Google buys startup BufferBox, the Amazon Locker of Canada
Friday, Canadian startup BufferBox announced it had been acquired by Google. The company deals in computerized delivery lockers similar to the Amazon Lockers that have been gradually rolling out across the United States. Currently, BufferBox only has locations in the Greater Toronto Area.
Last October, BufferBox posted a blog attempting to dispel rumors that they were battling Amazon over the idea.
Did Google actually acquire Icoa?
Earlier today, a press release on PRWeb.com announced that Google had acquired Rhode Island Wi-Fi hotspot tech company Icoa Inc. This press release was reported upon by most of the reputable tech blogs, and the story was approved to run on BetaNews as well.
It now appears that Icoa was not acquired by Google, and that either the press release was released prior to internal approval, or someone spent at least $159 to fool the trigger-happy tech media with a bogus press release.
Google acquires hotspot company Icoa, one of Boingo's long-running partners
Editor: This report may not be true. BetaNews awaits direct confirmation from Google.
Please read our updated story for more info. We apologize to our readers.
Cisco buys 'Networking-as-a-Service' pioneer Meraki for mid-market growth
Networking leader Cisco announced on Sunday evening its intent to acquire San Francisco-based cloud networking company Meraki Inc. Cisco will pay approximately $1.2 billion in cash and incentives to acquire Meraki, and the deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2013.
Meraki's portfolio of technologies includes a broad range of networking solutions, including mesh Wi-Fi, switching, security, and cloud-based mobile device management which currently target midmarket companies. In other words, companies with annual revenues between $100 million and $1 billion. In the United States, this market segment is made up of approximately 200,000 companies, and it is looked at as a growth market for tech infrastructure providers.
Sprint buys $480 million worth of U.S. Cellular's Midwest wireless business
Third-largest U.S. wireless network operator Sprint on Wednesday announced it will be acquiring $480 million worth of wireless spectrum from eighth-largest carrier U.S. Cellular in various markets in five different midwest states.
The spectrum licenses encompass 10MHz or 20MHz blocks of space in the 1900 MHz band, the band Sprint is building its 4G LTE network upon. These expanded areas of coverage, which include urban areas of Chicago, St. Louis, South Bend, Indiana and Champaign, Illinois, will be included in Sprint's overarching Network Vision upgrade which began last year.
Symantec completes VeriSign Japan acquisition, expands presence in strong Asian market
Computer security company Symantec announced on Thursday that its acquisition of VeriSign Japan KK was complete, and as of November first, the Japanese company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Symantec.
Two years ago, Symantec spent an estimated $1.28 billion in cash to acquire Verisign's identity and authentication businesses, including its Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Certificate Services, Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) Services, the VeriSign Trust Services and the VeriSign Identity Protection (VIP) Authentication Service.
SoftBank invests $20.1B in Sprint for 70 percent stake
Four days ago Sprint Nextel Corporation confirmed acquisition talks with Japan's third-largest carrier, Softbank Corp, with unspecified details surrounding the transaction at the time. Today the operator from the land of the rising sun announced that it will invest $20.1 billion in Sprint, $12.1 billion of which will give SoftBank a dominant stake of 70 percent in the US carrier.
The two operators expect the transaction to close, pending approval of Sprint's shareholders, the Federal Communications Commission and other regulatory agencies, in the second half of 2013. Combined the two carriers will rank as the third largest operator worldwide according to the press release, a strong position that favors both parties. The Japan-based carrier will provide Sprint $8 billion from the total amount for its balance sheet, mobile network and strategic investments.
Japan's SoftBank talks investment, possible acquisition of Sprint
United States wireless carrier Sprint Nextel Corporation could be an acquisition target for Japan's third-largest mobile carrier Softbank Corp, the U.S. wireless carrier confirmed on Thursday. Sprint has publicly acknowledged that the two companies are "in discussions" over a SoftBank investment, but the exact nature of this investment has not been clarified.
The competitive landscape of wireless networks in the United States is a difficult one, especially with the high cost of building 4G network infrastructure versus the general scarcity of wireless spectrum licenses. The dominant spectrum holders are the two networks with the most subscribers: Verizon Wireless and AT&T. To compete, the smaller national carriers have to look for new growth opportunities.
T-Mobile and MetroPCS to merge, become the 'value-focused' 4G network
Wednesday, United States wireless carrier T-Mobile USA officially announced it will merge with "baby national" wireless carrier MetroPCS. The combination of the two companies will result in a single carrier with as many as 42.5 million subscribers. Third-place national carrier Sprint had approximately 56 million subscribers at the end of the second quarter in 2012.
The combined company will continue to be called T-Mobile, and will be controlled by T-Mobile's parent company Deutsche Telekom, who will take a 74 percent stake in the merged entity. MetroPCS shareholders will receive $1.5 billion in cash and a 26 percent controlling stake.
OnLive goes through emergency asset liquidation to stay afloat
In a whirlwind restructuring that took place over the weekend, streaming video game company OnLive Inc. was stripped of all its assets and sold to a new company, at the expense of all of its shares and employees. The OnLive gaming service itself underwent no changes.
According to a statement from OnLive, all of the company's assets: technology, patents, trademarks, and so forth, were "transferred to an assignee, which then sold the assets to the new company. There was no transfer to any other party." The company's entire staff was laid off, and about half of the staff was offered their same job at the same pay.
Google slashing-and-burning Motorola Mobility into leaner, smart device-only outfit
Google will be massively scaling back the size of Motorola Mobility, an 8-k form filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission revealed on Monday. This reduction will include laying off approximately 4,000 more employees from Motorola Mobility, closing or consolidating 30 of Motorola's 90 facilities, and limiting the company's portfolio to "more innovative and profitable devices."
The reduction eliminates 20 percent of Motorola Mobility's current staff of 20,000, and will cost Google $275 million in severance packages for terminated employees. It is the second round of layoffs for Motorola Mobility in twelve months. The last round was announced in October, and reduced the staff by 800.
VMware acquires virtual networking software company Nicira for $1.05 billion
On the same day as reporting strong second-quarter results, virtualization software developer VMware said Monday that it has entered into an agreement to purchase network software Nicira for $1.05 billion. The company's software is used to manage network deployments and create virtualized network infrastructure. VMware expects the deal to close in the second half of the year.
"The acquisition of Nicira adds to our portfolio of networking assets and positions VMware to be the industry leader in software-defined networking", VMware CEO Paul Maritz says. Others called it a major move which positions VMware well in the fast-growing cloud computing sector.
Microsoft should buy RIM as soon as possible
Research in Motion is in trouble. Exactly how much trouble isn’t really clear right now, but things are looking bad.. Thorsten Heins, the current CEO, is keeping a positive outlook. He stated this week, in an interview with a Canadian radio station: "There’s nothing wrong with the company right now".
Pretty much everyone disagrees with this statement, including the stock market. At the time of writing the share price stands at under $8. This time last year it was $30. Go back to 2008 and the company was trading at $150 a share. RIM also recently announced 5,000 redundancies and losses of $518 million. Heins might say one thing publicly, but in private you can bet he is a worried man.
Micron swoops in to save Elpida, becomes top-tier supplier
Micron set itself up to be the world's top tablet and mobile memory supplier after announcing its intent to purchase Elpida on Monday. Apple is one of Elpida's biggest customers, and its chips are found in devices and Macs throughout its product line.
Micron will pay Elpida creditors $2.5 billion to settle any claims, and will pay Elpida $750 million to purchase its assets. Another $1.75 billion is to be paid through 2019 in installment payments for foundry services to be provided by Elpida to Micron, which will now operate as a Micron subsidiary.
Dell wins bidding war for Quest Software, the buying spree rolls on
Texas PC maker Dell announced on Monday that it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire IT management software provider Quest Software for approximately $2.4 billion, or $28 per share. Dell has been in a bidding war over the company since earlier this year.
Last March, Quest announced it accepted an acquisition offer by Insight Venture Partners for $23 a share or a total of $2.17 billion. Then, in May, the company said it had received better offers that it was considering, including one from Dell.
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