Facebook and Zynga Mend the Fence on Farmville
In recent days, multiple reports claimed wildly popular social gamer Zynga was locked in a high stakes game of chicken with Facebook over the social network’s planned virtual currency, Facebook Credits. Even with the two companies’ obvious needs for each other – seven of Facebook’s ten most popular games in April came from Zynga’s portfolio and the majority of Zynga’s revenue sources from Facebook derived users – the chatter was of a possible divorce.
Facebook was reportedly trying to lock Zynga into a long term revenue sharing deal. Possibly exclusivity. Zynga, some reports claimed, was resistant and threatening to bolt, maybe even start a social game network of its own.
The fight’s over now. Click to Read More
Smartphone use (particularly iPhones) is addictive and contagious. Sit down in a public place – a coffee shop, a bar, a book store – and chances are you’ll see someone whip out their phone. Within minutes, sometimes just seconds, someone else will follow. I’ve been out with friends and seen three out of five people at a table all “plugged in.” They were texting, gaming, checking emails, scanning news. Funny thing is, not one of them was actually using the phone to talk. 
