Pinboard (guardiantech)

Before Spotify bought The Echo Nest, it could have snapped up Last.fm >> MusicAlly

guardiantech — 2014-05-14T16:24:18+00:00

Spotify acquired music data firm The Echo Nest in March in a deal rumoured to be worth $100m. However, the streaming music service had also considered buying another prominent company in that space: Last.fm. Multiple sources have confirmed to Music Ally that Spotify talked to Last.fm’s parent company CBS about buying the service in the past year or so – although opinions vary on who made the initial approach, and how much interest there really was from the streaming music service. “Spotify did make an offer at some point for Last.fm,” said one source. “There was an acquisition offer. It was certainly put on the block and I don’t think Spotify came up with enough money. It was a low-ball offer.”

Or possibly that CBS (owner of Last.fm) pushed it forward but Spotify didn't want it. Hard to see any future for Last.fm now - it hasn't got a USP with any real value to the average listener.

Exclusive: Apple recently acquired low-energy chipmaker Passif >> jessica lessin

guardiantech — 2013-08-05T22:03:41+00:00

It’s easy to see why Apple wanted Passif, which was founded several years ago by Ben Cook and Axel Berny, who were PhD students at the University of California, Berkeley. As technology companies pack more battery-draining features into smartphones, technologies that preserve and extend battery life are critical. Radios are some of the biggest battery drainers.
The need is particularly acute for wearable devices, like activity-tracking watches. One of the reasons Apple and its rivals haven’t launched such devices yet is how hard it is to shrink screens, batteries and radios to fit into them.

Lessin is a former Wall Street Journal writer, now branching out with her own project.

Apple confirms Hopstop acquisition >> AllThingsD

guardiantech — 2013-07-21T21:06:42+00:00

Looks like Apple’s recent purchase of crowdsourced location data company Locationary was part of a twofer mapping acquisition. The company also acquired online transit-navigation appmaker HopStop. HopStop’s area of cartographic expertise: Mass transit directions, something Apple’s mapping service doesn’t currently offer.

Don't hold your breath for UK train times - they're expensive.

WTF is Waze and why did Google just pay a billion+ for it? >> TechCrunch

guardiantech — 2013-06-13T05:08:32+00:00

Rip Empson:

Because of its giant data set, and maturing mapping infrastructure, Google itself has begun to leverage that data to offer custom, personalized maps for its users — something that’s fundamental to the social, customizable experience Waze has sought to create. But, generally speaking, when it comes to realtime navigation, adjusting to the driver’s route as it goes, Google still feels more pre-programmed. Yes, it has improved in the newest version of Google Maps, but while it has colored traffic layers to show users degrees of traffic, it doesn’t seem on par with Waze’s in-route, constantly-updated traffic info. And it often doesn’t offer the same number of potential routes as Waze when a driver is, say, looking to avoid traffic.

For 50m users, $1bn is $20 per current user (and will get cheaper as more join). Obvious questions: will Waze be allowed to build a BB10 or Windows Phone app? How long will Facebook signin survive before it's replaced with Google+ signin? And is Wave the biggest competitor to Google Maps? If so, doesn't the call for an antitrust investigation make sense?

Jawbone acquires BodyMedia for more than $100m >> AllThingsD

guardiantech — 2013-04-30T16:27:27+00:00

Lauren Goode:

So what’s the appeal of BodyMedia for Jawbone? Unlike the Massive Health and Visere buys, which were mainly for talent acquisition, BodyMedia’s value lies in both the team and the company’s patents. BodyMedia has had more than 80 patents issued over the years, many in the area of multi-sensor technology. As a combined entity, BodyMedia and Jawbone will have over 300 patents issued and filed.
While the $130 Jawbone Up wristband does many things — it tracks activity levels and sleep patterns, and works with a compatible mobile app for Android and iOS to log food consumption — it lacks some of the high-tech sensors that BodyMedia’s products have.

Wearable technology. And patents.

The Summly deal makes no sense >> Vibhu Norby

guardiantech — 2013-03-26T13:13:19+00:00

Vibhu Norby (founder of origami.com):

The story about Summly's 17-year old founder cashing out his company for $30,000,000 is fascinating because it makes no sense. I hate to be a curmudgeon, but I think Yahoo shareholders deserve an explanation. It's not clear at all to me that they are getting their money's worth.
…The craziest thing is that there are a lot of really qualified, CS-beefy teams doing really amazing things in the mobile news/discovery space these days - and that would definitely take a $30m acquisition offer or less. I don't really understand why they picked this one.

Includes a walkthrough of how the negotiations may have gone.

SAP will buy SuccessFactors for $3.4 billion >> TechCrunch

guardiantech — 2011-12-07T06:51:57+00:00

Fair enough on the headline. However, here's what follows: "In what is perhaps the most boring piece of tech news to come out of this week, German software giant SAP has today announced that it will buy the US-based SuccessFactors, a company that “helps organizations align strategy with objectives and manage people performance to ensure execution & results,” IN THE CLOUD, OF COURSE." Seriously, TechCrunch? A company that's crucial to many peoples' and companies' fulfilment systems buys another one for a serious amount of (putative) money - it's a shares, not cash, deal - and you call it a snooze? (via @ciaranj on Twitter)

Yahoo Moves Fast — Real Fast — To Scoop Up IntoNow For $20 – $30 Million >> TechCrunch

guardiantech — 2011-04-25T20:14:00+00:00

"This past January, upon seeing a demo of IntoNow, we noted that the media check-in game just changed. Apparently, Yahoo agreed — they’ve just acquired the company for something in the range of $20 to $30 million, sources with knowledge of the deal tell us."