GOOGLE BUYING MOTOROLA MOBILITY

Google has announced it is acquiring handset maker Motorola Mobility for $40 per share or $12.5 billion. Google will making Motorola Mobility a "dedicated Android partner" to "enhance competition in mobile computing" and "supercharge the Android ecosystem." Google CEO Larry Page said "Motorola Mobility's total commitment to Android has created a natural fit for our two companies. Together, we will create amazing user experiences that supercharge the entire Android ecosystem for the benefit of consumers, partners and developers. I look forward to welcoming Motorolans to our family of Googlers."

The acquisition also give Google access to Motorola Mobility's treasure chest of patents which it can use to help defend itself against lawsuits.

Motorola Mobility has been a strong Android partner to Google and launched the flagship Droid lineup for Verizon. Google will continue to operate its new toy as a separate business and not morph it into an in-house hardware wing.

GOOGLE BUYS POSTRANK SOCIAL MEDIA METRICS COMPANY

Google has acquired PostRank, a Web company that measures the effects of social networking on online content. The announcement was made on PostRank's blog. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The deal appears to be an indication of the effects of social media on Google's long-term strategy, if not its immediate business. PostRank (a play on Google's own PageRank term) measures how many comments, bookmarks, tweets, and other social interactions a given piece of content generates, exactly the type of analytics a Web giant needs as it slowly grows its own social strategy.

So far, Google seems to be orienting itself around +1 icon and social search, as it slowly evolves a presence in social networking.

RUMOR: TWITTER TO PURCHASE TWEETDECK

According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, Twitter is in “advanced talks” to purchase TweetDeck — the popular desktop and mobile third-party Twitter client. The deal could be worth as much as $50 million, although neither party has commented on the possible acquisition. TweetDeck, based in the U.K, has 15 employees on its payroll. Twitter could use the acquisition to immediately offer a “native” Twitter client in the PC desktop space, especially if it has plans to begin targeting enterprise Twitter users.

DISH NETWORK WINS AUCTION FOR BLOCKBUSTER

Back in September, Blockbuster announced that they would file for bankruptcy protection. Since then, corporate executives weighed their options to try and save the company from the dustbin, but finally reserved themselves to putting it up for sale in the hopes that another company would buy it at auction. This morning those hopes came true: Dish Network stepped in to buy the company for a total of $228 million in cash.

It’s unlikely that Dish Network is interested in Blockbuster’s chain of 1,700 video rental stores and retail locations: it’s almost certain that Dish really wants to get their hands on Blockbuster’s kiosk business, streaming video services, DVD mailing services, and their agreements with movie studios and television networks that produce its most watched and rented content. It’s still very likely that many, if not all, of Blockbuster’s neighborhood rental stores will close.

Whether or not Dish Network sees fit to prop up Blockbuster’s retail business remains to be seen, but it’s clear that they’re not the most valuable part of the deal. It’s far more likely that Dish Network will tie in its own satellite television services with Blockbuster streaming packages. For example, new Dish Network customers may see promotions and discounts if they sign up for Blockbuster streaming or disc by mail rentals. By contrast, current Blockbuster subscribers may be prompted to switch to Dish Network for their traditional TV services, if they have them.

Additionally, Blockbuster has made a significant push in recent years towards the mobile space, entering partnerships with a number of smartphone manufacturers and wireless carriers to bundle their streaming video apps on new devices. Dish Network could also leverage those agreements to bring mobile television and streaming video to users much like Comcast does with its Xfinity TV mobile apps without having to build the apps themselves.

Ultimately, Dish Network’s acquisition of Blockbuster – if approved by the federal bankruptcy court handling the deal – could give the company a leg up against competitors like RedBox, which doesn’t have a traditional TV service to fight Dish Network with, and Netflix, which doesn’t offer either traditional TV or kiosks.

GOOGLE ACQUIRES SAYNOW

SayNow, a voice messaging company, has been acquired by Google for an undisclosed sum reported TechCrunch. SayNow’s platform facilitates voice messaging between individuals or groups, and the company provides access to its services through Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Android and iPhone applications. The start-up claims to have over 15 million people currently using SayNow apps and services, which include SayNow Phone, SayNow Broadcast, Big Call and Chit Chat. While details surrounding Google’s intentions for the platform are unclear at this time, the company’s services will ultimately be folded into Google Voice according to SayNow founders Ujjwal Singh and Nikhyl Singhal.

ZYNGA ACQUIRES NEWTOY

Zynga on Thursday announced that is has acquired Texas-based Newtoy, which produces titles for the "Games With Friends" franchise.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Newtoy will now be known as The Zynga With Friends Studio. Newtoy chief executive and co-founder Paul Bettner will serve as the studio's vice president and general manager, while his brother and co-founder David Bettner will be studio director. Michael Chow will be director of operations.

David Ko, senior vice president of mobile at Zynga, said Zynga was attracted to Newtoy because of its position in the mobile space. "Social gaming on the PC is an important part of many peoples' lives and it has become increasingly clear the mobile is the next great frontier," Ko said during a call with reporters.

"We believe the [Newtoy] franchise is the best social game experience available on mobile today," Ko said.

The goal, he said, is to have Zynga games available to anyone, anywhere, and on any device. To that end, Newtoy will not change dramatically. "We're not looking to alter any of the success we've seen with [Newtoy], but looking to extend it," Ko said.

Zynga, of course, is the maker of the popular Farmville; last month it also announced plans for a new game, CityVille. In the last five months, Ko said Farmville on the iPhone has been downloaded over 7 million times, and overall, Zynga has more than 10 million people accessing Zynga games on a mobile device.

Newtoy's Paul Bettner said there was an "intense cultural alignment" between Zynga and his company. "We've already begun collaborating and our teams have hit the ground running," he said.

"Throughout this process, both the Newtoy and Zynga teams utilized a secret codename of sorts for the operation, 'Jetpack.' Why this name, and not something else – like code 007? Because to us, this acquisition represents the potential to 'strap jetpacks to our backs' and move faster towards our shared goal of connecting the world through games," Bettner wrote in a blog post. "And that's what we're going to do!"

Newtoy is just the latest in a string of acqusitions for Zynga this year. Since February, the company has also acquired gaming companies Serious Business, XPD Media, Challenge Games, Conduit Labs, Unoh, and Bonfire Studios. [PC Mag]