Daily Tech Snippet: Thursday January 22

• A big day for Microsoft, which unveiled lots more about Windows 10, a new browser named Spartan, and Windows Holographic, an augmented reality headset: the next generation of its operating system, including how it will work across mobile, tablet, desktop and other platforms. The biggest surprise was probably the new HoloLens augmented reality headset Microsoft created, and the Windows Holographic software it built to support said gadget: Microsoft Reveals Windows Holographic, An Augmented Reality User Interface For The World. Microsoft To Bring Xbox One Game Streaming to Windows 10 Devices Later This Year. Microsoft Previews Windows 10, Unveils New Internet Browser: Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), seeking to use the next version of its Windows software to win back consumers and keep business customers happy, gave a detailed look at the new operating system and took the wraps off a revamped Web browser. At an event Wednesday to preview Windows 10, the new iteration of its flagship personal-computer software, Microsoft showed the browser that will succeed Internet Explorer, code-named Project Spartan. The update to Windows, coming later this year, will also bring Cortana, the voice-activated digital assistant, to PC desktops, and will have touch-enabled Office applications such as Word and Excel built-in for smartphones and tablets. Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella, who took the helm almost a year ago, is trying to resuscitate Windows even as mobile computing continues to surge, PC demand sputters, and Microsoft focuses on versions of its Office applications for rival software platforms. He’s also tasked with overhauling the product little more than two years after the last update -- Windows 8 -- failed to jump-start consumer demand while alienating corporate customers. Microsoft also announced Windows Holographic, and a headset with glasses called HoloLens that will enable users to see holograms while tracking a user’s voice, motion and surroundings. The glasses will be available “in the Windows 10 timeframe,” said Alex Kipman, a technical fellow in Microsoft’s operating system group. The company also showed HoloStudio, software tools for creating holograms, 3-D printing them and sharing them. The new browser showed today lets users annotate websites using a stylus and touch or mouse and keyboard, and then send and share comments through e-mail and social media. The company also announced a new device called the Surface Hub, an 84-inch touch-screen computer designed for workplace collaboration that will run Windows 10.

• Uber closes $1.6 Billion in convertible debt that incentivize Uber to IPO in less than 4 years; also in talks to raise $600M in Series E; valuation at $41.2B: Uber, the popular ride-hailing start-up, has closed $1.6 billion in financing from clients of Goldman Sachs’s private wealth arm, the investment bank confirmed on Wednesday. The new round of financing comes just months after the company raised $1.2 billion from big institutions. Including that investment, the company is valued at some $41.2 billion, one of the richest-ever valuations for a private start-up. Moreover, Uber may still raise an additional $600 million in stock from hedge funds and strategic overseas investors, according to two people briefed on the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are ongoing. The funding adds to Uber’s already overflowing war chest; to date, the company has raised upward of $4 billion. With the new cash, Uber has more incentive to take on a new life as a publicly traded company. The securities sold to Goldman’s clients — in what was one of the biggest-ever sales of convertible debt — can be converted into shares in the start-up once it begins trading on a stock exchange, at a discount of 20 percent to 30 percent of the price set in an initial public offering, people briefed on the matter have said. Should the company not stage an I.P.O. within four years, however, the interest rate on those securities will rise.

• Vessel, a YouTube competitor launched by ex-Hulu execs went live to the public today; several big brands have signed on, and terms are more favorable to content producers than YouTube's: Vessel, the much-awaited online video startup founded by ex Hulu executives Jason Kilar and Richard Tom, finally opened its service to the public today. It may take time to see if users are willing to pay to watch Web videos that are usually free, but the company says brands like Chevy, Corona Extra, Land Rover and Jaguar, as well as Unilever's Axe, Dove, Suave and St. Ives, have signed up as advertisers. Kilar wrote in a blog post that Vessel is now welcoming sign-ups for an invite-only beta version of its service. To access content, users can choose to pay $2.99 per month or watch ad-supported videos. Vessel ads come in two forms: Five-second pre-rolls or interstitial units, which appear as branded "motion posters." The latter pops up as users scroll through the site. The platform offers creators a more favorable revenue share than YouTube, which splits ad revenue 45/55 in favor of the Google-owned video platform. Creators get 70 percent of all ad revenue made from their content on Vessel. Plus, the site earmarks 60 percent of its subscription revenue to divvy up among creators—if a creator's videos make up 10 percent of platform views, he or she would get 10 percent of that allotment. A referral program also pays creators who attract new subscribers. (The company estimates that creators will make $50 per 1,000 views.) To qualify for the subscription-based revenue, creators agree to post new content on Vessel for at least 72 hours before offering it elsewhere for free. After the early access period, the content then moves to Vessel's free, ad-supported service and can be posted on other non-subscription-based platforms.

• EBay's disappointing earnings: Q4 revenue $4.92B, Y/Y +9%, net income $936M, Y/Y +10%; will cut 2,400 positions and explore listing its warehousing & logistics unit: EBay reported earnings of $936 million in the last quarter, a 10 percent increase from the same period a year ago. Overall revenue rose 9 percent, to $4.92 billion, nearly in line with analysts’ estimates of $4.93 billion. But other numbers foretell the reasoning behind the company’s drastic restructuring. EBay’s revenue growth in the company’s marketplaces division rose just 1.3 percent, to $2.3 billion, signaling the slowest growth of its auction sites in years. Mr. Swan said the company planned to reinvest in its marketing efforts to promote its auctions arm to encourage repeat business. It will also heavily promote PayPal and Braintree, the payments start-up eBay acquired in 2013, as competition from rivals like Apple, Google and other start-ups begins to heat up. Facing stiff competition and the declining growth of its auctions business, eBay announced a shake-up of the company on Wednesday, saying it planned to cut 2,400 positions, or 7 percent of its global work force. “It’s going to get a little bit worse before it gets better,” said Bob Swan, chief financial officer of eBay, citing declines of traffic and repeat customers in the company’s online auction business. “Our ecosystem has simply been disrupted.” The layoffs come in advance of a planned spinoff of PayPal, the company’s payments arm, set for later this year. EBay said it would also explore a sale or a possible initial public offering of eBay Enterprise, the company’s warehouse and logistics unit for third-party eBay sellers. eBay announced an agreement with activist investor Carl Icahn that will give investors a greater say in its PayPal payments unit once it is spun off and said it exploring a sale or public offering of its enterprise unit. The moves could lay the groundwork for a future acquisition of eBay and PayPal by companies looking to gain a foothold in the e-commerce and online payments markets. Wall Street analysts have identified Alibaba (BABA.N), Google (GOOGL.O) and Amazon (AMZN.O) as potential acquirers. EBay also said it plans to cut its workforce by 7 percent, or 2,400 jobs, in the current quarter. EBay shares were up 2.6 percent at $54.75 in after hours trade.

• Shazam, a smartphone app that identifies songs playing on TV/radio, raised $30M at ~$1B valuation: Shazam, a smartphone application that can identify songs, announced on Wednesday that it had raised $30 million in new funding round that valued the company at roughly $1 billion. The start-up, which was founded in London and has around 100 monthly million users worldwide, has been rumored to be moving toward an initial public offering. It is expected to join other fast-growing technology companies that have tapped the public markets in recent months. Shazam uses audio-recognition technology to allow people to identify songs by holding their smartphone or other mobile device next to a television or radio. The company’s technology typically identifies the song within seconds, and Shazam generates revenue from taking a percentage of sales from music found through its app and mobile advertising. As tech giants like Google and Amazon move aggressively into Shazam’s core music market, the company has reached a series of deals to expand its core business. Among them is an agreement with the Warner Music Group to create a label imprint for new artists who are discovered through Shazam. Shazam has also made deals with a number of brands and blue-chip advertisers allowing individuals to view additional content on cellphones or tablets about products when they use Shazam’s app with certain television commercials.

• India internet/digital usage stats from a global report released by 'We Are Social': Social marketing agency, We Are Social, released a whopping 376 page report on the latest digital numbers around the world. Here is a summary of the India stats: India has 242 million active internet users (China boasts of 642 million).75 percent of the population has mobile subscriptions, a total of 946 million.95 percent of the Indian mobile subscriptions are on prepaid plans. Only 11 percent of the mobile users have accessed 3G and 4G. A deeper look into the web traffic in the country reveals, 72 percent of all online activity in India is done on mobile, up by 9 percent rise from last year. Laptops and desktops account for 27 percent of the activity, a drop of 19 percent. India has 118 million active social media accounts, of which 100 million of which are mobile users. Facebook, Google Plus, and Twitter top the list as the most popular social networks in India. Interestingly, LinkedIn is more popular than Pinterest and Instagram. Also 14 percent of Indians shopped online via a PC, while 9 percent made purchases from a mobile phone last month.