Excerpts from the Innovation Economy blog.
An executive involved with one of the most successful video game franchises ever, Activision Blizzard's Call of Duty, is joining Atlas Venture of Cambridge as the venture capital firm's newest entrepreneur in residence.
And it sounds as if he is already laying the groundwork for a new company of his own.
Noah Heller, who had been based in Santa Monica, Calif., is moving to Boston.
"I liked the energy here a lot,'' he said, "and I wanted to go where it was a little more blue sky'' - meaning the gaming industry isn't as developed locally as it is in places like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Austin, Texas.
Mentioning Boston's "awesome'' schools, he says: "I kind of look at Boston as a new market for gaming. That's not to short-shrift the guys at Harmonix, who are knocking it out of the park, but I want to be part of the core here as it expands.''
At Activision, he had been the product director for Call of Duty Elite, a subscription service linked to two games in the Call of Duty series. He had also worked on the company's first iPhone product, Call of Duty: Zombies.
As for what's next, Heller says: "I have a pretty good foundation in blockbuster games, but the open Web has been really intriguing to me. I like the idea of sending someone a URL to get them into a game session.''
As an example, he mentions a new racing game that can be played within a Web browser, demonstrated by Gradient Studios at the recent PAX East conference.
"The idea is that I can send you a link, and all of a sudden we're in an arena, building cars, and playing in a demolition derby - all these things that shouldn't seem to work in a Web browser, with no plug-ins or software to install,'' Heller says.
Where to hobnob with bigwigs
Where in Boston can you drink or dine among the movers and shakers of the innovation economy?
That was the question I posed to 74 entrepreneurs and investors recently - including venture capitalists like Lucy McQuilken, angel investors like Joe Caruso, and CEOs like Glenn Batchelder, Michael Simon, and Diane Hessan - to get 78 answers.
I tried to include people who work and invest in technology, life sciences, and clean tech.
THE TOP SPOTS:
■Voltage Coffee & Art (Cambridge)
■Henrietta's Table (Cambridge)
■Two-way tie between Crema Café
(Cambridge) and Riverbend Bar & Grill at the Newton Marriott (Newton)
■Naked Fish (Waltham)
■Meadhall (Cambridge)
Making e-mails more interactive
PowerInbox has a pretty compelling proposition for senders and recipients of e-mail.
For recipients, the company wants to make it possible to do more than just scan your incoming messages. You're able to take action: comment on Facebook photos, schedule appointments, or donate to worthy fund-raising campaigns.
For senders, the company says that by making it easier for users to engage - and buy stuff - e-mail becomes a much more effective tool.
PowerInbox has released Connect API, which makes it easier for companies to deliver these more functional and interactive e-mails, and for users to see them in their inbox without having to download any special software. (That's assuming you use e-mail clients from Fuser, Unified Inbox, or Smak; others will still require a download.)
It will be interesting to see if larger e-mail companies, like Gmail and Outlook, decide to embrace Connect API. "We think that interactive e-mail can be as big of a trend as mobile and social are,'' said Matt Thazhmon, founder and chief executive of PowerInbox.
PowerInbox now makes it possible to see a live Groupon countdown without leaving your inbox, view a video from Boston-based Vsnap, or make a donation through Fundraise.com, also of Boston.
Visit www.boston.com/innovation for the full Innovation Economy blog, updated daily.