Squarespace to buy Google Domains

Google Domains, a service that lets people easily create websites, is shutting down. Website builder and hosting provider Squarespace has announced that it will take over about 10 million domains from Google. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2023.

Squarespace promises to keep the same pricing for existing customers for at least a year after the acquisition. It also says it will use Google’s technology to ensure the domains are transferred smoothly.

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Sony buys Firewalk Studios

Image: Sony Interactive Entertainment

Sony Interactive Entertainment struck a deal with Firewalk Studios to publish a PlayStation 5 exclusive multiplayer game. Now, it's buying the studio outright. Sony announced that it reached an agreement with ProbablyMonsters Inc to acquire the studio.

The deal will roll Firewalk Studios and its team into the PlayStation brand. But its operations will continue to be run by the studio's existing management team. However, Sony didn't mention anything about the PS5-exclusive title it's working on, but it wanted to highlight the team's experience with working on Destiny at Bungie and Activision.

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Amazon to purchase Roomba maker iRobot in US$1.7 billion deal

Source iRobot

Amazon has just signed an agreement with iRobot, the company behind Roomba robot vacuum cleaners, to buy the company for US$1.7 billion (around CA$2.2 billion). It'll be an all-cash transaction for US$61 (approx. CA$79) per share. Colin Angle, iRobot's CEO, will remain in his position.

As CNET noted, Amazon has been a market leader in smart home devices, but a vacuum cleaner hasn't been introduced in its wheelhouse yet. The company didn't detail how it plans to integrate iRobot with the rest of the company.

Spotify buys music trivia game 'Heardle'

Heardle interface now shows the Spotify logo on the top left

Spotify recently acquired Heardle, a themed trivia game that came out in the wake of Wordle's massive popularity and success. Heardle is Spotify's first game acquisition. The streaming service hopes to use Heardle to keep music fans engaged and act as a music discovery tool. It'll remain a standalone website for now. Spotify has started integration in a few countries, including Canada, the US, the UK, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand. But there are plans to bring it more with other language support soon. It also intends to integrate Heardle "more fully" into the app, but Spotify hasn't mentioned how or when that will happen. Spotify hasn't revealed how much it paid for the game, which it says has millions of players now.

Heardle works similarly to Wordle. You have to guess a song being played within six tries. It'll play you a few seconds of the opening notes, with the length increasing after asking for a hint. When the answer gets revealed or guessed at the end, it will now link to the song on Spotify (it used to link to SoundCloud).

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