purchase

12 'purchase' stories October 2011 - August 2015

Motorola says the new Moto X Pure Edition will be available September 3rd

Stephen Hall Aug 12 2015 - 9:58 am PT

The 3rd generation Moto X, also known as Moto X Style, also known as (officially, in the United States) Moto X Pure Edition, is set to become available for purchase in the US on September 3rd.

The phone, announced a couple of weeks ago alongside the Moto X Play, packs a 5.7-inch Quad HD display, a Snapdragon 808, 3 GB of RAM, 4G LTE, a beastly 21-megapixel main camera, a 5-megapixel front cam, and a 3,000 mAh battery.

Moto X Style, known as the “Pure Edition” stateside, will cost $399 for the base model. The Moto X Play will be available in 55 countries starting August (but, unfortunately, this doesn’t include the United States).

https://twitter.com/Motorola/status/631502920295534592

Google emailing select devs with invite to buy Project Tango development kit

Stephen Hall Dec 17 2014 - 8:03 am PT

0 Comments

project tango

Project Tango popped up on the Play Store last month, but it has since sit there unavailable for purchase for anyone except those who registered for the device development kit at I/O. These lucky humans got access to the “Add to cart” button shortly after it showing up on the Play Store, but until today, that seemed to be the only way to purchase the device. Now, it appears certain developers are being invited by email…

Expand
Expanding
Close

Shazam app adds Google Play Music streaming & purchasing options

Jordan Kahn Sep 15 2014 - 11:55 am PT

0 Comments

Popular song recognition app Shazam announced today that it’s integrating Google Play Music, allowing users to preview, purchase or stream the song on from Google Play Music or Google’s All Access streaming service in one tap.

Google Play Music joins the other options Shazam offers users for purchasing and or listening including Rdio, Beats Music, and Spotify.

The feature is available first to users in the Shazam app for Android and later the iOS version of the app.

Google Play textbooks now available to purchase & rent in Canada

Jordan Kahn Aug 18 2014 - 10:52 am PT

0 Comments

Google announced today that it’s launching the ability to purchase and rent textbooks in Canada through its Google Play Books service:

Starting now, students in Canada can rent or purchase digital textbooks from Google Play Books. With thousands of textbooks from top publishers, we have a comprehensive selection of higher education titles from science and mathematics to history and English, and everything in between… With the Google Play Books app, you have convenient tools at hand to make studying simpler and faster. You can instantly search within a textbook for a particular word or phrase, bookmark chapters and pages, highlight and annotate key passages and get quick access to dictionaries, translation tools, Wikipedia and Google search.

Google first started rolling out the feature to Google Play Books in the US last year.

The textbooks library is available through Google Play Books and accessible on Android, iOS devices, and through Google Play on the web. Canadians can head over to Google Play now to purchase or rent textbooks now.

T-Mobile launches Samsung Galaxy Avant for $9/month or $216

Jordan Kahn Jul 30 2014 - 7:04 am PT

0 Comments

Galaxy Avant

As it announced previously, T-Mobile is today launching the new affordable Samsung Galaxy Avant. We previously detailed how the device could have remote unlocking capabilities providing users with the ability to temporarily or permanently lock the device to a carrier through a dedicated app. The app, which was said to be in testing, wasn’t mentioned in T-Mobile’s press release today.

The Samsung Galaxy Avant boasts a stylish, slim design housing a powerful Quad-Core 1.2 GHz processor, 1.5GB RAM, and a brilliant 4.5” qHD screen. Unique Samsung features further simplify the user experience, including Easy Mode to make the phone easier to navigate for first-time smartphone users, S Voice™ for convenient assistance in your daily life, and Samsung Smart Switch™ to make it even easier to transfer your content to your new device.

The Samsung Galaxy Avant is available at T-Mobile starting today for $0 down and $9/month on T-Mobile’s usual installment plan. That brings the full total price to $216.

Samsung begins selling smartphones directly through website in EU

Jordan Kahn Jul 29 2014 - 6:36 am PT

0 Comments

Samsung-website-sales

Samsung has launched a redesign of its website in Europe and with it has started selling its Android devices directly from the site. The company previously linked to other retailers and carriers, as it continues to do in the US, but now most EU countries also have the ability to add products to a cart and purchase directly from the website.

In the US, samsung.com continues to link to AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and websites of smaller carriers for its smartphones, but it does provide the ability to buy other devices direct from the website such as tablets.

The ability to purchase appears to be available in most EU countries, but you can visit samsung.com to check availability and prices in your country.

(via SamMobile)

Google eyeing Skybox Imaging for potential $1 billion purchase to bolster satellite photos in Maps

Jonathan Kizer May 23 2014 - 7:16 am PT

0 Comments

Screen Shot 2014-05-23 at 7.38.36 AM

Google may acquire Skybox Imaging, a company with experience in taking incredibly detailed, high-resolution aerial satellite photos, according to TechCrunch. The purchase may cost Google in excess of $1 billion, though that number is fairly common anymore.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Google’s latest purchase will ensure you never have to go to a restaurant’s Flash website again

Jonathan Kizer May 7 2014 - 9:47 am PT

0 Comments

appetas google

Google’s buying spree continues today, and the latest startup to be snapped up is Appetas. Appetas specialized in providing websites for restaurants. In a blog post (via TechCrunch) published on Appetas’ site, the company states that it will be shutting down its service as the acquisition moves forward.
Expand
Expanding
Close

‘I just tore mine off of the wall’: Nest owners react to Google buyout

Mike Beasley Jan 13 2014 - 7:50 pm PT

13 Comments

[tweet https://twitter.com/chartier/status/422845589601005568 align=’center’]

Investors may be pleased by today’s news of Google’s Nest acquisition, but some Nest owners are far less enthused.

[tweet https://twitter.com/chartier/status/422840685331378176 align=’center’]

[tweet https://twitter.com/kenikh/status/422928241200885760 align=’center’]

[tweet https://twitter.com/otherwhiteben/status/422875313907843072 align=’center’]

[tweet https://twitter.com/dansyde/status/422863570351562752 align=’center’]

[tweet https://twitter.com/23rag1/status/422846222802497536 align=’center’]

[tweet https://twitter.com/guyinmj/status/422880877308157952 align=’center’]

[tweet https://twitter.com/robertdaneca/status/422861053270032384 align=’center’]

[tweet https://twitter.com/nmpomes/status/422852304388108288 align=’center’]

[tweet https://twitter.com/farhink/status/422932104423698432 align=’center’]

Following $3.2B Nest acquisition, Google gains $2.3B in after hours trading

Mike Beasley Jan 13 2014 - 7:03 pm PT

0 Comments

Following today’s announcement that Google had bought the company behind the Nest learning thermostat, the Mountain View-based company has gained over $2B in after hours trading. Considering the fact that they only spent $3.2B on the acquisition, it looks like the folks at Google has made out pretty well today.

Google picks up talent from Behavio, a company that uses sensors in smartphones to learn about users

Jordan Kahn Apr 12 2013 - 1:48 pm PT

0 Comments

behavio_hud-600x400

Update: Google has confirmed to us that it has not acquired Behavio, but rather just picked up some talent from the company that will now be joining GOOG.

Behavio, a software company that uses sensors in mobile devices to compile data how users live and interact with one another, announced today (via TheVerge) that it has joined Google. The company will work on building its platform at Google while shutting down its current closed alpha and continuing to run its open source Funf project for Android that allows developers to take advantage of the technology. ~~No word on whether or not Google has big plans for the technology or if the move was simply an “acquhire,” but~~ Behavio’s statement noted it “couldn’t be happier to be able to continue building out our vision within Google.”

Behavio doesn’t just use traditional sensors in smartphones to learn more about its users, the software also utilizes data such as if a phone is turned on or off, what apps are installed on a device, or if a phone is currently charging or not.

There were no financial details disclosed in Behavio’s press release, and Google is yet to make an official announcement. Below is an interesting interview with Behavio co-founder from Nadav Aharony where he explains how the software works and the MIT project where Behavio was first developed:
Expand
Expanding
Close

Google in talks with private-equity firms over potential Yahoo purchase

Jordan Kahn Oct 24 2011 - 12:59 pm PT

1 Comment

According to a report from WSJ, Google is currently in talks with private-equity firms regarding potentially providing assistance in the purchase of Yahoo Inc.

The report mentions the possibility Google is simply trying to bid up the purchase price to make it a less attractive deal for other potential buyers including Microsoft. Yahoo is currently in talks with Microsoft and private equity firm Silver Lake Partners as well as the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board regarding a possible deal. Although, there are reasons Google might find owning a piece of Yahoo’s 700 million plus unique monthly visitors beneficial.

The most obvious is advertising. According to the report, “Google wants to help sell the ad space across Yahoo sites as Yahoo has struggled to get good prices for it”. WSJ mentions the ability to push Google+ on the Yahoo community, but more importantly, a deal would provide Google with access to ads displayed in content from ABC News and other current premium content partners of Yahoo. According to the source, Google is interested in “having deeper business relationships with such publishers”.

Citing a “person familiar with the matter”, WSJ’s sources claim that Google has talked with two undisclosed private-equity firms, and while no deal has been struck, many are already discussing potential antitrust investigations. Forbes just published a story focusing on the antitrust issues of a potential Yahoo purchase, outlining the obvious predicament:

Expand
Expanding
Close