Cortana, Microsoft's digital voice assistant named after that hologram lady from HALO, didn't exactly set the world on fire. Most Windows users I've seen treat it like an annoyance to be avoided, instead of an integral part of the system, as Google's Assistant and Apple's Siri have become. But based on its latest corporate purchase, Microsoft might be taking another stab at voice-powered interaction.
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Google's anticipated Pixel Buds successors have been making waves online for a while now, including some appearances in recent FCC filings. We have yet to learn exactly what might set these next-gen buds apart from the pack, but a new acquisition could give us some hints. Google has acquired Dysonics, a startup that specializes in 3D audio.
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Microsoft bought Skype back in 2011, and we all know how the software turned out: It's become a bloated, buggy piece of software that's next to impossible to shut down on Windows. Fast forward ten years, and Microsoft is looking to buy yet another successful communication platform. The company has its eyes set on Discord for more than $10 billion.
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Dish, the parent company of Dish Network, Sling TV, and both Boost Mobile and Ting as of last year, is still very much in the M&A mood. It's just purchased Republic Wireless, yet another Mobile Virtual Network Operator. News of the acquisition was posted to Republic's forums by CEO Chris Chuang.
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Square, the company that makes those little portable payment machines you use when you're in a small restaurant or paying for a caricature, is buying Tidal, that music streaming service that's obsessed with audio quality. If it seems like an odd match, consider that musicians often need to get paid in non-traditional ways—that's how it's being pitched in the official announcement, anyway.
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Last week, Google remotely disabled a pretty popular Chrome extension, which was found to contain malware. The lead up to that point was complicated, but the ultimate cause can be tied back to a change in ownership in June 2020. It's a common refrain at this point: Developers cash out (as they're allowed to do), but the new unscrupulous owners are only interested in a quick buck. Sometimes these acquisitions come with a tweet or a blog post; in the best cases, the app or extension will even tell you outright that it's under new ownership. But you can't always rely on that.
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To stay relevant in an ever-changing world, it's important to experiment, and Twitter isn't resting on laurels — it is constantly looking for new ways to engage users. Shortly after introducing Stories-like Fleets to users around the globe, the San Francisco-headquartered company announced the testing of audio chat rooms, called Spaces. To help build the latter — which is seemingly a tougher nut to crack — the team behind podcast app Breaker is joining Twitter.
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Google received good news from the European Commission earlier this week, as its acquisition of health tracking wearable company Fitbit was approved conditionally. But just because the $2 billion dollar deal has gained the thumbs-up from one regulatory body doesn't mean it's completely in the clear — Australia has threatened Google with a $400 million fine if the merger moves forward without approval from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
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In the background of the election cycle, the U.S. trade war with China continues to rage with Huawei taking some of the most damaging mortars so far. It's unable to import anything even remotely American in nature and has had to make painful adjustments to its operations. One change rumored to fall out of this pivot was a potential sale of its subsidiary Honor. Now, we're learning more details about the multi-billion dollar deal that could land as early as this week.
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The podcasting arms race has ratcheted up another notch as satellite radio company SiriusXM has completed its acquisition of podcast production and advertising behemoth Stitcher from E.W. Scripps for $325 million. It's a big deal business-wise, but for listeners, it also means that Sirius's Pandora app is getting a cadre of top podcasts in its catalogue.
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