Square Registers 2 Million Users
The U.S. is not breaking out in hives--the chart above just shows Square's 2 million users going about their usual business during a single hour on a Thursday afternoon.
The payment upstart picked up 1 million users their first year on the block delivering a credit card reader that fit with a smartphone dock to small business and consumers in the US. Square announced today that the company has doubled that number to 2 million users across the U.S. Square now processes a yearly $6 billion in payments and, eyeing an international expansion, just hired itself a new new CFO, Sarah Friar.
Microsoft May Buy Enterprise Social Network Yammer
Microsoft may be buying enterprise social network Yammer, adding a virtual water cooler to the list of office software the Redmond firm already sells. Neither company has confirmed the deal, though sources have told Bloomberg we may see news of the sale (and a price tag of a little over $1 billion) announced this week. Rumors of the acquisition began, as many good stories do, after a conversation was overheard in a Bay Area coffee shop and tweeted to the rest of the world.
Facebook To Open Real-Time Bidding For Targeted Ads
Facebook will start letting advertisers bid on ad placements in real time, Bloomberg reports, tapping into a new source of revenue for the social network. Real-time ad bidding, where advertisers place ads based on a viewer's browser history, is a technique that advertisers are familiar with. Google has been using the method for some years now, but this is Facebook's first pop at it. The new "Facebook Exchange" will roll out in the next few weeks with eight firms on board at the start. Advertisers will be able to target Facebookers using a combination of their own user data and data from third parties. Since going public, Facebook has been under pressure to demonstrate new ways to make money. Taking a page out of Google's book, this is one step in that direction.
Nokia Slashing 10,000 Jobs, Juggling Executives
Embattled mobile phone maker Nokia has revealed some radical restructuring as it tries to secure its future. The firm is ditching up to 10,000 staff by the end of next year as it closes facilities in Germany, Canada, and its homeland of Finland in a move to reduce its annual cost of running its Devices & Services division to only €3 billion compared to the 2010 figure of €5.3 billion. Three new senior executives have been appointed in its Operations, Mobile Phones, and Marketing divisions, along with two other new appointments and three existing senior executives have been moved out of the leadership team. Nokia is also committed to doubling down on its smartphone efforts, and will broaden the price range of its new Lumia range of Windows devices. It's also sold its premium phone business Vertu to EQT VI, a private equity group, for €1 billion. Nokia has recently been in the headlines for burning through cash as it loses money on weak sales.
The U.S. is not breaking out in hives--the chart above just shows Square's 2 million users going about their usual business during a single hour on a Thursday afternoon.
The payment upstart picked up 1 million users their first year on the block delivering a credit card reader that fit with a smartphone dock to small business and consumers in the US. Square announced today that the company has doubled that number to 2 million users across the U.S. Square now processes a yearly $6 billion in payments and, eyeing an international expansion, just hired itself a new new CFO, Sarah Friar.
Microsoft May Buy Enterprise Social Network Yammer
Microsoft may be buying enterprise social network Yammer, adding a virtual water cooler to the list of office software the Redmond firm already sells. Neither company has confirmed the deal, though sources have told Bloomberg we may see news of the sale (and a price tag of a little over $1 billion) announced this week. Rumors of the acquisition began, as many good stories do, after a conversation was overheard in a Bay Area coffee shop and tweeted to the rest of the world.
Facebook To Open Real-Time Bidding For Targeted Ads
Facebook will start letting advertisers bid on ad placements in real time, Bloomberg reports, tapping into a new source of revenue for the social network. Real-time ad bidding, where advertisers place ads based on a viewer's browser history, is a technique that advertisers are familiar with. Google has been using the method for some years now, but this is Facebook's first pop at it. The new "Facebook Exchange" will roll out in the next few weeks with eight firms on board at the start. Advertisers will be able to target Facebookers using a combination of their own user data and data from third parties. Since going public, Facebook has been under pressure to demonstrate new ways to make money. Taking a page out of Google's book, this is one step in that direction.
Nokia Slashing 10,000 Jobs, Juggling Executives
Embattled mobile phone maker Nokia has revealed some radical restructuring as it tries to secure its future. The firm is ditching up to 10,000 staff by the end of next year as it closes facilities in Germany, Canada, and its homeland of Finland in a move to reduce its annual cost of running its Devices & Services division to only €3 billion compared to the 2010 figure of €5.3 billion. Three new senior executives have been appointed in its Operations, Mobile Phones, and Marketing divisions, along with two other new appointments and three existing senior executives have been moved out of the leadership team. Nokia is also committed to doubling down on its smartphone efforts, and will broaden the price range of its new Lumia range of Windows devices. It's also sold its premium phone business Vertu to EQT VI, a private equity group, for €1 billion. Nokia has recently been in the headlines for burning through cash as it loses money on weak sales.
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