airbnb

Why Airbnb Neighborhoods could make traveling easier for all

When heading to a city like London on a budget, a service like Airbnb can be a godsend: with dozens and dozens of available apartments to choose from, a traveler can easily find a place to stay that's much less expensive than a hotel, and which offers privacy, a sense of home, and maybe most important of all, a kitchen.

Last year, I went to London on business and decided the visit was long enough to merit getting a place through Airbnb. But I hadn't been to the English capital since I was a teenager and had no … Read more

Airbnb Neighborhoods: Last word in picking best place to stay?

SAN FRANCISCO -- Airbnb, a leader in the short-term rental market, today unveiled Airbnb Neighborhoods, the company's first attempt at comprehensive neighborhood guides aimed at giving renters a way to pick the best location for their needs in large cities.

At launch, the new service offers the guides for seven cities: Rio de Janeiro, New York, San Francisco, London, Berlin, Paris, and Washington, D.C.

The idea behind the new service is addressing the possibility that people using Airbnb to find a place to stay in a large city can be overwhelmed by choosing the most appropriate part of … Read more

Limits of using Square at Starbucks

Thursday's CNET Update has a tall order:

Today's tech news roundup explains how to pay with Square Wallet at Starbucks and how it's different from the Starbucks app. Small businesses have been taking hands-free payments with Square Wallet for several months. But Starbucks, which recently invested in Square, is still requiring you to scan your phone screen at checkout. Also in today's show:

- Pinterest users can finally pin in private. Users can create three "Secret Boards" for personal use, or to share with select users.

- Amazon uncorked its wine store, delivering to … Read more

Airbnb works with NYC offering free housing to Sandy victims

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, more than 100,000 East Coasters have been left homeless and scrambling to find shelter. And, it gets worse -- today another storm is hitting the region bringing more freezing rain and wind.

So, New Yorkers will most likely welcome the news that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced today that the city's government will partner with Airbnb to offer Sandy victims free temporary housing.

"Airbnb is now enabling people to offer space to those in need -- absolutely free. People who wish to share their space at no cost to guests … Read more

Amazon cloud outage impacts Reddit, Airbnb, Flipboard

Amazon's cloud service is experiencing an outage in the East Coast region, taking down popular sites like Reddit and Airbnb.

The outage has lasted for several hours, limiting access to popular Web sites and causing problems for small businesses and other Amazon cloud users. Along with Reddit and Airbnb, Heroku, FastCompany, Flipboard and others have been impacted.

Amazon isn't saying what happened, but a spokesperson said the problem isn't due to an attack, as some have speculated. A member of hacker group Anonymous claimed responsibility for the outage via a tweet, but the Amazon spokesperson said that'… Read more

Peter Thiel could invest $150M in Airbnb -- WSJ

Investor and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel is in talks with Airbnb about putting $150 million into the online room- and house-rental service, The Wall Street Journal reported today.

According to the Journal (subscription required), Thiel's Founders Fund and current Airbnb investors Andreessen Horowiz and Sequoia Capital are all expected to participate in the round, which would give Airbnb a valuation of about $2.5 billion.

"The talks represent a new milestone for Airbnb, a high-profile startup and one of the young technology companies that investors widely considered [to be] on deck to go public in the next year … Read more

Tech dominates Fortune's 40 Under 40 list

Silicon Valley makes a good showing on Fortune's 40 Under 40 list, with the top five slots filled by tech execs like Larry Page.

Page, the CEO of Google, leapfrogged Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg for the No. 1 spot on Fortune's ranking of young business stars.

The publication notes that since Page returned to the CEO role last year, he has "been bent on proving Google still has its mojo." He closed Google's acquisition of Motorola, streamlined management and closed failing projects. All of that has pushed Google's stock to an all-time high.

Facebook … Read more

Forgo the hotel for something more unique

With Airbnb for Android, you can easily search for unique accommodations while on the go. If you have an account already set up, you can edit your profile, add favorite properties, and, of course, book a room. If you don't have an Airbnb account, you can still search through listings.

If you're not familiar with Airbnb, it's a marketplace where people can list and book unique accommodations around the world. Think vacant Manhattan apartment while its owner is away, or quirky London flat while it's not in use. In short, Airbnb is all about offering and … Read more

Google next up against Microsoft Surface

June is the perfect time for backyard barbecues, lemonade and tablet warfare:

Microsoft is taking tablets into its own hands with the Surface. And next week, so will Google. It's expected that Google will show off the Nexus tablet at its developers conference that begins next week. And some reports have Google's tablet launching in July -- which will likely be before the Surface hits stores.

The Surface boasts solid hardware, a kickstand and a cover that also serves as a keyboard. But how much will it cost? All we know is that the light version, using Windows … Read more

Airbnb hits 10M nights booked, 200,000 listings worldwide

Airbnb, a service that helps travelers book places to stay that are rented out by homeowners, renters, and landlords, has reached a milestone.

The company announced today that 10 million nights have been booked on its service since its launch in 2008. To put that figure into perspective, Airbnb revealed that 2 million nights were booked last June, and it reached 5 million in January -- four years after its founding. Less than half a year later, it has tallied the same figure.

But before the company's growth is marveled at, it's worth noting that Airbnb in March acquired its largest U.K. competitor, Crashpadder, for an undisclosed sum. … Read more