Category: acquisition

Intel is reportedly close to buying transit app creator Moovit

Post author By Randall
Post date May 3, 2020
Categories In acquisition, app, apps, autonomous, business, gear, Intel, mass transit, moovit, News, public transport, public transportation, self-driving, self-driving car, Tech, traffic

[ad_1] It’s easy to see why Intel would be interested in Moovit, and not just because of existing financial backing. The startup uses a mix of AI and data analytics to monitor real-time traffic and offer transit directions to roughly 800 million people. That could be valuable for robotaxis and other driverless vehicles that need […]

Apple appears to to be acquiring virtual event company NextVR

Post author By Randall
Post date April 4, 2020
Categories In acquisition, Apple, Ar, Augmented Reality, av, business, gear, nextvr, Tech, Virtual Reality, vr, Wearables

[ad_1] We’ve asked Apple and NextVR for comment. It’s not certain just what Apple would do with NextVR, which is best known for its virtual reality versions of concerts and sporting events. However, VR might not play much of a role in the claimed deal. NextVR has run into financial difficulties in the past year, […]

Apple’s latest acquisition could help Siri understand what you’re saying

Post author By Randall
Post date April 3, 2020
Categories In acquisition, business, gear, machine learning, natural language, siri, Tech, voice assistant, voysis

[ad_1] The battle between AI voice assistants continues to rage on, and now Apple has acquired a tech firm, Voysis, that is all about helping computers understand natural language. As reported by Bloomberg, the firm’s now-deleted website said it could produce search results from phrases like “I need a new LED TV, my budget is […]

Epic buys the company behind God of War’s facial animations

Post author By Randall
Post date March 12, 2020
Categories In acquisition, av, cubic motion, epic games, Gaming, Tech, Video Games

[ad_1] Epic presumably plans to integrate Cubic Motion’s technology into the Unreal Engine to make it more appealing to game developers. Alongside Unity, UE4 is one of the most popular game creation tools in use today. Some recent UE4 games include Final Fantasy VII Remake, Gears 5, The Outer Worlds and, of course, Fortnite. According […]

TurboTax maker Intuit buys Credit Karma to corner personal financial data

Post author By Randall
Post date February 24, 2020
Categories In acquisition, business, credit, credit karma, finance, gear, Internet, intuit, mint, personal finance, Quickbooks, software, tax, taxes, Tech, turbotax, web

[ad_1] Credit Karma will run as a stand-alone outfit, with existing CEO Kenneth Lin still in charge. Intuit expects the acquisition to close in the second half of 2020 if it clears the regulatory process. The deal makes sense for Intuit. While it has the budgeting site Mint under its wing, it doesn’t have a […]

Lyft buys a startup that runs ads on top of ridesharing cars

Post author By Randall
Post date February 23, 2020
Categories In acquisition, ads, Advertising, business, gear, halo cars, Internet, Lyft, ridesharing, services, Tech, Transportation

[ad_1] Halo has a fairly simple business model: full-time, highly rated drivers who signed up (applications are closed due to high demand) got up to $400 per month for agreeing to carry a connected, video-capable ad installation on their cars while they worked. Effectively, the promos are smart outdoor ads on wheels — advertisers know […]

New York AG won’t keep fighting T-Mobile merger with Sprint

Post author By Randall
Post date February 16, 2020
Categories In acquisition, attorney general, carrier, gear, merger, Mobile, New York, Sprint, t-mobile, Tech, Verizon, wireless

[ad_1] The state has been one of the more vocal opponents to the merger, warning that it could reduce competition, hurt quality and raise prices even with sacrifices such as offloading prepaid services to Dish. There’s some precedent for this — past telecom mergers in the US haven’t done much to halt creeping price hikes, […]

Facebook buys startup using AI vision to find your location

Post author By Randall
Post date February 8, 2020
Categories In acquisition, computer vision, Facebook, gadgetry, Gadgets, gear, Internet, Mobile, Social Media, social network, social networking, Tech

[ad_1] We’ve asked Facebook for comment on the deal, although this doesn’t appear to be an acquihire (where a large company buys a smaller one primarily for its employees). The social network now owns a majority stake, and two of its executives now sit on Scape’s board of directors in place of venture capital representatives. […]

Spotify may be in talks to buy culture outlet The Ringer

Post author By Randall
Post date January 18, 2020
Categories In acquisition, bill simmons, Entertainment, Internet, Podcasts, services, Sports, spotify, streaming, Tech, the ringer

[ad_1] We’ve asked Spotify if it can comment. There’s no mystery as to why Spotify might buy The Ringer. As with earlier deals, this could entice more listeners to use Spotify and, theoretically, entice some to subscribe. The podcasts themselves could be lucrative. The Ringer is believed to have made $15 million through its podcasts […]

Apple just bought a low-power AI startup

Post author By Randall
Post date January 15, 2020
Categories In acquisition, Ai, ai2, allen institute, Apple, business, device, edge, gear, Iphone, low power, Mobile, Robots, startup, Tech, tomorrow, xnor, xnor.ai

[ad_1] Apple is giving its standard response: “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans.” But one Xnor.ai illustration, shared by GeekWire, shows a computer vision tool identifying objects in a photo using software on an iPhone. That might be the kind of capability […]