Hasta La Gadget!

Former Xbox chief Don Mattrick left his post at Microsoft and joined Zynga as the company’s new CEO. This left a vacant hole over at Microsoft, for which CEO Steve Ballmer is currently stepping in for the time being. However, it’s been reported that current Windows head Julie Larson-Green could be the successor to Mattrick and take over the Xbox division as well.

According to Bloomberg, Microsoft is said to be in the planning stages of reorganizing the company’s execs, and Mattrick is believed to have left Microsoft because of that. As for who will do what, it’s said that Skype president Tony Bates will be put in charge of acquisitions and relationships with software developers for Microsoft, and Larson-Green will oversee all hardware engineering for the company.

This means that Larson-Green would oversee hardware engineering for all devices, including Xbox consoles and Surface tablets. Furthermore, Windows Phone software chief Terry Myerson would be given more responsibility, and will oversee Windows operating system engineering.

Sources say that these shuffling moves aren’t finalized, and it’s possible that Ballmer will make changes before Microsoft officially announces the reorganization. This means that it’s possible that Larson-Green won’t end up getting the Xbox division under her authority, but seeing as how the Xbox One is merging ever so closer to the Windows platform, it makes sense to put the two together under the same boss.

As for Mattrick, it’s said that he was a contender for the hardware chief position before he left Microsoft, but knowing that the company would be going through a reshuffling, Mattrick probably didn’t want to get caught up in the changes. Of course, Mattrick isn’t heading to any steadier waters, as he’ll be responsible for picking up the broken pieces of Zynga and trying to put them back together.

VIA: CVG

SOURCE: Bloomberg

Windows chief rumored for Xbox lead position after Mattrick departure is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

This week the folks at Quiki have confirmed that they’ve been acquired by Yahoo, the latter company aiming to make use of the former’s video sharing app environment. That said; if you’re able to keep track of all the clever names for companies aiming for mobile glory these days, you deserve a gold star. Quiki will make Yahoo a real competitor for top spot in mini-video sharing if they keep with the aim of the original app, that’s for certain.

What you’re seeing here is an app that you may have seen appear back at the tech event TechCrunch Disrupt 2010. It was there that then-Googler Marissa Mayer was a judge of apps and digital creations of all kinds, and here that she, now CEO of Yahoo, aims to pick it up.

This app works with filters for video captured by smartphones that are then shared with friends in iOS. At the moment you can have a peek at this app on your iPhone, iPad, or camera-toting iPod touch, and we can imagine an Android app coming up quick as well (especially with Yahoo’s recent efforts in dominating the mobile landscape with apps galore).

“Have you ever listened to an old song and all of a sudden a favorite vacation, concert, or summer memory pops into your mind? The Qwiki app automatically turns pictures and videos that you already have on your iPhone into quick, beautiful movies to share, including transitions and a soundtrack.”

Inside the app you’re also – at the moment – able to edit video, add soundtracks, transition between clips, and generally go wild in making what’s captured as boring into something exciting. Yahoo’s capture of such an app will certainly also be giving Flickr a boost, one way or another.

UPDATE: it would appear that NYC Mayor Bloomberg likes this team a whole lot, as well – almost like a boost for a vote!

“Qwiki is a great example of the momentum in New York City’s booming tech sector,” said Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. “While the company was started out west, they relocated here to be a part of our surging tech community… We congratulate them on their partnership with Yahoo!, and hope they continue to grow and thrive in New York City.”

Have a peek at Quicki on your iOS device now and stick around as it becomes clear what Yahoo intends to do with it. It might be smart to keep out of love with this app as it stands today, as all good things transform once acquisiton terms have their say.

VIA: Tumblr (another recent Yahoo acquisition); Engadget

Yahoo acquires Qwiki to battle Vine with video sharing is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Before there were the Google, Bing, and Yahoo search engines, there was AltaVista. Launching in 1995, the search engine became wildly popular, but as Google launched and other big companies followed suit with their own search engines, AltaVista quickly fell behind. However, Yahoo (who owns AltaVista) will be shutting down the classic search engine on July 8.

Yahoo says that they’re shutting down AltaVista in effort to “sharpen” their focus on newer products, and the company is asking AltaVista users (if they still exist) to begin using Yahoo Search for now on, and the AltaVista URL will automatically redirect to Yahoo Search for now on.

AltaVista was acquired by Yahoo in 2003 after being the exclusive provider of search results for Yahoo starting in 1996, and it was a search engine that was far ahead of its competition in the mid-90s when it launched because it was able to index over 20 million websites, thanks to its innovative web “crawler” technology. Of course, it’s not so revolutionary anymore, as most big search engines have that type of technology.

The AltaVista shutdown is just one instance of a range of shutdowns that Yahoo recently announced. The other Yahoo services that are being axed may not be as well-known as AltaVista, but some niche users may be disappointed by some other shutdowns occurring at the company. FoxyTunes and Yahoo RSS Alerts were shut down yesterday, and the Neighbors Beta, as well as the Downloads Beta and Local API will shutting down later this month.

SOURCE: Yahoo

AltaVista search engine shutting down next week is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

As rumored earlier today, Microsoft’s Xbox chief Don Mattrick will officially be heading over the social gaming developing studio Zynga to become their chief executive. He’ll also be the newest member to the Zynga’s board of directors. Mattrick will assume his new roles starting next Monday on July 8. Current Zynga CEO and founder Mark

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The man known as Don Mattrick has been tipped to be moving to the mobile gaming giant Zynga, switching from Entertainment Head of one company to CEO of the other. Such a move would likely have adverse effects on how Windows Phone 8 (and forward) work with games from the game maker – possibly aiming

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