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Fujitsu buys out Toshiba's stake in mobile joint venture, division now called Fujitsu Mobile Communications
April 2, 2012: a great day to officially wash your hands of an unprofitable business. On the heels of Philips stuffing its TV biz into a joint venture, Fujitsu announced it has bought out Toshiba's stake in Fujitsu Toshiba Mobile Communications (just like we knew it would). Fujitsu already had a controlling 80.1 percent interest in the company, so this doesn't exactly mark a seismic change in management. Still, with that final 19.9 percent it's now a fully owned subsidiary of the Fujitsu Group, and has been rechristened Fujitsu Mobile Communications. We've got the PR below, but unless you want to know how much capital the division has (¥450 million, to be exact), we think we've got you covered on the facts.
Sprint almost bought MetroPCS for $8 billion, Hesse said yes, but the board said no (update)
Well, well, it looks like AT&T wasn't the only one looking to acquire a competitor in the wireless business last year. According to CNBC's David Faber, the Now Network was knee-deep in negotiations to acquire MetroPCS for $8 billion dollars before its board nixed the deal. Apparently, Sprint had been trying to make the merger happen for months and the coupling was even endorsed by CEO Dan Hesse, but for reasons unknown the board shot it down. We're still digging for details, so stay tuned for more as we have it.Update: The Wall Street Journal reports that Sprint backed away from the deal earlier this week because the "timing wasn't right," and that there's no hard feelings between Mr. Hesse and the board for doing so.
Apple chomps Chomp to improve App Store search
If we were Tim Cook, we wouldn't be able to resist the temptation of wasting some of that $100 billion on something extravagant, like a crystal iPhone dock or private theme park. Instead the boys in Cupertino remain dogged in quietly acquiring start-ups and hoping no-one notices. Chomp is the latest technology company whose staff will find themselves with a pass for the Infinite Loop car park. It's an app discovery business with technology reportedly far in advance of the App Store's current keyword-based search and given that there are 500,000 apps, it's unsurprising that people aren't finding what they need. You may recall that Chomp powered Verizon's Android searches too, a situation we don't expect to last very long as soon as it's time to renegotiate that contract. The companies will be mixing their sauces together in the hope of making some good goulash, although as usual, we don't expect to get a taste for a while.
Sony finalizes divorce with Ericsson, renames itself Sony Mobile Communications
More than half of America's married couples will tell you, breaking up is hard. Hard and expensive. After living in denial, dodging rumors and eventually coming to terms with the inevitable, Sony has finally taken over Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson's 50-percent stake in the pair's former joint venture, a move that was earlier reported to have cost €1.05 billion ($1.37 billion) to complete. The now fully Sony owned Sony Ericsson will be renamed Sony Mobile Communications, though a few of the outfit's already announced children are keeping their papa's name. Hit the break for Sony's small press release.
US gives its blessing to Google's Moto purchase
When it rains, it pours. Just hours after European regulators gave the green light to Google to snatch up Motorola Mobility, the US Justice Department gave the couple its own blessing. The $12.5 billion purchase has drawn serious scrutiny from both regulators and Big G's own partners, though, consensus seems to be that Mountain View is more interested in Moto's patents than in entering the hardware business. Though the Justice Department doesn't see the merger as an immediate threat to competition, it did issue a stern warning that it "will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action to stop any anticompetitive use of SEP (standard essential patent) rights." The concern is an understandable one since all the major players in the mobile space, Motorola included, have been at each other's legal throats for some time now. There are still a few more interested parties who will have to give their own consent to the combination including China, Israel and Taiwan. But, with two of the biggest potential blockades giving Google the thumbs up, it's looking more and more likely that the purchase will go through.
Qualcomm buys Pixtronix to make for better Mirasol displays?
Qualcomm's whipped out some flipping great wadges of cash in order to snap up Pixtronix for its PerfectLight MEMS-based display tech. It reportedly cost between $175 - $200 million and is expected to be merged into the company's super-low power Mirasol-based displays. Compared to the Kyobo eReader we played with at CES, PerfectLight has a wider viewing angle (170 degree), supports full speed video playback and much better RGB modulation. Depending on how successful the marriage is, it could spell the end of the final hurdles that have hampered the widespread adoption of the technology.
Sony Ericsson swallows $317 million pre-tax loss as end draws near
Sony Ericsson's tearful breakup continues with more woe as as the venture had to eat a pre-tax loss of €247 million (roughly $317 million). Bosses cited "unfavorable macro-economic conditions" and the Thai flooding as the reasons for the loss. Ericsson probably won't mind having such an unfavorable penultimate quarter with the company, given that it's set to receive €1.05 billion (around $1.9 billion) when Sony buys out its share of the joint telecoms business within the next month.
Rakuten completes purchase of Kobo
It's been just over two months since Rakuten announced its intention to snatch up all of Kobo's shares for $315 million, following the collapse of the eReading company's primary retail partner -- Borders. Even though its new parent company is based out of Japan Kobo's headquarters will remain in Toronto. The two were also quick to tout the potential expanded marketplace that will be available to Kobo thanks to the popularity of Rakuten's various properties, including Buy.com. If you're particularly curious about the deal you can check out the PR after the break.
Nuance gobbles up Vlingo, yearns to transcribe its own announcement
Apparently, if you can't (legally) beat them, you buy them. Such is the thinking over at Nuance, who has decided to acquire its competitor and former courtroom dance partner, Vlingo. Should make for some nice additions to the former's voice recognition tubes -- technology which powers everything from Apple's Siri, Dragon dictation and even various autos. No indications as to how many greenbacks exchanged hands, but the newlyweds were happy to boast their "complementary research and development efforts" will result in a company "stronger together than alone." We'll have to see about that. PR after the break.
Nuance to acquire rival Vlingo
Nuance, the company behind the Dragon apps and a whole slew of other popular software suites, has decided to acquire its rival Vlingo, another voice-to-text software developer. VentureBeat says it's for an undisclosed sum, but even though the two companies have sued and counter-sued over a series of patent applications, they're apparently putting those quibbles to rest, and instead will combine forces to beef up their voice-to-text solutions. Siri has apparently lit a fire under the voice control market lately, and of course voice recognition is a big part of that. Siri was very impressive as just an iPhone app, but with the full weight of Apple's hardware support (not to mention marketing budget) behind it, voice control is inspiring a lot of R&D and funding, both in Cupertino and elsewhere in the tech industry. Nuance has fought to be the de facto standard for a lot of voice recognition software in the past with its Dragon Naturally Speaking apps, and that kind of thing is likely to become even more popular going forward. Or as Nuance's own senior VP Mike Thompson puts it in a press release, "Inspired by the introduction of services such as Apple's Siri and our own Dragon Go!, virtually every mobile and consumer electronics company on the planet is looking for ways to integrate natural, conversational voice interactions into their mobile products, applications and services. By acquiring Vlingo, we are able to accelerate the pace of innovation to meet this demand."
RIM purportedly shopped by Microsoft and Nokia, talked with Samsung / HTC about licensing
Tomorrow's headlines: local florist and rural farmer consider purchase of RIM, or at least the "In Motion" part. Hot on the heels of a report suggesting that Amazon was at least considering a purchase of Canada's famed BlackBerry maker, in flies a separate report suggesting... well, all sorts of insane things. For one, The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Microsoft and Nokia "flirted with the idea of making a joint bid" for RIM in recent months, with the status of the talks today being "unclear." Of course, the fact that these talks are even ongoing says a lot about the internal happenings at the company, and with co-CEO Jim Balsillie recently suggesting that "no stone" would be left unturned in a bid to turn the corner, it doesn't take a professional Between The Lines reader to make sense of it all. Crazier still, two other folks "familiar with the situation" have said that RIM executives have "approached other smartphone makers, including Samsung and HTC, about licensing RIM's new operating system," presumably BBX BlackBerry 10. If anyone else decides they too are interested in having a talk with these guys (read: it's highly likely), we'll be sure to let you know.
Calcalist: Apple to buy Israeli company Anobit
As noted here & here last week, the Israeli business daily Calcalist has been tracking the story of Apple's purported buyout of the flash/DSP technology company Anobit. Today the site reports that the deal is good to go, and that Anobit's employees are being told of the new ownership. To put an exclamation point on the transaction and the possible expansion of Apple's R&D efforts to a new facility near Haifa, the official Twitter account of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a welcome to Apple today. In the odd-coincidence department, today is the 15th anniversary of Apple's 1996 acquisition of NeXT and the return of Steve Jobs. Given the reported US$500 million price tag on the acquisition (Apple 2.0 notes that's more than the inflation-adjusted price Apple paid for NeXT, and may represent the largest single purchase by Apple of another firm), the value Apple places on moving Anobit's technology in-house must be pretty high. GigaOM laid out the case for ownership last week; since Anobit's tech makes cheaper flash memory reliable & long-lived enough for high-end devices, it's a key capability for Apple's light and portable product line. Anobit's engineering is already adding to Apple's product line via inclusion in the iPhone, iPad and MacBook Air -- that graphic up there comes from Anobit's news page, and even with the logos filed off the gear it's pretty obvious what those 'mystery products' actually are. While 2011 hasn't seen many big Apple acquisitions of smaller companies, 2010 was extremely busy by comparison. After buying LaLa at the end of 2009, last year's shopping list included SIRI, Poly 9, Intrinsity, C3 Technologies, IMSense, Quattro Wireless and Polar Rose. Apple also sold off Agnilux to Google in 2010. Apple's fiscal year 2011 ended in September with the company reporting over $81 billion in cash and marketable securities, which is the very definition of "war chest." If Apple does expand its R&D facilities to the Haifa area, it's another bit of good news in a remarkable week for Israel's Technion university. The technical institute, which anchors Israel's version of Silicon Valley, is also partnering with Cornell University to launch New York City's future 'superschool' and technology incubator on the city's underdeveloped Roosevelt Island.
Apple to buy flash chip maker Anobit for $500 million?
Disclaimer: Delving into Apple's business requires a hefty pinch of salt, okay? Good. Is Apple about to open that $84 billion war chest to make another one of its traditional flash-memory supply-chain land-grabs? Rumors from Reuters suggest it's planning to snap up Israeli outfit Anobit for $400 or $500 million. The outfit specializes in signal processing for the memory chips, increasing volume and performance, which you'll already find bolted onto the Samsung and Hynix flash drives inside the iPhone 4S. Whilst we're having a hard time believing Cupertino would buy a hardware maker (even P.A. Semi and Intrinsity were fabless designers), it seems a logical move from a company who probably see traditional HDDs as an evil to be eradicated from its simplistic designs. We've reached out for comment from the companies and we'll let you know if we get anything more substantial than the regular "no comment." Update: The initial reports suggested that Anobit had production facilities, but it's since been clarified that the company is a fabless designer in the same vein as P.A. Semi and Intrinsity.
Sony Ericsson to become Sony in mid-2012
Sony and Ericsson's decade-long partnership may have humbled Kim Kardashian, but dwindling market share and an over-reliance on feature phones signaled the end of the affair. Ericsson will have until "mid 2012" to clear its things from the spare room before the electronics giant begins a new solo venture. The revitalized enterprise will leverage its parent company's brand strength, R&D and content (since it owns a massive chunk of the entertainment industry) and in comments made to Times of India, company Vice President Kristian Tear said there would be a "fierce" advertising push to restore the company's reputation as a major player worldwide -- before taking a Pilates class to try and fit back into its bachelor pad.
Nokia Siemens Networks looks to unload WiMax division onto NewNet Communication
WiMax expansion isn't exactly all the rage as of late, and so it comes as no surprise that Nokia Siemens Networks is shedding itself of the extraneous baggage. Following its recent whopping round of layoffs, the move is a continuation of the company's efforts to bring stability to its bottom line. NewNet Communication Technologies has agreed to bring the castoff WiMax technologies into its fold, along with approximately 300 NSN employees -- all for an undisclosed price -- in a deal that's expected to be finalized before year's end. A full press release follows the break.
Sony to buy out Ericsson's stake in joint venture, call it quits after ten years
We all saw it coming and, sure enough, it's finally happened. After all the rumors and opaque comments, Sony has just bought out Ericsson's share of Sony Ericsson, effectively assuming ownership of the entire venture. Ericsson confirmed the buyout this morning, adding that it will receive a cash consideration of €1.05 billion in exchange for its 50 percent stake. Sony, meanwhile, will now have the chance to integrate smartphones more tightly within its arsenal of tablets, laptops and gaming devices. The agreement also gives Sony an IP cross-licensing agreement and ownership of "five essential patent families" pertaining to wireless tech, though the breadth of this coverage remains unclear. The separation won't be finalized, however, until January 2012, pending regulatory approval. Find more details in the full PR, after the break. Update: Sony president and CEO Sir Howard Stringer has just addressed the media on the proposed buyout and confirmed that the company will indeed move away from feature phones, as previously stated. This effectively heralds the death of the Walkman line and the dawn of Sony's exclusively Android era, though Stringer's not ruling out the possibility of bringing another OS on board. When asked whether his firm would consider buying webOS, the exec said simply, "Never say never." [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Nuance reportedly buying Swype for $100 million
It's only been about a year since Nuance traced Swype's finger gliding input method with QuickType, but it seems like the firm is ready for the real deal: Michael Arrington says it's nabbing the Seattle-based startup to the tune of $100 million. With competition heating up in the voice command space after Apple's Siri assisted iPhone upgrade, Nuance could be stocking up on more traditional input methods, or at the very least edging out the potential for more competition. There's no word just yet if Swype will replace or fade away in lieu of the firm's own traceable input brand, but we'll be sure to let you know if we hear something official.
Sony nearing deal to move cellphone operations in house, buy out Ericsson's half
Sony is getting tired of sitting idly in sixth place in the battle for cellphone supremacy. Sure, there have been a few noteworthy devices from the company's joint venture with Ericsson (i.e. the Arc), but for the most part it has struggled since its inception in 2001 to run with the alpha dogs. The Japanese manufacturer's new strategy involves buying out Ericsson's stake in the company and having its tablet, smartphone and handheld gaming units work closely together to develop future products. According to the Wall Street Journal, a deal for the Stockholm company's half of the venture is nearing completion. Some difficulties remain, such as properly valuing the company and settling on a price for Ericsson's roughly $1.3 to $1.7 billion worth of mobile technology patents, but a deal is expected to be reached sooner rather than later. And maybe, just maybe, the new found flexibility will allow Sony handsets to keep pace with the Samsungs and Apples of the world.
Broadcom buys NetLogic Microsystems for $3.7b in cash, hopes to add more processors to lineup
You've probably never heard of NetLogic Microsystems, but you can bet that its technologies may very well end up in your next smartphone, tablet or vehicle. Broadcom has just announced its intentions to pick up the aforesaid company for a cool $3.7 billion in cash, with the "definitive merger agreement" already approved by the boards of both. According to Broadcom, the deal will extend its portfolio with "a number of critical new product lines and technologies, including knowledge-based processors, multi-core embedded processors, and digital front-end processors," and according to a televised CNBC interview with president and CEO Scott McGregor, he's hoping to extend Broadcom's reach in the automotive industry. His view? We're getting dangerously close to streaming television (and more) to a serious quantity of motorcars, but beyond wild aspirations, there doesn't seem to be too many hard plans being made public. The full release is hosted up after the break.
Skype adds Groupme to social portfolio, sets sights on mobile market
Sure, we're still waiting for that Microsoft-Skype deal to close, but it looks like Redmond's about to get more than it initially bargained for. Skype announced today that it has reached an agreement to snatch up Groupme, the mobile group messaging service that made a splash at Google I/O. Outfit head honcho Tony Bates told TechCrunch that Skype needs to invade the mobile space if it hopes to reach its goal of scoring one billion users, and cites Groupme's "sticky group messaging experience" as the ideal mobile addition to the Skype family. But don't take our word for it, hit the break and dig the PR for yourself.
