Dropbox buys social reader Readmill

Reading is mostly a solitary affair but Readmill wanted to give readers a space to add notes to help fuel discussion and keep track of relevant or funny quotes as well as important plot points. Dropbox seems to like the idea and has bought Readmill.

According to a post on Readmill’s site: “Our team will be joining Dropbox, where our expertise in reading, collaboration and syncing across devices finds a fitting home. Millions of people use Dropbox to store and share their digital lives, and we believe it’s a strong foundation on which to build the future of reading. We’re delighted to work alongside this talented team and imagine new ways to read together.”

Source: Ubergizmo

Facebook purchases Oculus Rift for $2 billion

Facebook is looking to venture into virtual reality with its latest acquisition—and they aren’t afraid to spend big. Kotaku has just reported that Facebook is buying Oculus Rift for US$2 billion. The deal is expected to be finalized in the second quarter of the year and will be made up of $400 million cash payout and the rest as Facebook shares.

"Mobile is the platform of today, and now we're also getting ready for the platforms of tomorrow," Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg says. "Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever, and change the way we work, play and communicate."

Brendan Iribe, co-founder and CEO of Oculus VR says in a PR release. "We believe virtual reality will be heavily defined by social experiences that connect people in magical, new ways. It is a transformative and disruptive technology, that enables the world to experience the impossible, and it's only just the beginning."

Breaking: WhatsApp sold to Facebook for US $19 Billion in cash and stock

Owners of popular cross-platform WhatsApp mobile messaging app resisted selling the company to Google a year ago for US $1 Billion stating numerous times that they were not for sale. Well, all of that has changed today as Facebook has purchased WhatsApp for cash and stock. This causes a tidal shift in the messaging landscape and gives Facebook access to 430 million WhatsApp users and the presence in mobile that they've long desired. 

Specfics of the deal need to be formalized but the transaction involves $12 billion in Facebook stock and $4 billion in cash for WhatsApp. WhatsApp's founders and employees will also get $3 billion in restricted stock.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says WhatsApp is on its way to 1 billion global users. This is huge global push for Facebook since WhatsApp is a familiar and trusted platform right now. Facebook also purchased popular photo sharing service Instagram $ 1 Billion in 2012. Facebook's stock fell 5% in after hours trading following the news of the acquisition. Some user may not relish Facebook owning their mobile messaging app, competitors include BlackBerry Messenger, which was the originator of this type of free SMS, voice and photo-capable messaging application. BBM is currently cross platform for BlackBerry, iOS and Android.

Google buys company behind sound-based password alternative

Google has just acquired the recently launched SlickLogin. The company introduced a new concept for account security. SlickLogin will verify a user’s identity with the help of a website meant to generate a unique and almost silent sound that will be played over the computer speakers. And then an app on your phone will pick up and analyze the sound and then send it back to the site to confirm your identity. We will inform you about details of the acquisition once more information surface.

Source: Tech Crunch