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Om Malik / Om Malik on Broadband:
Google, Skype Fund FON — [Updated with comments from Martin Varsavsky and Glenn Fleishman]. FON a wireless services company started by maverick entrepreneur Martin Varsavsky has just raised $21.7 million from Google, Skype, and Sequoia Capital. The cash infusion has been led by Index Ventures …
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Martin Varsavsky:
A dream come true — As you know, FON is a global community of people who share WiFi connections. We call these people "Foneros", as a tribute to our heritage as a Spanish company. In order to become a Fonero, you go to FON, to download software that you install in your router …
John Markoff / New York Times:
Venture for Sharing Wi-Fi Draws Big-Name Backers — SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 5 — A telecommunications executive said on Sunday that he had received $21.7 million for what he called "a global network of shared Wi-Fi connections" from backers, including Google, the Internet phone service provider Skype …
Glenn Fleishman / Wi-Fi Networking News:
Google, Skype, Others Invest in Fon — I have noticeably ridiculed Fon since its hapless announcement and subsequent hype fest two months ago (Reuters, Associated Press, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Fortune): Today, news broke that instead of a bottom-up, grassroots-driven effort …
Peter Svensson / Associated Press:
Google, Skype in Startup to Link Hotspots — NEW YORK - Google Inc. and eBay Inc.'s Skype are investing in a startup that plans to help hotspot owners charge for Wi-Fi access, a plan that could face significant opposition from Internet service providers. — The Internet heavyweights …
Ethan / ...My heart's in Accra:
FON, and why sharing WiFi's a cool technology for Africa — My friend Martin Varsavsky just announced some amazing news: his new company, FON, has just accepted €18 million in investment from an all-star list of partners and investors: Skype, Google, Sequoia Capital and Index Ventures.
David Weinberger / Joho the Blog:
Google and Skype team on wifi — Martin Varsavsky has just blogged about what I think is an amazing feat: Google and Skype have both invested in a company he started three months ago that aims at enabling a global wifi network bottom up. — Disclosure: I'm on the US board of advisors.
Wendy / Wendy's Blog:
FON SCORES ITS FIRST TOUCHDOWN — Martin Varsavsky has just blogged about FON's partnership with Google , Skype, Sequoia Capital, and Index Ventures as investors. FON is a startup, of which I'm on the board of advisors, that aims to put wireless internet everywhere by linking sharing and commercial installations.
Alec / Alec Saunders .LOG:
FON Raises $22 Million — We live in interesting times. FON has just raised $22 million from Index, Sequoia, Skype and Google. FON is trying to create a ubiquitous global shared WiFi network, by encouraging broadband subscribers to share their connections with others. — They have two models:
Dan Gillmor / Dan Gillmor's blog:
FON Times — I met Martin Varsavsky last March at the International Summit on Democracy, Terrorism and Security last March in Madrid, where he'd invited me to join an Internet working group. He impressed me with his energy, vision and genuine belief that people working together could improve the world.
USA Today:
AOL to charge fee as way to cut spam — SAN FRANCISCO — America Online will begin charging businesses to send commercial e-mail to its users in the first wide-scale use of authenticated e-mail to reduce spam. But some marketers affected by the plan, set to start in several weeks …
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Don Dodge / Don Dodge on The Next Big Thing:
The new way to launch your product or company — In the old days you needed a big marketing staff, a huge budget, a PR agency, an elaborate press event at a big hotel (with food and drinks), and the attention of the trade press writers to launch your product.
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Mylene Mangalindan / Wall Street Journal:
PayPal Prepares For a Challenge From Google — When Jeff Jordan learned last May that Web-search leader Google Inc. was building its own Internet-payment service, he reacted swiftly. — Mr. Jordan, who is president of eBay Inc.'s PayPal online-payments unit, immediately asked employees …
Tom Foremski / IMHO:
The 14-year old coders are back in business-proof of Internet 2.0 — Yes, it is official, the 14-year old programmers are back, that means concrete proof that we have a new dotcom boom emerging-but this time with an interesting twist. — The twist is this: The 14 year olds are not being employed …
blogs.sun.com:
The Death of the Cold Call — I started my technology career at a startup, running sales. Now "running" is probably generous, given that I was the only sales guy (my partners were busy creating products). But every morning, I'd get up, roll out of bed to my desk (which was in my bedroom …
Discussion:
Smalltalk Tidbits …
Dave Winer / Dave's Wordpress Blog:
How RSS can bust through — Fred Wilson says "RSS has to become brain-dead simple to use." — I'm pretty sure we can do it, but it would require the companies to give up hope of locking users into their software, into their extensions, their mistakes. — How RSS can bust through
Discussion:
Squash, Publishing 2.0, The Blackfriars Blog, web2.wsj2.com, Between Lawyers, The RSS Blog, Rex Hammock's Weblog, Darwinian Web and Scobleizer
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