Yahoo buys more mobile expertise
2012-12-05 11:39
San Francisco - Yahoo has bought another
Silicon Valley mobile startup as CEO Marissa Mayer tries to create more
compelling products for smartphones and tablet computers.
Tuesday's acquisition of OnTheAir follows Yahoo's
recent purchase of a mobile startup called Stamped. In both cases, Yahoo was
drawn more by the engineering talent working at the startups than the services
that they have been offering.
Yahoo, which is based in Sunnyvale,
California, didn't disclose how much it paid for OnTheAir, which is based in
San Francisco.
The service enables users to hold online
video chats in a talk-show format. Yahoo didn't say whether it intends to
continue OnTheAir's service.
Yahoo is in the process of closing Stamped's
service just six weeks after announcing that acquisition so the engineers
picked up in that deal can focus on other projects. Five of the 11 Stamped
employees used to work for Google, where Mayer was a top executive before Yahoo
lured her away to become its CEO in mid-July.
One of OnTheAir's employees, Daniel Hopkins,
also used to work at Google. The resumes of the four other OnTheAir workers
being scooped up by Yahoo list stints at Apple and instant messaging service
Meebo.
"Hiring the most talented mobile product
thinkers and engineers is a big priority for us moving forward," Adam
Cahan, Yahoo's senior vice president of emerging products and technology, said.
Mayer has said she believes half of Yahoo's
engineering talent must eventually consist of mobile computing specialists.
Yahoo's stock gained 38 cents, or 2%, to
close Tuesday at $18.93.
- SAPA
