Apple Loses MobileMe Director to Thumbplay, Hires Mozilla’s Ex Security Chief

Pablo Calamera, the director of technology for Apple's MobileMe service, has left the Mac maker to become the chief technology officer at Thumbplay, a U.S. media subscription service. As head of technology development, Calamera will oversee Thumbplay's unlimited, on-demand music-streaming service. In the meanwhile, former Mozilla Security Chief Window Snyder has been hired by Apple.

At Apple, Pablo Calamera oversaw technology development for MobileMe, Apple’s pioneering, cloud-based data-syncing product. Calamera has over 25 years of experience in PC, Mobile, set-top box and cloud-computing. He has worked ten years at Apple, six years at Danger, and two at WebTV. Calamera will be based in New York, reporting to Evan Schwartz, Thumbplay CEO and co-founder, starting with March 8th, 2010.

“We are thrilled to have Pablo join our team,” Schwartz commented. “He has unique experience with Apple, Danger and WebTV in delivering and syncing content across multiple platforms for a scaled customer base. He has also managed major integrations with U.S. and international carriers; an area of ongoing strategic importance for us. Over the course of his career, he has done an extraordinary job of building state-of-the-art consumer products and services from concept to completion. Technological innovation is paramount to Thumbplay, and Pablo’s talent, experience and commitment to excellence will play a vital role in keeping us at the forefront of mobile entertainment offerings.”

“Thumbplay has an incredible talent pool, and they have done a remarkable job in building robust, feature-rich services that deliver beautifully across multiple platforms.” Calamera himself remarked. “This is a very difficult thing to do, and I have been consistently impressed with the energy, smarts and creativity on display. I am greatly looking forward to working with Evan and the entire Thumbplay team to deliver against our very ambitious goals for the future.”

In related news, former Mozilla Security Chief Window Snyder has been hired by Apple. People familiar with the matter say Snyder started her new job on Monday, working as a senior security product manager.

Snyder previously worked as a security strategist at Microsoft, where she managed the company's relationships with security consultants, according to PC Advisor. Mozilla then hired Snyder who did a good job at professionalizing the Firefox security response team in harsh times. In late 2008, she left Mozilla to become a consultant. Her hiring by Apple marks the third time she is hired by a browser-maker in the past five years. Apple is yet to comment on the move.