Square has updated its app to add new features designed to reward repeat customers and attract first-time buyers. Repeat customers can now receive rewards from Pay with Square’s new built-in “punchcard” feature, and merchants can now offer special deals for first-time customers from the Square Register app.
[Source: Fast Company]
The company’s board will meet on Sunday night to decide whether or not to approve a $1.1 billion offer for the blogging site, sources told AllThingsD. [Source: AllThingsD]
The press received invites to a product-related press event in New York on May 20. A source told Bloomberg that it is regarding updates to the photo sharing site. [Source: Bloomberg]
The streaming version of the red, DVD-dispensing kiosks will launch on Google TV in the next few weeks. Soon after, the company, which is a joint venture between Redbox and Verizon, will look to add support to Roku. [Source: GigaOm]
It may live in the shadow of Curiosity, but NASA’s older rover has driven further than any other object on the surface of another body in our solar system. It’s cruised 22.22 miles, but that’s still short of the 23 miles a Soviet Union rover drove on the moon in 1973. [Source: The Verge]
Bang With Friends (hidden slightly by the name BWF Official) has been removed from the App Store by Apple. So for the time being, iPhone users who want to hook up on the go are out of luck. [Source: CNET]
A new study looked at “the geography of Twitter” finds that, “There is a strong difference in the geographic profiles of Twitter and mainstream media and that the intensity of discourse mentioning a country does not necessarily match the intensity of discourse emanating from that country in social media.” [Source: Poynter]
It’s being reported that Sony is going to appoint Chief Executive Osamu Nagayama as the new chairman of the company. The appointment will be finalized at the next board meeting on June 20. [Source: Reuters]
Panasonic has decided to cut 90% of Sanyo’s 2,500 workforce over the next three years. In addition, it may decide to absorb the company it acquired in 2010 entirely. [Source: Reuters]
Rumors have been circulating about Yahoo’s possible buyout of Tumblr. Now CNBC has tweeted that Yahoo will hold a “product-related” event where CEO Marissa Mayer will speak. [Source: @CNBC]
At Google’s I/O 2013 today Google gave some statistics about Google Play’s revenue. One standout is that in-app purchases are rising significantly, going up 7 times as much as there were this time last year. [Source: TechCrunch]
The NBA and Twitter have partnered up to stream playoff game highlights for the rest of the post-season. The video clips will be posted on NBA Digital’s Twitter account. [Source: Bloomberg]
Yahoo Japan reportedly detected an unauthorized attempt to access its system, which led to 22 million Yahoo IDs being leaked. However, the company claims no passwords or identity data for password reset were part of the leak. [Source: Reuters]
According to data from Onavo, Yahoo’s recent push in mobile apps may be bearing fruit for the company. Yahoo Weather now has a 3% marketshare for US iPhone users, and other Yahoo apps are also doing well. [Source: GigaOm]
Messaging app MessageMe has raised $10 million in its first round of funding. The round was led by Greylock Partners’ John Lilly. [Source: VentureBeat]
New York-based BitInstant, a startup that operates a Bitcoin transaction platform, has raised $1.5 million in seed funding. Winklevoss Capital led the round. [Source: TechCrunch]
BlackBerry announced earlier this week that BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) was coming to both iOS and Android. However, it was revealed today that the messenger will only be coming to smartphones, and not to any tablets. [Source: BGR]
AOL’s local content site Patch is bringing on a new CEO, Steve Kalin, who was the COO and President of the company. In addition to this, the memo announcing his arrival also reported that 3% of the staff was being laid off. [Source: AllThingsD]
HAXLR8R Demo Day: Lessons from China
Quartz and NYU’s Studio 20 team up to explore “networked beats”
Like its other platforms, Amazon is taking the long view with its Coins virtual currency
Startup hustle: Why two men decided to sleep together in a van for months on end
The biggest beneficiary of the HTC First’s imminent death? The HTC One
Social media may finally be dying, but the BS around it hasn’t
Bitcoins, Wikileaks, 3D printers, PGP and the gov’s battle against information
“Space Oddity,” atoms, and the intersection of science and art
Video games, role-playing, and Rube Goldberg machines: Is this the future of education?
Sorry, ‘Snow Fall’ isn’t going to save the New York Times
Barracuda Networks gobbles up e-signature startup SignNow for unknown sum
“Infrastructure as a service” company Dyn acquires Trendslide for mobile monitoring
What to watch as the bitcoin drama develops
Study shows that Lumosity brain games can rehab your brain
The best photos from last week’s PandoMonthly with Brian Lee
Dept. of Homeland Security freezes accounts between Dwolla and bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox
It always comes down to math
When everything rides on a single cold call
Finovate: Quantopian debuts live data trading for consumer quants
Amanda Palmer puts on a ninja gig
BlackBerry: A funhouse visionary haunted by Research in Motion
We mapped out Dave McClure’s latest batch of 500 Startups companies
Number 8 Wire entrepreneurialism: How a cultural myth can inspire a country
Can software help wireless customers save money?
Bitcoin investors rush in: Liberty City Ventures raises $15 million dedicated fund
The launch of the Boost Bitcoin Fund brings more capital to an area of growing investor interest
Melon turns to Kickstarter for its mental performance measuring EEG headband
RelayRides acquires Wheelz as the car-sharing industry consolidates
“Commerce has become marketing and marketing has become commerce”
Lessons from a rare $2 billion LA tech win: “I was competing with both hands tied behind my back”
Skift’s approach to building a new media company: It’s as much about data as it is about news
RelayRides suspends New York service after cease and desist
The future of search: Answer, converse, anticipate
US authorities launch their first attack on bitcoin
Google is keeping iCloud’s promises
For startups with university roots, an exit is priority number one
Give me that old bitcoin religion
Chartbeat crosses the Chinese wall with ad sales tools, focusing on quality over clicks
IPO candidate Plex Systems grabs Eloqua CMO Heidi Melin to grow its cloud ERP platform
Vessel launches its “command center” to help mobile developers kill faulty software
Ticketfly adds Fanbase customer analytics platform to help venue owners pack events
With Thirst’s Droplet, the vision for news on Google Glass becomes a little clearer
For Chris Dixon the next big thing might be bitcoin
The center of tech is shifting from Silicon Valley to “application towns” like New York and LA
Chris Dixon: The consumer Web has gotten too good, enterprise companies are cutthroat
Portland startup launches transit mobile ticketing service. Is this the future?
We are real people trying to do real things
With 2 million users, “secrets app” Whisper launches on Android
As venture capital becomes a commodity, it’s all about community
What CEOs could learn from comedians
How Microsoft, Google, and Square use hardware to market their software and services
A federal shield law for journalists would be virtually useless
San Francisco: Get your ticket to see John Doerr at PandoMonthly now!
Scroll down: The future of online media is in the cards
Marqeta now powers Facebook Card loyalty and payments tech, announces $14M Series B round
Berg Cloud Sandbox: A tool to unite connected devices and the companies that make them
Two years of stealth and $11M in VC later, EdgeSpring launches a data analytics platform for the average man
Bitcoin is legal, but mainstream adoption will mandate playing by the rules
For the Internet of things, will it be verticals or horizontals?
A bitcoin bubble could be good for everyone
New Zealand-based Vend raises $8M without turning to the Valley
Hotseat: Gravity’s Amit Kapur defends the integrity of the MySpace mafia
PandoHouse Rock: A history of 3D printing, from prototypes to pistols
With the bleeding stopped, ShoeDazzle is in the market for a strategic acquisition or investment
Bitcoin’s consumerization continues with Perk, a rewards platform and Web browser for normal people
How to become a VC without leaving home
Gliph joins Boost.vc, launches bitcoin messaging and payments app
Zinio’s new subscription product only solves half a problem
Facebook ponders its place in the Internet of Things
The Apathy Epidemic: Why your startup will suck you dry
