Thursday, October 15, 2009
Is EA Going to Buy Zynga or Playfish in Social Gaming Bid?
In recent weeks we’ve been hearing rumors about gaming giant EA looking to acquire social gaming companies–specifically Zynga and Playfish.
In recent weeks we’ve been hearing rumors about gaming giant EA looking to acquire social gaming companies–specifically Zynga and Playfish.
A variety of social network gaming applications are making lots of money from virtual goods.
Ever heard the phrase, “Why is everyone always talking about Twitter?” Well, here’s the reason, maybe. The micromessaging service is getting half of social network Facebook’s press coverage, according to Google Trends stats for both companies in the U.S.–even though searches for Facebook dwarf searches for Twitter.
Facebook’s developer platform was a watershed. It gave outside companies unprecedented access to users of a major social network. But the platform, launched in May, has come under increasing scrutiny. Facebook has continued to change the technology and the rules governing what developers can and can’t do on the site.
Mobile software operating system Android is coming soon, at least on one device–and that device will have a way for third-party applications to get access to users. The Google-led software initiative will offer a service called Android Market, a way to find, maybe purchase and download third-party applications (and maybe other content?). This is like [...]
Tech bloggers and investors have come up with a new parlor game: Guessing Facebook’s “real” valuation. Nobody seems to believe the company’s official $15 billion valuation that it announced when it raised its most recent, not-yet-closed round from Microsoft and others.
Facebook has finally started integrating its new redesign into its main site. The company is betting that what users want to do is publish more information about themselves, and see more about their friends activities. The thing is, do most Facebook users actually want to do those things?
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Movie, television and radio writers have been striking since last fall. Meanwhile, “American Idol”’s ratings dropped sharply versus this time last year, and that’s a show that doesn’t need writers. Why? Well, viewers are going online. YouTube traffic has gone up 18% over the last two months, and Sony’s Crackle (formerly Grouper) has doubled from 1.2 million to 2.4 million users over the course of last fall, according to Nielsen Online.
On December 14, Google’s RSS feed reader application, Google Reader, introduced a new way for Google-defined “friends” to see your “shared” feed items. At that point, the feature caused this reporter to blow a fuse, because I realized Reader was letting competing bloggers automatically see my shared feed items.
Then, only a couple of others wondered about the move. But this past week, more fuses have been blowing, as Reader users discovered that business competitors, politically sensitive relatives, ex-lovers, and others were getting access to items that Reader users thought they were only sharing with selected confidantes.
It’s been a little more than a month since the last rumors surfaced about social news site Digg trying to sell itself for at least $300 million. A reliable source just confirmed the company’s plans, noting the company has hired Allen & Company, a tiny but influential private investment firm, to help broker a deal.
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