Google has entered the ring with bids of their own for Waze, a mobile map application that uses crowdsourcing for content and data. Earlier this month, we reported that Facebook was interested in buying out Waze. Facebook’s talks with Waze came at a standstill because they want Waze’s team to move from their headquarters in Israel to Facebook’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California. Waze reportedly wants over $1 billion for the acquisition.
Eight Mile Style, the music publisher of rap artist Eminem, has filed a lawsuit against Facebook for copyright infringement. In the lawsuit Eight Mile Style referred to an ad called “Airplane,” which was created by Wieden + Kennedy agency. The “Airplane” ad promotes the new Facebook Home software. Eight Mile Style accuses Wieden + Kennedy of using background music that sounds the same as “Under the Influence” by Eminem and D12.
Facebook has hired a new executive in Japan. Atsushi Iwashita (pictured) is a former marketing executive at McDonalds and Boston Consulting Group. Iwashita will work as a Managing Director at Facebook Japan as reported by Markezine. Iwashita was most recently the CEO of a brand consulting company called Interbrand Japan.
Ted Ullyot, the top lawyer at Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), is leaving the company to take time off. Ullyot, 45, is leaving in July and the company is going to search for replacements internally and externally.
Facebook Home, a user interface layer for Android-compatible smartphones created by Facebook, has hit one million downloads in only four weeks, despite all of the negative reviews. Late last month Facebook Home hit around 500,000 downloads. Facebook Home is intended to be a replacement for the existing home screen on an Android device. Facebook Home allows users to easily view and post content on Facebook. Facebook Home went live on April 12th and the company launched a couple of creative ads promoting the service.
Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is in talks to acquire Waze for between $800 million and $1 billion, according to Israeli daily newspaper Calcalist. Waze is a social mapping mobile application that relies on crowd-sourcing for data. Negotiations between Facebook and Waze reportedly started six months ago. Calcalist reports that the talks are in the due diligence and a term sheet has been signed. Waze has 47 million users as of this month.
Last month, Facebook announced that the first phone to come installed with Facebook Home is the HTC First. The price of the HTC First was set to $99.99 with a two-year contract from AT&T. That price has dropped $99 already to a price of $0.99 with the same two-year AT&T agreement. The full retail price for the HTC First without a contract is $350.99.
Facebook has settled a lawsuit with Timelines Inc. after 19 months of going back-and-forth. Based in Chicago, Illinois, Timelines Inc. sued the social networking company over trademark infringement. The settlement details can be found in Facebook’s 10-Q quarterly report that was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Facebook did not disclose the settlement terms in the 10-Q, but they did indicate that the cost was not material to their business.
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