Reuters is reporting that Apple has bought AuthenTec—a company which makes secure fingerprint sensors and precision touchscreen solutions—for $356 million. Either it’s gotten extremely serious about its own security, or wants to make it much harder for the competition. Or both! More »
Google’s most recent filing to the SEC has revealed how the company came to that $12.4 billion valuation of Motorola. Unsurprisingly, its intellectual property portfolio comprised the bulk of the price — with Mountain View stumping up $5.5 billion for the “patents and developed technology” owned therein. Larry Page claimed that the deal would “supercharge” the Android ecosystem, which led to the company paying $2.6 billion for goodwill — which was only expected to arise once the buyout was completed. The company spent $630 million on “net assets,” $2.9 billion to buy the phone maker’s cash reserves and $730 million on customer relationships. During its most recent earnings call, Google said it had nothing to announce regarding the newest member of the family — but perhaps we can look forward to some more exciting hardware… pretty please?
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablet PCs, Internet
Google regulatory filings reveal Motorola’s worth: IP is nearly half of the company’s value originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Jul 2012 04:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Earlier in the week a Russian hacker—Alexy Borodin—revealed a fairly easy way to make in-app purchases in iOS without actually paying for them. Apple has of course since been working on a fix to the gaping hole, but adding insult to injury, Alexy has now revealed that a very similar hack also works with desktop apps downloaded from the Mac App Store. More »
The folks at Mountain View have worked with the well regarded designers at Cuban Council before, but now Google is taking the partnership one step further by hiring several of the firm’s employees. The search giant has acquired the contracts of a number of the company’s designers explicitly to work on Google+. The details of the deal haven’t been revealed, so we have no idea how many members of the staff will be setting sail for the shores of Goog or how much the psuedo acquisition set the company back. But, we do know that at least some of the firm that once designed the Facebook logo, Evernote’s website, Rdio’s mobile apps and helped define the beautiful WebOS UI will now be dedicated to keeping Google+ ahead of the aesthetic curve.
Filed under: Internet
Google hires designers from Cuban Council to work on Google+ originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jul 2012 08:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The App Store’s in-app purchases security has been breached. A Russian hacker has found a method to fool iPhone and iPad apps so that you can get in-app purchases for free. It’s surprisingly easy to set up, requiring no jailbreaking or hacking magic at all. You just need to follow some steps in your stock iOS device and it will work: More »
Digg, once one of the shining stars of the social media world, is now a sad shell of of its former self. The once mighty news-sharing service founded by Kevin Rose, has just been snatched up by a small New York City firm called Betaworks for a paltry $500,000, according to the Wall Street Journal. The site still draws roughly seven million visitors a month, but that’s a far cry from the more than 30 million is was pulling in during its 2008 heyday. And the pocket change paid for the property pales in comparison to the over $45 million it raised from investors over its lifetime. The sale follows the departure of its most high profile exec, the aforementioned Rose, who is now in charge of Google Ventures. Betaworks plans to revitalize the brand involve folding it into News.me, another social news service, which launched in April of last year. The deal only includes the property itself and the brand — none of Digg’s remaining employees will be making the move to Betaworks. Of course, there were very few left once the Washington Post subsidiary Social Code hired 15 engineers from the floundering service, which accounted for more than half of its workforce.
Update: As it turns out, that “$500,000” figure may not tell the whole story. TechCrunch and AllThingsD are both reporting that there’s a lot more to consider besides the cash outlay.
Filed under: Internet
WSJ: Sinking social news site Digg bought by NYC firm Betaworks (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Jul 2012 16:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Chipzilla didn’t get its position as the king of semiconductors by twiddling its thumbs, folks. It became a Valley behemoth by delivering us faster and better silicon, and its latest $4.1 billion purchase — a 15 percent stake in silicon manufacturing equipment maker ASML Holding NV — should help keep Intel atop the CPU heap. You see, Intel’s in the process of retooling its chip manufacturing process to use bigger diameter silicon wafers, which’ll make those Ivy Bridge, ValleyView and other future chips cheaper for all of us. Such retooling can take years to implement, which is likely why Intel was willing to plunk down so much cash to ensure nothing futzes with its manufacturing timetable. The company’s investment will presumably give it the clout to get ASML’s crucial lithography equipment on the fast track to completion. Hop to it, fellas, we want our CPUs at bargain-basement prices, and we want them now.
Filed under: Desktops, Laptops
Intel to buy 15 percent of silicon fab equipment maker ASML, wants manufacturing machines made faster originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Jul 2012 01:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Making a half dozen attempts to guess your login info or typing each digit of a credit card account certainly can get in the way of following through on impulse purchases, which is exactly how you’d categorize FarmVille cash or a featured flick that you know you may not have time to watch within the month. The solution is carrier billing, eliminating those precious seconds between impulse and reconsideration, and Telefonica has just signed on to offer the service to Facebook, Google, Microsoft and RIM account holders. The partnerships will enable O2 users in Germany or Movistar subscribers in Spain to charge purchases to their mobile phone accounts, for example — in total, 14 Telefonica subsidiaries should be up and running with carrier billing by the end of the year, though some services, such as Google Play and Facebook, have already begun to roll out. Click through to the PR after the break for the full breakdown.
Telefonica partners with Facebook, Google, Microsoft and RIM for global carrier billing originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Jul 2012 14:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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We all know what it’s like: you decide you finally need to get a new computer, TV or camera. The first thing you do is work out how much you can spend, then start looking for the best products in your price range. Big mistake, because budgeting like that will likely cause you to spend more. Here’s how to wise up. More »
So, what exactly is a Yammer? Well, it’s a simple social network designed not to connect you with family or college roommates, but with with your coworkers. The platform has had some success, but its most high profile moment may be today’s announcement that Microsoft had purchased the company. Rumors had been circulating for about a week, but now Redmond has made it official and issued a press release announcing its plan to purchase the startup for $1.2 billion in cash. Yammer will continue to live on as a stand alone service, which should make its 5 million users and countless Fortune 500 customers happy. But Microsoft will certainly be looking to fold its features into its own suite of enterprise offerings, like SharePoint and Office 365. For more info check out the PR after the break.
Continue reading Microsoft buying Yammer to beef up enterprise social networking efforts
Microsoft buying Yammer to beef up enterprise social networking efforts originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jun 2012 14:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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