Microsoft

Microsoft is buying LinkedIn for $26.2 billion

Windows giant Microsoft on Monday announced it's purchasing business-oriented social networking service LinkedIn for a cool $26.2 billion. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in a message to troops that he's been learning about LinkedIn for some time “while also reflecting on how networks can truly differentiate cloud services.” LinkedIn has a network of more than 433 million business professionals, meaning Microsoft would be paying an average of about $60 per user.

iPhone manufacturer Foxconn buys Nokia feature phone business from Microsoft

iPhone manufacture and the world's largest contract fabricator, Foxconn, has made an interesting purchase, snagging the Nokia feature phone business from Microsoft for a paltry $350 million with a little help from private equity backed HMD Global.

Nokia's feature phones, which are powered by the Series 30+ operating system, once were its bread and butter—especially in pre-smartphone days.

SwiftKey acquired by Microsoft for $250 million

SwiftKey keyboard themes on iPhone

Microsoft is buying out software keyboard maker SwiftKey, according to a report from The Financial Times. The deal is said to be worth $250 million, and the two companies are expected to officially announce the acquisition later this week.

While Microsoft has shown interest in the mobile keyboard space, the report claims that the purchase is all about AI. SwiftKey uses artificial intelligence to predict the next word a user is going to type based on an analysis of their writing style.

Wunderlist gets acquired by Microsoft

6Wunderkinder GmbH, the makers of Wunderlist, the popular to-do, list and tasks application for the Mac, iOS, Apple Watch and other platforms, confirmed today it's being acquired by software giant Microsoft.

With more than thirteen million users across platforms and more than one billion to-dos created in Wunderlist, the app should seamlessly fit in Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's mobile first, cloud first vision.

But don't fret, mobile Wunderlist apps aren't going anywhere, at least for the time being. “As Wunderlist becomes a part of the Microsoft family, we’ll introduce a host of new features, keep adding partner integrations, and progress further in delivering Wunderlist to billions of people,” Christian Reber, 6Wunderkinder founder and CEO said Tuesday.

Microsoft snaps up cross-platform calendar app Sunrise

Microsoft has just acquired the popular calendar app Sunrise. TechCrunch, which first learned of the deal, has pegged the value of the transaction at a cool $100 million.

Sunrise has an awesome iPhone and iPad app in the App Store. It's also available for the Mac, across other mobile platforms and in the form of a responsive, lightweight application which runs smoothly in a web browser.

Microsoft buys email app Acompli for $200+ million

Confirming an inadvertent leak last month, Windows and Office maker Microsoft on Monday said it's buying Acompli for more than $200 million. For those who haven't heard about Acompli, it's an efficient email app for iOS and Android that features an integrated calendar.

Framed as “part of our company-wide effort to help people accomplish more with their mobile devices,” the deal will bring San Francisco-based Acompli team together with work currently in progress by the Outlook team.

Microsoft's stated goal is to“ deliver fantastic cross-platform apps that support the variety of email services” people use today to help them accomplish more and Acompli seems to fit the bill nicely.

“It will expedite our work to deliver the full power of Office to mobile devices,” said the software giant.

Microsoft buying Minecraft maker Mojang for $2.5 billion, commits to keeping iOS game alive

Following weeks of speculation, software giant Microsoft on Monday officially confirmed it's spending a cool $2.5 billion to buy Mojang, a company behind the highly successful Minecraft video game which tasks players with building constructions out of textured cubes in a 3D procedurally generated world.

The Stockholm-based firm is to become part of Microsoft Studios, the Windows maker has confirmed.

The deal, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory review, will enable “richer and faster worlds, more powerful development tools and more opportunities to connect” across the Minecraft community as the game is set to take advantage of Microsoft’s cloud and mobile technologies.