Twitter looks to improve your videos with latest acquisition

Facebook isn’t the only one investing in livestreaming and artificial intelligence. Twitter has just acquired Magic Pony, a small London-based company that specializes in using machine learning to process visuals, for an unofficial worth of about US$150 million. The acquisition was for improving the social network’s strengths when it comes live and pre-recorded videos. According to Twitter chief Jack Dorsey, Magic Pony can help with things like sharpening blurry video elements without using up more of your bandwidth. You’ll probably see more of Magic Pony’s efforts when you watch a Periscope stream, trailer, or other videos on both Periscope and the Twitter app.

Source: Engadget

Deezer sells Stitcher to E.W. Scripps

Less than two years after Deezer bought podcast app Stitcher, the streaming music service is selling it off to media company E.W. Scripps for US$4.5 million. The Stitcher team will be joining Midroll Media, a podcast producer and advertising network. At the moment, Deezer says podcast content will be available on their platform. For how long, we can’t say. According to Scripps, Stitcher has 8.5 million registered users and is installed in 50 models of cars. The company didn’t say though how many active users the service has. Stitcher believes this acquisition will help both advertisers and content partners with “an expanded portfolio of opportunities” to help reach their target audience. We can’t say yet how they’d do that though.

Source: Engadget

Logitech to buy Jaybird for $50 million

Logitech has reached an agreement with Jaybird to acquire said wireless audio maker. Logitech says they’ll be paying US$50 million in cash with the possibility of $45 million more if Jaybird meets its growth targets in the future. Logitech is looking to boost its audio offering, particularly those in the wireless audio market, and they think Jaybird has done especially well in that respect. The company says they plan to “feed the Jaybird brand,” which could mean future products will carry the Jaybird brand. The deal is expected to close in the coming weeks.

Source: Logitech | Via: Android Central

Snapchat acquires Bitmoji maker for US$100 million

In what looks like a way to compete with Facebook in the mobile messaging market, Snapchat has snapped up Bitmoji creator, Bitstrips Inc., for over $100 million USD in cash and stock. If you’re unfamiliar with the Bitmoji app, it lets users create cartoon avatars based on themselves that they can send via a special smartphone keyboard. This acquisition is seen to help Snapchat further its library of visual filters and lenses to its over 100 million users. Earlier this month, Facebook bought Masquerade Technologies to let users enhance their videos with filters and “swap” faces with someone else in the picture, a popular feature on Snapchat.

Source: MarketWatch