rumors

Report: Digg still mining for profits

This post initially misstated Digg's 2007 loss as reported by 'BusinessWeek.' The company reported lost $2.8 million in 2007.

There are some stunning numbers in BusinessWeek about social news site Digg: In 2007, the company reportedly pulled in only $4.8 million in revenue and lost $2.8 million. In the first three quarters of 2008, it lost $4 million on $6.4 million in revenue.

Digg declined to comment on the numbers.

This is a little bit disconcerting, if true. Digg has been one of the hottest start-ups in Silicon Valley's hype machine for the past … Read more

PSP-4000 rumors, PSP2 software already being developed?

While we just met with Sony Hardware Marketing Director John Koller, he had nothing to say about the possibility of a PSP-4000, let alone a successor to the PSP itself. According to Eurogamer, it's possible he was holding something back.

It seems that a PSP-4000 is very much in the works for 2009. We'd imagine the updated PSP would address the screen interlacing issues that the PSP-3000 suffers from, but we're just speculating. We're still going to chalk these details up as rumors, but it does make sense for a new iteration of the PSP to … Read more

Will Zune do Windows Mobile? Looks likely

There are a ton of rumors flying around right now saying that Microsoft just might introduce a Zune-ified competitor to the iPhone at CES next month. There are also those who call that a ridiculous notion. I happen, to a degree, to agree with both sides.

You won't see it at CES, but new a mobile phone initiative is brewing at Microsoft right now, and the Zune team is involved.

I live in Seattle. I run with the Microsoft/Amazon/Real/Whatever circle of geeks in the area. Sadly, because I'm a technology journalist, this means that when I run into them at parties they often have to clam up. I was, though, fortunate enough to have a sneak peek at a prototype Zune more than two years ago before anyone knew what it would look like or do. I was also lucky enough to snap a shot of it with my Treo. This became the first public photo of the device. It was black and white and wrapped in its own headphones, you might remember it. You could say I broke the Zune. I thus love the Zune. I pay close attention to what the Zune teams are doing. I listen to the Zune rumors. I have my ear to the Zune ground.

And I can tell you this: There will be a cellular communications device with Zune-like features in the near future. … Read more

Facebook book to hit shelves in the fall

Ben Mezrich, the author whose book Bringing Down The House inspired this summer's gambling flick 21, has confirmed to the Boston Herald that he's writing a book about Facebook's origins and that West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin is going to turn it into a movie.

As you may recall, part of a proposal for the book, tentatively titled Face Off, was leaked to gossip blog Gawker and launched a mini-firestorm because of some supposed inaccuracies--not to mention the fact that it doesn't look like the book will portray Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in the most positive … Read more

More cash for Facebook?

Accel Partners, a longtime investor in social network Facebook, has created two new funds that add up to just over $1 billion, according to The New York Times.

One of the funds, totaling $525 million, will be used to invest in European start-ups.

But the interesting part, at least where juicy tech gossip is concerned, is the other $480 million, which is going toward a new late-stage venture fund. A few speculative bloggers have connected the dots and taken this to mean that Accel may be looking to pump more cash into Facebook.

The firm first invested in Facebook in … Read more

Twitter rebuffs a Facebook poke?

Maybe it wasn't just egregious Valley gossip-baiting when Federated Media CEO John Battelle asked Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg earlier this month if his company was going to buy Twitter.

Kara Swisher of AllThingsD reported early Monday morning that actual acquisition talks held between the two companies have fallen through.

The deal would have been for $500 million in Facebook stock, Swisher wrote.

Facebook's not big on acquisitions. The only sizable purchase the company has made was of a start-up called Parakey, and that was really just a way to bring on board founder Blake Ross.

Twitter's a … Read more

Source: MTV exec Holt offered MySpace Music job

MySpace Music has offered its vacant CEO position to Courtney Holt, MTV Networks' executive vice president of digital music and media, according to a music industry source with knowledge of the negotiations.

The source said that Holt, previously an executive at Interscope Records, may be close to agreeing to the deal but that there are several sticking points.

The News Corp.-owned MySpace launched its music service last month, featuring streaming-music deals from all four major record labels and a retail affiliate partnership with the Amazon MP3 store.

In September, shortly before MySpace Music launched, reports indicated that the CEO … Read more

MySpace pulling out of the Netherlands?

MySpace is closing its office in the Netherlands after failing to adequately compete with homegrown rival Hyves, two Dutch news outlets reported.

Hyves is huge in the Netherlands. According to the Webwereld article published late last week, MySpace considered acquiring Hyves, but the plan fell through. MySpace said that this is untrue and that no acquisition talks went on.

Derek Fehmers, who handled MySpace's Dutch operations, told Entertainment Business that the News Corp.-owned company knew the Netherlands would be a difficult market. The decision to close the office came despite MySpace's 650,000 Dutch members, 250,000 … Read more

Layoffs at Jimmy Wales' Wikia?

It's not surprising, considering that everybody else is doing it.

Valleywag reports that Wikia, the for-profit wiki software and search start-up created by Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, has laid off about a third of its 43-person workforce--or 12 to 13 employees.

A Wikia representative was not immediately available to confirm.

The company, formerly known as Wikicities, has big-name investor backing, but it doesn't appear to have pulled in any funding for nearly two years. It raised a Series B round of an undisclosed size from Amazon.com in December 2006; previously, the company had taken a $4 million … Read more