How app developers went from superstars to serfs

Once upon a time, app developers were the toast of the tech world. Now that there are 140,000 apps in Apple's app store and Twitter's open API has spawned 50,000 applications, have the app programmers lost their cachet?

On Saturday, Twitter employee Alex Payne posted a tweet praising site features that are being developed internally, and suggested that once they become publicly available, users might not want to use a desktop MORE

Wal-Mart enters the battle of TV vs. the Internet

The retailing giant's purchase of a little startup has industry watchers wondering what happens next.

While everyone else was watching the Olympics on TV this week, TV and movie industry executives were watching a deal between Wal-mart and a little-known Silicon Valley startup.

That's because Wal-Mart said Monday it is buying Vudu, whose embedded technology enables viewers to buy or rent HD movies from a catalog of 16,000 titles via a broadband MORE

Kindle vs. iPad: Far from over

After Apple's big tablet debut, Amazon is starting to play a little defense.

In the matchup between the iPad and the Kindle, some say it's game over for Amazon's e-Reader. But according to industry watchers, it's still only the first quarter.

Keep in mind that Apple's tablet showed up just two weeks ago, and it hasn't even hit the market yet. Meanwhile, Amazon hasn't exactly gone on the offensive, but CEO Jeff MORE

Will the iPad become your pad?

Apple's latest product impresses, but will it replace -- or supplement -- laptops, phones and other eReaders?

Everyone seems to have an opinion on the iPad. If they don't, they're probably working on one.

But there are two things about the iPad that we all seem to agree on (even the ambivalent among us): The name is ridiculous, and it looks like a huge iPhone.

The latter point reflects some confusion about what MORE

Exclusive: Buywithme secures $5.5 million in funding

Meet the latest "viral loop" company to enter the big leagues

Boston-based Buywithme, an online "group buying" site, will today announce that it has secured a $5.5 million investment from Matrix Partners. Prior to the investment, the startup had been privately funded by friends and family.

Buywithme, like rival Groupon, combines the power of online shopping with social media.

Matrix's lead partner on the deal, Nick Beim, also spearheaded the firm's $43 million MORE

(Screen) size does matter

The Jumbotron comes home --and the computer goes in the pocket.

Even before the recession began two years ago, people were talking about the need for Americans to downsize. What this means for the world of consumer electronics is unclear.

Our television screens just keep getting bigger and better. In 2009, the average screen size was 36 inches, up from 22 inches a decade ago.

For LCD and plasma screens greater than 60 MORE

When the Princeton Review met Facebook

Grockit marries social media with standardized test prep.

Despite the controversy surrounding standardized tests for college admissions (Are they fair? What do they measure?), exams like the SAT and ACT remain a necessary evil for most college-bound students.

The same might be said of the process of preparing for these exams, a phenomenon that has spawned a multi-billion dollar industry led by two companies, the Washington Post Co.'s (WPO) Kaplan and The Princeton MORE

Merchants think socially, act locally

The newest trend in e-commerce: Social media meets local networking.

When David Morton, owner of the Pompei chain in Chicago, signed up with an Internet startup to offer a coupon online, he expected to sell a few thousand at most. Instead, during the 24 hours the coupon was posted on November 22, more than 9,000 local consumers purchased an offer that got them $10 worth of pizza for $5.

The coupon was MORE

Zynga suddenly is everywhere. What gives?

The social gaming company behind FarmVille is seeking the spotlight. Some analysts sense an IPO.

If ever a company had a moment, this is Zynga's.  The small, privately held company that makes games for Facebook and other social networks is getting publicity and attention companies many times its size would love to have.

The force behind the FarmVille sensation has appeared on the front page of the New York Times, and been MORE

Where social media's "It Boy" cut his teeth

Before getting into gaming, Farmville's father was a player in the glam world of online tech support.

Before Zynga, there was SupportSoft.

Prior to launching the hot social gaming outfit that spawned Farmville and Café World, Mark Pincus founded a trio of companies: Social networking company Tribe.net, downloading service FreeLoader, and SupportSoft, a company that began providing support software for enterprise companies in 2001.

Today, SupportSoft is called Support.com (SPRT) and its current CEO is MORE