Google has acquired Agnilux, an early-stage mobile start-up, but the real story begins with the employees. Well, maybe. Companies typically buy other companies for their employee talent, customer base or technology. MediaPost doesn't have insight into the reason for the acquisition, but according to Mobiledia, the San Jose, Calif.-based startup employees some of those who once designed custom silicon chips--A4 processor on the iPad and next-generation iPhone HD device--at PA Semiconductor. The likelihood of Google building chips stands at about zero, but a person familiar with the situation suggests the Internet giant bought the company, not for silicon talent …

In an interview with eMarketer analyst Debra Aho Williamson, Facebook's head of global ad sales discusses the ad imlications of the social network's new Open Graph initiative that lets Facebook users see what friends have liked and read on sites across the Web via a new set of social plug-ins for publishers. Murphy confirms that whenever someone hits that "Like" button on any site, that information goes into their profile and can be used by marketers to target advertising within Facebook. While he says Facebook has no plans to launch an ad network based on Open Graph, this is …

A new study by Havas Digital's mobile marketing arm Mobext and research firm Cadio comes to the astonishing conclusion that opt-in GPS tracking can deliver a trove of valuable consumer and competitive insights. Well, yeah, if a marketer is tracking your every move they're going to learn a few things about your lifestyle and buying habits. The study involved mobile users in Chicago, New York and Boston who agreed to share location information every 10 minutes over a two-week period starting the Wednesday before Thanksgiving last year. What did they find out? Half the people that frequent Starbucks also …

San Francisco-based media shop Mediasmith has named of John Cate executive vice president-general manager. Cate who joins Mediasmith’s executive committee, joins from executive president-general manager at Aegis Group’s Carat unit. Mediasmith Founder-CEO David Smith said the addition of Cate, “Effectively opens up a new era for Mediasmith, and he alluded to “many exciting announcements� in the next several months.

The National Hockey League has launched the next phase of its long-term strategy of taking hockey beyond the NHL.com hub to social-media and complementary sites. The League has begun using new Facebook tools that the league hopes will make NHL fans advocates and promulgators of league content and opinions. As of this week, visitors to the NHL.com site can sign into NHL.com with their Facebook login and access a number of plug-ins that carry NHL content to the people friended by the social site's members who express their opinion, share or comment on NHL. The new program is …

Google is no stranger to rivalries and potential competition, but Fortune suggests that the search giant may have finally met its match with Facebook. Indeed, new features from the social network “may lay the groundwork for reorganizing the Internet according to the relationships between people instead of pages -- with massive implications for both search and advertising,â€� it writes. In particular, Facebook’s new “likeâ€� button is being positioned to create “an expanding map of the preferences people express across the the [sic] entire Internet.â€� More broadly, “As [Facebook] launches more features outside the Facebook site, the company’s strategy is …

Blogger Robert Scoble -- who knows a thing or two about ambitious tech giants -- is trying to wrap his head around Facebook’s grand strategy, and, well, he’s freakin’ out a bit. “Facebook wants to own your digital fingerprints,â€� according to Scoble. Regarding the social network’s new sharing tools, he predicts: “I’d expect to see Facebook’s new social features to show up on at least 30% of the web’s most popular sites within a month.â€� As a result, “Facebook gets to study everything we touch now and will bring a much more complete stream back to the mother ship.â€� …

Location-based social network Foursquare has added a link to every page representing an unclaimed business venue, which asks: “Are you the manager of this business?â€� The link takes presumed managers to a page asking them for proof that they are in fact a business’s manager, and an open-offer to discuss various marketing opportunities with a member of Foursquare’s sales team. As TechCrunch explains, “If Foursquare is ever going to be worth more than $100 million to Yahoo or anyone, it will have to add not just a hell of a lot more users, but also a hell of a …

Apple’s iPhone business now represents a whopping 40% of the company’s revenue, according to Business Insider’s “chart of the day.â€� Remarkably, that’s a share of the business that didn’t exist three years ago. Now, for three quarters and counting, the iPhone is Apple’s biggest revenue generator. During the March quarter, iPhone revenue grew 124% year-over-year to $5.4 billion -- or 40% of Apple’s $13.5 billion in total revenue. “Because of high profit margins on the iPhone, it’s likely Apple’s biggest profit contributor, too,â€� suggests Business Insider. “But that’s another chart. Apple’s second-biggest business is its Mac computer division, which …

Turner and CBS will share the NCAA basketball tournament under a new rights deal that has TBS airing the Final Four in alternate years starting in 2016. Overall, Turner will begin covering tourney games next year on three networks, along with CBS. Next year, the NCAA tournament looks to be expanded to 68 teams (from 65), not the 96 some feared would dilute its appeal. The Turner-CBS agreement is valued at $10.8 billion and runs through 2024, meaning TBS will get four Final Fours and CBS, which has had those games since 1982, will have nine. CBS will …