Get yo game on: GigaOm passes along a Wall Street Journal report that Apple, Google, Microsoft and Amazon are striking deals for exclusivity with makers of popular mobile games. In return, the game makers get prominent promotion in the respective app stores. For instance, a sequel to “Cut the Rope” was introduced into the iOS app store in December and only made it to Android in March.
Who’s on first? GigaOm reports on conflicting stories this weekend about whether payment company Square did or did not discuss selling to Google. The Wall Street Journal reported Square did talk acquisition with Google earlier this year, as well as with Apple and Paypal. TechCrunch cited its own sources who said no serious talks between Square and Google ever happened.
Here an ad, there an ad: Re/code has talked to multiple sources familiar with the matter who say Facebook will announce a mobile ad network at its F8 developer conference which kicks off April 30, in San Francisco. Facebook would sell ads outside of Facebook’s own properties by leveraging the data of Facebook user information for better targeting. So yes, now you can see ads powered by Facebook even when you’re not using Facebook. Yay?
So. Confused. Re/code also passes along that Microsoft said Monday it signed a patent deal with Motorola Solutions. Solutions is the radio technology half of Motorola, not the cell-phone making half that Google owned. Confusingly though, Motorola Solutions though, wants to use Microsoft technology in Android and Chrome-OS based products. And just to muddy the waters a bit, Motorola Solutions is in the midst of selling its enterprise business to Zebra Technologies, while keeping its government and public safety business. So to sum up, a part of Motorola that never was owned by Google and never made smartphones for consumers is licensing Microsoft technology for Android and ChromeOS stuff.
Freedom of expression? CNET reports Twitter appears to have blocked two accounts in Turkey at the government’s request. Last week, Twitter agreed to a Turkish government request to close some accounts accused of violating national security or privacy laws. The two accounts, @Haramzadeler333 and @Bascalan, were reportedly used to leak audio recordings of alleged conversations between the Turkish Prime Minister and his son. The accounts appear as ‘withheld’ within Turkey, but appear normally outside the country.
The drama continues: GitHub president Tom Preston-Werner has resigned following the company’s investigation into allegations of harassment, but denies any wrongdoing. GitHub employee Julie Ann Horvath quit the company in March, alleging gender-based harrassment by a then-unnamed GitHub founder and his wife.
Draconos posted this story to the subreddit. The Verge reports the US State Department grabbed $2.3 million for a mesh network launched in the Tunisian city of Sayada. A series of rooftop routers offer a decentralized alternative to the larger Internet. The department is also funding projects in Detroit and New York. Meanwhile the US government is spending $4.7 million to push for mesh networks in Cuba through the USAID program.
metalfreak posted the Wired story about Apple’s efforts to reduce its carbon footprint with new data centers. Steven Levy’s extensive story at wired.com describes how Apple has neared its goal of powering all its facilities 100 percent by renewable energy. Its corporate campuses and data centers are now at 94 percent renewable and rising. That doesn’t include the manufacturing, transport, and use of its actual products, or about 98 percent of its carbon footprint.