Punk’d: Google denies ICOA acquisition after news outlets circulate fake press release

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Nothing like coming back from Thanksgiving break to report a $400 million Google acquisition and later find out that the original press release was a hoax. That’s what happened Monday morning to several news outlets that relayed a PRweb press release reporting Google’s apparent $400 million acquisition of wireless broadband provider ICOA. But shortly after the… Read More…

Size does matter: Apple reportedly working on ‘mini’ connector for next iPhone

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In a “move that will surely send shocks through the iPhone accessory ecosystem,” TechCrunch reported today that Apple plans to switch things up with the next incarnation of the iPhone by using a smaller 19-pin port instead of the existing 30-pin port for connecting accessories and cables. Any way you slice it, for Apple users and… Read More…

Michael Arrington, Tony Hsieh bankroll ex-TechCrunch writer Paul Carr’s stealth startup

Paul Carr

TechCrunch writer Paul Carr resigned in a blaze of glory a week ago, writing a blistering blog post about the activities of the tech blog’s parent company, AOL. But the writer has landed on his feet with a new stealth startup that just so happens to be backed by Zappos founder Tony Hsieh and CrunchFund founder… Read More…

“Unpaid Blogger” Michael Arrington departs TechCrunch

Arrington (Randy Stewart photo)

A near two week saga at TechCrunch has come to a close. Kind of. Founder Michael Arrington has officially stepped down from the influential technology news site that he started just over six years ago in order to become a full-time venture capitalist. AOL issued this statement this morning: “The TechCrunch acquisition has been a success for… Read More…

Report: Mystery buyer acquiring PopCap for more than $1B

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TechCrunch reports this afternoon that Seattle’s PopCap Games, maker of hit casual games including Plants vs. Zombies and Bejeweled, is “in the process of being acquired” at a value of more than $1 billion. If true, it would be major news for the Seattle video-game community, and for the region’s technology industry more broadly. The… Read More…