Klout purchased neighborhood interaction app Blockboard.

“Blockboard has built an amazing local-mobile app that connects neighbors to build stronger communities through technology,” says Klout’s Joe Fernandez.

This simple, well-designed tool gives people a way to communicate with their neighbors about everything from local news and tips to lost pets and broken streetlights.

“With their experience, Blockboard brings an awareness of how social media can be meaningfully woven into the fabric of a local community,” he adds, “as well as a killer mobile app development team.”

Klout says that integrating the Blockboard team, technology and expertise represents a “significant investment into enriching the local and mobile experience” for the company’s users.

Per the terms of the deal, which weren’t disclosed in full, Blockboard’s entire staff will be joining Klout.

“We can’t wait to get started!,” Fernandez said Tuesday.

And what a big deal it is.

Amazon has teamed up with Viacom in a pact that will deliver content from MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, TV Land, and VH1 to Prime Instant Video. The total number of new titles the deal delivers to Amazon is 2,000.

Prime Instant Videos can be watched on the Kindle Fire, Mac, PC, or Roku and select TVs, set-top boxes, and blu-ray players.

“Together with the existing movies and shows from CBS, Fox, Disney-ABC, PBS, NBC, Sony, and Warner Bros., we now offer, at no additional cost, unlimited instant streaming of more than 15,000 titles,” Amazon says.

“We’re adding something for the family with Nickelodeon favorites like Avatar: The Last Airbender, Dora the Explorer, iCarly, and Yo Gabba Gabba,” the announcement continued. “We’re adding comedy with titles like Chappelle’s Show, The Sarah Silverman Program, Strangers with Candy, and Hot in Cleveland. And we’re adding reality TV with several past seasons of The Real World, Basketball Wives, and Jersey Shore.”

Amazon Prime is still best known for offering free two-day shipping on millions of items in return for a $79 a year membership.

Does today’s announcement make you more likely to sign up for Amazon Prime, if you’re not already a member?

Just this week, DIDMO – the architect of Magmito, a cross-platform mobile application creation solution – announced its new partnership with Constant Contact.

The companies will reportedly integrate their services, allow each firm’s customers to create and promote marketing campaigns through handheld devices.

In other words, Constant Contact is embracing mobile marketing to a whole new extent.

With this integration, Constant Contact’s half a million small business customers can create mobile apps to promote their businesses with Magmito and, with one click, automatically generate an email marketing campaign through their Constant Contact account featuring their app’s QR Code.

Conversely, DIDMO’s clients can easily register or use an existing Constant Contact account to further distribute and promote discoverability of their mobile content via email.

“More and more small businesses are connecting with customers through social media and email marketing, and mobile engagement is the next new frontier for them,” said Kevin O’Brien, director of the AppConnect Program for Constant Contact. “Today’s consumers are relying on their mobile devices more and more to find information. DIDMO’s mobile app creation tool gives our customers an easy and effective way to engage with mobile right from our Constant Contact MarketPlace.”

In an ultra-elusive confirmation of the partnership, neither Bango or Facebook will say what services Bango will provide to Facebook or why Facebook may require such services.

As a leading mobile payment and analytics solutions firm, Bango will only confess that its “too early in the relationship to accurately forecast the level of business which it may generate.”

As a result of the announcement, however, the rumor mill is spinning strong this morning as some market watchers and social media analysts believe that Facebook, which recently filed to go public, is on the verge of implementing an in-app payment services and operator billing platform via Facebook’s formidable mobile presence.

Presently, Facebook has 435 million users globally who are active on Facebook primarily through the social network’s various mobile applications and access points.

Facebook’s IPO-related filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week says the company plans to raise $5 billion.

According to published chatter Friday, the team at Facebook is attempting to convince the people at Vevo — the hugely popular video streaming service and YouTube staple – to bring their red-hot video platform to the social networking giant.

As of this writing, it’s assumed but not confirmed that Facebook is looking for an exclusive relationship with Vevo.

For Facebook, the move would not only be a bold one, but a fast one, as the social network only partnered with Vevo to integrate it’s platform last September.

“Here’s the most compelling thing a Vevo deal could offer Facebook,” speculates Greg Sandoval of CNET, “CEO Mark Zuckerberg could offer free-music listening in the form of music videos–just like YouTube does now–to the company’s users. That would certainly help Facebook keep users on the site longer, something the company is determined to do.”

With some 43 million dedicated users, Vevo could definitely make Facebook even more formidable in the social-entertainment realm than it already is.

The only question is: Will Vevo go for it?

What do you think will come of Facebook’s rumored efforts?

For Constant Contact, the acquisition isn’t a small one. With over two million users, Boston-based CardStar is a leading developer of mobile applications that extend the use of loyalty cards and mobile coupons among consumers.

According to Constant Contact, this newest acquisition will help the company continue to expand from a simple online marketing tool provider to a more sophisticated platform to help small businesses create and grow customer relationships.

As of this writing, no financial details of the transaction were revealed.

“The CardStar loyalty platform takes advantage of the anytime, anywhere nature of mobile – making it an excellent complement to our growing suite of engagement marketing tools for small businesses. CardStar’s unique mobile application is a natural extension of our brand, bringing consumers and merchants together before, during, and after the sale to help drive repeat business,” said Gail Goodman, CEO of Constant Contact.

CardStar’s employees will join the Constant Contact team, including CEO and Founder Andy Miller and CTO and Founder Danny Espinoza.

“We share a common goal of supporting businesses’ ability to grow by connecting with their customers,” Miller said today. “We are so pleased with CardStar’s success so far. Joining forces with Constant Contact accelerates our growth path and opens up new opportunities for small businesses to take advantage of our innovations in mobile, loyalty, and consumer technology.”

Hailed as one of the industry’s top mobile game development teams, Escalation Studios will join 6L’s existing product development team and according to details provided in today’s announcement “will focus on delivering cutting edge game experiences on mobile devices.”

“We will double our business in 2012 and mobile will play a significant role in our growth on both the publishing and development sides of our business,” said Rex Ng, CEO of 6L. “This addition to our team brings some of the mobile gaming industry’s most impressive talent into our fold and sends a clear signal that we are as serious about innovation in mobile as we have been in social.”

The addition of Escalation Studios expands the company’s workforce to more than 200 employees worldwide.

“We were initially interested in Escalation Studios because of their reputation within the industry,” said Arjun Sethi, Chief Product Officer of 6L. “When we sat down and saw their roadmap we recognized immediately how deeply their goals and capabilities align with our own. Their addition to our team will enable us to launch some of 2012′s most innovative mobile games.”

At the time of the acquisition’s announcement, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

On Friday, USA Today announced that it is working with AT&T to “enhance your news consumption experience.” As a result, AT&T Mobile Barcodes will now be featured on USA Today newspaper pages.

According to this morning’s announcement, USA Today readers can now use nearly any QR scanning application, including the free AT&T Code Scanner, to launch interactive, multimedia content on their mobile devices.

The agreement between AT&T and USA Today allows readers to experience the best of both worlds – the familiarity of reading a newspaper and the excitement of engaging with news on their mobile device.

Throughout the coming months, AT&T Mobile Barcodes will appear in each section of USA Today. In addition, AT&T Mobile Barcodes will be featured in USA Today Sports Weekly and select special publications.

“We are proud to have been one of the first U.S. newspapers to offer interactive codes daily and we’re looking forward to enhancing our mobile barcode experience with AT&T. This initiative furthers our goal to bridge digital and print by providing our readers easier access to special features,” says Chet Czarniak, executive editor, content distribution and programming for USA TODAY.

Will you be glad to see QR codes inside the pages of USA Today?

Initially, 25 “specialty stores” will open and be dedicated exclusively to Apple products. The stores will be opened inside of existing Target retail locations.

Target is yet to announced which stores will be the first recipients of these so-called “Apple Mini Stores.”

Apple already has centers within Best Buy stores, but an expansion to Target makes the computer brand accessible to shoppers who are not necessarily looking for electronics.

According to the New York Times, Target, which currently sells iPhones, iPads and iPods, hasn’t commented on whether the retail giant will also begin selling Macs.

The Apple details came after Target said it would open in May small boutiques within its stores called The Shops at Target. The shops would will initially feature small, local stores like Polka Dog Bakery in Boston and The Webster in Miami, which sells clothing and accessories.

The trial testing allows shoppers to purchase items at checkout either directly through their mobile device or through a special PayPal card.

Although PayPal’s mobile wallet aspirations are only four months old, the company has aggressively pursued any available channel that could help the service take root and grow rapidly in the coming year.

“Home Depot is the first retailer to roll out a limited pilot program for our new POS technologies,” admits PayPal director of communications Anuj Nayar on the PayPal Blog. “We frequently run trials with our retail partners. The Home Depot pilot is currently being run in five stores and involves a small number of PayPal employees.”

Optimism for PayPal’s chances of success in this endeavor remain high, particularly in light of the company’s 100-million strong user base.

“Stay tuned throughout the year as we continue to re-imagine money and make it work better for merchants and consumers – whatever device you’re on, wherever you are in the world, and however you prefer to pay,” Nayar says.