mergertech

Many business owners don't realize it, but this rarely-mentioned aspect of the mergers and acquisitions process is actually quite important. As noted by a recent article on Inc.com, the best marketing strategies are built around what contributor Bruce Condit calls "the four-P's"--product, place, promotion and price.

Yahoo has announced its acquisition of mobile app startup Ptch, according to a report by CNet. Launched about a year ago with financial help from DreamWorks, Ptch lets users create montage videos from photos that they have taken, resulting in slideshows and even stop-motion videos.

"Adding Given's portfolio of diagnostics to our portfolio accelerates Covidien's strategy of providing physicians with products that support the patient along the care continuum from diagnosis to treatment," Bryan Hanson, group president of Covidien's medical devices and United States operations, told the news source.

Yahoo has announced its acquisition of mobile app startup Ptch, according to a report by CNet. Launched about a year ago with financial help from DreamWorks, Ptch lets users create montage videos from photos that they have taken, resulting in slideshows and even stop-motion videos.

Photonic systems work through the transmission and detection of light, and have many applications, especially in the telecommunications, defense, space and life sciences industries. The Wall Street Journal reports that Constelex, though only four years old, has amassed a respectable reputation in its industry and has used that to secure contracts from the European Space Agency for satellite work.

Apple has invested in a lot of industries, but social media has not generally been one of them. Apart from the short-lived Ping, which allowed iTunes users to share their favorite songs with friends, the company has left that particular specialty to others. But that may change.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Constelex, though only four years old, has amassed a respectable reputation in its industry and has used that to secure contracts from the European Space Agency for satellite work.

"We feel the (Signature Tech) acquisition of our (customer support services) business is one that makes the most long-term sense for our valued customers," Jeff Wakely, GlassHouse's chief financial officer and treasurer, said in a statement. "(Signature Tech's) experience and long-term focus on data center post warranty support services matches perfectly with the needs of the (GlassHouse's customer support services) customer group."

What would the cable industry look like if the largest and second-largest companies in the U.S. attempted a merger? We may be about to find out. According to reports by USA Today, representatives from Time Warner Cable reached out to Comcast to discuss such a proposal after some shareholders from both parties noted that regulatory changes might allow it to go through.

Given that the smartphone world is dominated by Apple and Samsung, many consumers forget that there are other players struggling for third place. One such contender is Nokia, maker of the critically-acclaimed but commercially tepid Windows Phone, known as the Lumia.

For social media startups and other small companies, it is hard to deny the allure of selling to larger businesses. After all, making a living as a scrappy digital business can be difficult. But pooling resources with some of the most successful and profitable entities on the web can be a ticket to financial success.

"I think it's a really interesting space," Under Armour founder Kevin Plank told the news source. "I remember being at the NFL Combine a few years ago and watching these scouts with their handheld stopwatches and thinking, 'there has to be a better way to do this.' MapMyFitness and Armour39 provide real data for athletes, coaches, trainers or just someone who has a goal of walking 10,000 steps a day."

The company focuses on raising funds from individual investors to bring interesting products to market. Currently, Gigaom reports that Quirky has raised $79 million, including $30 million from GE. The company's goal is to build 30 devices in its partnership with GE, including home automation devices.

SnapChat is an incredibly popular smartphone app with a simple concept. Users simply take pictures or videos and send them to their friends, only to have them disappear in short order. As of September, SnapChat claims to process about 350 million photo uploads per day.

Most people recognize GE, the longstanding company that plays a large role in the energy infrastructure, aviation and health care equipment industries. As a recent article in Bloomberg Business week pointed out, the company "is best at making big things."

GTS Central Europe is based in Warsaw, Poland and focuses on business telecommunications, providing service to major companies like Coca-Cola Co. and General Motors Co. According to early reports by Gigaom, the technology acquisition will help Deutsche Telekom offer fixed-line infrastructure in Poland and the Czech Republic, while also taking advantage of the company's data center capabilities.

Back in September, this blog featured a post about the technology merger between the two. As we noted, this was Twitter's largest acquisition for $350 million. However, it was an investment that was meant to pay off. MoPub is an advertisement serving platform that is designed specifically for mobile devices.

Given that LiveQoS manages real-time networks, it will have plenty of uses for Openera's technology. Those who seek to use an application or watch a video over the networks will benefit from the increased speeds and lack of pixelation that can occur when watching particularly large video files

According to apress releaseon Market Wired, crowdfunding technology provider InvestedIn recently announced that it has acquired My New Financial Advisor (MNFA), which offers "scalable marketing resources to financial advisors and financial intermediaries worldwide."

According to a recent report in the Wall Street Journal, BlackBerry executives recently flew out to California to meet with Facebook executives. Though the report was unclear about whether Facebook might actually put in a bid for BlackBerry (which has been seeking bids for the past several months) it certainly fueled speculation that Facebook is seriously interested in entering the smartphone business.