Hasta La Gadget!

The writing has been on the wall ever since Samsung’s acquisition of mSpot, but the Korean firm today confirmed to Reuters that it plans to join the ranks of Apple, Google and Amazon in the world of digital content distribution. Most importantly, it plans to do so through buyouts. Samsung executive Kang Tae-jin offered a rather frank overview of the company’s ambitions, saying that it will grow Music Hub into one of the top four services in terms of revenue and subscribers within the next three years. According to Kang, the push isn’t so much to tap a new source of revenue, but rather to drive hardware sales — perhaps it sees Apple’s rumored move into music streaming as a bit of a threat. That said, the announcement also dovetails with rumblings of Samsung’s efforts to build a more self-sufficient software ecosystem. Whatever the true reason, we’d imagine that the folks at Pandora, Spotify and the like are now watching the phone a bit more intently. Wouldn’t you?

Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile

Samsung aims to become key player in digital content distribution through company buyouts originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Sep 2012 04:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iRobot celebrated Roomba’s 10th birthday quietly teeing up a $74 million acquisition of rival Evolution Robotics Inc. The Pasadena-based company produces the Mint, a hard-floor ‘bot that uses ordinary Swiffer pads to wet-wipe your wooden decks clean — and comes with the more sophisticated “Northstar” GPS-style positioning tech. As part of the deal, Evolution CEO Paolo Pirjanian will become iRobot’s new CTO and the Mint and Mint Plus will be folded into the company’s stable of Roomba cleaners — with the deal expected to be fully approved by the fourth quarter of the year.

Continue reading iRobot buys rival Evolution Robotics for $74 million to expand hard-floor cleaning tech

Filed under: Robots

iRobot buys rival Evolution Robotics for $74 million to expand hard-floor cleaning tech originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Sep 2012 16:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Best Buy founder Richard Schulze may have stepped down as chairman of the board, but he’s certainly not out. His plan to buy the turbulent company has reached the next step — an agreement which pre-empts the formal offer. Schulze now has access to all the private numbers he’ll need to put together an investor group within the 60-day timeframe. And, if this round is unsuccessful, it’ll be next January before another bid can go to the Board of Directors, followed by direct shareholder offers if the second attempt fails. Given that Schulze owns 20 percent of Best Buy, he gets two seats-worth of voting power as long as he sticks to the agreed process. So, with a new CEO taking the reigns in September and the acquisition machinery in top gear, is there fresh hope for the big box retailer?

Continue reading Best Buy founder ever closer to finalizing company buyout bid

Filed under: Misc

Best Buy founder ever closer to finalizing company buyout bid originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Aug 2012 13:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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IBM is becoming serious about enterprise-grade computing in more ways than one. It just struck a deal to acquire Texas Memory Systems, best known these days for its extra-quick RamSan SSD cards. As you’d anticipate, that fast yet lean storage is the focus — IBM wants servers that aren’t limited by their drives, or which just use less power than old-fashioned spinning hard disks and tape machines. Neither side is talking about how much the deal is worth, but TMS’ product roster should stay on the market even as it’s folded into IBM’s Smarter Storage initiative. Expect that database at work to suddenly get faster sometime after the acquisition closes later this year.

Continue reading IBM buys Texas Memory Systems to bring on speedy storage

Filed under: Desktops, Storage

IBM buys Texas Memory Systems to bring on speedy storage originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Aug 2012 10:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re not in the habit of entering the dry world of corporate debt notes, but Sprint’s latest financial release might disguise a juicy bit of news. There’s a rumor in the business press that Dish Network might have bought around $400 million of Clearwire’s debt — helping relieve the pressure on Sprint, which has been keeping its subsidiary alive on handouts. Unsurprisingly, no-one’s commenting on the rumors, although Dish CEO Joseph Clayton did say he was open to a partnership (or acquisition) with Sprint / Clearwire late last year. If true, it could signal that it’s getting ready for a fight against AT&T — or maybe it just wanted to throw Dan Hesse a bone.

Continue reading Dish Network rumored to have bought Clearwire’s $400 million debt in secret transaction

Filed under: Wireless

Dish Network rumored to have bought Clearwire’s $400 million debt in secret transaction originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Aug 2012 07:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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