Twitter acquires live-video streaming company Periscope

Perhaps in a move to get more advertisers or users in general to use their social network, Twitter has acquired Periscope, a live streaming startup. They wouldn’t say what inspired the acquisition or for how much. But it makes sense for a company like Twitter to integrate live streaming into its service. People are already using the service to talk about events as they happen. Why wouldn’t they integrate the video aspect as well? As to how this would happen, we don’t have an idea at the moment. But you better prepare to see live-video streams on your timeline soon.

Source: Periscope | Via: Engadget

Samsung to take on Apple Pay and Google Wallet with LoopPay

Samsung’s latest acquisition might bring them a step closer to taking on both Google’s and Apple’s payment services. LoopPay is joining Samsung’s mobile branch and it seems to be a good buy for Samsung. They no longer need to build their own service. They just have to make use of LoopPay’s already wide reach.

LoopPay is a convenient solution because it doesn’t need any hardware upgrades for contactless payments. Existing point-of-sale terminals can be turned into mobile payment hubs for LoopPay. Details of the acquisition haven’t been revealed. It also hasn’t been said if Samsung plans to pull out LoopPay’s existing apps on Apple App Store or Google Play Store.

Source: Samsung | Via: Android Community

Latest Google acquisition might make it easier to share photos privately

Google has long been rumoured to be separating its photo service from its social network Google+. And they seem to be taking a step closer to making that a reality. Google just purchased Odysee, a mobile app designed to share photos privately. The app also lets you send your phone photos directly to your home PC. Nimbuz, the team behind the app, didn’t say what their plans are but they are joining the Google+ group. The purchase makes a lot of sense, especially if Google wants to develop a standalone platform for photos. We just have to wait and see then. Odysee has already been pulled from app stores and the service will be shut down on February 23.

Source: TechCrunch

Line buys Microsoft’s MixRadio app

Japanese messaging app Line buys Microsoft’s MixRadio app, which Microsoft gained from its acquisition of Nokia. The music streaming app was already meant to be spun off with Microsoft supposedly focusing on “productivity.” Now, we have a face or company willing to integrate the music service into its fold. MixRadio’s service will continue to function as third-party app on Lumia phones. It will still provide personalized music to the Windows Phone platform but with the Line acquisition, you can expect it to make its way to Android, iOS, BlackBerry, etc.

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