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Logitech acquiring Jaybird for $50M as it looks to expand active lifestyle wireless lineup

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Computer peripheral company Logitech today announced that it will acquire popular audio company Jaybird. For those unfamiliar, Jaybird offers a variety of headphone products over recent years, most of which have been wireless. Logitech says the deal is worth $50 million in cash, with an additional earn-out of up to $45 million based on achievement of growth targets over the next two years.


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ZAGG to acquire Mophie, takeover battery, screen protection, & keyboard accessories market

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Popular accessory maker Zagg today announced that it has acquired Mophie, another accessory maker best known for its iPhone battery cases and power accessories. The deal will see Zagg purchase Mophie for $100 million. Mophie CEO Daniel Huang and COO Shawn Dougherty will continue their current respective roles and will report to Zagg CEO Randy Hales.


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Apple officially acquires Faceshift, the company behind motion capture tech used in Star Wars

Earlier this year a rumor began floating around that claimed Apple had acquired Faceshift, the company behind the motion capture technology used in Star Wars. Now, TechCrunch reports that the acquisition has become official and Apple has acquired the Zurich-based Faceshift startup.

Apple has not directly confirmed the acquisition, but issued its standard statement regarding its purchasing of smaller companies. “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans,” the company said.

This isn’t the first motion capture startup Apple has acquired. Over recent years, the company has acquired PrimeSense, Metaio, and Polar Rose, all European-based motion capture, facial recognition, and virtual reality companies of some sort.

It’s still unclear at this point as to how Apple plans to use the talent and technology it has required in the virtual reality field. Early indications were that Apple was planning to implement some of the technology into the Apple TV, but none of that has yet to come to fruition, despite the newest generation model being released earlier this month.

Faceshift’s technology is used in the most recent Star Wars film to make non-human characters have features, characteristics, and expressions more similar to real humans.

Watchmaker Fossil picks up fitness wearable tech w/ $260M Misfit acquisition

Misfit, makers of popular smartphone-connected wearable fitness accessories, today announced the company is being acquired by watchmaker Fossil Group for $260 million, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Fossil plans to take the technology and integrate it into its traditional watch designs, according to the report:
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EyeFi acquires popular photo sharing service OkDoThis

EyeFi, the company behind the popular SD cards that carry WiFi support, has today announced that it has acquired OkDoThis. OkDoThis is a popular photography app on iOS that aims to inspire photographers to take a taking pictures daily and offering a platform on which they can share and discuss photography. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

In a press release, EyeFi explained that the acquisition of OkDoThis allows it to more directly engage with photographers. With the OkDoThis team on board, EyeFi will be able to work to integrate social features into its own apps and products.

OkDoThis is a widely praised app on iOS that has amassed nearly 400 ratings and has a 4 and a half star average. Most recently, it was updated with iPad support and 3D Touch support for iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus users. 3D Touch allows photographers to jump directly to the Camera or the “DO of the Day” within the app:

Your creativity inspires an active community of photographers and is what has made OKDOTHIS so great! We’re excited to let you know we’ve been acquired by Eyefi, a leading photo management company that puts photos at your fingertips. With Eyefi’s support, we’ll be able to deliver more engaging features to keep you DOing more with your photography, such as:

New!! iPad Support!
See all of your DOs and Photos, bigger and better than ever!! You can also use the iPad version in both portrait and landscape.

But wait, there’s more!! 3D Touch Support!
Go straight to the Camera or the DO of the Day by using 3D Touch on the OKDOTHIS home screen icon.

The full press release from EyeFi regarding the acquisition can be seen below:

Eyefi Acquires the OKDOTHIS Mobile App That Inspires Creativity in Photographers

 Photo management leader adds photo enthusiast community app to its product line-up; challenges photographers to push the envelope of their creative style, and engage with and inspire other photographers.

Mountain View, Calif.—November 12, 2015— Eyefi (www.eyefi.com), the global leader in digital photo-management apps and services, has acquired the OKDOTHIS app, the app that pioneered idea-sharing for photographers with its unique way of inspiring photographers to stretch their creativity. The acquisition expands Eyefi’s scope into a new area of digital photography: engaging directly with photographers to inspire creativity and the exchange of ideas. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

OKDOTHIS popularized the idea of a daily photography “DO” – an idea or suggestion designed to trigger creative inspiration for photographers. OKDOTHIS was created through a partnership between Nashville, Tennessee based Aloompa and Jeremy Cowart, acclaimed photographer and founder of See University.  In 2014 Jeremy was recognized as the most Socially Influential Photographer on the Web. His body of work includes portraits of many familiar names such as Taylor Swift, Kelly Clarkson, Tim Tebow, Sting, and many others.

“When I meet photographers around the world, one common theme emerges: exploring new ideas to evolve their skills and get more enjoyment and satisfaction from their photography. That was the idea that led to the creation of OKDOTHIS,” said Jeremy Cowart. “Being a part of Eyefi means we can scale this idea and bring OKDTOTHIS to photographers everywhere.”

 “We are delighted that the OKDOTHIS team has joined Eyefi,” said Matt DiMaria, CEO of Eyefi. “Eyefi has always focused on helping photographers be more productive so they can focus on creativity. With OKDOTHIS, we’re adding the power of social interaction and engagement among photographers to inspire them to challenge and learn from each other.”

OKDOTHIS CHALLENGES PHOTOGRAPHERS TO BE MORE CREATIVE

OKDOTHIS is an innovative community of photographers who, every day, celebrate the role of creativity in the art of photography. The app is designed to get them out of the rut of taking the same picture over and over again by providing a “DO” — a specific idea of what subjects to shoot and what mood, topic, theme or attribute to highlight. OKDOTHIS encourages photographers to ‘stretch’ beyond their standard shooting styles. There are several categories of DOs, ranging from art & design, sports, work, life highlights, etc. Examples of some thought-provoking DOs include:

  • Defy gravity! — Doors that you wish could talk — Epitomize a city in one photograph —
  • Tenebrism: violent contrasts of light and dark, where darkness dominates the image

Photographers can simply browse, select a DO, and use their phone to take and post the photo on the spot.  Alternatively, a photographer might want to plan a day of DOs — select a few on which to focus for the day, head out with a preferred digital camera, and shoot. With the Eyefi Cloud integrated with the OKDOTHIS mobile app, photographers can now use photos from their digital camera (with a Mobi WiFi SD card) or their WiFi camera to submit a photo for one of the challenges.

ABOUT OKDOTHIS

Founded in 2012, OKDOTHIS is a creativity community serving as a platform to both inspire and share work. Focused on, but not limited to the realm of photography, OKDOTHIS is not just another photo-sharing service: knowing that any work of art can serve as inspiration, the platform encourages users to share the creative ideas behind their work. Sitting at the crossroads of inspiration and community, OKDOTHIS users come full circle by creating work stimulated by specific prompts that goes on to inspire others. By connecting people through art and allowing them to share their ideas socially, OKDOTHIS produces a uniquely individual view of the world.

ABOUT EYEFI

Eyefi frees photographers worldwide to take and experience great photos everywhere. Photographers know that when taking great photos is paramount, being able to focus on taking the shot matters the most. By automating photo transfer, organization and accessibility, Eyefi gives hobbyists, amateur photographers and professionals more time to focus on what they do best — taking great photos. Eyefi products have transferred over one billion images from digital cameras to the Internet, mobile devices and PCs. For more information about Eyefi, please visitwww.eyefi.com or follow @eyefi.

Apple acquires location data collection startup Mapsense for $25 million

Apple is no stranger to acquiring companies to bolster its Apple Maps offering and now it appears that the company has acquired yet another company to do just that. According to a report out of Re/code, Apple today has acquired Mapsense, a San Francisco-based startup that focused on building software that analyzed and visualized location data.


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Incipio acquires Incase, adding to stable of Apple-focused case + accessory brands

Incase, maker of numerous laptop bags and cases for Apple devices, has been acquired by Incipio, the growing developer of cases, electronic accessories, and wireless speakers based in Orange County, California. Announced today, the acquisition is expected to expand Incase’s distribution and improve its logistics for further international expansion.

Known for years as one of the top Mac, iPhone, and iPod case makers featured in Apple’s retail stores, Incase even developed commemorative cases to mark the openings of new Apple Store locations, and has long maintained a reputation for high-quality products. The company was previously acquired by investment group Swander Pace Capital in 2010, and now joins the Incipio stable of brands including Braven, Tavik, and Clam Case…


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Apple reportedly purchased facial motion-capture company FaceShift

A new rumor floating around the web today indicates that Apple may have recently purchased FaceShift, a Swiss tech company specializing in real-time markerless facial motion capture. It wouldn’t be Apple’s first purchase in the area of facial motion capture or gesture control, though outside of the new Apple TV, it’s unclear what they might be using it for.

While Apple and FaceShift haven’t yet confirmed the buyout, there are some interesting details that seems to point to that being the case.


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Microsoft reportedly buying cross-platform to-do list app Wunderlist

You can now add the German mobile app firm 6Wunderkinder GmbH to the growing list of companies with iOS apps that Microsoft has bought in recent months. 6Wunderkinder makes the popular cross-platform Wunderlist task manager for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch. According to The Wall Street Journal, Microsoft has spent somewhere in the ballpark of $100-$200 million for the firm.
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Apple might have accquired GPS company Coherent Navigation to bolster Maps accuracy (Update: Apple confirms)

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Update: Apple confirmed the acquisition.

Apple, which has already acquired a variety of companies to help its Maps team, appears to have recently purchased San Francisco-based GPS company Coherent Navigation. The company was founded in 2008 by a pair of engineers from Stanford and Cornell. While Apple and Coherent Navigation have yet to confirm the acquisition, several pieces of evidence support the idea.


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Report claims Apple (oddly) showed interest in failed payments startup Clinkle

A report from TechCrunch claims that Apple has expressed interest in acquiring the payment rewards startup Clinkle. Clinkle, which has been mocked and ridiculed often since its beginning, reportedly saw a mass exodus of employees today that stemmed from frustration with its CEO Lucas Duplan. One of the deciding factors surrounding the mass exodus was allegedly Duplan’s lack of communication with employees regarding a potential sale to Apple.


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Apple reportedly acquired search startup Ottocat in 2013 for “Explore” tab in App Store

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Apple often acquires small startup companies very quietly and without any formal announcement to bolster its own services, and a new report from TechCrunch claims that the company acquired Ottocat in late-2013. Ottocat was a startup that focused on developing a system to organize and discover apps based on increasingly specific subcategories. Apple currently uses this technology to power the “Explore” tab in the App Store, as seen above.


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Apple acquires database software makers FoundationDB to speed up cloud services

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Apple has reportedly acquired database company FoundationDB, according to a new report from TechCrunch. The report cites sources and notes that the company is no longer offering downloads of its main database software product after posting the following notice to its website:

Thank you for your support of FoundationDB over the last five years. We’re grateful to have shared our vision of building the best database software and we strongly value your participation in this community. We have made the decision to evolve our company mission and, as of today, we will no longer offer downloads.

As noted in the report, Apple is likely looking to improve its cloud services with the acquisition:
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Apple reportedly acquired audio software developer Camel Audio in January

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Audio software developer Camel Audio announced in January that it would be shutting down for good and removing its software from sale, but no one knew quite why. However, it now appears that the company has been acquired by Apple.

Today Camel Audio updated some of its corporate information, including its address and directors, as listed on the UK government’s Companies House website. The new address is 100 New Bridge Street in London, which also happens to be the address of Apple’s UK offices.


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Samsung acquires Apple Pay competitor LoopPay to accelerate its mobile commerce effort

From 9to5Google: 

Samsung announced in a press release this evening that it has purchased LoopPay, an Apple Pay-like mobile payment company. LoopPay turns existing magnetic stripe card readers into secure, contactless receivers. This means that, in an ideal world, LoopPay would be available in nearly every retailer that accepts magnetic strip cards. A specific acquisition price is unclear at this point.


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This $80 mobile app prototyping software for Mac is now free courtesy of Google acquisition

Google just bought RelativeWave, the company behind the mobile app prototyping software Form, and with the purchase it’s making the previously $80 Mac app available for free on the Mac App Store. The company made an announcement on its website noting that it will continue working on the Form app after joining Google:

I speak for the team when I say that we’re incredibly humbled by what the community has created with Form. We’ve seen people create designs that we could have never imagined. It’s one of the best feelings in the world to see people using your work.

The team adds that with new help from Google it will be “focused on improving the state of design and development tools.”

Form is a Mac app with an accompanying Form viewer app for iOS, but the company hints an Android version could be in the works noting to “stay tuned” for other platforms. The Form app for Mac pairs with the viewer on a mobile device and allows users to rapidly prototype native mobile app experiences in real-time using easy-to-use presets that the company says “are as powerful as their coded counterparts.” An example of a finished composition using Form is above.

The announcement also notes that users that previously paid for Form can get a refund by emailing support@relativewave.com.

The Form Mac app is available for free from the Mac App Store now.

Apple acquires Union Bay Networks, opens software engineering office in Seattle

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Apple confirmed today that it has acquired cloud networking startup Union Bay Networks and will open a software engineering office in the company’s home town of Seattle. This will be Apple’s first time venturing into the city, though many other tech companies have already established offices in the area.

The first hints that an acquisition may have taken place came when GeekWire noticed that Union Bay’s co-founder Benn Bollay now lists himself as a manager at Apple on LinkedIn and seems to be attempting to recruit new workers in the area to the Cupertino tech giant. Bollay also wrote a post titled “Ever wanted to work at Apple, but didn’t want to live in Cupertino?” and removed it shortly thereafter.


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Will Microsoft’s purchase of Mojang mean the end of Minecraft for Mac & iOS users?

With news breaking today that Minecraft-maker Mojang has officially sold to Microsoft, the first question that comes to my mind is what this might mean for Mac and iOS users.

Microsoft now has the ability and probably much incentive to make future versions of Minecraft Xbox and or Windows-only and, unfortunately, its statement on the topic isn’t reassuring to say the least. Here’s the statement from Mojang on development for various platforms:

There’s no reason for the development, sales, and support of the PC/Mac, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4, Vita, iOS, and Android versions of Minecraft to stop. Of course, Microsoft can’t make decisions for other companies or predict the choices that they might make in the future.

We’re extremely proud of all editions and the awesome things you have achieved through playing together.

That’s far from a promise that Microsoft will indeed keep the game alive on all platforms, and also up in the air is where the company’s current employees and projects will end up after the deal. For now, versions of the game are still available to download for Mac and iOS. 

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Square and Apple acquisition talks reportedly fell apart over pricing disagreements

TechCrunch is reporting today that Apple and mobile payment processor Square were briefly in talks about a possible acqusition. The talks didn’t get far, it seems, as the two companies couldn’t reach an agreement on how much Square was actually worth. Eventually, Square walked away:

Separately, TechCrunch has heard that Square and Apple were in acquisition talks, but that Square walked away. Apple wanted the company to come aboard, but the discussed price was a sticking point: Apple wanted to buy Square for around $3 billion, one source said. Square, valued at the time at a firm 66 percent delta to that price point, declined to accept.

It’s interesting to consider what Apple Pay might have looked like if the merger had gone through. You can read the more over at TechCrunch.

Apple rumored to be in acquisition talks with Path for another attempt at social networking

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Apple tried to get social with the iTunes Ping network in 2010. Things didn’t work out so well. (Image via Wired)

Apple and social networking don’t have such a great history, but the Cupertino tech firm is ready to give it another go, if new rumors regarding a potential acquisition of the Path social app are true. According to PandoDaily, Apple is already in talks with the mobile social network and the merger is “essentially a done deal.”

Path, for the uninitiated, is a mobile-only social networking app launched in 2010 that features photo sharing, private messaging, and other features you’d expect from a basic social service. It isn’t as widely popular as something like Facebook or Twitter, but it’s estimated to have somewhere around 25 million users and could provide Apple with a decent platform to create its own network.


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