OpenTable is a rare tech industry survivor. The service, which matches diners with available restaurant reservations was founded in 1998, survived the dot-com bust of a decade ago and launched a successful IPO in 2009. Going public means, well, being public, so it’s public knowledge that the company had revenues of more than $34 million in the last quarter. They did it by placing 23 million diners in 16,000 restaurants. READ MORE
Heavy users of Google Maps will be charged for using the service, reports BBC News. After January 1, Google will charge for the Google Maps API when more than 25,000 map “hits” are made in a day. READ MORE
The standard plan of attack for many people looking to learn how to do something is to search for help online. Sometimes you get lucky and hit a good resource right off the bat, and other times you fumble around for a bit, popping around and hopping off sites as soon as it becomes apparent they’re useless. A new web site just launched that aims to streamline that process using crowdsourcing. READ MORE
As CNET tells the story, the fight at Microsoft to abandon Courier, a planned two-screen tablet computer, produced two factions. The Allardites, led by Xbox-creator J. Allard, wanted a diptych-like tablet with touchscreen capability. Steven Sinofsky, head of Microsoft’s Windows division, led the counter-revolutionary Sinofskyites, who claimed that a version of Windows for tablet computers was still a figment of the imagination. READ MORE
Rumors that Yahoo might be planning to reject bids on the company sent shares into a tailspin, leading to the company’s worst day of trading in two months. The market was responding to speculation that the company may sell the portion of its business in Asia and pass the proceeds on to stockholders. READ MORE
Microsoft just announced it will open up the use of its Kinect software development kit (SDK) for commercial applications, reports WinRumors. READ MORE
Google AdWords is a service that enables you to create and run ads for your business that run on Google and its advertising network; you pay only when people click your ads. AdWords also includes location targeting so you can target ads to specific locations, which is great for small businesses that only have customers in certain regions or those that want to target top-performing geographic areas so more clicks translate into actual sales. Google just announced it has a revamped AdWords Location Targeting Tool that will make it easier to find and get more detail on target locations. READ MORE
Hewlett-Packard has announced it will keep its PC division rather than selling it off. HP had been considering selling or spinning off its PC business, which is the least profitable part of the company, even though it commands nearly 18% of the global market. READ MORE
If you’re a mobile app publisher, there’s a new (and free) platform that can help you manage and monetize your ads on iOS and Android devices. MoPub works with all sizes of mobile publishers to turn their apps into businesses, and now offers the MoPub Marketplace, which the company says is the first self-service, real-time bidding platform for mobile advertising. READ MORE
Have some debt from which you’d really like to shake loose? ReadyForZero just launched an upgrade to its debt management service, with new features that now allow users to centralize and manage more of their debt using its online application. Previously focused only on reducing consumers’ credit card debt, ReadyForZero is now adding support for mortgages, auto loans and student loans. READ MORE
