Hasta La Gadget!

A ripple went through Face.com’s developer community three weeks ago when the company was acquired by Facebook. After all, what earthly reason would the social network have for continuing third-party developer support of the product? None, as it turns out — API support for the firm’s mug recognition software will be dropped in early August, and its iPhone app, Klik, is now gone from the App Store. Despite recent assurances to the contrary (pictured above) Face.com pulled the plug in order to devote its resources to Zuckerberg and Co., according to an email it sent to developers. Naturally, the sudden reversal has inflamed that group, with prominent members tweeting language like “boycotting” and “months of work wasted.” There’s a sliver of hope, however, for forlorn developers — at least one member of the community says he’s been granted an API extension through October. In the meantime, developers will likely be venting — and won’t even be able to track that rollercoaster of emotions anymore.

Face.com kills developer APIs and Klik app three weeks after Facebook acquisition originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Jul 2012 03:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Image via AllthingsD

Facebook v. Yahoo! has officially come to an end today. The two tech giants have agreed upon a legal truce which will include a patent portfolio cross-license.

Not only did they settle the patent issue, they also have formed a new advertising partnership. Facebook will help bring Yahoo!’s large media event coverage by collaborating on social integration on Yahoo! The fact that Facebook didn’t have to pay anything is seen by observers as a victory for the social network. In the end, it may help Yahoo more than cash in the long run.

If you did not follow this, Yahoo sued Facebook a couple of months before their initial public offering, probably with the idea of adding additional pressure on the social network. Unfortunately for Yahoo, Facebook has the will and the means to stay in the fight. Yahoo’s new CEO (Ross Levinsohn) has reportedly extended an olive branch to Facebook in order to settle this.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Yahoo adds two more patent infringement claims in lawsuit against Facebook, Yahoo sues Facebook over patent infringements,

Earlier today it was leaked that the end of the legal war between Facebook and Yahoo was at hand – this afternoon it’s been announced that Yahoo and Facebook will officially be tying the knot, so to speak, with portfolio cross-licensing, event cross-branding, and more. This update certainly takes the cake as far as businesses finding ways out of legal damages – and what better way to do it, after all, than with a good ol’ cup of tea and a dash of patent sharing?

The battle going on between these two beasts of companies has been going on since earlier this year when one sued the other with the other responding with a suit of their own. Patents were tossed, punches were thrown, and here we are now with sharp words forgotten and both Yahoo and Facebook seeming to come out just as much ahead as the other. The official statement reads as follows, in part:

“Under the agreements, which include a patent portfolio cross-license, the parties will work together to bring consumers and advertisers premium media experiences promoted and distributed across both Yahoo! and Facebook. Yahoo! and Facebook will also work together to bring Yahoo!’s large media event coverage to Facebook users by collaborating on social integrations on the Yahoo! site.”

After Ross Levinsohn, interim CEO of Yahoo and Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer at Facebook share some kind words in writing, the statement goes on to explain that this deal is an extension of a partnership the two companies worked in previously. This new deal will have the two entering into “definitive agreements” as well as a new advertising partnership.

“Since the launch of the original multi-year partnership between Yahoo! and Facebook that allows users to discover and connect news and information on Yahoo! sites and share them with their Facebook friends, Yahoo! has integrated the feature called “Social Bar” on more than 100 of its properties globally, and more than 90 million users have implemented it. As a result, Yahoo! has the largest active user base among all news sites that have integrated with Facebook’s Open Graph platform, making Social Bar the world’s leading social news application.”

Facebook and Yahoo have decided together to work on a series of collaborative tent-pole and anchor activities that will be annual, each of them set to provide “unparalleled experiences for consumers and world-class sponsorship opportunities for advertisers.”

Advertising incoming!

Facebook partners with Yahoo in surprise exit from patent battle is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

And so, the Facebook v. Yahoo! courtroom tussle has come to an end. The two Silicon Valley giants have agreed to a legal truce and cross-licensed a bit of each other’s IP, meaning that’s one less legal donnybrook we have to worry about upsetting consumer sensibilities. Not only have the two settled their differences over their respective advertising and social networking patents, but they’ve also agreed to an ad sales partnership, too. Now, if only all those other, myriad tech litigants could amicably settle their differences with such alacrity. Perhaps they should all take a gander at the PR after the break to see how it’s done.

Continue reading Facebook and Yahoo! friends again, agree to patent cross-license

Facebook and Yahoo! friends again, agree to patent cross-license originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Jul 2012 16:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This week the folks at Facebook and Yahoo have been reported to be settling things between one another in regards to a collection of patent suits that were being fired at one another earlier this year. According to sources close to the dealings speaking with AllThingsD, a deal will be announced later today in which no money will change hands, somehow or another. Instead it seems that a strategic deal has been met and will be working with joint online advertising sales and patent cross-licensing.

When Yahoo sued Facebook back in March, the former said that the latter had infringed on 10 patents, some of which included bits on online advertising technology. This situation prompted Yahoo to claim that Facebook was “one of the worst performing sites for advertising” before they started using Yahoo-owned ideas.

Facebook responded with a lawsuit just a month later, claiming that Yahoo was prioritizing “litigation over innovation” and that Yahoo’s claims were bogus. Now it seems that the two have shaken hands in favor of moving beyond the situation entirely! Stay tuned for more as the full extent of the situation is revealed (or so we expect) later today.

Facebook and Yahoo tipped to settle lawsuit is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.