acquisitions

Microsoft thought about Nokia buy, promptly backed out -- report

Microsoft considered acquiring Nokia before seeing its books and running away, according to a new report.

The Register is reporting today, citing "well-placed sources," that Nokia gave Microsoft access to its books late last year to allow the software giant to determine if any part of its operation was worth buying. Soon after, Microsoft moved on, apparently unimpressed by what it found.

It's not hard to see why: Nokia's sales are plummeting rapidly as mobile users increasingly turn to iOS and Android. Still, it's clear why Microsoft might have considered acquiring all or part of … Read more

Google acquires cloud-based Quickoffice

Google has acquired Quickoffice, a cloud-based enterprise that provides mobile access office programs, Google announced today.

Quickoffice's software allows users to view, edit, and create Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents on their mobile device.

"Today, consumers, businesses, and schools use Google Apps to get stuff done from anywhere, with anyone and on any device," according to a Google blog post. "Quickoffice has an established track record of enabling seamless interoperability with popular file formats, and we'll be working on bringing their powerful technology to our apps product suite."

Both companies see the acquisition … Read more

Google buys Meebo to bolster Google+

It looks like the rumors were true: Google has picked up Web IM company Meebo.

Meebo announced the news in a blog post today (which was brought to our attention by TechCrunch):

We are happy to announce that Meebo has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Google!

For more than seven years we've been helping publishers find deeper relationships with their users and to make their sites more social and engaging. Together with Google, we're super jazzed to roll up our sleeves and get cracking on even bigger and better ways to help users and Web … Read more

Twitter amps up design chops, buys IP from studio Nclud

Twitter has acquired the intellectual property of Nclud, a small web design agency, for an undisclosed amount.

"I can confirm that some members of the nclud team now work at Twitter," a Twitter spokesperson wrote in an email. "Twitter did not acquire nclud, the company, but we did acquire their IP." Earlier reports said Twitter had bought the company outright.

The Twitter spokesperson wouldn't say what is included in Nclud's IP or how many members of the firm's 10 member team now work at the company. Nclude co-founder Martin Ringlein announced in a … Read more

Salesforce.com scoops up Buddy Media for $689 million

Salesforce.com has officially entered into an agreement to acquire Buddy Media, the companies announced today.

According to enterprise cloud-computing firm Salesforce.com, it will pay $689 million in cash and equity to acquire the social media marketing company, confirming earlier reports that the firms were nearing a deal. The companies expect the deal to close during Salesforce's fiscal third quarter ended October 31.

For Salesforce, the synergy between the companies made the deal. Salesforce currently offers a "social media listening platform" called Radian 6 that the company says, will be vastly improved by Buddy Media's … Read more

Apple picks up Redmatica for audio push, maybe

Apple reportedly has purchased Italy-based music software company Redmatica.

A report from Italian blog Fanpage, and picked up by TechCrunch, says Apple has bought the company, which specializes in audio software tools.

A regulatory filing with the Italian Authority for Communications Guarantees, which was dug up by Fanpage, suggests the deal was approved earlier this week.

CNET has reached out to both Apple and Redmatica for more information, and will update this post when we know more.

Redmatica makes four pieces of audio software, including tools for sampling, editing, and library management. Its primary product is KeyMap Pro, a sampled … Read more

The paradox of Microsoft's Skype acquisition integration

Microsoft paid $8.5 billion for Skype and it's trying to walk a line between leaving the Internet communications service independent and integrating it with its vast array of products.

It's one tough line to walk. The New York Times details Microsoft's integration of Skype so far and the software giant has erred on the side of independence. Skype is developing software for Android, iOS and other services as usual. Ironically, Skype is having issues with Windows Phone.

You see where Microsoft wants to go. Skype for Xbox with cool features. Integration with Windows 8, Lync, Windows … Read more

If Facebook wants Opera, the price just went up

If Facebook wants to buy Opera Software, the Norwegian browser maker's price tag just went up.

After last week's rumors that Facebook was considering acquiring Opera, Opera's stock price leaped 20 percent, or 6.70 Norwegian kroner, to a price of about 41 kroner ($6.83) in trading today.

That gives the company a market cap of $811 million, or as Internet wags would have it with today's exchange rate, about 0.8 Instagrams.

That's a lot of money, even before any premium. And Opera founder Jon S. von Tetzchner, who controls 10.1 percent of its stock through Dvorzak Invest, … Read more

Facebook rumored to be in talks to buy Face.com

Facebook is in negotiations to acquire facial-recognition technology company Face.com, according to a report from Israeli business publication Calcalist (Google Translate).

The social-networking giant is said to be offering $80 million to $100 million, according to a report on Newsgeek.

CNET has contacted Facebook for comment and will update this report when we learn more.

The technology made a splash in 2009 when it released Photo Tagger, a free third-party application for Facebook that uses facial recognition technology to automatically tag photos of people, as well as a recognition-based alert service for Facebook. In 2010, Face.com released an open API … Read more