October 31, 2011 : Comments (4)
Google+ Updates Android App, Adds New Design And Other Features
Acquisitions
Glam Media Acquires Social Networking Platform Ning
Glam Media, a social content platform that targets mainly women, has acquired the social networking platform Ning. In August, we reported that Ning was looking for a buyer and had been talking to companies like Google and Groupon about a $150 million sale. Ning received more than expected, according to AllThingsD, and sold for $200 million, mostly in... Read more » MyHeritage Acquires Family Data Backup Service BackupMyTree
MyHeritage, the family-based social network and family history discovery service, has acquired BackupMyTree, a service that allows users to store information about their family history. This acquisition is MyHeritage’s sixth and will help the company expand their technology to encompass a range of family history related services. Past acquisitions include the... Read more » Skype Acquires Group Messaging Service GroupMe, Expands Mobile Platform
Skype has acquired the group messaging service GroupMe. Though the terms of the agreement are undisclosed, All Things D is reporting that the purchase price is around $85 million. It is likely that Skype will use the service to enhance their SMS, social and mobile features. GroupMe, which launched in 2010, has established its platform as a widely used mobile group... Read more » Bit.ly Acquires Social Media Publishing Service, Twitterfeed
Link shortener service Bit.ly has acquired Twitterfeed, a service that helps users automatically publish content to Twitter among other platforms. Twitterfeed uses the link shortener service to share content and analyze engagements. Just last month, Twitterfeed had over 1 million users and with this acquisition, Bit.ly hopes to bring those users more in-depth... Read more » Twitter Acquires Social Discovery Tool Bagcheck
Twitter has acquired search and discovery startup Bagcheck. While it's unclear how the microblogging service plans to use the startup, the platform allows users to create a list or "bag" of their favorite products for specific activities. For example, a user could make a collection of kitchen tools and include their favorite pots, pans and utensils then share their... Read more » Facebook Acquires Digital Book Publisher Push Pop Press
Push Pop Press, a company that converts books into iPhone and iPad apps, has been acquired by Facebook. Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed. Facebook does not have any plans to publish digital books, but it will integrate the technology and ideas behind Push Pop Press into Facebook. The company was founded by Mike Matas and Kimon... Read more »
Electronic Arts Gets FTC Green Light For PopCap Games Acquisition
Gaming giant Electronic Arts has been given the go-ahead to acquire PopCap Games by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. The acquisition was announced earlier this month, but could not be confirmed until regulatory approval had been given. Reuters reports that the FTC has placed the deal on a list of approved transactions. The list is issued several times per... Read more »
Google Acquires Social Network Fridge To Work On Google+
Group-based social networking service Fridge has announced that it has been acquired by Google, with the Fridge team being rolled into the Google+ setup. Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed. Fridge offered its users the ability to create personal networks that could be used to share photos, events and messages with specific groups and friends. It... Read more »
INFOGRAPHIC: How The Tech World Is Interconnected
The tech industry is extremely interconnected -- companies acquire other companies and executives and employees shuffle to different positions and go on to create different services. It's sometimes quite a surprise where one company will end up when you look at where it started. This infographic was researched by Sarah Kessler, a writer for Mashable, and created... Read more »
REPORT: Zynga Was In Race To Acquire PopCap Games, Made $1B Cash Bid
Electronic Arts announced on Tuesday that it will acquire social gaming company PopCap Games for $750 million in stock and cash, potentially rising to $1.3 billion based on performance over the next 2 years. However, EA almost missed out on buying PopCap, as rival company Zynga is said to have made a bid of $1 billion in cash. Zynga would have financed the deal at... Read more »
