Acquisitions

The browser plugin Rapportive, which lets users check their social networks within Gmail and Google Apps, is rumored to have been acquired by LinkedIn, according to AllThingsD.

"Sources familiar with the negotiations said LinkedIn offered Rapportive 'low teens' of millions of dollars worth of cash," writes AllThingsD. "The deal has not officially closed yet."

The way Rapportive works is it grabs data from social sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn and lets users view what's going on in a sidebar next to their e-mail inbox. Rapportive also has its own social network based on users' … Read more

Fancy a Shakira-themed browser?

As of today, you can get it from Brand Thunder, a company that creates themes to let people reskin their browsers to declare allegiance to bands, colleges, sports teams, and more. That's because Brand Thunder just acquired its biggest rival, BrowserNation.

The acquisition means Brand Thunder has 25 percent more brands to tout, the company said today, giving it more clients in Europe and Asia and giving it a foothold in Latin America. Among its new clients are EMI, UMG Latin, and Epic Records.

"Given the changes in the once-stable browser market, it makes … Read more

Samsung yesterday sternly rejected a recent report claiming it was in talks with Research In Motion to possibly buy all or part of the handset maker.

Speaking to Reuters, Samsung spokesman James Chung said that his company has not "considered acquiring" RIM and is "not interested" in buying the BlackBerry maker. He added that neither company approached the other to try to create an acquisition deal.

Mobile blog Boy Genius Report cited sources yesterday, claiming that Samsung and RIM were in talks and that the companies were nearing an acquisition deal. One of the blog's … Read more

Corel has agreed to acquire Roxio from Rovi, consolidating companies from an earlier era in the software industry.

Corel sells graphics programs, including the new AfterShot Pro it obtained with the recent acquisition of Bibble Labs, and the WordPerfect Office line. To that it plans to add Roxio's products for tasks including burning DVDs, recording videos of video game play, encrypting USB drives, transferring VHS tapes to DVDs, and playing DVDs.

"On the digital media side, we will have a full-blown multimedia suite and a new offering on the Mac platform. For WinZip, we will be able to … Read more

Fab.com, a design-focused e-commerce site that's growing by leaps and bounds, acquired online independent fashion marketplace FashionStake for an undisclosed sum.

FashionStake carved out a niche for itself in the e-commerce world by allowing independent fashion designers to sell their goods on the site, rather than gambling on getting products into name-brand stores can be difficult to crack. According to FashionStake's Web site, it offers products from 240 designers in 16 countries around the world.

Fab.com was one of the more surprising Web standouts last year. Since launching its site in June 2011, the company has … Read more

Talk of Research In Motion being acquired just won't go away. But this time, it might be RIM's fault.

The BlackBerry maker has hired investment bank Goldman Sachs to help it field potential buyout offers, according to the rumor mill on the Wall Street trading floor. According to Reuters, one unidentified trader said yesterday that RIM is "up on Goldman," but cautioned that it doesn't mean a sale is coming anytime soon.

Even so, all that speculation was enough to see RIM's shares jump over 5 percent yesterday to settle at $16.44. It … Read more

The Alibaba Group is working on securing billions of dollars to aid the company in acquiring all or part of Yahoo, a new report claims.

Citing "people familiar with the matter," Bloomberg is reporting today that China's Alibaba is planning to take out a $3 billion loan for its Yahoo bid. Initially, the publication's sources says, the company was planning on a $4 billion loan.

For months now, rumors have suggested Alibaba is planning to make an acquisition bid for Yahoo. In September, the company's CEO, Jack Ma, told an audience at Stanford University that … Read more

Corel, a longtime maker of image-editing software, has acquired Bibble Labs and will introduce new software at CES based on Bibble's technology for processing raw photos from higher-end cameras.

Bibble President Jeff Stephens announced the acquisition and new software plan in a blog post Friday. Bibble Labs' latest product, Bibble 5.2.3, will be the last, and Stephens now is leading development of the new photo "workflow" software at Corel, he added.

Further details of the software aren't yet clear, but it sounds an awful lot like Adobe Systems' Lightroom and Apple's Aperture. Both … Read more

As Microsoft and Nokia were working out their Windows Phone 7 plans earlier this year, the companies were also considering a joint bid for Research In Motion, a new report claims.

Citing anonymous sources, The Wall Street Journal is reporting today that Microsoft and Nokia neared a joint bid for RIM "in recent months" before deciding against it. The Journal's sources also said that while RIM co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis won't necessarily turn their backs on any buyout offers, the executives are waiting until next year's launch of the company's new mobile … Read more