Crowdstar Hires New CEO

Amazon today launched a service aimed toward developers called App Engagement Reports. The reports are aimed to help developers track app performance and revenue. [Source: TechCrunch]

In 2011, cloud-based human resources software company SuccessFactors was acquired by German software giant SAP. Today it’s been announced that SuccessFactor’s CEO Lars Dalgaard is leaving his post to become an investor. [Source: AllThingsD]

Microsoft debuted some ads this week for its tablets that weren’t too kind to Apple’s iPad. Now Apple defenders are complaining about the misperceptions being put forth in the ads. [Source: CNNMoney]

Whose Twitter has the SEA hacked this time? British broadcaster ITV’s new Twitter feed has reportedly been compromised. The company now claims the account has been re-secured. [Source: Reuters]

Foursquare announced today that it has entered into a partnership with Gnip, giving them access to all its data. The company says, however, that Gnip will only be getting the raw information (location, time, date), and that no personal information will be shared. [Source: VentureBeat]

Intellectual Ventures announced today a patent licensing agreement with Salesforce.com. The agreement, which IV’s first agreement in cloud computing, gives Salesforce access to 40,000 of IV’s patents and patent applications. [Source: GeekWire]

HP has announced that John McMullen will be retiring from his treasurer role after 32 years with the company. Replacing him is Jim Murren, a former senior VP and general manager in the Enterprise services business. [Source: AllThingsD]

Nest, the automated “smart” thermostat makers, have just unveiled an app for Google Glass. The app allows you to change the temperature with your voice, as well as tell the app when you plan on coming home. [Source: VentureBeat]

Facebook’s former global head of brand design Paul Adams has joined the team at Intercom as head of product design. Intercom is a startup that tracks customer interactions for businesses and uses the data to make more personalized messages. [Source: TechCrunch]

The Xbox One, the latest videogame console — if you can call it that — from Microsoft, will allow users to play games and assume control from their friends (to help with a difficult level, say) via Skype, Polygon reports. The report also states that Xbox One will talk back to users, becoming more and more like Siri or Google Now.

[Source: Polygon]

Verizon has launched a “Verizon Cloud” application on the iPhone, AppleInsider reports. The service costs between $2.99 and $9.99 per month, and is essentially an iCloud replacement that uses Verizon’s servers instead of Apple’s.

[Source: AppleInsider]

Intel may have scored its biggest win in the mobile sector with rumors indicating that its next-gen Atom chip, Clover Trail, will be featured in the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 tablet. If true, the company would have beaten out rival NVidia’s Tegra chip and Samsung’s own Exynos processor. [Source: VentureBeat]

The exodus of senior talent from VMWare continues, with two executives joining Redpoint Ventures as entrepreneurs in residence (EIR). The latest defectors are Chief Technology Officer – SaaS and Application Services Javier Soltero and Sr. Director R&D Kevin Henrikson. [Source: TechCrunch]

There’s a bidding war going on around Hulu. Four parties have submitted bids including Former News Corp president Peter Chernin, Guggenheim Digital Media, DirecTV, and Time Warner Cable. Despite rumors that Yahoo may have been interested, the company’s recent $1.1 billion Tumblr acquisition likely takes it out of the mix. The only known valuation is Chernin’s bid of $500 million plus an assumption of Hulu’s existing debt. [Source: Bloomberg]

Tiger Global has invested $50 million WordPress parent company Automatic. The round took the form of a secondary offering, meaning the investor bought shares from early investors and employees and the company receives no new capital. Founder Matt Mullenweg wrote in a blog post: “Automatic is healthy, generating cash, and already growing as fast as it can so there’s no need for the company to raise money directly.” [Source: Mullenweg]

Facebook is in the process of moving out of its sterile mid-town offices into the swank East Village, according to reports. Sources have the company in negotiations to move into the seventh and eighth floors of 770 Broadway, a building that already houses AdWeek and AOL. The move should help the company recruit and retain engineers who expect a more startup vibe. [Source: Crains]

The Donald (aka Trump) is launching a crowdfunding platform called FundAnything which will support arts, causes, personal pursuits, and business ideas among other categories. Trump is partnering with LEarning Annex founder Bill Zanker in the endeavor. [Source: Tecnonomy]

There might be more anti-trust scrutiny coming Google’s way with the Federal Trade Commission reportedly looking into whether the search company is unfairly using its ad market dominance to drive customers to its other services. Critics, including competitor Microsoft, have been vocal in asking for FTC action in this matter. [Source: Bloomberg]

Luxury apparel commerce startup Vaunte raised $1.125 million from Battery Ventures, Maveron, and fashion and Christopher Burch. The site, which allows celebrities to sell secondhand goods and new items (sortof like what OpenSky tried and pivoted away from), has 60,000 members, having facilitated more than half a million dollars in transactions since it launched in the Fall. [Source: TechCrunch]

Clearlake Capital Partners has acquired publicly traded Bluefly.com, the luxury ecommerce site with a market cap of $11 million. Clearlake is acquiring shares from public shareholders as well as private investors Rho Capital Partners, Soros Fund Management, Prentice Capital Management and Maverick Capital. [Source: Clearlake Capital]