Beats, the headphone and software music monger, has just coughed up something in the region of $14 million (£8.9 million) to buy US-based streaming company MOG. Music streaming is undoubtedly a smart addition to the Beats brand, but what does it mean for its fans? Read more
If the rumours are true we’ll hear that Microsoft has gobbled up Skype later today and not Facebook as was rumoured last week. Of course the news has sent Twitter into paroxysms of mirth with plenty gags about the satanic Microsoft Word helper popping up as your new Skype call assistant.
But, in actual fact, bringing Skype into the bosom of Microsoft could be rather a good thing, especially as Skype has been struggling recently with basic things like making a user interface that isn’t migraine-inducing. Best of all, Skype in the hands of Microsoft could mean something really big – Kinect moving from its Xbox 360 enclave and out to invade the rest of the known tech universe…
Facebook has bought Beluga, a group messaging startup that created iPhone and Android apps to communicate with pods of people via SMS. It doesn’t look like Facebook will shutter Beluga just yet but will instead keep the service running as it did after gobbling up Friendfeed.
Facebook says it acquired Beluga for both its talent and its tech which suggests mobile group chat could be coming to Facebook Chat sometime soon. Facebook has been super-charging Facebook Messaging recently and using the Beluga tech could be an advantage in battles with Google.
The Google Nexus S has had its price slashed by the Carphone Warehouse. The Google Nexus S price cut takes the unlocked phone from £550 down to £430. The Google Nexus S on contract has also taken a tumble with two year plans now kicking off at £30. And if you’ve ordered a sim-free Google Nexus S already, you’re getting the better price as well. Read on to find out how…
If the credit crunch is beginning to bite but you really really want to get a shiny new phone, Carphone Warehouse are offering a rather nice deal on the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic at the moment, undercutting the competition by a sizable margin.
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