Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) is halting production to prepare Model X for 2 weeks

Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) is going to temporarily idle production at its factory in Fremont, California. The two week down-time will be used to increase production of the Model S sedan vehicle and to make way for manufacturing of the Model X crossover SUV. Tesla Motors will deliver around 35,000 Model S vehicles this year with a goal of 1,000 per week. The Model X crossover SUVs will be delivered in early 2015. The production at the factory will resume on August 4th.
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Yo raises $1.5 million at $10 million valuation

Yo is an app that lets users send a message that says “yo” to your friends. The company has raised $1.5 million in seed funding at a $10 million valuation. Some of Yo’s investors include Betaworks, Mashable CEO Pete Cashmore, and the founders of Tencent. Yo will be using the funding to expand operations in San Francisco.

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Shakira is the first person to hit 100 million Facebook fans

Shakira has come a long way since the song “Wherever, Whenever.” She is now the first person to hit 100 million fans on Facebook. She hit the record after posting a picture of herself at Maracanã Stadium in Brazil last week. Shakira performed the closing ceremony of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, which helped increase her popularity. The photo she posted hit over 3.5 million likes in 4 days. Shakira also posted a video on Facebook to thank her fans.

Urban Compass raises funding at $360 million valuation

Urban Compass, a website to help find apartments to buy and rent, has raised $40 million in funding from Advance Publications Inc., Marc Benioff, Thrive Capital, Founders Fund, .406 Ventures and American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault.

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BlackBerry names Marty Beard as COO

BlackBerry has announced that it has appointed Marty Beard as the new COO of the company. Beard used to be the CEO and chairman of cloud-based contact center provider LiveOps. Beard also used to work at Sybase, which is where BlackBerry CEO John Chen used to work as CEO.

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Google will no longer label freemium games as ‘free’

Google will no longer label games that have in-app purchases as “free” in the Google Play Store. The change is in response to meetings with the European Commission. The agency has concerns over how Google and Apple promote “freemium” apps.

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Forbes sells majority stake to Integrated Whale Media Investments

Forbes Media has sold a majority of the stake in the company to a Hong Kong based financial company called Integrated Whale Media Investments. The deal places a $475 million valuation on the company, according to Re/Code. Forbes chairman and editor-in-chief Steve Forbes said the new investors own the vast majority of the family company.

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