Our weekly series, Truth in Tech, is now a podcast! So you can listen at your convenience – at your desk or on-the-go.

1. Acquisitions Galore:

Pinterest Buys Livestar: Livestar amalgamates reviews for restaurants, movies, and music from reputable sources such as newspapers, local news blogs, Facebook friends, or people in your contact list. The acquisition cost wasn’t revealed, but Livestar did have some top investors and $2 million in funding

Babbel Startup buys PlaySay: Babbel is a language learning startup. PlaySay is a English/Spanish learning app for the iPhone where you can have real conversations with pronunciation feedback. Again exact amount of buyout not revealed, but Babbel’s goal is to break into the US Market.

2. Google launches Keep on Android and Google Drive: Keep is Google’s version of Evernote that syncs to your Google Drive. It’s android only at the moment, but wired predicts an iOS version soon

3. The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing yesterday on the privacy implications of tiny, cheap drones.

“The drones, or unmanned aerial systems, have already helped the police find missing people and county planners measure the growth of a landfill. But they could also be used by drug dealers, pedophiles and nosy neighbors, the witnesses and a senator said.” Currently, only government agencies and police departments can fly drones, but the FAA will have rules in place for commercial use by 2015.

4. Starbucks’ Square Deal

Square may bill itself as the simplest way to pay–but Continue reading Truth in Tech Ep. 10: Acquisitions, Drones, & Starbucks Square →