Twofish adds new tools for measuring the economics of social games

Twofish adds new tools for measuring the economics of social games

As companies implement virtual goods on applications in Facebook and other social networks, they need better tools for analyzing how people are buying and selling these goods and how to make more money.

Today, Twofish is offering these companies a set of e-commerce analytics services, called EasyElements, that can be integrated into Google Analytics or into its more comprehensive Elements analytics program. It may help them make more money from their users.

Virtual economies are complicated and… Continue Reading

Roundup: Brin backs Parkinson’s study, iPhone gets shakable ads, and more

Roundup: Brin backs Parkinson’s study, iPhone gets shakable ads, and more

Google co-founder backs major Parkinson’s study –  Sergey Brin says he plans to contribute money and DNA to a study run by his wife Anne Wojcicki’s startup 23andMe.

Dockers introduces shakable iPhone ad — Users can shake their iPhones to make urban street dancer Dufon perform his moves. The ad was created by mobile ad company Medialets.

Twofish launches analytics platform for social games — The company’s Elements platform will help social game and virtual world developers understand and make… Continue Reading

Twofish announces customers for its virtual goods micro-transaction platform

Twofish announces customers for its virtual goods micro-transaction platform

Twofish is announcing today that it has several customers using its Twofish Elements platform for creating virtual goods and micro-transactions in online games.

The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company outsources the function of creating a transaction system and virtual goods tracking platform for online games. Today, it is announcing its customers include Pocketville, Star Fever, Pangaea, Ignite Skill Gaming, and RevNjenz.

With Twofish Elements at their disposal, these companies should be able to do interesting things with the… Continue Reading

PlaySpan raises $16.8 million for gaming virtual goods platform

PlaySpan raises $16.8 million for gaming virtual goods platform

Virtual goods sales are starting to look better than real world goods sales these days. PlaySpan announced today that it has raised $16.8 million for its virtual goods platform and online payments business for online games.

Karl Mehta, chief executive of the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company said PlaySpan will use the money to expand into new markets overseas and investigate opportunities for its platform on social networks. The company makes both the system that lets game… Continue Reading

Twofish raises $4.5M to create economies for virtual worlds

Twofish raises $4.5M to create economies for virtual worlds

Twofish has raised $4.5 million in a second round of funding for its business of creating the economic infrastructure behind virtual worlds. The deal is another indication that the virtual goods economy is heating up, even as the real world economy spirals downward.

The Palo Alto, Calif. company made the announcement at The Virtual Goods Summit, a packed conference in San Francisco attended by several hundred people this morning. Twofish creates a “digital resources planning solution,”… Continue Reading

Roundup: Digg, Zunephone, Twofish, and MontaVista’s curious layoff

Roundup: Digg, Zunephone, Twofish, and MontaVista’s curious layoff

Latest tech roundup:

Digg removes listing of top diggers — The news ranking company has removed its list of the people who have contributed most do top Digg stories, to stop gaming of the site, or at least the perception of gaming. For starters, it removes the temptation for eager marketers to bribe top diggers for favors. Thus ends a hallmark of Digg. Ranking on the list was one motivation for Digg’s passionate users. (See founder Kevin… Continue Reading

PayPal’s “other” story, and Wikio, Infinera, Zoho, Omnidrive & more

PayPal’s “other” story, and Wikio, Infinera, Zoho, Omnidrive & more

Roundup of the latest action in Silicon Valley & tech:

PayPal’s origin explored, one more time — Online payments company Paypal has spawned more Internet entrepreneurs from its founding team than any other company we know. Yet PayPal had a rushed and tumultuous birth; if you’re curious about yet another version of PayPal history, this is worth a read: Co-founder Elon Musk (pictured here) rejects the version that suggests he was a lesser player.

Wikio, which looks remarkably… Continue Reading