Daily Tech Snippet: Friday, June 24

• Twilio, a Cloud-Based Business, Soars After Its IPO: Shares of Twilio, a maker of software that helps companies like Uber and Nordstrom communicate with their customers, soared 92 percent on Thursday, their first day of trading after becoming the largest technology initial public offering of stock so far this year. Twilio began trading in a market that has not been receptive to tech initial offerings. Only three technology companies have made their debuts so far in 2016.The company said on Wednesday that it had raised $150 million, pricing 10 million shares at $15 each, above the range it marketed to investors. The I.P.O. price yielded a market valuation of $1.2 billion, slightly higher than the $1.1 billion valuation Twilio received in a private funding round a year ago. Twilio, based in San Francisco, has been hailed as a trailblazer compared with the almost 170 unicorns — companies with valuations above $1 billion — that have chosen to stay private for now. Twilio was a test of investor receptivity to the software company’s finances, which show 88 percent revenue growth over last year but consistent net losses. As markets became more uncertain, investors preferred that companies going public turn a profit. Twilio had $167 million in revenue last year from about 25,000 active customer accounts. WhatsApp, the messaging service owned by Facebook, represented 17 percent of that revenue.

• InMobi, fined $1m for tracking users, had fine reduced based on 'company's financial condition': Mobile advertising network InMobi has been fined $950,000 by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for tracking the locations of millions of consumers, including children, without their knowledge or consent. InMobi was subject to a $4-million civil penalty, but it was reduced to $950,000 based on the company's financial condition. In addition, the company will be required to delete all information it collected from children, and will be prohibited from further violations of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

• BlackBerry Rises on Profit Forecast After More Software Gains: BlackBerry Ltd. rose as much as 4.6 percent after forecasting better-than-expected profit and insisting there was a way to make its ever-shrinking phone business profitable again. Fiscal first-quarter earnings per share, excluding some items, broke even, compared with analysts’ average estimate of a loss of 7 cents. Revenue in the quarter was $424 million, including software and services revenue of $166 million that was 21 percent higher than the same period last year ($137 million). Analysts had estimated total revenue of $471 million. BlackBerry changed its reporting structure to include revenue from both smartphone sales and licensing deals. The new unit -- “mobility solutions” -- accounted for 36 percent of revenue. The company sold 500,000 devices in the quarter, compared with 600,000 in the previous quarter. Shares gained 2.4 percent to $6.90 at 9:57 a.m., after reaching as high as $7.05 in New York in Thursday.

• Uber switches out surge for price transparency: No more pop-ups asking you to agree to those murky “2.1x” (or some other “x” amount) surge fares on the Uber app. Soon Uber will just tell you the price of your ride up front. Uber pricing will still fluctuate with demand, but now you’ll know the dollar amount you’ll be paying for the ride, instead; “no math and no surprises,” says Uber. The new costs are calculated similarly to the old “x” surge pricing so you might still end up paying a ridiculous sum in certain places or times of day where demand for a ride home is going to be high. The price is based on expected time, distance, traffic, the number of riders requesting rides at that time and the number of drivers available nearby, but at least now you’ll know exactly how much of a punch the ride will make to your bank account. Uber will also allow either the driver or rider to update the app if you change your destination in the middle of the ride and says you’ll get a notification in the app with the change in price. The rideshare company also told me you won’t have to worry if your Uber driver goes way off the map and tries to charge you more or if the route is suddenly busy and they need to change course. The price you agreed on will still be the price you pay. So no more lightning bolts and pop-up screens asking you to agree to “3x” surge or whatever it is after you stumble out of the bar or head all the way across town. Just like with hotels and airfare, the prices change all the time, but you’ll know what the price is before you book. According to Uber, “hundreds of thousands of riders” have already received the pricing transparency rollout — including those in Miami, San Diego, Seattle, New Jersey, New York and some of the bigger cities in India like Mumbai and Hyderabad. Uber plans to roll out the changes to pricing in the app globally in the next few months.