Amazon announced Wednesday that it’s acquiring podcasting company Wondery, expanding its catalog of original audio content. From a report: As part of the deal, Wondery will join Amazon Music, the e-commerce giant’s music streaming business. Amazon Music in September added podcasts to its platform, looking to carve out a share of the increasingly competitive podcasting market, in which Spotify, Apple and…
Tag: acquisition
Google Buys Company Whose Software Turns Old PCs Into Chromebooks
This week Google “quietly acquired a company called Neverware Inc. that sells software to transform old personal computers and Macs into Chromebook devices,” reports SiliconANGLE: The acquisition was announced by Neverware on Twitter, and Google later confirmed the news in a statement. Google had taken part in the company’s Series B funding round three years ago. Neverware’s software is called CloudReady…
After 44 Years, China Becomes the Third Country To Return Moon Samples To Earth
Long-time Slashdot reader cusco writes:
In the first return of a lunar sample since the Soviets in 1976, the Chang’e 5 spacecraft landed Thursday in Inner Mongolia with 2 kilograms of material drilled from as much as two meters below the surface… On December 3, the ascent stage took off from the moon with the sample, docking with the orbiter three days…
Google Waives $1.5 Billion DeepMind Loan as AI Costs Mount
Alphabet’s Google waived a 1.1 billion-pound loan ($1.5 billion) to DeepMind in 2019 after the U.K.-based artificial intelligence lab continued to ramp up the scale of its research and development. From a report: Revenue jumped 158% in 2019, DeepMind said in a financial filing this week. Sales were 265.5 million pounds, up from 102.8 million pounds a year earlier. Its losses…
AI Just Controlled a Military Plane For the First Time Ever
On December 15, the United States Air Force successfully flew an AI copilot on a U-2 spy plane in California, marking the first time AI has controlled a U.S. military system. Dr. Will Roper, the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, reveals how he and his team made history: With call sign ARTUu, we trained uZero…
Google Will Officially Support Running Chrome OS On Old PCs
This week, Google acquired a company called Neverware that allows users to turn their old PCs and Macs into a Chromebook with its CloudReady software. Now, Google is planning to make CloudReady into an official Chrome OS release. Engadget reports: When that happens, Neverware says its existing users will be able to seamlessly upgrade to the updated software. Moreover, once that…
Apple Starts Work on Its Own Cellular Modem, Chip Chief Says
Apple has started building its own cellular modem for future devices, a move that would replace components from Qualcomm, Apple’s top chip executive told staff on Thursday. From a report: Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware technologies, made the disclosure in a town hall meeting with Apple employees, according to people familiar with the comments. “This year, we kicked…
Hyundai To Acquire Boston Dynamics For Nearly $1 Billion
According to The Robot Report, citing The Korea Economic Daily, Hyndai will finalize its acquisition of Boston Dynamics on December 10th. A source familiar with the deal said the acquisition is for about $1 billion. From the report: Robotics has become a bigger focus for Hyundai since Chung Euisun was named chairman in October. The company has since said robotics will…
FTC Sues Facebook for Illegal Monopolization
The Federal Trade Commission today sued Facebook, alleging that the company is illegally maintaining its personal social networking monopoly through a years-long course of anticompetitive conduct. FTC: Following a lengthy investigation in cooperation with a coalition of attorneys general of 46 states, the District of Columbia, and Guam, the complaint alleges that Facebook has engaged in a systematic strategy — including…
Salesforce Has Recently Been in Talks To Buy Slack, Dow Jones Reports
Slack may have found a way to keep its fight on with Microsoft. The business communication app has engaged in conversations to sell the business to Salesforce, Dow Jones reported moments ago. Business Insider adds: There is no indication that the preliminary talks will lead to an acquisition, according to the report, but a deal would signal the cloud giant’s foray…