Facebook reportedly buying Waze for $1 Billion

By Cody Lee on May 9, 2013

Waze must be doing something right. Earlier this year, the popular crowdsourced GPS application was reportedly being courted by Apple for a possible buyout. And today comes a rumor that Facebook is also interested in an acquisition.

How interested? Well according to a new report this morning, the deal could be worth in upwards of $1 Billion. Apparently, the two companies have been in negotiations for the last six months, and are now in advanced due diligence… Read More

 

Yahoo to buy mobile news start-up Summly for $30 million

By Cody Lee on Mar 25, 2013

Yahoo! announced today that it will be acquiring mobile news start-up Summly. The deal, said to be worth around $30 million, is for both the app and the team, and is expected to close sometime in the next few months.

For those unfamiliar with the company, Summly created and maintains the popular news-summarizing iPhone app of the same name. It uses special algorithms to deliver ‘snapshots’ of stories that match a users’ interests… Read More

 

Dropbox acquires email startup Mailbox

By Cody Lee on Mar 15, 2013

That didn’t take long. It’s only been a few months since we first heard about Mailbox, the fresh new iPhone email client. And it’s only been about about a month since it actually launched. But it looks like they’re going to be bought out.

Dropbox has announced this morning that it will be acquiring the Mailbox team. There’s no word on price yet, but it looks like all 13 team members will be joining Dropbox, and Mailbox will continue to operate as a standalone app… Read More

 

LinkedIn reportedly buying Pulse for up to $100 million

By Cody Lee on Mar 12, 2013

When word started spreading around yesterday that Pulse was about to be acquired by a “major platform” company, I would have guessed it was either Yahoo or Microsoft. The popular news reader app seems like it would be a great fit for either firm.

But according to the latest reports, the buyer is actually the social networking site for business professionals LinkedIn. The company has allegedly already sealed a deal with Alphonso Labs, the maker of Pulse, worth between $50-$100 million… Read More

 

LG buys WebOS from HP to use in future smart TVs

By Cody Lee on Feb 25, 2013

The 2013 Mobile World Congress (MWC) officially kicked off in Barcelona this weekend, meaning you should prepare for an onslaught of device announcements and other mobile news over the next few days.

In fact, LG has kicked things off already by dropping a bombshell today. The South Korea-based electronics giant has apparently purchased WebOS from Hewlett Packard, and plans to use it in future products… Read More

 

AT&T picks up spectrum, licenses and more in Atlantic Tele-Network deal

By Cody Lee on Jan 22, 2013

AT&T announced this morning that it has reached an agreement with Atlantic Tele-Network to acquire its US retail wireless operations, operated under the Alltel brand, for $780 million. As part of the deal, AT&T will pick up wireless spectrum, licenses, network assets, retail stores and approximately 585,000 subscribers… Read More

 

No Apple/Waze deal happening after all

By Cody Lee on Jan 3, 2013

Yesterday, news broke that Apple was looking into buying Israeli start-up Waze Mobile, creators of the popular GPS app. Obviously, with all of the trouble Apple’s had with its own mapping software, and the fact that the two companies are partners, the deal made sense.

But according to a new report today from the well-connected MG Siegler, there is no deal. The TechCrunch columnist wrote this morning that though there have likely been several meetings between Apple and Waze due to their partnership, there’s nothing more going on… Read More

 

Apple’s purchase of Color Labs confirmed in lawsuit

By Cody Lee on Nov 19, 2012

Last month, it was reported that Apple was looking to purchase Color Labs, a struggling Palo Alto-based social startup that allows users to share photos and videos. The story was initially filed away as a rumor, as Apple never commented on it. But the acquisition was confirmed today in a lawsuit filing…

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Rumor: Apple looking to acquire German television maker Loewe

By Cody Lee on May 12, 2012

There’s been no shortage of talk regarding an Apple-branded TV set this year, as the entire television industry awaits the company’s entry into the market. Everyone wants to see if it can do for TVs, what it’s done for phones and tablets.

Well AppleInsider is adding more fuel to the fire today, as it’s reporting that Apple is in talks to purchase Loewe AG, a German TV manufacturer. Apparently, the iPad-maker has put an offer up of $100+ million for the company…

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Facebook acquires Instagram for a staggering $1 billion

By Cody Lee on Apr 9, 2012

This is pretty crazy: Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg just announced that the social network has acquired Instagram for a staggering $1 billion in cash and stock.

Instagram, once an iPhone-exclusive photo sharing service, has around 30 million users, that upload around 5 million photos per day. Keep reading for the full press release… Read More

 

What Does the Failed AT&T Merger Mean for T-Mobile?

By Cody Lee on Dec 20, 2011

After the FCC joined the Department of Justice in announcing its public disapproval of the AT&T/T-Mobile merger last month, we figured the deal was as good as dead. And after a few weeks of trying to find a workaround, AT&T has finally figured it out as well.

As we reported yesterday, the carrier has just announced that it has decided to completely withdraw its offer to purchase the Deutsche Telekom-owned operator. This is obviously great news for Sprint and other small carriers, but what does it mean for T-Mobile? Read More

 

Nuance to Buy Natural Speech Competitor Vlingo to Take on Siri

By Oliver Haslam on Dec 20, 2011

It seems Apple’s introduction of Siri to the world of smartphones has had an unexpected affect – it has stopped the ongoing legal wrangle between two competing natural language software development companies. So much so that the pair are now in cahoots.

Both Nuance and Vlingo have been at each other’s throats over perceived patent infringement, but the pair are now best buds after Nuance announced that it was to buy Vlingo, the same firm it took to court not that long ago.

The reason for the sudden turnaround? The pair seem to think that they need to join forces against a common enemy, namely, Apple… Read More

 

Apple Snatches Up Flash Memory Company for $500 Million

By Cody Lee on Dec 20, 2011

Apple has made some interesting purchases over the last couple of years. There was the Siri buyout, which is probably the most notable, and there have been multiple mapping companies, including C3 Technologies.

While most of Apple’s acquisitions have been software-related, reports are surfacing today that the company has just purchased a hardware company. Apple just landed itself a flash memory maker… Read More

 

Apple is Thinking About Buying Hulu, And Here’s Why

By Alex Heath on Jul 22, 2011

According to Bloomberg, Apple is considering making a bid on the popular streaming service, Hulu. This acquisition would give Apple Hulu’s large subscription base and video streaming service to rival other competitors, like Netflix.

With iCloud and Apple’s new emphasis on wireless and available-everywhere content, video streaming seems like the next logical step. Instead of having to invest in its own streaming backend from the ground-up, this Hulu purchase would give Apple a launchpad to start streaming movies and TV shows through iCloud… Read More