PCMag Live 04/21/14: Airbnb Gets $450M Investment & Game Boy Turns 25

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Today's PCMag Live is hosted by Dan Costa and Sascha Segan.

In our Headline News segment, Airbnb is getting an additional $475 million in investments to grow its self-rental market. The deal values the company at more than $10 billion, which is higher than that of Wyndham Worldwide or Hyatt. But the news comes as New York officials claim that an estimated two-thirds of all Airbnb New York City transactions violate a state law banning rentals that are shorter than 30 days. Sascha explains the root of the law and exactly what Airbnb is doing wrong.

Meanwhile, once-hot mobile payment startup Square lost more than $100 million in 2013, prompting reports that it is looking to sell. The Wall Street Journal claims that Square has tested the acquisition waters with companies like Apple, Google, and PayPal, though a spokesman for the company took to Twitter to deny the report.

In gaming news, the Nintendo GameBoy turned 25 today. The original 8-bit portable gaming device went on sale on April 21, 1989 and has sold more than 119 million units worldwide. Of course, the product has been discontinued and Nintendo is playing down the anniversary, but how could a company that spawned legendary franchises like Donkey Kong and Mario Brothers fall so far so fast? Dan and Sascha discuss the risks of betting on closed hardware platforms.

Today's One Cool Thing is the Asus Transformer Book Trio. This hybrid system can work as a laptop and a tablet, and you can even connect the keyboard to an external monitor and use it as a desktop. Better still, it runs Android and Windows. The system is undeniably cool, but it comes with a few caveats.
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