Acquisition Archive

  • HP buys Melodeo, brings Nutsie music streaming service into the fold

    HP buys Melodeo, brings Nutsie music streaming service into the fold

    Posted on June 23, 2010 | No Comments
    Well, it looks like HP's year of acquisitions isn't showing any signs of letting up just yet -- it's now reportedly bought Melodeo, the parent company of the Nutsie music streaming service, for between $30 and $35 million. While the service doesn't exactly have the name recognition of the now Apple-owned Lala, Nutsie's mobile applications (for iPhone, Android and Blackberry) have reportedly been downloaded more than two million times, and the company already has partnerships with a range of carriers and cellphone companies including Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint. As TechCrunch reports, however, what might be most interesting is what the company has in store for Nutsie 3.0 -- it will apparently let you copy your entire iTunes library to the cloud and access any song on demand (it currently offers a more limited service that only offers a shuffle mode). We'll let you take the Palm / WebOS speculation from there.

    HP buys Melodeo, brings Nutsie music streaming service into the fold originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Jun 2010 18:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • AT&T seals deal on Verizon’s divested Alltel markets

    AT&T seals deal on Verizon’s divested Alltel markets

    Posted on June 23, 2010 | No Comments
    It took a good, long while, but AT&T has finally closed on its acquisition of the markets Verizon was required to divest in order to get the government to agree to its purchase of Alltel early last year. For most customers, the move has no practical impact -- the markets are mostly rural -- but for affected folks, it means that they'll be able to "select a device comparable to their existing device at no additional cost" as markets get upgraded over the course of the next 12 months. Interestingly, all of the markets will be getting the 3G treatment, a sharp departure from AT&T's typical strategy of keeping unpopulated areas on EDGE -- but it probably makes sense to get them up and running on 3G since the network's got to be built up from scratch anyhow. Follow the break for the full press release.

    Continue reading AT&T seals deal on Verizon's divested Alltel markets

    AT&T seals deal on Verizon's divested Alltel markets originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Wed, 23 Jun 2010 03:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • HTC buys Abaxia, gets cozier with carriers in the process

    HTC buys Abaxia, gets cozier with carriers in the process

    Posted on June 8, 2010 | No Comments
    French software firm Abaxia has made a name for itself create white-label modules that help carriers brand phones -- its two flagship products are search and active home screen apps (pictured) -- so the fact that HTC has shelled out €11 million (about $13.1 million) for the company this week should offer you a solid clue where this is all headed. Naturally, HTC isn't talking about exactly how Abaxia will fit into the big picture, but boss Peter Chou says that the acquisition will "deepen and broaden [their] software development capabilities so that [they] can innovate at an even faster pace." Software value-add is becoming even more important for phone manufacturers these days as hardware all converges on a fairly standard full-touch prototype that doesn't offer much opportunity for differentiation -- even as Microsoft is putting the kibosh on serious customization in Windows Phone 7 -- so it'll be interesting to see how this ultimately affects HTC's products, particularly those with carriers' logos silkscreened around back. Follow the break for HTC's full release.

    [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

    Continue reading HTC buys Abaxia, gets cozier with carriers in the process

    HTC buys Abaxia, gets cozier with carriers in the process originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Jun 2010 11:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Google officially acquires AdMob

    Google officially acquires AdMob

    Posted on May 27, 2010 | No Comments
    It was only a (brief) matter of time once it cleared the FTC's final approval last week (with a special thanks to Apple's iAd): Google is now the proud owner of one AdMob. According to Product Management VP Susan Wojcicki, the company is now integrating all the teams and products together. Full details are at the Official Google Blog, and after the break, check out an email purportedly from AdMob CEO Omar Hamoui.

    Continue reading Google officially acquires AdMob

    Google officially acquires AdMob originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 May 2010 18:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • FTC approves Google’s AdMob buy, cites Apple’s iAd competition

    FTC approves Google’s AdMob buy, cites Apple’s iAd competition

    Posted on May 21, 2010 | No Comments
    Google's attempt to swoop in and buy AdMob out from under Apple was looking like a Pyrrhic victory for a second there, as Federal Trade Commission approval of the deal hung in the balance based on concerns that El Goog would control far too much of the online advertising market. It's ironic, then, that Apple's acquisition of Quattro Wireless and the introduction of the iAd platform in iPhone OS 4 is what convinced the feds to let Google's acquisition go through -- the FTC says that Apple's entry into the market will provide significant competition to AdMob, regardless of whether or not it's owned by Google. That means Google's free to pursue all the ad-based initiatives in Froyo it announced yesterday at I/O, and it means we should see the already-heated rhetoric between Mountain View and Cupertino get another notch hotter. It's going to be a wild summer, folks -- get ready.

    Update: Here's a statement from AdMob founder and CEO Omar Hamoui on the deal -- he's got a fuller piece on his blog, linked below.
    "We are extremely pleased with today's decision from the Federal Trade Commission to clear Google's acquisition of AdMob. Over the past six months we've received a great deal of support from across the mobile industry - and we deeply appreciate it. Our focus is now on working with the team at Google team to quickly close the deal."

    FTC approves Google's AdMob buy, cites Apple's iAd competition originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 May 2010 12:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Motorola rumored to have acquired Azingo, part of some grander OS plans?

    Motorola rumored to have acquired Azingo, part of some grander OS plans?

    Posted on May 5, 2010 | No Comments
    This one isn't official just yet, but if some changes in employment status on LinkedIn is any indication, it looks like Motorola may have recently acquired mobile Linux OS company Azingo. It may not exactly be a major player in the mobile OS field, but its Linux-based Azingo Mobile OS does look to be capable enough (complete with a Webkit-based browser and Flash runtime), and the acquisition is especially interesting in light of some recent comments made by Motorola co-CEO Sanjay Jha. Back during Moto's Q1 earnings call, he said that he has "always felt that owning your OS is important, provided you have an ecosystem, you have all the services and you have an ability and the scale to execute on keeping that OS at the leading edge," adding that he continues to believe "that at some point, if we have all of those attributes, that owning our own OS will be a very important thing." Is Azingo Mobile that OS? Probably not, but it'll certainly be interesting to see where this leads -- as long as it doesn't lead to something called MOTOZINGO.

    Motorola rumored to have acquired Azingo, part of some grander OS plans? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 May 2010 14:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Sprint wraps up iPCS acquisition, Nextel merger drama may finally be over

    Sprint wraps up iPCS acquisition, Nextel merger drama may finally be over

    Posted on December 7, 2009 | No Comments
    It's been eons since Sprint bought Nextel, but regional iDEN affiliate iPCS had managed to keep the fallout from the deal tied up in courts for years -- a side-effect of its claim that the merger violated Sprint's agreement to stay off iPCS' turf. After a few court losses, Sprint ultimately decided to bite the bullet and buy iPCS outright, and now, that deal's finalized to the tune of $831 million including Sprint's assumption of $405 million in debt. Though iPCS customers now become Sprint customers as a result of the acquisition, they'll effectively notice no difference -- the regional was already offering Sprint service exclusively under the Sprint brand, so this whole deal is little more than an escape hatch for the head office to tie off these legal wranglings once and for all.

    Sprint wraps up iPCS acquisition, Nextel merger drama may finally be over originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 19:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • SoftBank prepping bid for Willcom?

    SoftBank prepping bid for Willcom?

    Posted on November 27, 2009 | No Comments
    PHS is in a bit of a pickle right now -- the niche wireless standard has no path for technological growth, has just a handful of supporting carriers around the world, and frankly, was never intended for wide-area deployment to boot. That leaves Japan's PHS-powered network, Willcom, in the lurch, which explains why they've recently hooked up with HSPA giant NTT DoCoMo to launch modern data devices. Mooching off someone else's network isn't a long-term strategy for survival, though, so what's next? Reports are flying in Japan today that rival SoftBank may look at scooping up Willcom's assets in exchange for its debtors waiving some percentage of its $1 billion in IOUs; what SoftBank would ultimately do with that extra spectrum is unclear, but presumably they'd continue to run PHS for some predetermined period of time before transitioning it to HSPA or LTE. Of course, Willcom has a rep for releasing wild devices that avoid the beaten path set by its larger rivals, so here's a preliminary word to the wise, SoftBank: if you make this happen, keep the product people on board.

    SoftBank prepping bid for Willcom? originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 27 Nov 2009 17:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Lenovo begins $200M buyback of Lenovo Mobile

    Lenovo begins $200M buyback of Lenovo Mobile

    Posted on November 27, 2009 | No Comments
    Of the many trends in consumer electronics, today's announcement by Lenovo highlights two of the biggest: 1) PC makers are desperate to get in on that handheld smartphone action, and 2) China is the place to do it with its 700 million mobile subscribers. That's why Lenovo is putting up $200 million in cash and stock to reacquire its former mobile business sold to a group of investors last year; a move made possible by Lenovo's recent return to profitability. Although Lenovo says its focus will be on the Chinese market, don't be surprised when you see Lenovo branded handsets headed to downtown stores or your favorite high-street shops -- assuming the deal passes shareholder approval, of course.

    Lenovo begins $200M buyback of Lenovo Mobile originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Nov 2009 07:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Sprint finalizes Virgin Mobile USA acquisition, rushes out to snag some cranberry sauce

    Sprint finalizes Virgin Mobile USA acquisition, rushes out to snag some cranberry sauce

    Posted on November 24, 2009 | No Comments
    It's hard to say if these guys were just looking to get this whole thing finalized before the holiday break, but either way, all the requisite i's have been dotted and t's crossed. As of today, Sprint Nextel has acquired Virgin Mobile USA -- a process that began back in late July -- and frankly, there's nothing you can do about it. The move will obviously position Sprint as a bigger player in the prepaid space, but outside of that presumably true assumption, it's tough to say what else the newfound lovers will do together. So, will the Facebook statuses be updated soon as well? Hello?

    Sprint finalizes Virgin Mobile USA acquisition, rushes out to snag some cranberry sauce originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Nokia rumored to be eyeing Palm buy yet again

    Nokia rumored to be eyeing Palm buy yet again

    Posted on November 13, 2009 | No Comments

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    We've been around this rumor pretty much since Palm started looking competitive again, so take it for what you will -- but a bunch of fat cats down on Wall Street have been going ape today over renewed "chatter" that Nokia might be taking an interest in acquiring Palm. Palm's share prices are up well over 5 percent on the day, though we wouldn't be the least bit surprised if there was some behind-the-scenes manipulation going on here -- an acquisition would make less sense now than ever with suitors on the hook for $2 billion or more, a hefty sum even for a giant like Nokia, never mind the fact that they've still got two smartphone platforms of their own in the mix. Licensing webOS is being floated as a possible alternative to an outright Palm purchase -- but we're having such an exceedingly difficult time picturing a 5800 running webOS that we'll put this one on ice until we get the joint press release.

    Nokia rumored to be eyeing Palm buy yet again originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • AT&T closes Centennial Wireless deal

    AT&T closes Centennial Wireless deal

    Posted on November 6, 2009 | No Comments

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    Wireless acquisitions tend not to be the most straightforward, easy-to-finalize business dealings in the world, and indeed, it's been almost a year to the day since AT&T announced that it intended to scoop up regional carrier Centennial to the tune of $944 million. Since then, thousands of pounds of red tape have been slashed and the deal has finally been sealed, meaning that Centennial stores will be fully rebranded in 100 US locations by January of next year, while the company's service in Puerto Rico will continue to carry the legacy brand through to mid-2010. For its part, AT&T plans to deploy 3G at "more than 100" Centennial cell sites and expand 3G coverage at 100 others, so it's a mutually beneficial relationship -- though we'll have to wait for feedback from old Centennial customers bearing the brunt of the transition before we start high-fiving.

    [Thanks, Zachary]

    AT&T closes Centennial Wireless deal originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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