Acquisitions

OtterBox announces acquisition of waterproof case-maker LifeProof

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

This is pretty interesting. It appears that OtterBox, a well-known maker of heavy-duty smartphone and tablet cases, has announced this afternoon that it will be acquiring LifeProof. The San Diego-based startup makes durable cases for Apple's iPhone and iPad.

OtterBox, the brand, has become synonymous with device protection in recent years, thanks to hit cases like Armor and Defender. The company claims that it is the #1 selling smartphone case in the US, and that it controls over 20% of the global case market...

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

Cody Lee ∙ March 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...

Apple acquires indoor GPS company WiFiSLAM for $20 million

Cody Lee ∙ March 23, 2013

Big news out of Cupertino this evening. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple has acquired indoor mobile location positioning firm WiFiSLAM, in a deal worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $20 million.

Apple has confirmed the acquisition of the company, which possesses proprietary technology that allows mobile apps to detect a smartphone user's location inside of buildings using preexisting ambient Wi-Fi signals...

Dropbox acquires email startup Mailbox

Cody Lee ∙ March 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...

LinkedIn reportedly buying Pulse for up to $100 million

Cody Lee ∙ March 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...

LG buys WebOS from HP to use in future smart TVs

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

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...

Apple buys 18 ‘axis-based user interface’ patents from Maya-Systems

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

This is kind of interesting. Maya-Systems, which describes itself as a knowledge management technology provider, announced today that a transaction took place between it and Apple in the third quarter of last year. It seems the Cupertino company acquired 18 patents from them "relating to innovative axis-based user interface technology."

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

Cody Lee ∙ January 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...

No Apple/Waze deal happening after all

Cody Lee ∙ January 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...

Microsoft beats out Apple and others to acquire R2 Studios

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

Last month, word got out that a number of high-profile companies were in possible acquisition talks with the mysterious home automation startup R2 Studios. This included the likes of Microsoft, Google, and yes, even Apple.

Well it looks like Microsoft won the day, as a new report this evening claims that the Redmond company will be the one purchasing the popular startup to help beef up its Xbox unit and increase its living room presence...

Facebook reportedly in talks to acquire WhatsApp

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Facebook's been on a bit of a buying spree this year. Of course we all know about the $1 billion Instagram deal. Then there was the Acrylic buyout. And now the word is that it's in talks to acquire WhatsApp, the popular cross-platform messaging service that allows users to send and receive text, video and audio messages...

Apple’s purchase of Color Labs confirmed in lawsuit

Cody Lee ∙ November 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...