The Tech Updates Dot Com

Activist investor Carl Icahn has resigned from the board of Yahoo, and is praising both CEO Carol Bartz, who just presided over a quarter of improved earnings, as well as the rest of the company’s board for “acting so responsibly” in conjunction with the search transaction with Microsoft that he advocated.  Icahn’s resignation was to be [...]

VentureBeat is throwing a new mini-conference and networking event, DiscoveryBeat. DiscoveryBeat addresses one of the biggest conundrums for Silicon Valley’s most dynamic startups and developers: How to get your social game or mobile application noticed in an age of noise? It will be held in the afternoon of Dec. 8 at the Automattic Lounge on [...]

Tony Conrad, CEO and co-founder of Sphere–the contextually relevant content engine AOL bought in the spring of 2008 for upward of $25 million–left the Time Warner (TWX) online unit last month, several sources have told BoomTown in recent weeks. But, in an effort by AOL’s CEO Tim Armstrong to hold onto entrepreneurial talent, Conrad (pictured [...]

Silicon Valley legend and now VC Marc Andreessen was making the interview rounds after the settlement between the litigation-addled co-founders of Skype and all the various people they were suing was announced this morning. He has been tight-lipped until now, due to the morass of lawsuits. But, as Andreessen told BoomTown in a phone interview [...]

Longtime Yahoo tech leader Ash Patel is taking some time off until early 2010. Yahoo (YHOO) confirmed the break to BoomTown. In recent days, many inside the company had mistakenly thought the 44-year-old EVP for Product Architecture & Strategy was departing the company for good. Actually, it’s more of a sabbatical for Patel (pictured here). [...]

According to several sources close to the situation, barring any unforeseen delay, a deal to settle the Skype imbroglio is likely to be announced around the time the markets open tomorrow. [UPDATE: The paperwork is taking longer than expected, so sit tight, said sources.] While the massive agreement–which will settle three aggressive lawsuits lobbed by [...]

As a web generation, when we’re looking for a dentist, plumber, or other small business, our first instinct is to go online when we need these services. Sure, there’s Yellow Pages that can find a name, number and address, but as consumers we are used to more and these small businesses usually lack a formal [...]