Google (NSDQ: GOOG) is trying once again to make a social play with the introduction of a new service that makes it easy for users of its products to post and share updates online. A new tab in Gmail, called ‘Buzz,’ which will roll out over the next several days,…

Google (NSDQ: GOOG), which shook up the e-mail industry when it integrated chat with e-mail, is now trying to catch up to its rivals by letting Gmail users share status updates. The WSJ reports that Google will soon add a “new module that will allow Gmail users to view a…

Yet another location-aware startup has received venture backing. On the heels of funding rounds at SimpleGeo and Foursquare, Gowalla has raised $8.4 million in its second round. With Gowalla’s service, users visit specific locations, like a bar, and then “check in” via their smartphones, so that they can share with…

Twitter just confirmed on its corporate blog that it raised a third round of funding from new backers Insight Venture Partners and T. Rowe Price, along with existing investors Institutional Venture Partners, Spark Capital and Benchmark Capital. Founder Evan Williams calls the round “significant” but does not detail how much…

Turns out Twitter is raising even more money in its new funding round than previously reported. The company is close to raising $100 million at a $1 billion valuation, the WSJ reports. The deal is expected to close today. Investors include mutual fund giant T. Rowe Price, along with Insight…

Twitter—which has raised $55 million so far—is now looking to raise an additional $50 million at a $1 billion valuation, TechCrunch reports, citing comments that were made at a company-wide meeting. Twitter last raised money in February—when it got $35 million in a third round, which valued the company at…

Vidly, a startup that makes it easy for users to share videos on Twitter, has raised $500,000 in a seed round from several investors, including Ron Conway. The service went live under the name TwitVid.io in May. Users either go to the Vidly site, where they log on to Twitter…

It’s no secret that the media industry has become smitten with Twitter—just turn on CNN. So what’s all that free exposure worth? Forty-eight million dollars over the last 30 days alone, according to news monitoring company VMS, which bases the figure on the reach of all the Twitter coverage (It…

Twitter may give the impression that it’s in no rush to make money, but the company certainly seems confident that it will start bringing in money soon. Earlier this year, Twitter expected revenue to reach $140 million by the end of 2010 and $1.54 billion in 2013, according to documents…

On March 2, we were first to report that O2 was the first UK network to strike a deal to reinstate free inbound SMS service in the country. Now O2 is confirming the news. Back then, the O2 deal was struck along with other UK carriers, but Vodafone was first…

TweetDeck—which has seen its Twitter desktop app downloaded more than one million times—has raised “several million” dollars. London-based Tweetdeck raised $300,000 in a seed round in January led by New York tech investor and incubator Betaworks. Betaworks also participated in this round, as did TAG Ventures, PRO Founders Capital, Ron…

CoTweet, a startup whose software is behind many high-profile corporate Twitter accounts, has raised $1.1 million in a first round of funding. Investors include Baseline Ventures, Founders Fund, First Round Capital, SV Angel, Maples Investments, and Freestyle Capital. The company’s platform provides multiple tools for corporate Twitter users, including the…

»  Dada cutting staff in U.S. a day after announcing an acquisition. It is merging Dad.net with Dada Entertainment. [Billboard] »  Shock and horror in Twittersphere: followers can be bought. [BBC] »  More interesting mobile patents from Apple: haptic tactile feedback. Finally coming to iPhone soon? [MacRumors] »  AT&T (NYSE:…

Update: And lo behold: with 30 minutes of launching, the fanboys brought down the site. It is unreachable as of 11:30 AM PST. Delicious irony here. The founders of two of the biggest and most well known gadget sites Engadget and Gizmodo have finally launched their gadget site, appropriately titled…

Update: Stone told us: “Nothing concrete to report just yet.” Original: Apologies for another post about the messaging-service-without-a-business-model, but co-founder Biz Stone has promised inbound SMS service is coming back to the UK - a move likely to see an acceleration in already fast-growing take-up. Twitter canceled the service here…

An essay on how weblogs enbable communication through content: “Communicontent to me, is a byproduct of communication where traditional content is magically created. As a corollary, the forms of communication that can best be expressed as content almost naturally become communicontent.” “In practical terms, it simply adds more meta-data at…

(or, A year down the content lane, the blueprint for the future…) “Contentment,” said Luke. “A word which should never be spoken, only spat.” Yes, Luke pushed me into it. Blame it on Luke. Exactly a year after launching this site, this experiment, this initial quest to get a better…