IntoMobile » Mobile Web

Groupon CEO ousted amid lackluster earnings

Kelly Hodgkins — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 03:20:24 +0000

Groupon announced today that CEO Andrew Mason is leaving the company. Mason founded the daily deal service in 2008 and by 2011, it had grown to a $1.610 billion company. Mason stepped down as CEO after several quarters of disappointing financial earnings chipped away at the company’s stock.

In a moving letter, Mason admits his culpability in the decline at Groupon and says that he “failed at this part of the journey.” says he is leaving so Groupon can get a second chance.

Executive Chairman Eric Lefkofsky and Vice Chairman Ted Leonsis will serve as interim CEO. A search for a new CEO has been approved by the board.

[Via Groupon and Andrew Mason]

Binbit content now available from Opera Mini

Dusan Belic — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 09:05:21 +0000

Opera Mini users can now easily get and pay for Binbit’s mobile entertainment services thanks to the integration of Binbit’s products and services into the Opera Payment Exchange (OPX).

OPX’s goal is to make mobile payments a secure and easy experience for the more than 208 million Opera Mini users around the world. As a result of this deal, Opera Mini users will be able to buy digital goods and services easily and securely on their mobile devices, through direct carrier billing in the more than 36 countries worldwide where Binbit offers its mobile entertainment services.

Binbit, for those who haven’t heard about it before (myself included), specializes in delivering mobile entertainment services to mobile operators, media groups and end users. Binbit provides mobile content including music, video clips, games, wallpapers and screen savers to countries in the Americas, Africa, Asia, Australia and the Middle East.

Opera hits 300 million users

Dusan Belic — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 12:45:06 +0000

Opera Software announced reaching 300 million monthly users across all its browser products on phones, tablets, TVs and computers. And that’s just a start as the company prepares to launch its first WebKit-based browser later this month. The first look of the forthcoming Opera ICE will be unveiled from the floor of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona where we look forward to try it out.

But the Norway-based company doesn’t just want to take from the WebKit project – it will contribute its own technology and has already submitted improvements to the multi-column layout.

According to CEO Lars Boilesen, 300 million marks the first lap, but the race goes on. He went on to add: “On the final stretch up to 300 million users, we have experienced the fastest acceleration in user growth we have ever seen. Now, we are shifting into the next gear to claim a bigger piece of the pie in the smartphone market.”