasingly lawsuit-strewn technology battlefield.

Reports that Facebook bought 750 software and networking patents from IBM surfaced less than two weeks after struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! accused the thriving young firm of infringing on 10 of its patents.

“I can confirm that there was a purchase but I don’t have any other details to share,” Facebook spokesman Larry Yu said in response to an AFP inquiry.

IBM would not comment.

Acquisition of the patents came as California-based Facebook prepared for an initial public offering and as Internet titans increasingly battle in courts as well as in marketplaces.

Yahoo!, in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on March 12, accused Facebook of infringing on patents in several areas including advertising, privacy and messaging.

The Sunnyvale, California-based company asked the court to order Facebook to halt its alleged patent-infringing activities and to assess unspecified damages.

Facebook, which was founded in 2004, a decade after Yahoo!, expressed disappointment with the move.

“We’re disappointed that Yahoo!, a longtime business partner of Facebook and a company that has substantially benefited from its association with Facebook, has decided to resort to litigation,” a Facebook spokeswoman said.

In the suit, Yahoo! said that Facebook’s growth to more than 850 million users “has been based in large part on Facebook’s use of Yahoo!‘s patented technology.”

“For much of the technology upon which Facebook is based, Yahoo! got there first and was therefore granted patents by the United States Patent Office to protect those innovations,” Yahoo! said.

“Yahoo!‘s patents relate to cutting edge innovations in online products, including in messaging, news feed generation, social commenting, advertising display, preventing click fraud and privacy controls.”

Once seen as the Internet’s leading light, Yahoo! has struggled in recent years to build a strongly profitable, growing business out of its huge web presence and global audience.

source: japantoday.com

Yahoo! She launches in the Philippines

In celebration of the International Women’s Day, Yahoo! the premier digital media company, announced the launch of Yahoo! She – the one-stop online destination that offers “Real Women; Real Answers”. Echoing the voice and objectives of this significant global date, Yahoo! She aims to empower women, inspire ideologies and contribute towards building a nurturing environment for Filipino women.

Different from other women’s sites, Yahoo! She takes on topics that Filipinos are reluctant or hesitant to talk about openly, meanwhile delivering the information with taste and engaging its readers to partake in the discourse. The lifestyle property for 18-34 year olds is modeled after Yahoo! Shine – the leading site for women in the US, with more than 38 million unique visitors per month (comScore, January 2012).

Arlene Amarante, Country Ambassador and Sales Director of Yahoo! Philippines, said, “We are proud to be associated with the International Women’s Day and celebrate the successes and achievements of everyday women via Yahoo! She. As the Internet platform which has sought to connect and communicate with over 700 million users worldwide, Yahoo! aims to be a strong and supportive online hub where women can share views, express their thoughts and have real conversations with each other.”

She added, “Filipinos are widely familiar with Yahoo! Shine and access the US site on a frequent basis. With the launch of Yahoo! She in the Philippines, the site will bring locally relevant content that speaks to everyday Filipino women on topics that matter most to them whilst offering real answers – be it through tips, tools or practical advice to make their daily lives manageable and more productive.”

Yahoo! She offers a combination of original and syndicated content from some of the top lifestyle publications such as Cosmopolitan, Lovefood, Grazia, Juice, Investopedia and Forbes; independent bloggers and expert columns by Dr. Diana Sarmiento (for Health & Wellness), Oliva Yao (for Parenting & Relationships), Erica Paredes (for Fashion & Beauty), Chinggay Labrador (for Home & Organizing), Angel Rivero (for Health); polls and surveys; advertiser sponsored content and promos on topics ranging from beauty, skincare, healthy eating, exercise and diets, maintaining work-life balance and getting organized.

Press release from Yahoo!

source: gmanetwork.com

Yahoo! to lay off 'thousands'-report

Struggling internet giant Yahoo! is preparing to lay off thousands of workers in a sweeping restructuring, a report says.

The Dow Jones website All Things Digital said the shake-up of the struggling internet giant could come as early as the end of March and could target Yahoo's public relations and marketing division, research, and region-focused and other marginal businesses.

The layoffs 'are likely to number in the thousands', the website said, citing 'multiple sources' inside and outside the company.

The California company had more than 14,000 employees at the end of 2011. It also has a large number of software contract workers who could also be affected in the shake-up.

Yahoo! declined to comment directly on the story.

But in an emailed statement, the company said: 'As we have indicated, our leadership is engaged in a process that will generate significant strategic change at Yahoo, but final decisions have not yet been made at this point.'

Thompson, formerly head of mobile payments firm PayPal, became chief executive at the beginning of January promising urgent action to turn the company around.

He came in after many months of turmoil at the top of management over the company's direction, including deadlocked talks over possibly selling off the company's valuable assets in China and Japan.

Meanwhile the company's earnings also suffered, angering shareholders.

Operations income was up 3.5 per cent in 2011 to $US800 million, but net earnings fell 14.6 per cent to $US1.06 billion, and earnings per share for the year fell to 82 cents from 90 cents.

The news of the looming restructuring on Monday came in the wake of a sweeping shake-up of the 17-year-old firm's board of directors.

Two weeks after Thompson was recruited, Yahoo! co-founder and former chief executive Jerry Yang resigned from the board of directors. A few weeks later the chairman and three other directors said they would step down, opening the way for Thompson's agenda.

source: http://www.skynews.com.au/finance/article.aspx?id=725988&vId=

Monkees Singer Davy Jones Dead at 66

Davy Jones, Manchester-born lead singer of the 60s band The Monkees died Wednesday morning while sleeping at his home in Florida. His publicist, Deborah Robicheau, said he had had a massive heart attack. He was 66 Years old.



Davy Jones born David Thomas Jones on December 30, 1945 was named by Yahoo Music in 2008 as the number one teen idol of all time, he is also known for his acting career and in fact at the age of 11, he appeared on a british soap opera "Coronation Street" playing Ena Sharples’s grandson.

iPhone more searched than Kardashian on Yahoo in 2011

The iPhone topped every celebrity, every natural disaster, every political upheaval to earn the top spot at the most searched term on Yahoo in 2011.

The Yahoo Year In Review list, now in its 10th year, has only once before had a tech gadget come in at No. 1. And that happened in the first year of the review, when Sony's PlayStation 2 topped the chart.

Subsequent years have seen Britney Spears come in first. She actually landed the top spot every year from 2005 to 2008. Michael Jackson took the top spot in 2009. And last year, the BP oil spill was the most searched phrase.

The iPod's ascension came in a year with much speculation about what the newest version of the iPhone would look like and when Apple would released it. The company ultimately unveiled the iPhone 4S in October. Interest in the device no doubt increased as Apple chief executive and co-founder Steve Jobs stepped down from the company in August and passed away in October.

The results differ from data collected by Microsoft regarding the most widely searched terms on Bing in 2011. Microsoft compiled the data slightly differently than Yahoo, not listing an overall top search word or phrase. Instead, Microsoft grouped searches in specific categories. In the most searched consumer electronics device, the "iPhone 5" (a rumored model that has yet to launch) came in fourth, behind Xbox, Playstation, and Kindle. That may be because Microsoft separated iPhone searches by models, even though it didn't do that for the Xbox.

As for the Yahoo list, six of the seven phrases that followed iPhone are all tabloid fodder--Casey Anthony, Kim Kardashian, Katy Perry, Jennifer Lopez, Lindsay Lohan, and Jennifer Aniston. American Idol, Japan earthquake, and Osama bin Laden round out the top 10.

The iPhone 5 was the most popular mobile search on Yahoo, followed by Powerball and MLB. As for news searches, the Casey Anthony trial topped the list, followed by the royal wedding, and the death of bin Laden.

source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57334350-93/iphone-more-searched-than-kardashian-on-yahoo-in-2011/?tag=mncol