Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) faced a pretty big whack of upheavals in 2011—not least of which was the none-too-quiet departure of their outspoken former CEO Carol Bartz. Will the company this year try to stabilize and play things a bit more quietly? Just days into 2012, a report has emerged that…

China has become an increasingly important part of Apple’s empire, and today it looks like the company has taken one more step to growing that even more: the company is now accepting payments in Chinese Yuan on its App Store.

We are still far from seeing simple, wave-and-pay NFC as a ubiquitous technology for mobile payments, and even further from seeing consumers adopt such services en masse—even if there has been a lot of interest from many handset makers, merchants, carriers and payment providers in getting them to work. Two…

Just minutes after Yahoo! (NSDQ: YHOO) announced today’s acquisition of ad firm interclick came the news that a law firm was investigating whether interclick’s board had shortchanged its shareholders. Like patent trolls, these shareholder “investigations” have become an unavoidable legal landmine for the tech industry.

Four days in, and more tech company fallout from the riots in the UK: RIM (NSDQ: RIMM), which has found itself in the story because rioters are using its BBM messaging network to organize meetups, has had its site hacked. And eBay (NSDQ: EBAY) tells us that so far it…

With at least 25 Pottermore beta accounts now for sale on eBay (NSDQ: EBAY), the site has posted a notice: Cut it out!

A big move in mobile payments today: eBay (NSDQ: EBAY) has announced that it is buying the mobile payments company Zong for $240 million in cash.

Google (NSDQ: GOOG) held a high-profile launch event for its new mobile payment system today. But now it looks like another big player in the payment-processing market is seeking to crash that party, and not in a fun way.

Ah yes, that tasteful novelty app that simulates flatulation. The creator, Joel Comm, is now trying to sell the app on eBay, to put more focus on his newest venture.

Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) co-founder Paul Allen has refiled his patent lawsuit against 11 big internet companies and e-retailers, and the new complaint details just how broad Allen’s claim to basic internet functionality is. In a 35-page amended complaint [PDF] filed Tuesday, Allen’s lawyers detail how certain functions that are widely…

EBay is on the acquisition trail as it looks for growth in new markets: today the auction giant announced that it would buy brands4friends, an online shopping club based in Germany, for €150 million ($200 million) in an all-cash deal. This is the second startup that eBay (NSDQ: EBAY) has…

EBay is claiming victory in its long-standing litigation with Craigslist, after a court reinstated its 28.4 percent stake in the classifieds site. EBay had sued Craigslist in April 2008, saying the classifieds site had “unfairly” diluted its ownership stake after eBay (NSDQ: EBAY) debuted its own competing classifieds site in…

Looking to expand its mobile capabilities, eBay has acquired RedLaser, a barcode-scanning app for the iPhone, from Occipital. The deal, terms of which were not disclosed, also includes RedLaser’s related technology. The app has been downloaded two million, the company said. It’s marketed as comparison shopping engine and eBay (NSDQ:…

Ebay is trying—again—to challenge Craigslist in the U.S. classifieds market with a relaunch of its Kijiji classifieds site. The company is renaming the site eBay (NSDQ: EBAY) Classifieds—a move which it says provides “a familiar and trusted brand name” to buyers. And it’s emphasizing several attributes that position the free…

The morning-after paperwork from eBay (NSDQ: EBAY) as control of Skype shifts to a private investment group led by Silver Lake Partners offers a look at the post-split financials for both companies—and the kind of detail on Skype we aren’t likely to see much of now that it’s no longer…

[With Staci D. Kramer] After all the legal craziness, eBay (NSDQ: EBAY) has closed its deal to sell control of Skype to an investment group led by Silver Lake for $1.9 billion in cash and a $125 million note. The group acquiring 70 percent of Skype in the deal valued…

As expected, eBay (NSDQ: EBAY) announced a deal today between the Skype investor group and Joltid, the owner of the code that runs Skype. Joltid and Skype cofounders Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis will get 14 percent of the new Skype in exchange for granting Skype ownership of the software…

Updated: A settlement has been reached that should wipe the slate on all of the litigation involving Skype and its founders, paving the way for the unit to be spun out of eBay (NSDQ: EBAY)—and also will wipe Index Ventures out of the picture, paidContent has confirmed.  Reports of a…

*EBay* said a robust PayPal business and moderate rise in consumer spending helped it make more money in Q3, with net revenue up 6 percent year-over-year. The uptick in sales didn’t translate to increased profits, however, as the company’s net income was down 29 percent vs. Q208; an EPS of…