Beats Music Acquires Music Marketing And Monetization Company Topspin Media

Beats Music, the streaming music service recently launched by the similarly-named headphone company, just announced that it has acquired Topspin Media.

The companies were already connected — as Beats Music CEO Ian Rogers notes in a blog post, he was CEO of Topspin before leaving to run Beats Music last year.

They also announced a partnership in February, where Topspin’s ArtistLink platform allows musicians to sell merchandise and tickets to Beats Music subscribers.

“The acquisition brings a team of talented people who have spent years working on building and fine-tuning the artist-to-fan connection into the Beats Music experience,” Rogers writes. “Topspin

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Yahoo Acquires Virtual World Gaming Startup Cloud Party, Will Shut It Down

Yahoo is doing more than just throwing shade at Google on Twitter today and then taking it back – the company has acquired Cloud Party, a browser-based game creation engine. In a blog post today, the Cloud Party team shared that they will be joining Yahoo after two years of operation, and that the service will shut down on February 21, 2014.

Cloud Party is the work of a founding team of MMO and console game industry vets, including Sam Thompson (formerly of Cryptic and Pandemic), Jimb Esser (also ex-Cryptic), Conor Dickinson (ex-Facebook, Tomb Raider dev and Cryptic alum) and Jered Windsheimer (Cryptic, natch). They built Cloud Party as a sort of free-form virtual world experience, similar to Second Life, but with an updated view of what an online virtual world might look like with more emphasis on user-generated 3D content.

It’s not exactly clear what the team will be working on at Yahoo, but it will definitely be games related, as Thompson notes in his farewell blog post that the Cloud Party squad is “excited to bring

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Weekly Roundup: Google acquires Nest, President Obama speaks out on surveillance and more!

You might say the week is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workweek, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Weekly Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past seven days -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.

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Google acquires Timely alarm app developer Bitspin

PreviousNextCommentsShareTweet By Josh Ong, Saturday, 4 Jan '14, 07:05pm

Google has acquired Bitspin, the developer behind the Timely alarm clock app for Android, as noted by The Verge via Vinoth Ragunathan.

Bitspin announced on its site that the app

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Google reportedly acquires Bitspin, maker of Timely app

Bitspin's Timely alarm clock app.

(Credit:Bitspin)

Google has acquired Bitspin, according to an announcement by the maker of the Android alarm clock app Timely.

The Zurich-based company's announcement did not make it clear whether the company had been purchased outright or if the team had been hired by Google.

We're thrilled to announce that Bitspin is joining Google, where we'll continue to do what we love: building great products that are delightful to use.

For new and existing users, Timely will continue to work as it always has. Thanks to everyone who has downloaded our app and provided feedback along the way; we truly appreciate all your support.

Terms of the deal were not revealed. Google confirmed the acquisition but declined to comment further.

Now listed as free at the Google Play store, the app allows alarms to be set with the swipe of a finger from the edge of the screen. It allows features customizable clock appearance and alarm options.

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Apple reportedly acquires photo app developer SnappyLabs

One-man company's popular SnappyCam app, which was capable of capturing full-resolution images at 20 to 30 frames per second, has vanished from the iTunes app store.

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Google acquires Bitspin, makes its stylish Android alarm app free to celebrate

Bitspin is probably most well known for its swish Timely alarm app on Android, and it seems that Google likes how the Swiss team is doing it, because it's just acquired them. "For new and existing users, Timely will continue to work like it always has," noted the Bitspin team in their announcement post, adding that it will continue to "build new products." The more immediate news, however, is that the premium version of the app, sans banner ads, has gone free in the process. If you like the sound of a Swiss-made (digital) alarm clock, you can give it a try right here.

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Source: Bitspin, Timely (Google Play)

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Apple Acquires Rapid-Fire Camera App Developer SnappyLabs

Apple has acquired the one-man photo technology startup SnappyLabs, maker of SnappyCam, sources tell me. The startup was founded and run solely by John Papandriopoulos, an electrical engineering PhD from the University Of Melbourne who invented a way to make the iPhone’s camera take full-resolution photos at 20 to 30 frames per second — significantly faster than Apple’s native iPhone camera.

I first noticed something was up when we got tipped off that SnappyCam had disappeared from the App Store and all of SnappyLabs‘ websites went blank. Sources have since affirmed that the company was acquired by Apple, and that there was also acquisition interest “from most of the usual players”, meaning other tech giants. I don’t have details on the terms of the deal, and I’m awaiting a response from Apple, which has not confirmed the acquisition.

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Google acquires Boston Dynamics, maker of animal-inspired robots

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Google acquires Boston Dynamics, the robot builder behind Big Dog and Cheetah

The New York Times reports tonight that Google has acquired Boston Dynamics, builder of terrifying walking robots DARPA-related projects like WildCat/Cheetah, Atlas, Petman and Big Dog. Andy Rubin has moved over from leading Android to directing Google's robotics efforts and tweeted a link to the story, commenting that "The future is looking awesome!" While we're sure it does -- if you always thought the T-1000 was just misunderstood -- reactions from meatbags are ranging from slightly uneasy to completely freaking out that a company with robots that go anywhere is teaming up with a company that seems to know everything about us.

There's no word on how much Google spent to snap up the robotics company, but its founder Marc Raibert is quoted by the Times saying "I am excited by Andy and Google's ability to think very, very big, with the resources to make it happen." When we interviewed Raibert during Expand earlier this year (included after the break) he specifically highlighted his company's recent growth and the possibility of building consumer-focused robots in the future.

Google apparently does not plan to proceed as a military contractor itself, although according to the article, Boston Dynamics will honor its existing military contracts. Raibert confirmed the acquisition to us, but so far neither side has commented further or explained how search ties into robots that walk on two or four legs, jump, climb and crawl. So, which one do you think will arrive first -- Amazon's flying drone delivery service or a Google Now robot that shows up at places it thinks you will be with a backpack full of things you've recently searched for?

The future is looking awesome! http://t.co/iFA53b9qDC

- Andy Rubin (

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LifeLock Acquires Mobile Wallet Platform Lemon For $42.6 Million, Launches LifeLock Wallet

Lemon, a digital wallet platform which allows users to store their ID, payment, loyalty cards and more on their smartphone, has been acquired by identity theft protection service LifeLock for approximately $42.6 million, the companies are announcing today. LifeLock is also now launching a new application called “LifeLock Wallet,” which is based on Lemon Wallet Plus technology.

Lemon first launched in 2011, and had previously raised $8 million in Series A funding the following year from Maveron, Lightspeed Venture Partners, CampVentures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Chamath Palihapitiya’s Social

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