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Wednesday, February 19, 2014
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Facebook is purchasing messaging giant WhatsApp for $16B in cash and stock, according to a regulatory filing.



On February 19, 2014, Facebook, Inc. (“Parent”) entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger and Reorganization (the “Merger Agreement”) with Rhodium Acquisition Sub II, Inc., a Delaware corporation and wholly owned (in part directly and in part indirectly) subsidiary of Parent (“Acquirer”), Rhodium Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation, a direct wholly owned subsidiary of Acquirer (“Merger Sub”), WhatsApp Inc., a Delaware corporation (“WhatsApp”), and Fortis Advisors LLC, as the stockholders’ agent.

Pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreement, Merger Sub will merge with and into WhatsApp (the “First Merger”), and upon consummation of the First Merger, Merger Sub will cease to exist and WhatsApp will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Acquirer. The surviving corporation of the First Merger will then merge with and into Acquirer, which will continue to exist as a wholly owned (in part directly and in part indirectly) subsidiary of Parent. Upon consummation (the “Closing”) of the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement (the “Merger”), all outstanding shares of WhatsApp capital stock and options to purchase WhatsApp capital stock will be cancelled in exchange for an aggregate of 183,865,778 shares of Parent’s Class A common stock (valued at $12 billion based on the average closing price of the six trading days preceding February 18, 2014 of $65.2650 per share (“Specified Price”)) and $4 billion in cash to existing WhatsApp securityholders, subject to certain adjustments such that the cash paid will comprise at least 25% of the aggregate transaction consideration. In addition, upon Closing, Parent will grant 45,966,444 restricted stock units to WhatsApp employees (valued at $3 billion based on the Specified Price).





2:09 PM

Facebook is purchasing messaging giant WhatsApp for $16B in cash and stock, according to a regulatory filing . On February 19, 2014, Faceboo...

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Technologist and serial entrepreneur Steve Perlman on Wednesday announced his new company, Artemis, and demoed its pCell technology. pCell technology "consistently delivers full-speed mobile data to every mobile device concurrently, regardless of how many users are sharing the same spectrum at once," he claimed. The theory is legitimate, but "you certainly do not have the whole network's capacity available to an unlimited number of users," said Philip Solis, a research director at ABI Research.


2:09 PM

Technologist and serial entrepreneur Steve Perlman on Wednesday announced his new company, Artemis, and demoed its pCell technology. pCell...

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Google io

The dates for this year’s Google I/O developer conference are June 25 and 26, Google’s Android and Chrome boss Sundar Pichai just announced on Google+ (via 9to5Google). The annual event offers up sessions on a number of topics of interest to developers, including how to maximize revenue from mobile apps, how best to use specific apps, and more.


The registration for in-person attendance this year is being done differently – it’s not first come, first serve (or first come when the servers come back online, first serve) as it has been in years past. Instead, you submit your interest to attend ahead of time, and then applications are entered into a lottery and chosen at random. Lucky winners will get a golden ticket (not literally golden) to attend in person at Moscone West in San Francisco. Registration details will be shared next month, according to Pichai.


This year, the I/O conference is only two days, compared to three full days in 2012 and 2013. The changed schedule isn’t addressed by Pichai in today’s announcement, but last year the event shifted focus back to developers and away from big consumer product news, so that could explain why it’s returning to the two day schedule last seen in 2011.


Fear not if you’re left out, however: Google will live stream the entire event to those who don’t get in, and there will be companion “I/O Extended community” events taking place at locations around the world. And of course, we’ll be in attendance, bringing you all the latest from Google, which normally takes the opportunity to show off a host of new APIs at I/O, as well as still some new products and services updates, too.





1:53 PM

The dates for this year’s Google I/O developer conference are June 25 and 26, Google’s Android and Chrome boss Sundar Pichai just announced...

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singh-kruse

CrowdTwist, a social loyalty rewards platform, has today announced two new heavy-hitting board members, Carol Kruse and Shiv Singh.


Kruse spent nearly 10 years at Coca-Cola, where she led the interactive marketing team as global vice president of Digital. She then went to ESPN and served as a senior vice president and then CMO. Currently, Kruse holds the position of CMO at Tough Mudder.


Singh, meanwhile, works as SVP of global brand and marketing transformation for Visa and was formerly the global head of digital for PepsiCo. If you’ve ever heard of the social platforms Pepsi Sound Off or Pepsi Pulse, those were Singh’s idea. Before his stint at Pepsi, Singh led the global social media team at RazorFish for 11 years.


With CrowdTwist’s focus on brands and brand engagement, these board members will surely add some extra edge to the company’s growth in 2014.


Here’s what CEO and co-founder Irvin Fain had to say about it in a prepared statement:



As the first company to extend loyalty programs beyond the traditional “spend and get” models, we’re helping marketers account for customer value in a truly multi-channel world including mobile, social media, online and offline spend and more—we’re not just capturing more data, we’re making data more meaningful for marketers. Carol and Shiv have both been at the forefront of innovative marketing technologies and forging stronger relationships with consumers. Their expertise in addition to Eric’s years of relevant experience will be instrumental in supporting our continued growth in 2014.



CrowdTwist has raised a total of $6.75 million since launching out of TechStars in 2011.





1:53 PM

CrowdTwist , a social loyalty rewards platform, has today announced two new heavy-hitting board members, Carol Kruse and Shiv Singh . Kruse...

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wemo-baby-xl 2

Fear not, owners of Belkin WeMo devices: you no longer have to lose sleep over the possibility that your smart plug will be hacked. Belkin has rolled out an update that patches the five vulnerabilities listed by FEMA’s Computer Emergency Readiness Team. This security hole affects up to 500,000 WeMo devices, and as CERT states, the vulnerability could result in anything from a fire to the waste of electricity.


These holes were recently discovered and announced by IOActive, Inc. As the press release states, the security company made several attempts to contact Belkin about the issues, but Belkin was unresponsive. So IOActive turned to CERT who also issued a statement. However, per a statement Belkin sent to TechCrunch (embedded below), Belkin was in fact in contact with the security research firm prior to their public statement.


Specifically, Mike Davis, IOActive’s principal research scientist, identified that through several different means, hackers could remotely access Internet-connected WeMo products, upload custom firmware, remotely monitor devices and access local networks.


The update Belkin recently issued patches these holes.


This speaks to a larger issue. As the Internet of things takes off, hackers and malicious coders have an increasing number of targets. It’s not inconsivable that in the near future, KitchenAid will have to issue a security patch for a toaster or blender.


Belkin’s Statement


Belkin has corrected the list of five potential vulnerabilities affecting the WeMo line of home automation solutions that was published in a CERT advisory on February 18. Belkin was in contact with the security researchers prior to the publication of the advisory, and, as of February 18, had already issued fixes for each of the noted potential vulnerabilities via in-app notifications and updates. Users with the most recent firmware release (version 3949) are not at risk for malicious firmware attacks or remote control or monitoring of WeMo devices from unauthorized devices. Belkin urges such users to download the latest app from the App Store (version 1.4.1) or Google Play Store (version 1.2.1) and then upgrade the firmware version through the app.


Specific fixes Belkin has issued include:


1) An update to the WeMo API server on November 5, 2013 that prevents an XML injection attack from gaining access to other WeMo devices.


2) An update to the WeMo firmware, published on January 24, 2014, that adds SSL encryption and validation to the WeMo firmware distribution feed, eliminates storage of the signing key on the device, and password protects the serial port interface to prevent a malicious firmware attack


3) An update to the WeMo app for both iOS (published on January 24, 2014) and Android (published on February 10, 2014) that contains the most recent firmware update





1:23 PM

Fear not, owners of Belkin WeMo devices: you no longer have to lose sleep over the possibility that your smart plug will be hacked. Belkin h...

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What if commercial software developers for popular Windows products sold Linux versions to a waiting market of open source users? Think in terms of paying a subscription fee to use a Linux version of Adobe's Photoshop image manipulation software, for starters. Is porting commercial products like Photoshop as a licensed -- that is, paid -- product for Linux a viable idea? That is precisely what one Linux server administrator wants Adobe to find out.


12:54 PM

What if commercial software developers for popular Windows products sold Linux versions to a waiting market of open source users? Think in...

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Nearb

NearbVenmo, the mobile payment app, has had a wild few years. They shook up their industry so hard that they were acquired twice within 4 years of launch; once by Braintree for $26.2M, and again when Paypal acquired Braintree for $800M.


Their trick? Make paying your friends easy and (mostly) free. Today, they’re making it even easier: you don’t even have to be friends with the person you’re paying, anymore. Just stand near them.


As it stood before, you could only pay other Venmo users if they were your “friend” on the service — a process which, though pretty quick, still required a bit of manual setup. You had to know their name, email, or phone number, for example.


As of today, you don’t need to know a damned thing about the person to pay them (that is, as long as they’re on Venmo, too.)


With the introduction of a new (aptly-named) Venmo Nearby feature, you just open the app, swipe to the left, and find your new friend amongst the list of Venmo users within a few dozen feet. Venmo says it’s finding other users over both Bluetooth and WiFi, calling on the same tech that powers Apple’s nascent iBeacon system (alas, that means the feature is iOS 7-only, for now. Sorry, Android users.)


Need to pay back your friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend who was cool enough to put down his card for the bar tab, but can’t remember his name? Just swipe open the Nearby drawer, tap his face, and send a few bucks his way.


And if you don’t want random nearby weirdos to be able to throw cash your way? You can, of course, disable the proximity features.

12:39 PM

Venmo, the mobile payment app, has had a wild few years. They shook up their industry so hard that they were acquired twice within 4 years ...

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