Amazon Hires Former Windows Phone Exec to Work on 'Something Secret'

Todd Wasserman2013-04-02 13:28:53 UTC

Amazon has hired Charlie Kindel, the former general manager for Microsoft's Windows Phone to work on "something secret."

Kindel, whose name prompted suspicions that he may have been trying to pull off an April Fool's hoax, wrote on his LinkedIn profile that he's working on "something wonderful" at Amazon. Under his title, Kindel wrote "Director, Something Secret."

Prior to joining Amazon, Kindel was the general manager of Windows Phone Developer Experience from January 2009 to August 2011 where he worked on the Windows Phone 7 platform. Just prior to joining Amazon, Kindel was CEO of BizLogr, a startup he founded that created MileLogr, an app that help you log your mileage for tax purposes.

Amazon's latest hire will doubtlessly fuel speculation that the company is working on an Amazon-branded smartphone. That product has been rumored for some time.

Image courtesy of Flickr, â–“â–’â–‘ TORLEY â–‘â–’â–“ and LinkedIn

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'Draw Something' Head Leaves Zynga 1 Year After Selling Company

Seth Fiegerman2013-04-02 18:13:08 UTC

Zynga is parting ways with another big name employee.

Dan Porter, the man who founded OMGPOP, the gaming company behind the popular Pictionary-style game Draw Something, is leaving Zynga one year after it bought his company for $180 million. Porter's departure was first reported by BetaBeat and has since been confirmed to Mashable by Zynga.

"Developing and launching games is a team effort, and we’re proud of the great work the Zynga New York team has done with Draw Something 2," Zynga COO David Ko said in a statement. "Our follow up to the original hit is even more social and engaging, and we’re excited to get it into the hands of our players globally. We thank Dan Porter for his efforts in making the Draw Something franchise a success and wish him well in his future endeavors."

Draw Something represented Zynga's largest acquisition, but since the purchase one year ago, the game has lost much of its buzz. Zynga announced in October that it would have to write off between $85 million to $95 million of the acquisition cost in an acknowledgement that it had overpaid for the company. Meanwhile, Zynga's stock price has plummeted from more than $13 a share to just more than $3 a share now.

To make matters worse, Porter has come under fire last month for saying that Zynga copied games. He later was forced to issue a public apology, in which he claimed his comments had been misrepresented.

Porter, who served as the VP and general manager of Zynga's New York operations, will be replaced by Sean Kelly. Kelly joined Zynga in 2009 and oversees the company's mobile products.

Zynga has lost several other execs in recent months, including CFO David Wehner and the creators of Words With Friends and Zynga Poker.

Image courtesy of Flickr, TCDisrupt

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