Teenager App'ly become $30M, #2

AP London 3/26/13, Enhanced by Peter/CXO Wiz4.biz

Spending the $30M. Asked what he’ll do with the payout, he responded with serious answers unbefitting of an adolescent. He said the money was being kept in a Trust until he turns 18, and he didn’t seem interested in talking about what he’d buy for himself for his next birthday. “I’d like to keep it safe. Bank it. If I was to do anything it’d be Angel Investing,” said D’Aloisio, who is slim with dark brown hair and bears a passing resemblance to Josh Radnor, the actor who plays main character Ted in the TV sitcom “How I Met Your Mother.”

The teen App expert said he was interested in automated technologies that could anticipate users’ needs, before they even reached for their Smart Phones — such as an app that downloads the day’s news stories, just before a user steps into a subway. D’Aloisio said there were no copyright concerns about Summly, which works by running a statistical analysis of the text, to guess which bits are the most relevant to cut the content down. Media companies such as New York-based News Corp. have collaborated on making their content more Summly-friendly, he said, arguing that shortening software would ultimately be a win-win for content providers.

Advantages of Summly. “We’re introducing their content to a new, younger demographic,” Nick said. “You like the summary, you read the whole story; it increases publisher viewership.” The technology isn’t foolproof: He said the app sometimes has trouble shortening long-form or highbrow pieces, but he noted that humans, too, have trouble summarizing sprawling stories.

Yahoo’s Deal, announced Monday is its 5th small acquisition in the past five months. All have been part of CEO Marissa Mayer’s effort to attract more engineers with expertise in building services for Smart Phones & Tablet computers – an increasingly important area of technology that she believes the Internet company had been neglecting. Although the Yahoo acquisition won’t close until later this spring, D’Aloisio said the Summly App will no longer be available. Its technology will return in other Yahoo products.

D’Aloisio will work for Yahoo in its London office — in part so that he can complete High School. Two other Summly workers will join Yahoo at its Sunnyvale, California, headquarters. He said he eventually wants to attend university, perhaps to study philosophy. “I haven’t decided yet,” he said.

Comments: What do you think of this? Isnt it remarkable? Do you know anyone you can help to be a $1M?