Yahoo actually let me talk with its new CEO Scott Thompson this morning, after the company announced it had hired him as its latest leader.

In an interview, the man who is leaving a job running eBay’s large and lucrative PayPal online payments unit was affable and — dare I say it — seemed very sweet, as well as gung ho on Yahoo’s prospects going forward.

Joking about how he took the job only because eBay and Yahoo are located close by each other in Silicon Valley and the commute was just as easy, Thompson opened by noting that those working at the online commerce giant have always had a “keen appreciation for what each other was doing.”

He said that when he was approached in November about the Yahoo job, although sources said it was just offered this week and took eBay by surprise.

Still, soon after being contacted by Yahoo’s exec recruiters, Thompson said he began “exploring in more detail what’s actually here.” As he did so, he added, he “became progressively more fascinated” that Yahoo had more promise than has been assumed in recent years.

“Its potential is still enormous, but the dialogue has not been about what the company is,” Thompson said. “I want to get this wonderful brand to where it could be again … so, as a starting point, this is a great starting point.”

Thompson’s premise is based on his belief that we are still in the early days of the Internet. And, because he is a Boston native — making him, of course, an ardent fan of its beloved Red Sox — he used baseball as a metaphor.

“It’s early innings, and there are the next eight innings in front of us,” he said, noting that he was in the stands with his father when catcher Carlton Fisk hit that famous game-winning home run in the 12th inning of the sixth game of the World Series in 1975.

Note to everyone who is not an obsessive fan like Thompson (and also, I might add, Walt Mossberg): It did take the Red Sox from 1918 to 2004 to actually finally win the Series again, so maybe Yahoo has a chance!

“This remains a great business, and I have no doubt its best days are ahead of Yahoo,” said Thompson, in that same hopeful spirit of this-year’s-gonna-be-the-one.

Thompson noted that he is fully cognizant of the major troubles at the company recently, and had a “real sense of urgency, but not by moving at breakneck speed, because you just do bad stuff faster.”

Instead, he said, he hopes to focus Yahoo the same way he did PayPal, by innovating, making commitments and keeping them, and overperforming.

None are easy tasks, and all have stymied Yahoo in the recent past. Thompson said that he thinks it might be because of not focusing equally on both consumers and Yahoo’s partners and advertisers.

He admitted that his lack of advertising experience was clear — it could be problematic, because it’s Yahoo’s biggest business — but said, “I readily admit what I don’t know, and am ready to learn and rely on Yahoo’s great team.”

While he would not go into deep specifics — Thompson does not start until next week — he said he planned to get some basic grounding, noting, “I have no preconceived notions.”

One thing is clear, said Thompson: “I can assure you I am going to be completely different.”

If that means doing what Fisk did, that would certainly be a home run for Yahoo.

This morning, Yahoo said it had hired PayPal President Scott Thompson as its newest victim, oops, CEO.

(You can read my interview with him too, here.)

AllThingsD.com had reported the pending development last night — which is how we roll here.

Now we will roll into the conference call on the matter, and are hoping that the head of the lucrative eBay payments unit will make an appearance, given that he does not start until next week.

One piece of advice I will extend Thompson: I would refrain from cursing, as previous Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz did on her first outing. (She was fired in September, although not precisely for the cussing she so enjoyed partaking in.)

Here we go!

7:02 am: It’s on, with Thompson present.

Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock begins, and he is “very excited, very excited.”

I’d be very excited if Thompson talked and not Roy, who has been to this particular Yahoo CEO rodeo a few too many times before.

Bostock is making promises that this time it’s going to be different. Really!

He also notes that the company will continue its “strategic review” — but who knows what that means now.

And he thanks Tim Morse, the interim CEO who is moving back to the CFO job. (Agreed — nice work, Tim!)

7:06 am: Scott Thompson is on and is “just thrilled” to be the new Yahoo CEO.

I like his accent, which seems like he might be from Boston. He does look and sound like Cliff Clavin, the mailman guy at the Beantown bar from the television classic “Cheers.”

Except, given he has been the darkest of dark horses in this CEO race, nobody knew Thompson’s name.

Thompson is saying all the right stuff, about wanting to increase shareholder value and such.

He sounds so hopeful! Urgency! Thoughtfulness! A bright new morning at Yahoo!

I have been to this rodeo before too, but I am still hoping this time it’ll work.

Scott, if you let me down, I might cry, because you sound so nice.

7:09 am Q&A time already.

Congrats from the Wall Street analyst peanut gallery.

Then, it’s right into a question for Bostock, about the progress of the Asian assets deal.

Also, is Thompson too much of a technologist and not a media dude?

Bostock wants to talk about only Scott, but notes that there will be “no slowdown and no delay” in the Asian process. And Thompson will be all onboard when he comes on board, folks.

Bostock sounds tired, but starts to talk about how a “great customer experience” is the key to the advertising business. He notes that Thompson knows how to do this, hence he’ll be fantastic.

“I have every expectation he’ll be out there calling on advertisers,” says Bostock. I would hope so, given that is where Yahoo makes most of its lettuce.

Bostock is saying Yahoo has been “treading water” and now needs to swim fast. Treading water? I wonder who the top honcho at Yahoo has been while the company has been listlessly dangling its legs in the drink?

Roy — that’s who!

7:15 am: Another analyst asks about margins.

Thompson is not having any of it! He is polite when asking for time to get on the job to make proper statements.

But he does focus on the need to build “great, innovative” products. True, but Yahoo has been incredibly unable to do this of late.

Thompson gives no specifics, though. My big idea: I would steal the self-driving car from Google.

7:17 am: A question about what the core of Yahoo is, and about what lessons Thompson is bringing from his experience at PayPal.

Well, he has not met the team — literally. Yahoo’s board consulted almost no one in the top ranks of execs on this appointment.

But Thompson “suspects” there is talent there. Given the recent attrition, he’ll need a big Inspector Clouseau magnifying glass to find it!

From eBay’s PayPal, he says that the key was balancing the customer experience with network effect and, well, blah, blah, blah Internet-speak.

I am still thinking shoplifting the self-driving car is the bestest idea.

7:20 am: A question about Yahoo’s display business versus Google.

Thompson notes it is too early for him to say — though he had better say soon! — but notes that data is key. He is a well-known by-the-numbers guy, and that is clearly where we are going at Yahoo, now that he is the big dog.

Thus:

“The data these Internet businesses create, the ability to use analytical technology to build a better businesses for your customers … I feel certain that wealth of data is going to be exploitable for next generation products, next generation experiences … My instinct says down in that data we’re going to be able to find ways to compete and innovate that the world hasn’t seen yet.”

I am really liking this accent, which is almost lulling. And so polite! Sources tell me that being “collaborative” was a big goal in this hiring.

7:22 am: A question about the identity of Yahoo, and whether it should be public or private.

Thompson harps on the need for innovation, and hopes it will be the future.

“I would not be here if I didn’t think it was possible,” says Thompson.

Bostock takes the public/private question. Yahoo will be public, he declares! Mostly, because it would be too pricey to take private.

“It’s a moot point,” he says.

7:25 am: More questions about what Yahoo is.

Thompson declines to run off the rails on this dicey one, but he says he believes that Yahoo has great assets.

It does. It’s just that it has been crashed many times — by the people who just hired him — right into a wall.

Just sayin’ — a self-driving car would have done a better job.

7:27 am: A brain-drain question, and more on Asia and on mobile.

Bostock butts in again. He said that Thompson will not be distracted by that, and will concentrate on the core business. Hush up, Roy.

Thompson says that he looks forward to meeting the peeps of Yahoo. (’Cuz he has not, as yet!)

He also loves mobile — which Yahoo has largely borked.

7:32 am: A content strategy question. Early days, so Thompson is still keeping his yap shut.

In this, he’s like the anti-Bartz. Is this good? It’s certainly different.

He says again that, “I can’t wait to meet” everyone at Yahoo. Vice versa, because this dude came from left field.

Thompson promises that he will be a “sponge.”

He closes by noting that he is “genuinely excited,” and says he believes in Yahoo.

Indeed, when it comes to Yahoo, you definitely gotta have faith.

Well-known online advertising exec Frank Weishaupt, who recently ran North American marketplaces for Yahoo, will join ad display performance firm Criteo to head up sales.

Weishaupt, who left Yahoo several months ago, will be based in Boston and will be hiring up to 100 salespeople. He’ll report to another former top Yahoo sales exec, Criteo President Greg Coleman.

Interestingly, one of the pair’s most pressing challenges going forward will be the recent move of Yahoo to block “retargeting” firms.

In a post last week, Peter Kafka wrote that Yahoo told Criteo and others that “it would stop selling them its ‘Class 2’ remnant inventory, which the companies used to purchase on behalf of clients and essentially resell at a premium. The idea, theoretically, is that Yahoo will sell more of those ads itself.”

Here’s the official press release:

CRITEO TAPS FRANK WEISHAUPT AND EXPANDS FOOTPRINT; OPENS BOSTON OFFICE

Leading online advertising performance platform expands US presence with Boston office and hires Former Yahoo! digital media veteran

PALO ALTO, CA — (NOVEMBER 14, 2011) – Criteo, the global leader in performance display today announced that Frank Weishaupt, former Vice President, North American Advertising Marketplaces at Yahoo!, will join the company as SVP of Sales. The company also announced the continued expansion into the US Market with the opening of an office in Boston, which will focus on sales and service to mid-market advertisers and publishers. With offices in over three continents, Criteo now employees over 400 employees while serving personalized ads on behalf of over 1200 e-commerce clients across 20 countries globally.

“Criteo is committed to bringing performance to the display advertising landscape,” said Greg Coleman, President of Criteo. “I am thrilled to have Frank, a true industry veteran with a very successful track record of scaling sales organizations, join the team to continue our momentum. Our goal at Criteo is to bring our solution to a wide variety of advertisers and publishers, and Frank will be focused on helping meet that objective.”

As a 15 year digital media veteran, one of Weishaupt’s key priorities will be to build a sales organization in Boston focused on mid-market advertisers and publishers. Weishaupt has been a key part of exponential growth for several of the world’s most influential digital media companies.

“Criteo has created a name for itself as the global leader in performance display advertising. I am excited to have joined a company that is committed to growth and a team with such passion to drive this industry forward,” said Frank Weishaupt, SVP of Sales at Criteo.

Prior to joining Criteo, Weishaupt held several key management at Yahoo! over a 10-year period. Most recently he had General Management responsibilities for the US Display, Search, and Ad Technology businesses. The focus of the role was overall monetization strategy, pricing and yield management, strategic direction of the Yahoo! Ad Network, and general management of the ad platforms and global exchange.

Weishaupt holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Northeastern University.

Criteo is hiring and looking for team members to join the global leader in performance online advertising marketing.

There’s a culture out here where people don’t commit to doing things. I feel like a lot of companies built outside of Silicon Valley seem to be focused on a longer-term. You don’t have to move out here to do this.

— Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, in an interview this weekend at Y Combinator’s Startup School event, noting that he would have stayed in Boston if he were founding the social networking site all over again.

Akamai president David Kenny has stepped down after a year on the job — and in the midst of Yahoo’s CEO search, where his name has come up as a possible replacement for fired CEO Carol Bartz.

Kenny is also a Yahoo board member — joining early last year — and had quickly become one of the major forces in pushing for change at the company in the wake of the troubled Bartz regime.

In a statement distributed along with Akamai’s Q3 earnings, Kenny said he wants to “to return to my first passion of pursuing emerging opportunities on the consumer Internet.”

You can decide for yourself whether Yahoo represents an “emerging” opportunity or something else.

Sources said the departure from the networking company was mutual, although there has been an increasing amount of tension over Kenny’s involvement on the Yahoo board, which has been working on a massive strategic review.

Kenny, who was the initial leader of the effort, stepped down from that board task and also recused himself from any involvement in the simultaneous search for a new CEO.

Whether he will get the job is not a done deal by any means. He is among several candidates Yahoo has been contemplating pursuing, after only recently hiring Heidrick & Struggles for its executive search.

In fact, it’s not entirely clear Kenny wants to be CEO of Yahoo or if he would want to return to his roots at a consumer advertising agency. Another issue: He currently lives in Boston.

Before coming to Akamai, he was managing partner of VivaKi, the media and digital arm of marketing giant, Publicis Groupe. He came to the French concern after it bought relationship marketing services firm Digitas, which Kenny ran.

All that advertising experience is one of the reasons he is being looked at by Yahoo, which is contemplating doubling down in online advertising platforms and products if it does not sell.

Many assumed that Kenny’s move to the Web platform company meant that it would become more actively involved in Web media itself. But Akamai didn’t make any major moves or acquisitions during his tenure.

Meanwhile, back at Akamai, Kenny’s title will be assumed by CEO Paul Sagan, who had previously served as president as well.

That’s what Nabeel Hyatt, general manager of Zynga Boston just went through. His team created Adventure World, Zynga’s new Facebook game that is being announced today and will launch in the next few weeks.

Adventure World features many innovations that are novel for Zynga: a game board that is 40 times larger than anything previous, a new 3-D rendering engine with customizable avatars, tasks that require the qualifications of Facebook friends based on their previous gameplay, and 200 possible quests that include puzzles and battles. Beware, coddled FarmVille and CityVille players: There are even good and bad consequences!

But this is still a Zynga game. Even though players can now swing 3-D machetes, they can’t necessarily wield them with skill, good timing, or in a particular direction. And even though friends can now work together on tasks, they still don’t have to do so at the same time — asynchronous game play is still a core part of all things Zynga.

“We didn’t want to make a hardcore game,” Hyatt said. “It’s a tough balance to make something that’s still in its essence a mainstream product.”

Hyatt (pictured at left) attested that Adventure World was inspired by “everything from Indiana Jones to ‘Jewel of the Nile,’ pulp movies of the ’30s and ’40s, ‘The Maltese Falcon,’ ‘National Treasure’ and the ‘The Da Vinci Code’ — the concept is the world is covered in secrets that you’re trying to uncover.”

Adventure World is Zynga’s third big launch this year, following Empires & Allies and Pioneer Trail, which was an update to FrontierVille.

Hyatt and his team came to Zynga when it bought Conduit Labs last year, and the Adventure World rendering engine was something they had been working on before the acquisition. The team now has about 35 people. The game will be launching in eight languages, but for now it is not available on any platforms other than Facebook.

While New York City was largely spared — though Staten Island and Queens were whacked fairly hard — surrounding states, especially Connecticut and New Jersey, got a good thumping. As many as 700,000 people in Connecticut and 600,000 in New Jersey are without power in the wake of Irene, and many will go without for as long as a week.

Power outages in others states, in no particular order: Vermont is reporting another 50,000 residents without power, and at one point or another, every single road in that state, except for Interstates 89 and 91, were closed due to flooding.

Another 700,000 are without power in Massachusetts; 160,000 are without power in New Hampshire; power is out for 171,000 in Maine; and power is out for 284,000 in Rhode Island.

Power outages were still being addressed this morning in Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina; another 20,000 or so are without power in the District of Columbia. Delaware has 39,000 without power, and a tornado touched down there; Pennsylvania, including the Philadelphia area, has about 400,000 without power. The total number of homes and businesses without power up and down the East Coast was in the neighborhood of six million.

An estimate of the cost of damage to insurers, conducted by Kinetic Analysis, a firm that predicts storm damage, is about $3 billion, down from an earlier estimate of $14 billion. The death toll so far is 25.

Flooding is by far the biggest threat. The city of Troy, New York, is threatened by a swelling Hudson River and a fragile dam holding it back.

Overall, communications infrastructure held up pretty well — except in those places where it didn’t. In a conference call on Sunday, the Federal Communications Commission said that 130,000 wireline subscribers lost phone service, while nearly 1,400 cellular telephone sites were out of service. Another 1,093 cell sites were running on backup power, and 500,000 cable TV subscribers lost service. The agency warned the tally could get worse, as power outages remain and battery backup systems fail.

All the stock exchanges in New York will open normally, though lots of traders who typically come into the city on Metro North may have trouble getting to work.

Did I say New York was largely spared? By the storm, mainly, but not by slightly panicked officials. The Metro Transit Authority is scrambling to get the subway system back up and running normally. Having for the first time shut the entire system down, it was limping back to life as of 6 am Eastern time. While the Long Island Railroad is running a nearly normal schedule, Metro North is not expected to operate at all.

New York area airports are re-opening as of 7 am Eastern time. Traffic at Logan International Airport in Boston is still snarled, as is Amtrak’s Acela service. Flights into and out of Baltimore and Washington, D.C., were slowly getting under way.

Another casualty: Local public radio station WNYC suffered damage to its AM transmitter because of flooding in New Jersey, and directed listeners to its Web stream, though its FM transmitter was fine.

For all the trouble Irene caused humankind, a more fragile creature emerged unscathed from the storm’s path. USA Today has an interesting story about a rare whimbrel, a type of shorebird, nicknamed Chinquapin by wildlife scientists in Georgia, who tagged it with a radio tracking device and spotted its signal on the Caribbean island of Eleuthera. The bird had flown through the most dangerous northeast section of Irene when it was still a Category 3 hurricane. Whimbrels typically spend their summers in Canada and then fly south to Brazil to breed. That’s one tough bird.

Andy Miller (pictured here), the high-profile VP of mobile advertising at Apple, is planning on leaving the company, according to sources close to the situation.

Sources said Miller — who sold Quattro Wireless, the mobile advertising company he co-founded in 2006, to Apple in early 2010 for $275 million — will become a general partner at Highland Capital, the Boston-based venture firm that had funded Quattro.

Apple will search for a replacement for Miller, whose staff was told of the impending departure today.

Since Miller got to Apple, he has reported directly to its CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs, who noted after the acquisition:

“We tried to buy a company named AdMob, but Google came in and snatched them from us. So we bought Quattro, and they are teaching us. We are making ads that are different than anything I’ve ever seen.”

But Apple’s ad aspirations have been a bit of a bumpy road, as the company has tried to fine-tune the offering, even as competition — from Google, Facebook and a range of start-ups — has increased in the fast-growing space.

Not surprisingly, Apple shut down Quattro in favor of its much ballyhooed iAd platform a year ago. Via iAd, Apple has promised to serve up interactive rich-media ads on iPhone and iPod touch apps.

Some marketers balked at Apple’s tight control over iAds and their high prices, but recently the company has tried to give Madison Avenue more flexibility.

That’s because, while still small, mobile advertising will be a huge market. As The Wall Street Journal recently reported: “Marketers spent just $743.1 million on mobile ads in the U.S. in 2010, up 79% from $416 million in 2009, according to research firm eMarketer.”

At Highland, Miller will be working on a range of digital investments from its Silicon Valley office, sources said, and not just in the mobile space.

He has a varied background: Miller worked for mobile content company m-Qube and also WatchPoint Media, an interactive television start-up.

I have contacted Apple PR for a comment, but have not yet heard back.

In an unusual appointment for the longtime public servant, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers will join Silicon Valley venture powerhouse Andreessen Horowitz as a part-time “Special Advisor.”

Summers got to know the firm with an assist from Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, who was a student of his when he was a professor at Harvard University.

Summers was later president of Harvard, as well as director of the White House National Economic Council in the Obama administration until late last year.

“I am doing this because I feel technology in general and information technology in particular is now having a real pervasive macroeconomic impact in our time,” said Summers in a phone interview this afternoon from his home in Boston. “Long after people have lost their memory of the dramatic financial crisis in recent years, they will remember what technology has done to transform our economy in these same years.”

Summers said he increasingly wanted to become closer to this important trend and thought he could contribute to the innovation in Silicon Valley by helping its portfolio companies better understand the global economy.

He was introduced to Andreessen Horowitz at first by Sandberg, who was also Summers’ chief of staff while at the Treasury Department, and was attracted to its investment philosophy.

“They have distinctive elements of strategy that seemed to be a good fit, such as their emphasis on market disruption,” said Summers. “They also have an audacity of the vision and were really supporting transformation.”

Summers said he would serve as an advisor to Andreessen Horowitz companies, focusing on global opportunities they should take advantage of.

He will not become a VC, though. “My life to date has been as a professor and public servant, so I am not in a position to be a major investor,” said Summers.

That said, Marc Andreessen quickly noted in the interview that “if Larry brings in a company, we are going to take a serious look at it.”

While he was not a partner, Andreessen said Summers’ compensation would be linked to the long-term performance of the firm.

Summers will travel between Massachusetts and the West coast, but will also continue to work on outside projects.

What he will not be doing is giving any long-winded economic lessons to entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley.

“I am not sure there is the attention span for some of my lectures out there,” he joked.

Here is Andreessen’s blog post about the Summers appointment:

Meet Larry Summers, Our New Special Advisor

By Marc Andreessen

Today I’m delighted to announce that economist and former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers is joining our team as a part-time Special Advisor.

A lot of people already know who Larry is, but here are the highlights of a remarkable career to date:

* Admitted to MIT at age 16, originally to study physics — clearly our kind of nerd.

* Became tenured professor of economics at Harvard at age 28, where he first started mentoring a young undergraduate named Sheryl Sandberg, who ultimately became his chief of staff at the US Treasury.

* Received John Bates Clark Medal for his research at age 38, one of the two most prestigious awards in the field of economics (the other is the Nobel).

* On the staff of President Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisors in 1982-1983. (For those of you too young to remember, Reagan was a noted Republican.)

* Undersecretary for International Affairs and then Deputy Treasury Secretary for President Clinton between 1993 and 1999. Intimately involved in resolving major macroeconomic crises in Mexico, Russia, and elsewhere. Became US Treasury Secretary in 1999.

* President of Harvard from 2001 to 2006.

* Until late 2010, served as President Obama’s director of the White House National Economic Council.

* And, most importantly, a pivotal character in the recent movie “The Social Network”.

Larry will be an advisor to our firm and our entrepreneurs on several topics:

First, as technology continues its relentless colonization of broad swaths of the global economy, Larry will help us understand the scope and nature of the opportunities in front of us and our industry.

Second, many of our companies are seeking to restructure and revolutionize various markets — such as telecommunications, advertising, entertainment, education, health care, and financial services — and Larry will help us and our entrepreneurs analyze and understand the economics and dynamics of those markets.

Third, Larry’s deep insight into global economics and geopolitics will be highly useful to our companies that intend to expand globally — which is to say, all of them.

According to the New York Times, “Years ago, Henry Kissinger suggested that Mr. Summers be given a White House post in which he was charged with shooting down or fixing bad ideas.” We can’t arrange that, but we are excited to have him on our team, both to do that and to contribute lots of new ideas to us and to our companies.

Here’s what’s happening at Myspace, the troubled social networking site owned by News Corp.:

It’s for sale, as has been widely reported, along with that intent being declared recently by top company execs.

It’s hired Allen & Co. to sort out potential buyers and other options, as has also been reported.

It’s hardly begun the process and is pretty much at square one, which means making lists, sorting out inquiries both crazy and valid and lining up its proverbial ducks for Myspace.

What it’s not doing is taking bids via press release, as happened in a decidedly odd fashion last week when MocoSpace, a Boston-based mobile social networking site, issued one.

Titled “MocoSpace Reveals Itself As Interested Party to Potentially Acquire Myspace,” the look-at-me attempt to suck up some attention from the media was riveting and appalling at the same time.

“MocoSpace, the largest entertainment destination on the mobile Internet, is today announcing their interest in acquiring Myspace from News Corp.,” read the press release.

And, of course, in the email from its PR rep: “Their CEO [Justin Siegel] is revealing their interest and is available to chat with you to discuss why.”

While an amusing tactic, All Things Digital declined the generous offer.

Soon enough came another PR entreaty: “Wanted to provide the update that today Newscorp contacted MocoSpace and they are now in conversation.”

Oh, really? So, BoomTown phoned some sources there close to the situation and found them very perplexed at that characterization.

One source laughed at the gumption behind the MocoSpace press release, although added that the company was very much wanting to dispose of Myspace in the best possible way.

“No legitimate offers ignored,” said the source, who said a sale was more likely than bringing in new investors to recapitalize it. “But nothing has happened yet.”

Another source noted that the company had only sent an acknowledgement to MocoSpace, as it did for anyone who expressed any interest.

MocoSpace was kind enough to send me these emails, including one from News Corp. deal exec Jack Kennedy, which was entirely rote and referred Siegel to Allen & Co. “to fill you in w/respect to how the process may develop.”

Added another source: “Nobody at this point that can be considered ‘in conversation.’”

Oops!

Thus, more email spin from MocoSpace PR: “We never said that Newscorp contacted MocoSpace first. After MocoSpace released their statement, Justin Siegel did receive an email from Newscorp.”

And: “It seems that you may have misunderstood my email when I said they were ‘in conversation.’ I simply meant that after MocoSpace made their intention public, Newscorp did contact them–hence ‘in conversation.’

And: “I did not mean to imply that they were in any sort of negotiating conversation–if that is something that you took from the email, it was an assumption, and I am sorry for any confusion in the wording there.”

How ever could I be confused after all this mishegas?

Finally, Siegel weighed in via email, noting in part:

“It’s been brought to my attention that there’s some confusion and frustration….In addition, I’d like to clarify that this was/is not a publicity stunt. We made our interest in MySpace public. The interest it’s generated is surprising. To every person I’ve spoken to directly, I’ve made it clear that I’ve had no direct conversation with either MySpace or Newscorp regarding the sale.”

Like I said, no sale. Yet.

In particular, the company is already working to re-architect its core BlackBerry Enterprise Server product so that it can also be offered as a cloud-based service, to be hosted by either partners or RIM itself.

“We will be launching a cloud service,” RIM Vice President Pete Devenyi told Mobilized in an interview following a Boston event focused on RIM’s 2011 enterprise strategy.

However, Devenyi said the service offered by RIM directly won’t cover as many types of email servers as its software is capable of supporting, leaving room for partners.

“We’re not going to launch a cloud service for everything, for every combination,” he said. “There are going to be mail servers out there that we don’t connect with through our cloud service. There will be other partners that choose to connect to other mail server providers and they may offer a hosted service on their own.”

Partners could even offer a combination of both mail server and cloud-based mobile device management. The company didn’t say when any of the cloud services might launch.

Another area that the company is exploring is whether to expand its software to manage mobile devices from other makers.

“BlackBerry is and will continue to be dominant in most corporations,” Devenyi said. “It’s not going to be the only device, given the fact that consumers have the choice to bring in their own devices, and IT departments are often letting them in. So there’s a question there. Do those corporations have to manage those devices differently or is there the possibility that RIM might extend capabilities to make it easier for those corporations to manage those devices as well.”

That business would not be entirely new. The company started a program years ago called BlackBerry Connect that allowed businesses to use their BlackBerry servers to manage certain devices when those devices communicated using BlackBerry protocols. However, the new venture, if RIM decided to go ahead, would expand that to managing devices that use their own methods.

“In this case, it would have to be done differently because it would be more native,” he said. “It wouldn’t use BlackBerry protocols to manage those devices, but conceptually yes, we did that with BlackBerry Connect.”

Devenyi stressed that although the company is talking about the possibilities in this area, it has nothing to announce.

“It is not something that we would say is never going to happen,” he said. “If enough of our customers really want us to do it, we know that BlackBerry management is far and away the best management console in the world, and if the right thing to do is to extend a subset of those capabilities to be able to manage other devices, it’s worthy of a conversation.”

Senior Product Manager Ryan Bidan said that the tablet will have a 5,300-milliamp-hour battery that will offer plenty of battery life, but he wouldn’t quote a specific estimate.

“We’ll have good battery life,” he said. “Don’t worry about the battery life.”

Among other details, Bidan said that, unlike with the BlackBerry, RIM will deliver software updates directly to PlayBook devices. He also said that there would be a version of App World for downloading programs created by third-party developers.

The company also listed a number of technical specs for the device, including a 1GHz dual-core TI processor, a 3MP front-facing camera and a 5MP rear-facing camera, as well as mini-HDMI and mini-USB ports. Developers, he said, will have unfettered access to the camera and HDMI port, paving the way for all kinds of cool video-conferencing and presentation-delivery applications.

As for the key details, Bidan stuck to the company line, saying only that it will ship in North America this year and refusing to talk exact timing or pricing. “We’ll be competitively priced,” he said.

Bidan also demonstrated the tablet synching with his BlackBerry to display email and calendar information stored on the handheld. Each PlayBook can only synch with one BlackBerry at a time, Bidan said.

Update, 12:21 pm ET: Asked whether RIM is still aiming for eight hours of battery life, as it claimed at CES, Bidan said, “That is the case–our goal is to get a full day.”

That battery, by the way, is a fixed, nonremovable battery.

Asked about the size of the marketing campaign that will accompany PlayBook’s release, RIM executives declined to give specifics, but said it will be big.

“It’s not going to be a soft launch,” said VP Alec Taylor. “The magnitude will be commensurate with the opportunity.”

PREVIOUSLY

• PlayBook Sequel Will Run on Sprint 4G
• Analyst: Flash Could Be Hogging PlayBook Battery Life
• RIM: PlayBook Battery Life Will Be “Comparable,” Not Crappy
• BlackBerry PlayBook: Car Battery Not Included

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110113/rim-dont-worry-about-playbooks-battery-life/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20110108/film-critics-dont-just-like-the-social-network-they-love-it/ http://allthingsd.com/20110108/film-critics-dont-just-like-the-social-network-they-love-it/#comments Sat, 08 Jan 2011 23:31:29 +0000 Liz Gannes http://networkeffect.allthingsd.com/?p=2129 Today, the National Society of Film Critics hooked up with “The Social Network,” the Hollywood version of the founding of Facebook.

The movie was chosen for the group’s best picture award, while David Fincher got best director, Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg was named best actor and Aaron Sorkin received the best screenplay award.

The win is a strong indication that the movie is going to be the one to beat at the Oscars, which take place February 27. Nominations for the top prize for movies will be announced January 25.

“The Social Network” has already won awards from critics in Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Indiana and the National Board of Review.

It has also been nominated for multiple Golden Globe Awards, and was named to the American Film Institute’s top 10 of 2010.

(See the movie’s Web site for a thorough list of awards and nominations.)

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110108/film-critics-dont-just-like-the-social-network-they-love-it/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20110107/gilt-city-leaves-the-masses-to-groupon-skims-the-cream-off-the-top/ http://allthingsd.com/20110107/gilt-city-leaves-the-masses-to-groupon-skims-the-cream-off-the-top/#comments Fri, 07 Jan 2011 22:07:51 +0000 Tricia Duryee http://emoney.allthingsd.com/?p=1397 As Groupon and LivingSocial scramble for first-mover advantage and launch in as many as eight new markets a day, Gilt City is taking a different approach to the group-buying market.

It’s skimming the cream off the top.

It will not blanket America with offers, but rather only enter markets where there’s enough luxury experiences and high-end restaurants for its target audience of highly educated, 25-to-40 year-olds (In other words–affluent, wealthy and plain ol’ rich people).

Gilt City is an extension of the New York-based Gilt Groupe, which provides invitation-only access to products and experiences at discounted prices. Gilt City competes more directly with Groupon and LivingSocial by offering discounts to spas, restaurants and cosmetic treatments, like Botox. So far, it’s launched in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco and Tokyo.

Gilt Groupe has raised upward of $50 million in venture capital, and will still have to contend with Amazon-based LivingSocial, and Groupon, which aims to raise up to $1 billion after spurning a buyout attempt by Google.

Gilt City’s President Nathan Richardson promises us it still has aggressive goals, but that its plans look different from the others. “We won’t be in a lot of secondary markets, but there’s 40 markets that have the depth we need.”

Meanwhile, Groupon and LivingSocial are in more than 100 markets each today.

“The high-end of the market is enormous,” Richardson says.

Unlike Groupon and LivingSocial, Gilt doesn’t send out a deal every day, but rather offers up to three deals in a weekly email, because “that makes it worthy of reading in your inbox.” In Chicago it’s up to sending two a week, and in Los Angeles and New York, it’s now sending two to three.

In addition to offering discounts on restaurants, spas and beauty, Richardson says Gilt is also selling experiences.

For example, on the Fourth of July in New York, it hosted a party on the retired aircraft carrier USS Intrepid, which was positioned right under the fireworks. ”Not only did the offer sell out, we had three times as many people on wait list,” he says. ”We have the opportunity to extend our curated lifestyle brand to events. People have come to expect us to be consistent. It’s not hit or miss. We want to make sure the email surprises our customers and is always on brand and something we feel proud of.”

To make his point, Richardson often talks about the deal’s “exclusivity,” not how deep the discount is. But why would an exclusive restaurant–which presumably has no trouble selling out–be interested in offering a discount to Gilt’s subscribers?

Richardson says it’s an opportunity for these brands to introduce new opportunities or extend its franchise to a new audience.

For instance, a new restaurant opening in New York’s Flatiron District offered a deal that introduced a new menu to the public. The chef signed the menu and visited the patron’s table for a chat. Another upscale eating establishment used Gilt to promote availability of a private dinning room.

Richardson says that in a survey Gilt conducted, customers said that 80 percent of the time they had the intention of going back to a restaurant, gym or skin-care provider at full price, and in 60 percent of the cases they did go back.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110107/gilt-city-leaves-the-masses-to-groupon-skims-the-cream-off-the-top/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20101215/gilt-groupe-leans-on-mixture-of-equity-and-debt-to-fund-growth/ http://allthingsd.com/20101215/gilt-groupe-leans-on-mixture-of-equity-and-debt-to-fund-growth/#comments Wed, 15 Dec 2010 23:55:57 +0000 Tricia Duryee http://emoney.allthingsd.com/?p=705 Gilt Groupe has secured about $15 million in a line of credit.

Despite new reports of the funding today, the line of credit from TriplePoint Capital is months-old, and we’ve learned it was used primarily for building out a new warehouse in Louisville, Ky.

According to our sources, who declined to be named, only $5 million of the $15 million has been drawn down from the facility, and it’s one of three lines of credit the company has. The company spokeswoman declined to comment.

The Gilt Groupe is a members-only online retailer focused on luxury brands. It has seen huge success in offering deep discounts on items for short periods of time. More recently, it has set its sights on the local deals business, similar to the businesses being built by Groupon and LivingSocial. It has also expanded into offering luxury travel deals.

Gilt’s local deals site, called “Gilt City,” offers bargains on items ranging from massages to frozen yogurt. So far, it’s launched in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and San Francisco. It’s going up against two feisty and well-funded competitors: LivingSocial, which just raised $175 million in capital from Amazon, and Groupon, which turned down Google’s $6 billion acquisition bid.

A round of funding raised this summer supported those product rollouts. In total, the company has raised upward of $50 million from investors, including General Atlantic and Matrix Partners.

The line of credit shows that the emerging company still needs additional financing for one-off capital projects as resources are pulled in other directions. A big focus is likely on hiring a local salesforce, which is considered a specialty of Groupon. Still, Gilt Groupe is considered one of the more likely IPO candidates, and has said in the past that it expects to achieve gross revenues of $400 million to $500 million by the end of this calendar year.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20101215/gilt-groupe-leans-on-mixture-of-equity-and-debt-to-fund-growth/feed/ 1 http://allthingsd.com/20101202/thinking-outside-the-dropbox-with-minus-a-new-image-sharing-tool/ http://allthingsd.com/20101202/thinking-outside-the-dropbox-with-minus-a-new-image-sharing-tool/#comments Thu, 02 Dec 2010 12:00:51 +0000 Drake Martinet http://voices.allthingsd.com/?p=32952

Friction: It keeps our shoes on, it’s a buzzword at product meetings and UX conferences. And in Web apps, it’s the sticking force that keeps money in people’s pockets.

So, reducing it can mean changing the game for an entire arena–just look at eBay’s PayPal and Netflix.

Minus, an image gallery-sharing service, was conceived to do exactly that.

The basic premise is this: Visit its Web site, min.us, highlight a mess of images on your computer (different types and sizes are fine) and drag them into your browser window. Almost instantly, thanks to clever Ajax and cacheing, you have a shareable coverflow-style gallery of all those images, hosted on Minus’s little piece of the Amazon EC3 cloud.

In a matter of seconds (no exaggeration here, probably two or three seconds) you see the gallery, get a short link for sharing, a second that allows editing privileges and a third link to download everything in the gallery as a single zip file.

The minds behind Minus are Carl Hu, a programmer based in Boston, and his partner, John Xie, currently a senior at nearby Babson College. Hu spent the last few years in enterprise software, most recently at a start-up called Spathe. Xie (the college student) has been studying, running a small Web-hosting business and, presumably, doing things that people try to keep off Facebook.

The guys say the whole idea was to make a product that was “super simple and fast.” They picked up the min.us domain before they even knew what product they intended to build on top of it.

But Xie said the whole point was to riff on URL shorteners and create a service that made some sharing process easier. They didn’t even want you to have to log in.

The pair borrowed some code from a demo project called DropMocks (built by Glen Murphy, designer for Google Chrome) and began adding features.

If you head over to DropMocks, the similarities are, um, evident. But the UI (or lack thereof) and basic premise is where the similarities start to fade.

You can think of Minus as a sort of weaponized version of DropMocks: Better security, more options, multiple permissions and, as of last week, an API so other developers can connect their pipe to the Minus backend.

In short, it’s becoming a real product.

Today, Minus works best (meaning with the drag-and-drop functionality) on Google Chrome, Firefox 3.6+ and Apple Safari on Mac. It will still work on the Microsoft Internet Explorer, but you will miss out on the real product. Hu said he hopes consumers will use Chrome, because it’s Adobe Flash-free there, thanks to some new CSS3 gallery tricks.

Minus’s next act, according to Hu and Xie, will be to add sharing for as many file types as possible, making it a sort of a lighter, faster Dropbox.

John says the vision is that users could assemble at a library for a study session or sit down to a meeting and immediately pass around the short link to a shared Web space for the group’s working materials.

The project is a month young and changing about as fast as a baby at that age. They are bootstrapped for now, but Xie says they are already fending off random emails with offers of angel investor cash.

They said they’ve had about 500,000 unique visitors since launch and that they seem to be far better known in Asia and Europe, although they expect the balance to shift back to the U.S. soon.

I spoke via Skype with Hu and Xie, whose thoughts on the progress of Minus are condensed in the video. The second video is a special bonus: A short screen capture of Minus in action, inside Chrome, and narrated by yours truly. You can watch a gallery being built, saved, viewed, shared, visited and downloaded from all in under a minute.

Enjoy:

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20101202/thinking-outside-the-dropbox-with-minus-a-new-image-sharing-tool/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20101129/if-google-buys-groupon-itll-be-a-windfall-for-investors-bankers-and-regulators/ http://allthingsd.com/20101129/if-google-buys-groupon-itll-be-a-windfall-for-investors-bankers-and-regulators/#comments Mon, 29 Nov 2010 13:33:39 +0000 Kara Swisher http://kara.allthingsd.com/?p=37734

If Google does manage to close the deal to buy Groupon–acquisition discussions flagged by BoomTown 10 days ago–it will be at a cost that is likely to be much more than the $2.5 billion price tag being floated in the latest batch of rumors.

It’s not just that the deal will likely come in at a higher number–upwards of $3 billion, according to sources I have spoken to–which will mean a big payoff for Silicon Valley’s Accel Partners, Boston’s Battery Ventures and Russia’s DST Global.

Or that this deal will net New York bankers used on each side–Allen & Co. for Groupon and Morgan Stanley for Google–sizable fees.

It’s because as soon as it purchases the social group buying phenom, the search giant will be buying a whole lot of pricey regulatory scrutiny too.

That cost will be, many think, much deserved and will definitely not come at any discount, given the rising worries in Washington about the swaggering power of Google.

After ever-testier brushes with federal regulators–including over an overreaching attempt to join with Yahoo in search and online access to copyrighted books–Google narrowly missed getting approval for its $750 million purchase of mobile advertising start-up AdMob.

That deal was only saved after Apple made enough noise in the same space to take the focus off the controversy.

And let’s not forget Google suing the feds earlier this month over being excluded from competitive bidding to provide email and collaboration technology to the Interior Department’s 88,000 employees.

More seriously, Google has come under fire recently from numerous critics for its proposed purchase of huge flight data firm ITA Software for $700 million.

Those opposed to the acquisition, on antitrust grounds, contend that Google would control travel search in a way that would inevitably invite abuse.

The government, of course, is looking over the whole deal now.

Having Groupon in its arsenal would garner Google even more powerful pricing information from both customers and merchants across the globe.

That would in the lucrative local commerce arena. Currently, despite a plethora of clones, Groupon dominates socially fueled couponing across cities worldwide.

Owning the hot space around local purchasing and consumer information, combined with the social element, would be a tasty treat for Google.

The Silicon Valley search giant has struggled to deliver social tools to users, even as Facebook has morphed into a potent rival.

Google had looked at social reviews site Yelp for purchase previously, but that deal fell apart.

It has been introducing its own various local advertising and commerce efforts, which would be instantly turbocharged given Groupon’s much quicker progress.

In April, Groupon garnered a valuation of well above $1 billion in a massive venture funding.

It has used that money to buy up companies in the U.S. and internationally, trying to solidify itself as the major player in the marketplace.

If Google were to complete a deal to buy Groupon, it would have echoes of its purchase of YouTube in 2006 for $1.6 billion.

Many felt it a high price at the time, but it looks cheap now given how the site almost completely dominates Web video.

If that deal were to be struck today, of course, it is unlikely regulators would allow such a purchase to sail through the approval process so easily.

Thus, it will be interesting to see how they will react to a possible hook-up with Groupon, which–in many ways–is perhaps the most aggressive of Google’s moves to date to own valuable data up and down the food chain.

And, like I said, this particular move to buy discounting online could be one of its costliest too, in more ways than one.

Please see this disclosure related to me and Google.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20101129/if-google-buys-groupon-itll-be-a-windfall-for-investors-bankers-and-regulators/feed/ 6 http://allthingsd.com/20101025/lebron-james-gets-a-jump-on-the-season-with-an-assist-from-the-internet/ http://allthingsd.com/20101025/lebron-james-gets-a-jump-on-the-season-with-an-assist-from-the-internet/#comments Mon, 25 Oct 2010 22:18:26 +0000 Peter Kafka http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/?p=25061 LeBron James and the Miami Heat will usher in the new NBA season tomorrow night by playing the Celtics on TNT. But James and Nike got a head start on the season today, with help from YouTube and the rest of the Web.

Apologies for this, but it is indeed a slam dunk: James and his shoe company have a new ad to show off, and the Internet wants to see it, then talk about it. Google tallies 58 stories so far about the new ad. Make that 59….

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20101025/lebron-james-gets-a-jump-on-the-season-with-an-assist-from-the-internet/feed/ 1 http://allthingsd.com/20101015/instyle-pairs-with-groupon-on-beauty-bargains/ http://allthingsd.com/20101015/instyle-pairs-with-groupon-on-beauty-bargains/#comments Fri, 15 Oct 2010 19:13:08 +0000 Voices http://voices.allthingsd.com/?p=31151 In its latest alliance with a major media property, deal-a-day service Groupon is partnering with Time Inc.’s InStyle fashion franchise on a three-day promotion offering half-price or better deals at editor-selected salons in six U.S. cities (brow tweezing in Boston, fake tans in L.A., etc.). Groupon has already run promotions with McClatchy in many of the newspaper chain’s local markets, and it announced a similar deal with Media General this week.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20101015/instyle-pairs-with-groupon-on-beauty-bargains/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20101006/wednesday-is-prince-spaghetti-day-in-silicon-valley/ http://allthingsd.com/20101006/wednesday-is-prince-spaghetti-day-in-silicon-valley/#comments Wed, 06 Oct 2010 15:15:47 +0000 Kara Swisher http://kara.allthingsd.com/?p=34944

This morning just after 9 am PT in San Francisco, there is an event that Cisco (CSCO) is throwing, to show off its new consumer telepresence product that BoomTown reported on last week.

Then, at 10 am, down at its Palo Alto, Calif., HQ, Facebook is having yet another product launch event for the media–one of many regular gatherings like it in recent months–to show off new updates to its social networking service.

And, to round it out, Google (GOOG) and Logitech will be throwing a confab in the area to show off the first iteration of its Google TV device, with which consumers can use televisions to interact with all kinds of video and other content.

In other words, it’s a special day in Silicon Valle,y and All Things Digital will be right there covering all the action.

Until all this mess of innovation gets rolled out, please enjoy the video of the classic television commercial with Hey Anthony in Boston’s North End:

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20101006/wednesday-is-prince-spaghetti-day-in-silicon-valley/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20100923/softbank-keeps-up-its-game-with-mocospace-funding/ http://allthingsd.com/20100923/softbank-keeps-up-its-game-with-mocospace-funding/#comments Thu, 23 Sep 2010 13:00:31 +0000 Kara Swisher http://kara.allthingsd.com/?p=34101

SoftBank Capital forked over $3.5 million in funding to mobile entertainment destination MocoSpace.

SoftBank recently invested $150 million in online gaming powerhouse Zynga and apparently wanted to make a play in mobile browser-based social gaming.

SoftBank joins previous MocoSpace funders, including General Catalyst Partners, Pilot Group and angel investor Michael Dearing, who put in $3 million in funding in 2007

The Boston-based company, which is apparently profitable, said the funding will be used to expand MocoSpace into gaming platforms.

Here’s the official press release:

MocoSpace Gets $3.5M In Strategic Funding from SoftBank Capital to Expand with Mobile Browser-Based Social Games

Company already profitable, adds strategic capital to build out groundbreaking social games platform

Boston–Sept 23, 2010–MocoSpace, the largest social entertainment destination on the mobile web, today announced a $3.5 million round of strategic funding from SoftBank Capital. MocoSpace will use the funds to expand its mobile browser-based social gaming offerings and management team. Previous investors in MocoSpace include General Catalyst, Pilot Group and prominent angel investor Michael Dearing.

MocoSpace is the largest entertainment destination on the mobile Internet, with over 14 million users and three billion page views per month. The company, which is already profitable, plans to use this round of funding for the development of its MocoSpace Games platform. The platform will provide game developers with a robust environment and mobile web reach via smartphone browsers, as well as access to the MocoSpace audience–which already plays one million games on the site per month. MocoSpace will be launching its own browser-based mobile social game, and is currently developing partnerships with mobile web game developers to provide a wide range of game titles on its platform.

Vikrant Gandhi of Frost & Sullivan has followed MocoSpace’s growth over the years, and describes the company’s success: “MocoSpace has demonstrated a rare ability to build a large mobile internet brand and generate profits while appealing to a broad base of consumers. The mobile browser represents the next frontier of social games, and companies like MocoSpace have a great opportunity to lead this nascent market.”

As part of the investment, SoftBank Capital’s managing partner, Ron Fisher, is joining the company’s Board of Directors. As founder of SoftBank Capital, Fisher has over 30 years of experience working with high growth and turnaround technology companies, and serves as a member of the board of directors of SoftBank Corp., Japan, as well as on the boards of several public and private companies, including Desktone, E*Trade Group, GSI Commerce, FooMojo, LiteScape Technologies and Nellymoser, Inc.

“MocoSpace is uniquely positioned for massive growth at the crossroads of powerful trends in mobile, gaming and social, as well as appealing to one of the fastest-growing segments of the U.S. population, the Hispanic market,” said Fisher. “Softbank is excited to be an investor. MocoSpace has done a great job building an industry leading, profitable business, and we’re excited to help the company broaden its entertainment offerings and innovate in the social games space.”

“The chance to work with Ron and the Softbank team was a no-brainer for us. They have a tremendous amount of expertise both here and abroad in all the key parts of our business,” says MocoSpace CEO and co-founder Justin Siegel. “I look forward to working with them in the coming years as we continue to expand our business.”

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20100923/softbank-keeps-up-its-game-with-mocospace-funding/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20100830/scvngrs-seth-priebatsch-talks-about-geo-location-wars-facebook-places-and-more/ http://allthingsd.com/20100830/scvngrs-seth-priebatsch-talks-about-geo-location-wars-facebook-places-and-more/#comments Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:00:09 +0000 Kara Swisher http://kara.allthingsd.com/?p=33047

Last week, SCVNGR integrated its third-party social geolocation game service into the Facebook Places mega-location offering.

As it turned out, BoomTown was in Beantown–as in Boston–for a lovely wedding, so I took some prenuptial time to visit SCVNGR’s HQ in Cambridge, Mass., to talk to its founder, Seth Priebatsch.

In the launch last week, SCVNGR was one of a series of start-ups in the geolocation arena–such as Foursquare and Gowalla–that announced their cooperation with the giant social networking site’s effort to include their services into the offering using its social graph APIs.

SCVNGR’s take in the geolocation race is to allow users to do check-ins, complete challenges and earn points for rewards on mobile devices such as Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone and Google (GOOG) Android devices.

The idea came from an entrepreneur competition the high-energy Priebasch won as a freshman at Princeton University, which he left soon after to found SCVNGR.

It has raised about $5 million in funding from venture outfits such as Highland Capital Partners and Google Ventures–an investment that only adds to the irony here, since the search giant itself is about to launch a new social service to compete with Facebook.

Here is the video interview with Priebatsch, as well as a tour of SCVNGR’s HQ, in which we talk all about this and also how he hopes to differentiate his service from the pack:

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20100830/scvngrs-seth-priebatsch-talks-about-geo-location-wars-facebook-places-and-more/feed/ 4 http://allthingsd.com/20100817/zynga-makes-another-acquisition-conduit-labs/ http://allthingsd.com/20100817/zynga-makes-another-acquisition-conduit-labs/#comments Tue, 17 Aug 2010 16:45:40 +0000 Kara Swisher http://kara.allthingsd.com/?p=32278

It looks like the San Francisco-based gaming company is going to suck up social gaming start-ups, one city at a time.

Today, it announced the acquisition of Cambridge, Mass.-based Conduit Labs, which specializes in social music games. It will now become Zynga Boston.

In what feels like a modified roll-up strategy, Zynga has done this recently in Austin, Los Angeles and other cities, to expand its studio operations geographically.

Zynga did not disclose the price it paid for Conduit Labs, which raised $8.5 million in funding from Charles River Ventures and Prism VentureWorks.

Here is the official press release:

ZYNGA ACQUIRES CONDUIT LABS

SAN FRANCISCO–Aug. 17, 2010–Zynga today announced it has acquired Boston-based social games company Conduit Labs. Effective immediately, the Conduit Labs office will become Zynga Boston, a new game studio focused on new product development. Today’s announcement expands Zynga’s studio operations, adding to locations already in San Francisco, Austin, Baltimore, Bangalore, Beijing and Los Angeles. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Conduit Labs’ CEO, Nabeel Hyatt, will become head of the new Boston studio. The Conduit Labs team will be immediately integrated into Zynga’s workforce. Conduit Labs, founded in 2007 and funded by Charles River Ventures and Prism VentureWorks, has developed several free-to-play social games for the web.

“Boston is an epicenter for technology and has a strong talent market, making it an ideal location for us to expand operations,” said Mike Verdu, senior vice president of games at Zynga. “As one of the most prominent social game companies in Boston, the Conduit team shares a similar culture and drive with Zynga, and together we anticipate great successes from our new studio.”

Today’s acquisition, along with the recently announced joint venture with SoftBank for the launch of Zynga Japan, continues to extend the company’s footprint worldwide, creating more opportunities for Zynga to connect the world through games.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20100817/zynga-makes-another-acquisition-conduit-labs/feed/ 0