Software : Square raises $200M as it touts a $3.25B valuation

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Square raises $200M as it touts a $3.25B valuation Posted: Twitter founder Jack Dorsey's mobile payment service Square is now worth a reported $3.25 billion (£2 billion) following a recent injection of cash. A round of funding has raised $200 million (£125 million), which will see the company expand beyond the United States later this year, according to AllThingsD. Significantly, a large chunk of that investment dollar came from Starbucks, which will now switch to using the Square technology and allow customers to pay for coffee using the Square app. Boost for small businesses...and SBUX Square has been a huge boon for small business owners allowing them to take credit card payments, simply by plugging a white dongle into the headphone jack of an iOS or Android devices. Square is now processing $8 billion (£6 billion) a year in credit and debit card transactions. Once Starbucks starts using the service, those numbers are likely to go through the roof.

Google snaps up Instagram-rival Snapseed to boost Google+ Posted: Google has picked up its own photo-sharing app to rival Facebook's purchase of Instagram, acquiring the German photography software company Nik Software. Nik developed the Snapseed application for iOS devices, which was the iPad App of the Year in 2011 and grabbed nine million users in its first year. The application costs $4.99 (about £3) from the App Store and it is thought that an Android version of the software is in the works too. You'd imagine that process may be sped up a little now. The app garnered huge popularity thanks largely to its multi-touch enabled editing capabilities, but Nik also boasts a range of photography software which is now under Google's control. Joining Google+ The Snapseed team will relocate to the Google's Mountain View HQ to join the Google+ team, so Google's intentions are pretty clear on this one. "We want to help our users create photos they absolutely love, and in our experience Nik does this better than anyone," said Vic Guntora, senior vice president, engineering and Google+ boss, in a blog post. In a statement on the Nik website, the company said: "We are pleased to announce that Google has acquired Nik Software. For nearly 17 years, we've been guided by our motto, "photography first", as we worked to build world class digital image editing tools. "We've always aspired to share our passion for photography with everyone, and with Google's support we hope to be able to help many millions more people create awesome pictures."

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