It's slowing down as we near Christmas, but there's important geeky news . . .
Locations:
Boston is home to some tech-meets-food startups. Amusing but also we might see the beginning of a specialty tech area for Boston which may be good for attracting business and investment. Also these are businesses IBM PROBABLY won't buy despite their Bostophile approach.
Mobile:
Mobile cloud security company Lookout gets $19.5 million in investment – They've got a good footprint and they're in a good market, so I'd say toss them a resume. Also, that kind of money going into a security company for mobile shows people think that area of tech is going to be big, and thus profitable.
Technology:
EMN8 raises $12.2 million – Who you ask? Well despite it's name EMN8 is not a band nor an energy drink, but people that make transaction kiosks. That may not sound exciting until you realize how many there are out there at restraints and more, and how these will probably increase and grow. Then it gets exciting (having worked on mere display kiosks many years ago, trust me that this stuff actually gets pretty creative and interesting).
Skype had problems this week. It was all over the internet, which tells me people got a might too dependent on it.
Video Games:
So why did the Wii cool off? NPR Takes a look, and mixed market issues seem to be a big one.
Atari names a new CEO. Frankly they need it, and it might just be too late considering their recent issues. I'd put them in the "apply to cautiously" category.
Harmonix has been sold to a private equity firm. So they're sort-of-independent again – for now. Despite their finer points, you may want to hold off sending them a resume or anything.
Gamebase, in South Korea, purchased Emergent. Sounds like this gives them a foothold in the states. I liked Emergent and am glad to see them getting a chance again.
QUESTION OF THE DAY: Why do you think the Wii cooled off?